Natural history in Shakespeare's time; being extracts illustrative of the subject as he knew it

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NATURAL HISTORY

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PREFACE.

Tuts book presents in a convenient form for reference a
collection of the quaint theories about Natural History
accepted by Shakespeare and his contemporaries. The work
is meant to be rather a sketch than an exhaustive treatise,
otherwise it would fill many volumes. The plan of the
book is to give some illustration of each word mentioned
by Shakespeare when there is anything remarkable to be
noted about it. The term “Natural History” has been
taken in its widest sense, as including not only fauna but
flora, as well as some precious stones.

It is certain that Shakespeare believed some of the strange
ideas here mentioned, especially about those animals which
he had had no opportunity of observing in their wild
state; but, on the other hand, Shakespeare’s knowledge of
Natural History (in so far as his own observation extended)
was far greater than that of his contemporaries as here
illustrated. :

All the quotations inserted in this book are from works
which were the standard authorities in Shakespeare’s time,
and the extracts are cited with the utmost exactness,
except where the spelling in all but a few rare words has
been modernized, and where uninteresting matter has been
omitted. A few of these extracts are given, not for their

vi PREFACE.

contents, but for their style. Here and there illustrative
notes have been added.

The text of Shakespeare referred to is that of the
“Globe” edition.

The books and editions most frequently quoted are:

Bartholomew. “Liber de proprietatibus rerum editus a
fratre Bartholomeo anglico ordinis fratrum minorum. Im-
pressus Argentine Anno domini MCCCCLXXXV. Finitus
in die Sancti Valentini.”

Bartholomew (Berthelet). ‘ Bartholomeus de Proprietatibus
Rerum.” [Translated into English by J. Trevisa.] “In
aedibus T. Bertheletti, Lond. 1535.” So runs the de-
scription in the British Museum catalogue, but this version
does not follow Trevisa’s translation accurately ; on the
contrary, it quotes Trevisa for some deviations from, and
additions to, Bartholomew’s text.

Batman. “Batman upon Bartholome, his Booke ‘ De
Proprietatibus Rerum’” [in the translation by J. Trevisa].
““Newly corrected, enlarged and amended; with such Ad-
ditions as are requisite vnto euery seuerall Booke. Taken
foorth of the most approued Authors, the like heretofore
not translated in English,” etc. T. East, Lond. 1582.
Probably Shakespeare used not Batman’s version, but the
Berthelet edition, which, being older, would probably be
cheaper in his days. All of Batman’s “Additions” that
are of any interest are quoted in these pages, but they
are few and generally unimportant. His emendations con-
sist mostly in the substitution for an archaic word of a
more modern and less interesting one.

There can be no doubt that Friar Bartholomew's book
was the standard authoriggeon Natural History in Shake-
Speare’s youth ; indeed, it was the only popular authority.
It is true that there were some few books on Natural

PREFACE, vil

History in Shakespeare’s time, which were written on more
scientific principles, eg. ‘Carol. Clusii Exoticorum Libri
Decem,” but these were published abroad, and in Latin, and
were probably unknown to him.

Hortus Sanitatis. The edition here quoted is one of the
two undated ones mentioned by Hain, and from it the
woodcuts have been photographed. There were five dated
editions between 1490 and 1517.

Topsell. ‘The History of Four-footed Beasts and Ser-
pents and [7. Mouffet] The Theater of Insects”; in one
volume, Lond. 1658. The first edition of Topsell’s “His-
tory of Four-footed Beasts” was printed in 1607. The
“Serpents” followed in 1608. Mouffet’s “Theater of
Insects” appears to have been written about 1584.

Holland’s Pliny. “The Historie of the World, com-
monly called the Naturall Historie of C. Plinius Secundus,
Translated into English by Philemon Holland, Doctor of
Physicke . . . London, 1634.” The first edition of this
book was published in 1601.

Harrison’s “ Description of Britain,’ sometimes quoted as
Holinshed’s “ Description of Britain.” “An Historicall de-
scription of the Iland of Britaine . . . written by W. H.”
[William Harrison]. This description is prefixed to the
first volume of Holinshed’s Chronicles, and is here quoted
from the 1586 edition. It first appeared in 1577.

Gerara’s “Herbal.” ‘The Herball or Generall Historie
of Plantes. Gathered by John Gerarde of London, Master
in Chirurgerie. Very much Enlarged and Amended by
Thomas Johnson, Citizen and Apothecarye of London.
London, 1633.” The first edition of Gerard’s “Herbal”
appeared in 1596. [Johnson’s additions are in this book
generally distinguished by his name. |

Parkinson's “Herbal.” ‘“Theatrum Botanicum: The
Theater of Plants. Or an Herball of a large Extent...

Vill PREFACE.

by John Parkinson, Apothecary of London, and the King’s
Herbarist. London, 1640.”

Albertus Magnus. “ Alberti cognomento Magni... De
Virtutibus Herbarum, Lapidum et Animalium quorundam,
libellus. Item, De Mirabilibus Mundi, ac de quibusdam
effectibus causatis a quibusdam animalibus,” etc. Lugduni,
0553:

Lupton, “A thousand Notable things of sundry sortes :
Whereof some are wonderfull, some strange, some pleasant,
divers necessary, a great sort profitable, and many very
precious.” London, 1627. The first edition of this book
was published in 1595, the second in 1601.

Hart. “KAINIKH, or the Diet of the Diseased .. . by
James Hart, Doctor in Physicke.” London, 1633.

Evelyn. “Silva, or a Discourse of Forest-trees, .. .
Also Acetaria; or a Discourse of Sallets, with Kalendarium
Hortense; or The Gard’ner’s Almanack ... by John
Evelyn, Esq.,” etc. Fourth edition. London, 1706.

The edition of Ben Jonson here quoted is the folio of
1692; that of Beaumont and Fletcher the folio of 1679.
The other plays cited are from modern reprints.

I have to thank Mr. Mihill Slaughter for the care with
which he has photographed the woodcuts in the Hortus

Sanitatts.
HERBERT W. SEAGER.

Hampton Court,

December, 1896.

SHAKESPEARE’S
NATURAL HISTORY.

Aconitum.

Shall never leak though it do work as strong
As aconitum or rash gunpowder.
ii. Kinc Henry IV., iv. 4, 47-8.

Gerarp, in his “ Herbal,” says that the poison of the
broad-leafed and mountain wolf’s-bane “is of such force
that, if a man especially, and then next any four-footed
beast, be wounded with an arrow or other instrument
dipped in the juice hereof, they die within half an hour
after, remediless”; but the winter wolf’s-bane “is not with-
out his peculiar virtues. It is reported to prevail mightily
against the bitings of scorpions, and is of such force that,
F the scorpion pass by where it groweth, and touch the
same, presently he becometh dull, heavy and senseless ; and
if the same scorpion by chance touch the white hellebore, he
is presently delivered from his drowsiness.” He enumerates
in all twelve varieties of Aconitum, or wolf’s-bane, and in
addition “ mithridate,” or wholesome wolf’s-bane (nthora)
which is the Bezoar, or counter-poison to Aconite. Gerard
says further that, according to Avicenna, ‘the _ mouse
nourished and fed up with Napellus (Monk’s-hood) is alto-
ether an enemy to the poisonsome nature thereof, and
delivereth him that hath taken it from all peril and danger.”
But Antonius Guanerius of Pavia “is of opinion that it is
not a mouse that Avicen speaks of, but a fly,” which is
found on the leaves of wolf’s-bane, and from which an
antidote is to be made with bay-berries, mithridate, honey,
and oil of olive.

I

2 SHAKESPEARE’S [ADAMANT.

[Honey is put in opposition to “mortal Aconite” by Dekker
in “The Devil’s Answer to Pierce Pennylesse.”

Aconitum originated from the foam of Cerberus. V. Hey-
wood’s “ Brazen Age.’’]

Adamant.

As true as steel, as plantage to the moon,
As sun to day, as turtle to her mate,
As iron to adamant, as earth to the centre.
Troius anp Cressipa, iii, 2, 184-6,

You draw me, you hard-hearted adamant ;
But yet you draw not iron, for my heart
Is true as steel; leave’ you your power to draw,
And I shall have no power to follow you.
Mripsummer Nicut’s Dream, ii. 1, 195-9.

Y. Diamond.

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Apamas is a little stone of Ind, and is coloured as it
were iron, and shineth as crystal; but it passeth never
the quantity of a walnut. No thing overcometh it, neither |
iron nor fire. And also it heateth never. But though it

ADAMANT. | NATURAL HISTORY. 3

may not be overcome, and though it despise fire and iron,
yet it is broke with new hot blood [of a he-goat (Bartholo-
mew)|. This stone is contrary to Magnes. For if an
Adamas be set by iron, it suffereth not the iron come to
the Magnes, but it draweth it by a manner of violence
from the Magnes, so that though the Magnes draweth iron
to itself, the Adamas draweth it away from the Magnes. It
is said that this stone warneth of venom as Electrum doth;
and -putteth off divers dreads and fears, and withstandeth
witchcraft. Dioscorides saith that it is called a precious
stone of reconciliation and of love. For if a woman be
away from her husband, or trespasseth against him: by-virtue
of this stone she is the sooner reconciled to have grace of
her husband. And hereto he saith, that if a very Adamas
be privily laid under a woman’s head that sleepeth: her hus-
band may wit whether that she be chaste or no. For if
she be chaste by virtue of that stone she is compelled in
her sleep to beclip [embrace] her husband; and if she be
untrue, she leapeth from him out of the bed, as one that
is unworthy to abide the presence of that stone. Also, as
Dioscorides saith, the virtue of such a stone borne in the
left shoulder, or in the left arm-pit, helpeth against enemies,
against woodness, chiding, and strife, and against fiends that
noy [annoy] men that dream in their. sleep, against fantasy,
against swevens [dreams] and venom.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvi. § 9.

THERE is nowadays a kind of Adamant which draweth
unto it flesh, and the same so strongly, that it hath power
to knit and tie together two mouths of contrary persons,
and draw the heart of a man out of his body without
offending any part of him.

Edward Fenton's “Certaine Secrete Wonders of
Nature” (apud Steevens).

Of the Magnet Bartholomew says :

Maenes is a stone of Ind, coloured somewhat as iron.
And is found in Ind among the Troglodytes, and draweth
to itself iron in such wise, that it maketh as it were a chain
of iron rings. Also it is said, that it draweth glass molten
as it doth iron. In certain temples is made an image of
jron, and it seemeth that that image hangeth in the air.

4 SHAKESPEARE'’S [ ADDER.

And in Ethiopia is another kind of Magnes that forsaketh
iron, and driveth it away from him. Also the same Magnes
draweth iron to it in one corner, and putteth it away in
another corner. And the more blue the Magnes is the
better it is,

[He then ascribes to it the same virtues as belong to the
Adamant—of reconciling men and their wives, and testing
women’s chastity. ]

If the powder thereof be sprung and done upon coals in
four corners of the house, it shall seem to them that be
in the house, that the house should fall anon. And that
seeming is by moving that cometh by turning of the
brain. And there be mountains of such stones, and there-
fore they draw to them and break ships that be nailed with
iron [of which Sir John Mandeville also speaks].

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvi. § 63.

[It is evident from these quotations that Shakespeare and
Lylly confused the Adamant or Diamond, which was supposed
to repel iron, with the iron-attracting Magnet, being no doubt
misled by the similarity of their other properties.]

Ir this stone be placed on coals in the four corners of
the house, I say, if it be pounded and sprinkled on the
coals, sleepers will flee the house and quite forsake it, and
then thieves can see after all that they please.

Albertus Magnus, “ Of the Virtues of Stones.”

Adder.

Is the adder better than the eel,
Because his painted skin contents the eye?
TaMING OF THE SHREW, iv. 3, 179, 180.

Art thou like the adder waxen deaf?
ii, King Henry VIL, ili, 2, 76.

It is the bright day that brings forth the adder ;
And that craves wary walking.
Jutius Casar, ii, 1, 14, 15.

Each jealous of the other, as the stung
Are of the adder.
Kino Lear, v. 1, 56, 57.
Aw Adder dwelleth in shadows, he ‘slideth and wriggleth
in slipper draughts and wrinkles, and in’ slimy passing.

AGATE. | NATURAL HISTORY. 5

The Adder fleeth the hind, and slayeth the lion, and he
eateth rue, and changeth his skin, and loveth hollowness of
wood and of trees, and drinketh milk busily. And he
hurteth and grieveth with the teeth, and with the tail, and
sheddeth venom, and lieth in the sun under hedges, and
sucketh bitches, eateth flies, and licketh powder [dust].
The grease of the water-adder helpeth against the biting of
the crocodile ; and if a man have with him the gall of this
adder, the crocodile shall not grieve him nor noy him; and
that most jeopardous and fearful beast dare not, nor may
do against him in no manner of wise damage nor grief,
which beareth the gall of the said Adder.
Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xviii. § 34.

VY. Aspick, Serpent.
Agate.

If low, an agate very vilely cut.
Mucu Apo asour Noruina, iii. 1, 65.

I was never manned with an agate till now; but I[ will inset you
neither in gold nor silver, but in vile apparel, and send you. back again
to your master for a jewel.

ii, King Henry IV., i. 2, 18-23.
Agate-ring.
i, King Henry IV., ii. 4, 78.
In shape no bigger than an agate-stone
On the forefinger of an alderman.
Romeo anv JuLieT, i. 4, 55-6.

Tue first manner thereof helpeth witchcraft. For there-
with tempest is changed; and stinteth rivers and streams.
And the manner kind of Creta changeth perils and maketh
gracious and pleasing, and fair showing and speaking, and
giveth might and strength. The third manner stone, that
is of Ind, comforteth the sight, and helpeth against thirst
and venom, and smelleth sweet if it be nigh. The burning
of it is odoriferous. Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvi. § 11.

‘[Agates were worn by justices of the peace.] Thou wilt
spit as formally, and show thy Agate and hatched chain, as
well as the best of them.

Beaumont and Fletcher's “Coxcomb” (Steevens),

[The Agate which is found in the eagle’s nest is of two
sorts, male and female.] The male thereof is hard, and is

6 . SHAKESPEARE’S [ALABASTER.

somewhat blazing. And the female is nesh [soft]. Also
this stone containeth and breedeth another stone within
him. The virtue of this stone maketh a man sober, and
augmenteth and increaseth riches, and so it doth love, and
helpeth greatly to obtain and conquer victory and favour.
If there be any man suspect of fraud of poisoning, if he be
guilty, this stone put under his meat will not suffer him to
swallow his meat, and if the stone be withdrawn, he shall
not tarry to swallow his meat.
Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvi. § 39.

Alabaster.

Why should a man, whose blood is warm within,
Sit like his grandsire cut in alabaster?
Mercuant oF VENICE, i. 1, 83-4.

Tuts stone helpeth to win victory and mastery. This
gendereth and keepeth friendship.
Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvi. § 3.

Almond.

The parrot will not do more for an almond,
Troitus anp Cressipa, v. 2, 193.

[“ Almond for parrot” is a proverbial phrase so common as
to need no reference.

Almond milk was made of Almonds with neck of mutton,
barley, herbs, and salt (“The Good House Wives Treasurie”).

Almond butter was eaten in Lent, and also used as a cos-
metic for the hands (Bex /Jonson’s “Staple of News,” and
Shirley's (2) “ Andromana”).
_ Paste of Almonds is also mentioned in the “Staple of News.”]

Amber, [Lar. Electrum.]

Her amber hair for foul hath amber quoted.
Love's Lazour’s Lost, iv. 3, 87,

With amber bracelets, beads, and all this knavery,
TAMING OF THE SHREW, iv. 3, 58.

ELECTRUM is a metal, and is more noble than other
metals. And hereof be three manner of kinds—one is
such, that when it runneth first out of the tree, it is
fleeting and thin gum, but afterwards with heat or with
cold it is made hard as a clear stone, as it were crystal.

AMBER. | NATURAL HISTORY. 7

That other manner kind is called metal, and is found in
the earth, and is had in price. The third manner is made
of the three parts of gold, and of the fourth of silver.
And kind Electrum warneth of venom, for if one dip it
therein, it, maketh a great chirking noise, and changeth oft
into divers colours as the rainbow, and that suddenly.
Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvi. § 38.

Tue Amber that is brought from these parts [Konigsberg
and Kurland] lies in great quantity scattered on the sand of
the sea, yet it is as safe as if it were in warehouses, since it
is death to take away the least piece thereof. At Dantzic
I did see two polished pieces thereof, which were esteemed at
a great price, one including a frog with each part clearly
to be seen, (for which the King of Poland then being there
offered five hundred dollars) the other including a newt,
but ‘not so transparent as the former.

Fynes Moryson, “Itinerary,” pt. iii. bk. ii. ch. 3, p. 81.

Any kind of Amber being sodden in the grease of a
sow that gives suck to young pigs, is not only thereby
the clearer but also much the better. Lupton, bk. i. § 25.

Our drink shall be prepared gold and Amber.

Ben Fonson’s “Fox,” iii. 7.

He must drink his wine
With three parts water, and have Amber in that too.

Ben Fonson’s “ Magnetic Lady,” iii. 2.

[Ambergris was a synonym for Amber, and was also used
in caudles, cullises, and comfits.]

I wonDER most at Sophocles the tragical poet. For he
sticketh not to avouch, That beyond India Amber proceedeth
from the tears that fall from the eyes of the birds.

Flollana’s Pliny, bk. xxxvii. ch. 2.

AmBeER is found as well in other places as in India.
Garcias thinks it to be the nature of the soil, as chalk,
bole-ammoniac, etc., and not the seed of the whale, or
issuing from some fountain in the sea.

Purchas’ “Pilgrims,” p. 508 (ed. 1616).

8 SHAKESPEARE'’S [ ANCHOVIES.

Anchovies.

Item, Anchovies and sack after supper. 2s. 6d.
i, Kino Henry IV., ii. 4, 588-9.

Ancuovies, 6 sh. I swear but a saucer full.
Brome, “The Covent Garden Weeded.”

He doth learn to make strange sauces, to eat Anchovies,
Maccaroni, Bovoli, Fagioli, and Caviare, because he loves

>

em. Ben Fonson, “ Cynthia’s Revels,” ii. 3.

Crem. For twelve pennyworth of Anchovies, eighteen-
pence.

Bess. How can that be?

Ciem. Marry, very well, mistress; twelvepence Anchovies,
and sixpence oil and vinegar. Nay, they shall have a saucy
reckoning. Heywood's “Fair Maid of the West,” ii. 2.

In midst of meat they present me with some sharp
sauce or a dish of delicate Anchovies, or a caviare.

“ Lingua,” ii. 1.

He feeds now upon sack and Anchovies.
G. Wilkins, ‘‘ Miseries of Enforced Marriage,” iii.

_AncHovy (Gr. gyxpasixodoc) is a fish nearly like a sar-
dine, so called because it has bile in its head—from e (in),
xépac (head), and xoroc (bile). Minsheu’s Dictionary, s.v.

Animal.

Aut that 1s comprehended of flesh and of spirit of life
and so of body and soul is called animal—a beast—whether
it be airy as fowls that fly, or watery as fish that swim,
or earthy as beasts that go on the ground and in fields,
as men and beasts, wild and tame, or other that creep and
glide on the ground. Some beasts have blood and some
have none, as bees and all other beasts with rivelled bodies.
But such beasts have other humour in stead of blood.

It is said that in Ind is a beast wonderly shape[d], and
is like to the bear in body and in hair and to a man in
face. And hath a right red head, and a full great mouth,
and an horrible, and in either jaw three rows of teeth

ANIMAL. | NATURAL HISTORY. 9

distinct between [i.e., separate]. The outer limbs thereof be
as it were the outer limbs of a lion, and his tail is like to
a wild scorpion with a sting, and amiferh with hard bristle-
pricks as a wild swine, and hath an horrible voice as the
voice of a trump, and he runneth full swiftly, and eateth
men. And among all beasts of the earth is none found
more cruel nor more wonderly shapen.

The dolphin and other manner of fish fall to the bottom
suddenly, as it were in epilepsy, when they hear sudden
thundering, or great moving and noise, and be taken as they
were drunk. And fish fleeth and voideth the place of wash-
ing and slaughter of other fish, and the blood of other fish,
and flee and void also hoary and unclean nets; and come
gladly into new.

The female bear bringeth forth a’ lump of flesh not di-
vided by shape of members; and she keepeth that lump
hot under her arm-pits as the hen sitteth on her eggs.
And the female bear licketh that lump of flesh and shapeth
it some and some, until it receive perfect figure and shape
of a bear. Also the panther and the lioness bringeth forth
whelps but not complete nor perfectly shapen. In all beasts
that bring children forth uncomplete and unperfect, the
cause is gluttony, for if kind would abide unto they were
complete and perfect, the children would slay the mother
with sucking, for immoderate and over-passing appetite.

Fish in one month waxeth fat, and soon afterward wax
lean. And some waxeth fat in the northern wind, as fish
with long bodies, and some in southern wind, as fish with
broad bodies, and some in rain-time. Rafn-water accordeth
to all manner shell-fish, out-take[n] the fish that hight
Roitera [or Koytea—an unidentified class of fish], that dieth
in the same day, if he taste rain-water. And too much
rain-water grieveth some fish, for it blindeth them.

Some beasts be ordained for man’s mirth, as apes and
marmosets and popinjays; and some be made for exercitation
of man, for man should know his own infirmities and
the might of God. And therefore be made flies and lice;
and lions and tigers and bears be made that man may by
the first know his own infirmity, and be afeard of the
second. Also some beasts be made to relieve and help the
need of many manner infirmities of mankind—as the flesh
of the adder to make treacle. Wolves flee from him that is

10 SHAKESPEARE’S

anointed with lion’s dirt [kidney-fat]. If the tail of an
old wolf be hanged at the cows’ stall the wolves wiil not
come there nigh. Bear’s eyes taken out of the head, and
bound together under the right arm of man, abateth the
fever quartan. Also the long teeth of a wolf healeth lunatic
men. ‘Tame four-footed beasts dread and flee if they see a
wolf’s eye taken out of the head. If thou besmokest the
house with the lungs of an ass thou cleansest the house of
serpents and other creeping worms.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xviii. § 1.

Ant.

Sometimes he angers me
With telling me of the moldwarp and the ant.

i. Kine Hewry IV.,, iii. 1, 149.

We'll set thee to school to an ant, to teach thee there’s no labouring
i? the winter.

Kine Lear, it. 4, 68.

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SLEIGHT and business of them is much. For in summer
they gather store by the which they may live in winter;

[ANT.

ANT. | NATURAL HISTORY, 11

and they gather wheat and reck not of barley, and when
the wheat is berained, that they gather to heap, then the
Ants do all the wheat out into the sun, that it may be
dried again. And it is said that in Ethiopia be Ants
shap[ed] as hounds, and diggeth up golden gravel with
their feet, and keep it that it be not taken away. And
pursueth anon to the death them that take it away. And
when they be overset in their houses to be taken, then
shed they venomous water upon men, and that water burneth
his hand that it toucheth, and breedeth therein itching and

smarting. For they have that water instead of weapon and
of armour. In Ind be right great Ants with horns, that
keep gold and precious stones with wonder covetise and
desire, but Indians steal them in summer-time when the
Ants be hid in hills for strong burning heat; but the
Ants fly after them busily, which take away the gold;
and wound them after, though they flee the Ants riding
on swift camels—in them is so wicked fierceness for lust of
gold. When bears be sick, they seek Ants, and devour them,
and heal themselves in that wise. But in some case Ants’ eggs
be medicinable. Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xviii. § 53.

12 SHAKESPEARE’S [ APE.

[After the account given above of the way in which Indians
get the gold from the ants, Sir John Mandeville adds]:

ANp in other times when it is not so hot, and that
the Pismires [Ants] ne rest them not in the earth, then
they get gold by their subtilty. They take mares that
have young colts or foals, and lay upon the mares void
vessels made therefor; and they be all open above, and
hanging low to the earth; and then they send forth the
mares for to pasture about those hills, and withhold the
foals with them at home. And when the Pismires see
those vessels they leap in anon, and they have this kind,
that they let nothing be empty among them, but anon they
fill it, be it what manner of thing that it be; and so they
fill those vessels with gold. And when that the folk suppose
that the vessels be full they put forth anon the young foals,
and make them to neigh after their dams; and then anon
the mares return towards their foals, with their charges of
gold; and then men discharge them, and get gold enough
by this subtility. For the Pismires will suffer beasts to go
and pasture amongst them; but no man in no wise
(chap. xxx.).

If you stamp Lupins (which are to be had at the
Apothecaries’) and therewith rub’ round about the bottom
or lower part of any tree, no Ants or Pismires will go
up and touch the same tree.

Lupton’s “Notable Things,” bk. iv. § 77.

Ir you burn the shells of snails with Styrax, and then
sprinkle thereof upon an Ants’-hill, thereby they will be
driven forth of the ground or place where they are.

ae Ibid., bk. x. § 77.
VY, Pismire.

Ape.

Mipsummer Nicut’s Dream, ii. 2, 181.

CyMBELINE, 1. 6, 39.

Apzs have knowledge of elements, and be sorry in the
full of the moon, and be merry and glad in the new of
the moon. Of Apes be five manner kinds, of whom
some have tails; and some be like to an hound in the
face, and in the body like to an Ape. Some be rough and

APE, | NATURAL HISTORY. 13

hairy, and forgetteth soon wildness. And some be pleasing
in face with merry movings and playings, and resteth but
little. And some be unlike to that other nigh in all
manner points, for in the face is a long beard, and have
a broad tail. That kind of Apes is next to man’s shape,
and be diverse and distinguished by tails, and labour
wonderly and busily to do all thing that they see: and
so oft they shoe themselves with shoes that hunters. leave
in certain places slyly, and be so taken the sooner; for
while they would fasten the thong of the shoe, and would
put the shoes on their feet, as they see the hunters do,
they be oft taken with hunters ere they may unlace the
shoes, and be delivered of them. The Ape is tamed
and chastised by violence with beating and with chains, and
is refrained with a clog, so that he may not run about
freely at his own will, to abate his fierceness and outrage.
And the Ape eateth all manner of meats and unclean
things, and therefore he seeketh and looketh worms in
men’s heads, and throweth them into his mouth, and
eateth them. The lion loveth Ape’s flesh, for by eating
thereof he recovereth when he is sore sick.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xviii. § 96.

Tue Ape ever killeth that young one which he loveth
most with embracing it too fervently.

Greene's “ Thieves Falling Out,” etc,

Tll teach you
To come aloft and do tricks like an ape.

[V. Massinger, “The Bondman,” iii. 3, for various tricks taught
to the ape.]

(Katharina, in “The Taming of the Shrew” (ii. 1, 34)—

I must dance barefoot on her wedding-day,
And for your love to her lead Apes in hell—

alludes to the old proverb:
Such as die maids do all lead Apes in hell—

Compare Douce’s note on this passage. ]

Ir you wish to frighten any man while asleep, put the
skin of an Ape under his head.
Albertus Magnus, ‘Of the Wonders of the World.”

14 SHAKESPEARE'S [ APPLE.

THE pepper-trees are great, and abound with Apes, who
gather the pepper for the Indians gratis, brought thereunto
by a wile of the Indians, who first gather some, and lay
it on heaps, and then go away, at their return finding
many the like heaps made by the emulous Apes.

Purchas “ Pilgrims,” p. 457 (ed. 1616).

Apple.

Not yet old enough for a man, nor young enough for a boy; as a
squash is before ’tis a peascod, or a codling when ’tis almost an apple.
Tweirra Nicut, i. 5, 165-7.

She’s as like this as a crab’s like an apple.
Kine Lear, i. 5, 15-6.

[Gerard engraves the following sorts of apples: The Pome-
water, the Baker’s Ditch, the Queening or Queen of Apples,
the Summer Pearmain, the Winter Pearmain.

Shakespeare mentions or alludes to several sorts of apples,
viz., Apple-john, Pomewater, Codling, Carraway, Leather-coat,
Lording, Pippin, Bitter-sweet, and Crab (¢.v.).]

Apple-john.

I am withered like an old apple-john.
i. Kine Henry IV.,, iii. 3, 4-5.

The prince once set a dish of apple-johns before him, and told him
there were five more Sir Johns, and pulling off his hat, said: ‘I will
now take my leave of these six, dry, round, old, withered knights,’

i Kino Henry IV., ii. 4, 4-9.

[In Heywood’s “Fair Maid. of the Exchange,” Fiddle the
clown takes it in snuff when he is called ‘“russeting” and
‘* apple-john.”’]

Tus apple will keep two years, but becomes very
wrinkled and shrivelled.

Steevens’ note, ii, Kinc Henry IV., ii. 4, 4.

Apricock.

Feed him with apricocks and dewberries.
Mipsummer Nicut’s Dream, iii. 1, 169.

Go, bind thou up yon dangling apricocks.
Kine Ricwarp IL, iii. 4, 29.

ASH. | NATURAL HISTORY 15

[In 1633 five sorts of Apricots were known: ‘“ The common,
the long and great, the musk, the Barbary, and the early
Apricock.’’] Fobnson’s edition of Gerard's “Herbal,” p. 1448.
Ash.

That body, where against
My grained ash an hundred times hath broke.
Corionanus, iv. 5, 112.

AsH is good for shafts and spears. The leaves thereof
helpeth against venom, and the juice thereof wrung and
drunk helpeth best against serpents. And Ash hath so
great virtue, that serpents come not in the shadow thereof
in the morning nor at even. And if a serpent be set
between a fire and Ash-leaves, he will flee into the fire
sooner than into the leaves. In Greece the leaves thereof
is poison to beasts, and grieveth not other beasts that chew
their cud, and grieveth not beasts in Italy.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvii. § 62.

Tue fruit like unto cods is termed in English Ash-keys,
and of some Kite-keys. It is a wonderful courtesy in
nature that the Ash should flower before these serpents
appear, and not cast his leaves before they be gone again.
Three or four leaves of the Ash-tree taken in wine each
morning from time to time do make those lean that are

fat, and keepeth them from feeding which do begin to

wax fat. Gerard’s ‘* Herbal,” s.v.

(WueETHER by the power of magic or nature I determine
not) I have heard it affirmed with great confidence, and _
upon experience, that the rupture to which many children
are obnoxious, is healed by passing the infant through a
wide cleft made in the bole or stem of a growing Ash-tree,
through which the child is made to pass; and then carried
a second time round the Ash, caused to repass the same
aperture again, that the cleft of the tree suffered to close
and coalesce, as it will, the rupture of the child, bein
carefully bound up, will not only abate, but be perfectly
cured. The white and rotten dotard part composes a
ground for our gallants’ sweet powder.

Evelyn's “Sylva,” p. 62 (ed. 1706).

16 SHAKESPEARE’S [ASPICK.
Aspick (i.e, Asp).

The pretty worm of Nilus there
That kills and pains not.

* * * * *

Have I the aspic in my lips? Dost fall?
If thou and nature can so gently part,
The stroke of death is as a lover’s pinch,
Which hurts, and is desired.

* * * * *

This is an aspic’s trail; and these fig-leaves
Have slime upon them, such as the aspic leaves
Upon the caves of Nile.
Anrony and CLEOPATRA, V. 2, 243-4, 296-9,

354-7-
VY, Adder, Serpent.

Aspis is an Adder [¢.v.] worst and most wicked in
venom and in biting; he casteth out fleeing venom,

Pkg

and spitteth and springeth out venom by bitings. Of
Adders that hight Aspis be divers manner kind, and have

ASPICK. | NATURAL HISTORY. 17

diverse effects and doings to noy and to grieve, that is to
wit, Dipsas,—when he biteth, he slayeth with thirst. Ipalis
is a manner Adder that slayeth with sleep. These manner
Adders Cleopatra laid by her, and passed out of the life
by death as it were by sleep. And there be many other
Adders, and the venom of them is so strong, that they slay
with their venom him that toucheth them with a spear.
The Adder Aspis, when she is charmed by the enchanter, to
come out of her den by charms and conjurations, for she
hath no will to come out, layeth her one ear to the ground,
and stoppeth that other with her tail, and so she heareth
not the voice of the charming, nor cometh out to him that
charmeth, nor is obedient to his saying—[‘“the deaf adder
that stoppeth her ears, and refuseth to hear the voice of
the charmer, charm he never so wisely”]. This slaying
Adder and venomous hath wit to love and affection, and
loveth his make [mate] as it were by love of wedlock, and
liveth not well without company. Therefore if the one is
slain, the other pursueth him that slew that other with so
busy wreak and vengeance that passeth weening. And
knoweth the slayer, and reseth on him, be he in never so
great company of men and of people, and busieth to slay
him, and passeth all difficulties and spaces of ways, and
with wreak of [will wreak] the said death of his make.
And is not let ne put off, but it be by swift flight, or by
waters or rivers. But against his malice kind giveth remedy
and medicine. For kind giveth him right dim sight ; for
his eyes are set in the sides of his head, and be not set in
the forehead ; and therefore he may not see his adversary
forthright, but aside. Therefore he may not follow his
enemy by sight, but he followeth more by hearing and
smell; for in these two wits he is strong and mighty.
This Adder Aspis grieveth not men of Africa and Moors; for
they take their children that they have suspect, and put them
to these Adders: And if the children be of their kind this
Adder Aspis grieveth them not: And if they be of other
kind anon he dieth by venom of the Adder. These beasts
slay strangers and men of other lands. And these serpents
spare wonderly men that be born in the same land. So the
serpent Anguis about the River Euphrates grieveth not nor
hurteth men of the land; nor noyeth them that sleep, if
they be of that land, dnd pain and slay busily other men,
2

18 SHAKESPEARE'’S [ ss.

that be of other nations, what nation soever it be. Also

Aristotle saith that in a certain mountain scorpions grieve

no strangers; but they sting and slay men of the country.
Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xviii. § 9.

Asp’s sting is not curable, but only with the water of a
stone washed, which they take out of the sepulchre of an
ancient king. Batman's addition to Bartholomew, loc. cit.

In Egypt so great is the reverence they bear to Asps, that
if any in the house have need to rise in the night-time out
of their beds, they first of all give out a sign by knacking
of the fingers, lest they should harm the Asp, and so provoke
it against them; at the hearing whereof, all the Asps get
them to their holes and lodgings, till the person stirring be
laid again in his bed. _A domestical Asp had young ones ;
in her absence one of her young ones killed a child in the
house; when the old one came again according to her
custom to seek her meat, the killed child was laid forth, and
so she understood the harm; then went she and killed that
young one, and never more appeared in that house. Also
there was an Asp that fell in love with a little boy that
kept geese, whose love to the said boy was so fervent,
that the male of the said Asp grew jealous thereof. Where-
upon one day as he lay asleep, [he] set upon him to kill
him, but the other seeing the danger of her love, awaked and
delivered him. All the Asps of Nilus do thirty days before
the. flood remove themselves and their young ones into the
mountains, and this is done yearly, once at the least. A
man carrying a bottle of vinegar was bitten by an Asp,
whiles by chance he trod thereupon, but as long as he
bore the vinegar and did not set it down, he felt no pain
thereby, but as often as to ease himself he set the bottle
out of his hand, he felt torment by the poison.

Topsell, “ History of Serpents,” pp. 633-6,

ASS.

Tue Ass is a simple beast and a slow, and therefore soon
overcome and subject to man’s service. The elder the Ass
is, the fouler he waxeth from day to day, and hairy and
rough, and is a melancholic beast, that is cold and dry,

ASS. | NATURAL HISTORY. 19

and is therefore kindly, heavy and slow, and unlusty, dull
and witless and forgetful. Natheless he beareth burdens,
and may away with travail and thraldom, and useth vile
meat and little, and gathereth his meat among briars and
thorns and thistles. Small birds that nesteth them in bushes,
thorns and briars hate the Ass. And therefore small
sparrows fighteth with the Ass, for the Ass eateth the thorns,
in the which the sparrows make their nests. And also the
Ass rubbeth and froteth his flesh against the thorns, and so

the birds or the eggs of the sparrows falleth out of the
nest down to the ground. And when that the Ass reareth
and heaveth up her head, then by a strong blast the thorns
moveth and shaketh, and of the great noise the birds be
afeared full sore, and falleth out of the nest. And there-
fore the mothers suffereth them to leap on the face of the
Ass, and bite and smite and rese to his eyes with their
bills. And if the Ass have a wound or a scab in the ridge
or in. the side of pricking of thorns or in any other wise,
the sparrows leapeth on the Ass, and pecketh with their

20 SHAKESPEARE’S [ass.

bills in the wounds or in the sores, for the Ass should pass
from their nests. And though such a sparrow be full little,
“yet unneath may the Ass defend himself against his rese,
pricking and biting. The raven hateth full much the Ass,
therefore the raven flyeth above the Ass, and laboureth with
his bill to peck out his eyes; but the deepness of eyes
helpeth the Ass, and thickness and hardness of the skin, for
therewith the Ass closeth her eyes and heleth her sight, and
defendeth against the resing and pricking of fowls. Also
his long ears and moving thereof helpeth, for therewith he
feareth small birds, that rese to peck out his eyes. The
smoke of the Ass’s hoof helpeth the birth of a child, in
so much that it bringeth out a dead: child, and shall not
otherwise be laid to, for it slayeth a quick child if it be
oft laid to, and lieth too long time. And new dirt of the
same beast stauncheth blood wonderly. The Ass’s milk, and
Ass’s blood helpeth against the biting of a scorpion. And
men say, that if a man looketh in an Ass’s ear when he is
smit with a scorpion, anon the malice passeth. Also all
venomous things fleeth smoke of the Ass’s liver. Also the
Ass’s milk helpeth against venomous plaster, and against the
malice of ceruse or of quicksilver. Also Ass’s bones bruised
and stamped and sod helpeth against venom, if the broth
thereof be drunken. And urine of the male Ass with
Nardus keepeth and saveth and maketh much hair. And
the Ass dreadeth full sore to pass over water, and
scrapeth therein ; and the Ass passeth not gladly, where he
may see the water through the planks, for he hath a feeble
brain, and is soon grudged, and dreadeth therefore, and
falleth through the chines of the bridge into the water, that
he seeth running thereunder. And the Ass drinketh not
gladly but of small wells that he is used to, and those that
he may come dry-footed to. And wonder it is to tell, that
though an Ass be sore athirst, if his water be changed, un-
neath he drinketh thereof, but if it be like the water that
he is wont to drink of.

And the Ass hath another wretched condition known
nigh to all men. For he is put to travail over night
[might — Bartholomew], and is beaten with staves, and
sticked and pricked with pricks, and his mouth is wrung
with a barnacle [bit], and is led hither and thither, and
withdrawn from leys and pasture that is in his way oft by

BABOON. | NATURAL HISTORY. 21

refraining of the barnacle, and dieth at last after vain
travails, and hath no reward after his death for the service
and travail that he had living, not so much that his own
skin is left with him, but it is taken away, and the carrion
is thrown out without sepulchre or burials—but it be so
much of the carrion that by eating and devouring is some-
time buried in the wombs of hounds and wolves.
Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xviii. § 8.

Wuen an Ass dieth, out of his body are engendered cer-
tain flies called Scarabees. Asses are subject to madness
when they have tasted to certain herbs growing near
Potnias. Some have used to put into gardens the skull of
a mare or she-ass that hath been covered, with persuasion
that the gardens will be the more fruitful. The wolf with
small force doth compass the destruction of an Ass, for the
blockish Ass, when he seeth a wolf, layeth his head on his
side, that so he might not see, thinking that, because he
seeth not the wolf, the wolf cannot see him.

Topsell, <‘ Four-footed Beasts,” pp. 19-21.

Ir a stone be bound to the tail of an Ass, he will not
bray nor roar.

The skin of an Ass when it is hung over boys prevents
them from being frightened.

If you wish that a man’s head should appear as an Ass’s
head, take of the parings of [the hoof of ] an Ass, and rub
the man’s head with them. ;

Albertus Magnus, “Of the Wonders of the World.”

In Africa also are wild Asses, among which one male
hath many females; a jealous beast, who (for fear of after
encroaching) bites off the stones of the young males, if the
suspicious female prevent him not by bringing forth in a
close place, where he shall not find it.

‘ Purchas ‘* Pilgrims,” p. 558 (ed. 1616).

Baboon. Y/Y. Ape, Monkey.

You and your coach-fellow Nym ... had looked through the grate,

like a geminy of baboons.
Merry Wives oF Winpsor, ii. 2, 7-9.

Cool it with a baboon’s blood,
Then the charm is firm and good,
Macsery, iv. 1, 37-8.

22 SHAKESPEARE’S [BALM.

Bazoons are a kind of apes, whose heads are like dogs,
and their other parts like a man’s. Some are much given
to fishing ; again, there are some which abhor fishes. Some
there are which are able to write, and naturally to discern
letters. They will eat venison, which they by reason of
their swiftness take easily, and having taken it tear it
to pieces, and roast it in the sun.

Topsell, “ Four-footed Beasts,” pp. 8, 9.

Balm.

Pierced to the soul with slander’s venom’d spear,
The which no balm can cure but his heart-blood.
Kine Ricuarp IL, i. 1, 171-2.

My pity hath been balm to heal their wounds.
3 Kine Henry VI., iv. 8, 41.

Barm drunk in wine is good against the bitings of
venomous beasts, comforts the heart, and driveth away all
melancholy and sadness. The juice thereof glueth together
green wounds, being put into oil, unguent or Balm for
that purpose, and maketh it of greater efficacy.

Gerara’s “ Herbal,” sv.

Tuts Balm groweth in no place, but only there [ze.,
beside Cairo]. And though that men bring of the plants
for to plant in other countries, they grow well and fair,
but they bring forth no fructuous thing. And men cut the
branches with a sharp flintstone or with a sharp bone,
when men will go to cut them: for whoso cut them with
iron, it would destroy his virtue and his nature. And men
make always that Balm to be tilled of the Christian men
or else it would not fructify, as the Saracens say them-
selves: for it hath been often time proved.

; Sir Fohn Mandeville, ch. v.

[He gives elaborate directions for distinguishing the true from
the counterfeit balm.]

Balsam, Balsamum [i.c. Balm].

Timon oF ATHENS, lil. 5, IIo.
Comepy oF Errors, iv. 1, 88.

BaLsaMumo is set tofore all other smells, and was some-
time granted but to one land among all lands, that is to
wit Judea. And was not had nor found but in two
gardens of the King’s. Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvii. § 18.

BARNACLES. | NATURAL HISTORY. 23

Barnacles.
We shall lose ‘our time,
And all be turn’d to barnacles,
TEMPEST, iv. I, 248-50.

I rorp them of as great a marvel to them that is
amongst us: and that was of the Barnacles, For I told
them that in our country were trees that bear a fruit that
become birds flying: and those that fall in the water live :
and they that fall on the earth die anon: and they be
right good to man’s meat. And hereof had they a great
marvel, that some of them trowed it were an impossible
_ thing to be. Sir Fohn Mandeville, ch. xxvi.

In the Islands of Ireland, and Orcades, in certain places
there, there be certain trees, much like unto willow-trees, out
of which come forth certain little hairs, increasing by little
and little into birds, having shape of ducks, hanging upon
the bough by their. nebs or bills; and when they are come
to full. perfectness, they fly away of themselves, or fall
into the next seas, which birds we call Barnacles. This
is related by the people that dwell there.

Lupton’s “ Notable Things,” bk. vii. § 3.

[Gerard in his “ Herbal” gives a description of the Barnacle or
Goose-tree, too long to quote, but he declares that he has seen
it, and vouches for it of his own knowledge.]

In Man they have great store of Barnacles breeding upon
their coasts. [He adds that he sought vainly for Barnacles
until May, 1584, when he found many shells on ships in
the Thames newly come home from Barbary or the Canary
Isles, and on opening them he] saw the proportion of a fowl
in one of them, saving that the head was not yet formed,
because the fresh water had killed them all (as I take it).
Certainly the feathers of the tail hang out of the shell at
least two inches, the wings almost perfect, touching form,
so that it cannot be denied but that some bird or other
must proceed of this substance.

Harrison’s “Description of Britain,” p. 38, in Holinshed.

One little fish [Remora or Barnacle], not above half a
foot long, is able to arrest and stay perforce, yea and hold
as prisoners our goodly tall and proud ships. This little
fish detained Caligula’s ship (a galliass it was, furnished

24 SHAKESPEARE’S [ BASILISK.

with five banks of oars to a side); so soon as ever the
vessel was perceived alone in the fleet to stand still,
presently they found one of these fishes sticking fast to the
very helm. But this prince was most astonished at this.
namely, That the fish sticking only to the ship should
hold it fast, and the same, being brought into the ship,
and there laid, not work the like effect. Neither do I
doubt but all the sort of fishes are able to do as much.
Hiolland’s Pliny, bk. xxxii. ch. 1.

Basilisk or Cockatrice.

Make me not sighted like the basilisk ;
I have look’d on thousands, who have sped the better
By my regard, but kill’d none so.
Winter’s Taz, i. 2, 388-90.

Come, “basilisk,
And kill the innocent gazer with thy sight.
ii, Kino Henry VI, iii. 2, 52-3.

Tue Cockatrice is a king of serpents, and they be afeard
and flee when they see him. For he slayeth them with his

BASILISK. | NATURAL HISTORY. 25

smell and with his teeth; and slayeth also all thing that
hath life, with breath and with sight. In his sight no fowl
nor bird passeth harmless, and though he be far from the
fowl, yet it is burnt and devoured by his mouth. But he
is overcome of the weasel ; and men bring the weasel to
the Cockatrice’ den where he lurketh and is hid. For the
Father and Maker of all thing left no thing without
remedy. And so the Cockatrice fleeth when he seeth the
weasel, and the weasel pursueth and slayeth him. For the
biting of the weasel is death to the Cockatrice ; and never-

i
NY

NS

\\

theless the biting of the Cockatrice is death to the weasel.
And that is sooth, but if [unless] the weasel eat rue before.
_ And against such venom, first the weasel eateth the herb of
rue, though it be bitter, and by virtue of the juice of that
herb, he goeth boldly and overcometh his enemy. And the
Cockatrice is half a foot long, and hath white specks: And
the Cockatrice slayeth that that he cometh nigh. As the
scorpion he pursueth thirsty animals, and when they come
to the water, he maketh them dropsical, and hydrophobic.
For that water that he toucheth maketh the dropsy, and it

26 SHAKESPEARE’S [ BASILISK,

is venomous and deadly. With hissing he slayeth, or he
biteth or stingeth. And he presseth not his body with much
bowing, but his course of way is forthright, and goeth in
mean [the middle]. He dryeth and burneth leaves and herbs,
not only with touch, but also by hissing and blast he
rotteth and corrupteth all thing about him. And he is of
so great venom and perilous, that he slayeth and wasteth
him that nigheth him by the length of a spear, without
tarrying; and yet the weasel taketh and overcometh him.
And though the Cockatrice be venomous without remedy
while he is alive, yet he loseth all the malice when he is
burnt to ashes. Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xviii. § 8.

Irs head is very pointed, its eyes red, its colour inclining
to black and yellow ; it has a tail like a viper, but the rest
of its body is like a cock. The Basilisk is sometimes
gendered from a cock; for towards the end of summer a
cock lays an egg from which the Basilisk is hatched. But
many things must concur to this gendering, for it lays the
egg in much warm dung, and there sits on it. And
those who have seen its creation say that there is no shell
to the egg, but a very strong skin which can resist the
hardest blows. Also the opinion of some is that a viper |
or toad sits on that cock’s egg—but this is doubtful.

Hortus Sanitatis, part iii, (“Of Birds”) ch. xiii.

Baste was built in the year 382, having the name of
a Basilisk slain by a knight covered with crystal.

Fynes Moryson’s “Itinerary,” part i. ch. ii, p. 27.

Even as a lion is afraid of a cock, so is the Basilisk,
for he is not only afraid at his sight, but almost dead
when he heareth him crow. It is a question whether the
Cockatrice die by the sight of himself. Once our nation
was full of Cockatrices, and a certain man did destroy
them by going up and down in glass, whereby their own
shapes were reflected upon their own faces, and so they died.
But this fable is not worth refuting, for it is more likely
that the man should first have died by the corruption of
the air from the Cockatrices. ,

Topsell, ‘History of Serpents,” pp. 679, 681.

BAY. ] NATURAL HISTORY. 27

Bat.
All the charms
Of Sycorax, toads, beetles, bats, light on you.
TEMPEST, 1. 2, 339-40.

Wool of bat, and tongue of dog, :
MacsetH, iv. I, 15.

Tue reremouse [i.e. Bat] hating light flyeth in the even-
tide with breaking and blenching and swift moving, with full
small skin of her wings. And is a beast like to a mouse
in sounding with voice, in piping and crying. And he is
like to a bird, and alco to a four-footed beast ; and that is
‘but seld found among birds. Reremice be blind as moles,
and lick powder [dust] and suck oil out of lamps, and be
most cold of kind; therefore the blood of a reremouse
[a]nointed upon the eye-lids suffereth not the hair to grow
again, Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xii. § 38.

Ir you wish to see anything submerged and deep in the
night, and that it may not be more hidden from thee than
in the day, and that you may read books in a dark night,
—anoint your face with the blood of a Bat, and that will
happen which I say.

Albertus Magnus, <‘Of the Wonders of the World.”

Bay, -tree.
Rosemary and bays,
Pericies, iv. 6, 160.

The bay-trees in our country are all wither’d.
Kine Ricuarp, ii. 4, 8

“ Bay” was used in Shakespeare’s time as a synonym for
y : oe ynonym
“laurel.” Ch Minsheu’s Dictionary, s.v., and Cooper’s Thesaurus
Y> 9
s.v. Laurus. |

Tuis tree worshippeth the house, and maketh it fair.
The land that beareth laurel-tree is safe from lightning both
in field and in house. Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvii. § 48.

Bay-Berrizs taken in wine are good against the bitings
of any venomous beast, and against all venom and poison.
The oil pressed out of these cureth them that are beaten
black and blue, and that be bruised by squats and falls.
Common drunkards were accustomed to eat in the morning
fasting two leaves thereof against drunkenness.

Gerard’s “Herbal,” bk. iti. ch. Ixviti.

28 SHAK ESPEARE'S [ BEAGLE.

In the year 1629 at Padua, preceding a great pestilence,
almost all the Bay-trees about that famous university grew
sick and died. Evelyn's “ Sylva,” bk. ii. ch. vi.

Beagle. VY. Brach.

Twetrra NIcHT, i. 3, 195.
Timon oF ATHENS, iv. 3, 175.

Bean.

Peas and beans are as dank here as a dog, and that is the next way

to give poor jades the bots.
1 Kine Henry IV., ii. 1, 9-10.

A fat and bean-fed horse.
Mipsummer Nicut’s Dream, il. I, 45.

Tue Bean is a manner codware, and serveth to pottage,
and in old time men used to eat thereof. Beans cause
vain dreams and dreadful. Many meddle beans with bread-
corn, to make the bread the more heavy. By oft use
thereof the wits be dulled. Or else, dead men’s souls be
therein. Therefore the bishop should not eat Beans.
Beans grow in Egypt with sharp pricks, therefore crocodiles
flee from them, and dread lest their eyes should be hurt
with the sharp pricks of them. Such a Bean is x cubits
long, with a head as a poppy, and therein Beans be closed,
and that head is red as a rose. And those Beans grow not
on stalks nor in cods. Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvii. § 64.

Tue skins of Beans applied to the place where the hairs
were first plucked up, will not suffer them to grow big,
but rather consumeth their nourishment.

Gerard’s “Herbal,” bk. ii. ch. v. and vii.

In June buttered Beans saveth fish to be spent.
Tusser, “A Hundreth Good Poyntes of Husbandrie.”

You may imagine it to be Twelfth-day at night, and the
Bean found in the corner of your cake.
Rowley’s “Woman Never Vexed,” ii. 1.

Now, now the mirth comes
With the cake full of plums.
Where Bean’s the king of the sport here.

Herrick's “‘ Hesperides.”

BEAR. | NATURAL HISTORY. 29

Tue choosing of a person King or Queen by a_ bean
found in a piece of a divided cake was formerly a common
Christmas gambol in both the English universities.

Brand’s “Popular Antiquities,” vol. i. p. 20.

[See also the same author, p. 97, under “ Mid-Lent Sunday.”
French Beans are mentioned in Beaumont and Fletcher's
“ Tragedy of Bonduca” (i. 2).]

SHE made me colour my hair with Bean-flower to seem
elder than I was. Webster's “Devil’s Law Case,” iv. 2.

Bear.
Thy groans
Did make wolves how! and penetrate the breasts
Of ever-angry bears.
TeEMmpEst, i. 2, 287-9.

Wolves and bears, they say,
Casting their savageness aside, have done
Like offices of pity.
Winter’s Tate, il. 3, 187-9.

The rugged Russian bear.
MacseTy, iii. 4, 100,

Like to a chaos or an unlick’d bear-whelp
That carries no impression like the dam.
3 Kine Henry VI, iii, 2, 161-2.

One bear will not bite another.
Troitus anp Cressipa, v. 7, 19.

Unicorns may be betray’d with trees,
And bears with glasses.
Jutius C#sar, ii. 1, 204-5.

Amip the desert rocks the mountain bear
Brings forth unform, unlike herself, her young ;
Nought else but lumps of flesh withouten hair.
In tract of time her often licking tongue
Gives them such shape, as doth (erelong) delight
The lookers on.

Arthur Broke's “ Romeus and Juliet,” Address to the Reader.

Wuew the Bear cannot find origanum to heal his grief,
he blasteth all other leaves with his breath.
Lilly’s “Sappho and Phaon”. (Prologue),

30 SHAKESPEARE’S [ BEAR.

Tuer gendering is in the beginning of winter, and
gender not as other fourfooted beasts do, but they gender
both lying, and then they depart asunder each from other,
and go.in dens either by themself, and whelpeth therein
the xxx day, and the whelps be not more than five, and
be white and evil shapen. For the whelp is a piece of
flesh little more than a mouse, having neither eyes nor
hair, and having claws somedeal bourging [#.e., burgeoning],
and so this lump she licketh, and shapeth a whelp with
licking. And so men shall see no where beasts more selder
gender nor whelp than Bears, and therefore the males hide
them and lurk forty days, and the females array their
houses four months with boughs, fruit and branches, and
covereth it, for to keep out the rain with nesh twigs and
branches. The first forty days of these days they sleep so
fast, that they may not be awaked with wounds, and that
time they fast mightily. And the grease of a Bear helpeth
against the falling of the hair. And after these days, she
sitteth up and liveth by sucking of her feet, and beclippeth
the cold whelps, and holdeth them fast to her breast :
And heateth and comforteth them, and lieth grovelling
upon them, as birds do. And it is wonder to tell a thing that
Theophrastus saith and telleth, that Bear’s flesh sod that time
vanisheth if it be laid up, and is no token of meat found in
the almery [cupboard, larder], but a little quantity of humour:
and hath that time small drops of blood about the heart,
and no manner of blood in the other deal of the body.
And in springing time the males go forth and be fat, and
the cause thereof is unknown, namely for that time they
be not fatted with meat neither with sleep, but only seven
days. And when she goeth out of her den, she seeketh an
herb, and eateth it to make lax her womb, that is then
hard and bound. Then her eyes be dimmed, and therefore
namely they labour to get them honey-combs, for the
mouth should be wounded with stinging of bees and bleed;
and so relieve the heaviness and sore ache of their eyes.
His head is full feeble, that is most strong in the lion, and
therefore sometime he falleth down headlong upon the
rocks, and falleth upon gravel and dieth soon. And as
men say, the Bear’s brain is venomous, and therefore when
they be slain, their heads be burnt in open places, for men
should not taste of the brain, and fall into woodness

BEE. | NATURAL HISTORY. 31

of Bears. And no beast hath so great sleight to do evil
deeds as the Bear. And the Bear eateth crabs and ants for
medicine, and eateth flesh for great strength, and is. an un-
patient beast and wrathful, and will be avenged on all
those that him toucheth. If another touch him, anon he
leaveth the first, and reseth on the second, and reseth on
the third; and when he is taken, he is made blind with a
bright basin [cf quotation from “ Julius Cesar”] and is
bound with chains, and compelled to play: and tamed with
beating, and is an unsteadfast beast and unstable, and un-
easy, and goeth therefore all day about the stake to which
he is strongly tied. He licketh and sucketh his own feet,
and hath liking in the juice thereof. He can wonderly
stie [climb] upon trees unto the highest tops of them [and
robs wild bees of their honey]. And the hunter taketh
heed thereof, and pitcheth full sharp hooks and stakes about
the foot of the tree, and hangeth craftily a right heavy
hammer or a wedge tofore the open way to the honey, and
then the Bear cometh, and is an hungered, and the log
that hangeth there on high letteth him, and he putteth
away the wedge dispiteously, but after the removing, the
wedge falleth again and hitteth him on the ear, and he
hath indignation thereof; and putteth away the wedge dis-
piteously and right fiercely, and- then the wedge falleth and
smiteth him harder than it did before, and he striveth so
long with the wedge, until his feeble head doth fail by oft
smiting of the wedge, and then he falleth down upon the
pricks and stakes, and slayeth himself in that wise. Bears
licketh not drink, as beasts do with sawy teeth; and
sucketh not neither swalloweth, as beasts do that have con-
tinual teeth, as sheep and men; but biteth the water and
swalloweth it. Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xviii. §§ 112-3.

Beast. V. Animal.

Bee.

Like the bee, culling from every flower
The virtuous sweets,
Our thighs pack’d with wax, our mouths with honey,
We bring it to the hive, and, like the bees,
Are murdered for our pains.
: ii, Kine Hewry IV., iv. 5, 75-81.

32 _ SHAKESPEARE'’S | BEE.

’Tis seldom when the bee doth leave her comb

In the dead carrion.
ii, Kinc Henry IV., iv. 4, 79-80.

So work the honey bees,
Creatures that by a rule in nature teach
The act of order to a peopled kingdom.
They have a king and officers of sorts;
Where some, like magistrates, correct at home, etc.
Kino Henry V., i. 2, 187-204.

The commons, like an angry hive of bees,
That want their leader, scatter up and down,
And care not who they sting in his revenge.
ii. Kinc Henry VI, iii. 2, 125-8.

Bers be cunning and busy in office of making of honey,
and they dwell in their own places that are assigned to
them, and challenge no place but their own. And they
build and make their houses with a wonderful craft, and
of divers flowers; and they make honey-combs, wound and
writhen with wax full craftily, and fill their castles with
full many children. They have an host and a king, and
move war and battle, and fly atrd void smoke and wind,
and make them hardy and sharp to battle with great noise.
Many have assayed and found that often Bees are gendered
and come of carrions of rothern [7.e., cattle]. And for to
bring forth Bees, flesh of calves which be slain is beat that
worms may be gendered and come of the rotted blood, the
which worms after take wings and be made Bees, as shern-
birds [7.e., hornets] be gendered of carrions of horses. Bees
make among them a king, and ordain among them
common people. And though they be put and set under
a king, yet they be free and love their king that they
make by kind love; and defend him with full great
defence ; and hold honour and worship to perish and be
spilt for their king; and do their king so great worship
that none of them dare go out of their house, nor to get
meat, but if the king pass out and take the’ principality
of flight. And Bees choose to their king him that is most
worthy and noble in highness and fairness, and most clear
in mildness, for that is chief virtue in a king. For though
their king have a sting, yet he useth it not in wreak.
And kindly the more huge Bees are, the more lighter
they be, for the greater Bees be lighter than the less Bees.
And also Bees that are unobedient to the king, they deem

BEE. | NATURAL HISTORY. 33

themselves by their own doom for to die by the wound of
their own sting. Also Bees sit upon the hives and suck
the superfluity that is in honey-combs, And it is said that
if they did not so, thereof should attercops [7.e., spiders]

be gendered of that superfluity, and the Bees should die.
Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xii. § 4.

Ir the night falleth upon them in their journey, then
they lie upright to defend their wings from rain and from
dew, that they may in the morrow tide fly the more swifter
to their work with their wings dry and able to fly. And
they ordain watches after the manner of castles, and rest
all night until it be day, till one Bee wake them all with
twice buzzing or thrice, or with some manner trumping:
then they fly all, if the day be fair on the morrow. And
the Bees that bringeth and beareth what is needful, dread
blasts of wind, and fly therefore low by the ground when
they be charged, lest they be letted with some manner of
blasts ; and chargeth themself sometime with gravel or with
small stones, that they may be the more steadfast against
blasts of wind by heaviness of the stones. Bees be com-
forted with smell of crabs, if they be sodden nigh them.
They die all with oil as such round beasts do, and namely
_ if the head be anointed; and such beasts, set in the sun,
quicken again if they be bespring with vinegar. And Bees
that make honey slay the males that grieve them, and evil
kings, that rule them not aright, but only eat too much
honey. And no creature is more wreakful, nor more
fervent to take wreak than is the Bee when he is wroth;
therefore a multitude of the host of Bees throweth down
great hedges when they be compelled to withstand them
that destroy their honey. And Bees be pleased™ with
harmony and melody of sound of song, and with flapping
of hands and beating of basins. And therefore with beating
of basins, tinging and tinking of timbers, they be com-

forted and called to the hives. Ibid. bk. xviii, § 12.
Wuere the Bee can suck no honey, she leaveth her
sting behind. Lilly, “Sappho and Phaon” (Prologue).
Fires that die on the honeysuckle become poison to
Bees. Tbid., ii, 4.
A Bex’s sting pricketh deepest, when it is fullest of
honey. Tbid., iv. 4.

R

34 SHAKESPEARE’S [ BEETLE.

Beetle.
The poor beetle that we tread upon,
In corporal sufferance, finds a pang as great
As when a giant dies.
Measure For Measure, iii. I, 79-81.

The shard-borne beetle, with his drowsy hums,
Hath rung night’s yawning peal.

f MacseTH, ili. 2, 42-3.

BEETLES are often produced from the putrid flesh of
horses. They are hung round the necks of infants for their
cure. The nature of the green Beetle sharpens the sight
of those who behold it, and therefore carvers of jewels take
pleasure in the sight of it.

Hortus Sanitatis, part. iii, (“Of Birds”), ch. evi.
(translated),

Tue Beetle is bred of putrid things and of dung, and it
chiefly feeds and delights in that. Of all plants they
cannot away with rose-trees, for they die by the smell of
them. They have no females, but have their generation
from the sun. Though the eagle, its proud and cruel
enemy, do make havoc and devour this creature of so
mean a rank, yet as soon as it gets an opportunity it
returneth like for like. For it flieth up nimbly into her
nest with its fellow-soldiers the scarab-beetles, and in the
absence of the old she-eagle bringeth out of the nest the
eagle’s eggs one after another, which, falling and being
broken, the young ones are deprived of life.

Mouffet, “'Theatre of Insects,” pp. 1005-13.

Bell-wether. VY. Wether.

A jealous rotten bell-wether.
Merry Wives or Winpsor, iii. 5, III.

Benedictus (Carduus).

Marc. Get you some of this distilled Carduus Benedictus, and lay it
to your heart; it is the only thing for a qualm,

Hero, There thou prickest her with a thistle.

Beat. Benedictus! why Benedictus? You have some moral in this
Benedictus.

Marc. Moral! ne, by my troth, I have no moral meaning ; I meant
plain Holy thistle, i

Mucnu Apo asour Noruine, iii. 4, 73-80,

BIRCH. ]. NATURAL HISTORY. 38

Carbuus is a manner herb or a weed with pricks. The
kind thereof is biting and cruel. Therefore the juice
thereof cureth the falling of the hair. The root thereof
sod in water giveth appetite to drinkers, and is most 'profit-
able to the mother, and therefore it is no wonder though
women desire it. And in drawing up of carduus men’s
fingers be oft grieved with pricks.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvii. § 36.

Carvuus Benepicrus is diligently cherished in gardens
in these Northern parts. [It is called] in English Blessed
Thistle, but more commonly by the Latin name Carduus
Benedictus. Blessed Thistle taken in meat or drink is good
for the swimming and giddiness of the head, it strengtheneth
memory and is a singular remedy against deafness. The
juice of the said Carduus is singular good against all poison.

Gerard’s “ Herbal,” s.v. See also Lupton’s “Notable
Things,” bk. ii. § 84, and bk. iv. § 53.

Bilberry.

Where fires thou find’st unraked, and hearths unswept,
There pinch the maids as blue as bilberry.
Merry Wives or Winpsor, v. 5, 48-9.

[Bilberries (Vaccinium myrtillus) are identified by Gerard with
worts (V7. uliginosum) or whortleberries, and he says that the
red worts have purple berries, and that the people of Cheshire
do eat the black whortles in cream and milk (bk. iii. ch. Lxxiii.)
—as is done in the West of England at this day.]

Birch.
As fond fathers,
Having bound up the threatening twigs of birch,
Only to stick it in their children’s sight
For terror, not to use, in time the rod
Becomes more mock’d than fear’d.
Measure For Measure, i. 3, 23-7.

In times past the Magistrates’ rods were made hereof ;
and in our time also the schoolmasters and. parents do
terrify their children with rods made of Birch. It serveth
well to the decking up of houses, and banqueting rooms,
for places of pleasure, and beautifying of streets in the
cross or gang week, and such like.

Gerara’s “Herbal,” bk. ili. ch. cxiv.

36 . SHAKESPEARE’S [ BIRD.

Bircw hath many hard twigs and branches with knots,
and therewith often children be chastised and beaten on the
bare buttocks and loins. And of the boughs and branches
thereof be besoms made to sweep and to cleanse houses of
dust and of other uncleanness. And this tree hath much
sour juice and somewhat biting. And men use therefore
in springing time and in harvest to drink it in stead of
wine but it feedeth not, nor nourisheth not, nor maketh
men drunk. Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvii. § 159.

Bird.

Tue crane that walketh for the watch by night, holdeth
a little stone in his foot, that if he hap to fall asleep, he
may be waked by falling of the stone.

Bartholomew, Berthelet, bk. xii., Introduction.

To take the Birds that eat the seeds that are sown:
f »

seethe garlick that it may not grow again; for it is said
|

BIRD. | NATURAL HISTORY. 37

to profit marvellously, if it be thrown unto them ; for they
that shall eat of it, will be taken with your hand.

If you will make Birds drunk that you may catch them
with your hands, take such meat as they love, as wheat or
beans, or such like, and lay the same to steep in lees of
Wine, or in the juice of hemlocks, and sprinkle the same
in the place where the Birds use to haunt; and if they do
eat thereof, straightways they will be so giddy, that you
may take them with your hands. I wrote this out of an
old written book, wherein I know many true things were
written, Lupton’s “Notable Things,” bk. viii. §§ 4 and 68.

Ir you wish to understand the speech of Birds, take
with you two friends on the fifth day of the Calends of
November, and go into a grove with your dogs as if to
hunt, and take the first beast you find home with you, and
prepare it with the heart of a fox, and straightway you will
understand the speech of Birds or beasts ; and if you desire
that any one else should understand it,—kiss him, and he
will understand likewise.

Albertus Magnus, “Of the Wonders of the World.”

Or such wild fowl as are bred in our land, we have the
crane, the bittern, the wild and tame. swan, the bustard,
the heron, curlew, snite [snipe], wild-goose, wind or dotterel,
brant [brant-goose or barnacle], lark, plover of both sorts,
lapwing, teal, widgeon, mallard, sheldrake, shoveler, peewit,
seamew, barnacle, quail (who only with man are subject to
the falling sickness), the knot, the oliet or olife, the dunbird,
woodcock, partridge and pheasant, besides divers other. As
for egrets, pawpers and such like, they are daily brought
to us from beyond the sea. Our tame fowl are common
both to us and to other countries, as cocks, hens, geese,
ducks, peacocks of Ind, pigeons. I would likewise entreat
of other fowls which we repute unclean, as ravens, crows,
pies, choughs, rooks, kites, jays, ring-tails, starlings, wood-
spikes, woodgnaws, etc. Our other fowls are nightingales,
thrushes, blackbirds, mavises, ruddocks, redstarts or dur-
nocks, larks, tivits, kingfishers, buntings, (turtles, white or
grey), linnets, bulfinches, goldfinches, wash-tails, cherry-
crackers, yellowhammers, fieldfares, etc.

Harrison's “Description of England,” pp. 222-3, in Holinshed.

38 SHAKESPEARE’S [ BIRD-LIME,
1
Bird-lime.
My invention
Comes from my pate as bird-lime does from frize.
OTHELLO, ii. 1, 126-7.

The glue which is made of the berries of mistletoe is
called Bird-lime. Gerara’s “Herbal.”

Turusues eat the berries, and roost all night on the
mistletoe-tree, and by their sitting and [cacando] the
mistletoe beareth Bird-lime, the bane of the bird.

. Minsheu’s Dictionary, s.v. “ Mistletoe.”

Bitch. V. Dog.

Merry Wives or Winpsor, iii. 5, II.

Bitter-sweeting.

Thy wit is a very bitter-sweeting ; it is a most sharp sauce.
Romeo anp JuLIET, ll. 4.

[The commentators will have “ Bitter-sweeting ” to be an apple,
and quote in proof instances of the word “ Bitter-sweet,” which
Gerard in his “‘ Herbal” identifies with the woody nightshade.
“ Bitter-sweet”’ or “ Bitter-scale” is mentioned as a Dorsetshire
apple in John Newburgh’s “Observations concerning Cider,”
quoted in Evelyn’s “ Pomona.”]

Blackberry.

If reasons were as plentiful as blackberries, I would give no man a
reason upon compulsion.
i. Kinc Henry IV.,, ii. 4, 264-0.

Shall the blessed sun of heaven prove a micher and eat blackberries?
i. Kinc Henry IV., ii. 4, 449-50; also
Troitus anp Cressipa, v. 4, 12.

[Gerard in his “ Herbal” classes the raspberry and the knot-
berry (or cloud-berry) with the bramble or Blackberry. He
says :]

Tue bramble groweth for the most part in every hedge
and bush. Bk, iii. ch. 4.

On Michaelmas-day the devil puts his foot upon the
Blackberries. Notes and Queries.

BLOOD-suCKER.]| NATURAL HISTORY. 39

Blind-worm.

Newts and blind-worms, do no wrong,
Come not near our fairy queen.
MrpsumMer NicuHt’s Dream, il. 2, II-12

Adder’s fork and blind-worm’s sting.
Macsety, iv. 1, 16.

[Also called] sloe-worm, because it useth to creep and
live on sloe-trees. Minsheu’s Dictionary, s.v.

It is small, and has no eyes. Hortus Sanitatis, ch. xxxvi.

Tue Blindworm is sometimes confounded with the am-
phisbena, a serpent with two heads, one in the usual place,
the other at the end of its tail, and moving either way.
This serpent is the first to appear, being anxious about its
eggs. While one part of it keeps watch, the other sleeps ;
and its eyes shine like lanterns. There is another that
walks upon its heels, and upon its tail.

Chiefly from: the Hortus Sanitatis, ch, ix.

Bloodhound.
You starved bloodhound.
ii, Kinc Henry IV., v. 4, 31.

Hounps pursue the foot of prey by smell of blood.
Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xviii. § 25.

THERE is a certain class of hounds which know thieves
by the smell ; and with implacable hatred distinguish them
from other men. Hortus Sanitatis, ch. xxiv.

Blood-sucker (i.2., a Leech— Minsheu's Dictionary, s0.)e

Pernicious blood-sucker of sleeping men,
ii. Kine Henry VI, iii. 2, 226.

A LEECH sitteth upon venomous things, and therefore
when he shall be set to 2 member because of medicine, first
he shall be wrapped in nettles and in salt, and is thereby
compelled to cast out of his body if he hath tasted any
venomous thing in warm water.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xviii. § 93.

40 SHAKESPEARE’S [ BOX-TREE.

Ir has neither bones, feet nor wings. By sucking too
much blood, it often causes its own death. It draws out.
putrid blood, and kills itself while healing its victim.

Hortus Sanitatis, ch. cxxxi.

Box-tree.

Get ye all three into the box-tree.
Twetrra NiGuT, ii. 5, 18.

Box holdeth long time shapes and figures which be made
therein; so thereof be made fair images and long-during.
The shaving of Box dyeth hair that is oft washen in the

broth thereof. Batobnen (Redes, Ue xvil; § 20.

FooLisH empirics and women leeches do minister it
against the apoplexy and such diseases. Turners and
cutlers, if I mistake not the matter, do call this wood
dudgeon, wherewith they make dudgeon-hafted daggers.

Gerard’s “ Herbal,” bk. iii. ch. Ixx.

Tue leaves and the dust of the wood boiled in lye will
make hairs of an auburn (or Abraham) colour. I learned
of a friend who had tried it effectual, to cure the biting
of a mad dog—take the leaves and roots of cowslips, of
the leaves of Box and penny-royal, of each a like quantity,
shred them small, and put them into hot broth, and let it
be so taken three days together, and apply the herb, etc., to
the bitten place with soap and hogs’ suet melted together.

Parkinson's “ Herbal,” s.v.

Box-combs bear no small part
In the militia of the female art ;
They tie the links which hold our gallants fast
And spread the nets to which fond lovers haste.

The oil assuages the tooth-ache. But the honey which is
made at Trebizond in Box-trees, renders them distracted

who eat of it. Evelyn's “Sylva,” bk. ii. ch. vi.

BRASS. | NATURAL HISTORY. 41
Brake.

Through bog, through bush, through brake, through brier.
Mipsummer Nicut’s Dream, iil. I, 110.
Brake is the female fern.
Gerard,

A Brake of fern, because wild beasts break out of them.
Minsheu's Dictionary.

Brach.

Brach Merriman the poor cur is emboss’d ;
And couple Clowder with the deep-mouth’d brach.
TAMING OF THE SHREW, Induction 1, 17-8.

{“Brach” is defined in Minsheu’s Dictionary as “a little
hound,” and the Italian equivalent given is Bracca, which Florio.
in his Dictionary gives “a brach, a bitch, a beagle.” In the
last sense “brach” is used in ‘‘ King Lear” (iii. 6, 71-2):

Mastiff, greyhound, mongrel grim,
Hound or spaniel, brach or lym.

“ Brach,” z¢., bitch, occurs in “i. King Henry IV.,” iii. 1, 241:
I had rather hear Lady my brach howl in Irish ;
and in “ King Lear,” i. 4, 125; ¢f Nares’ Glossary.]

Bramble. /. Blackberry.
As You Like Ir, ili. 2, 380.

Is dark and shadowy by reason of his thickness and is
therefore friend to adders and other creeping worms.
Therefore it is not sicher to sleep and rest nigh such bushes

for such venomous worms.
Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvii. § 40.

Brass—Brazen.

Pewter and brass and all things that belong
To housekeeping.
Tamino oF THE SHREW, ii, 1, 356-7.

Brass and copper be called AXs, for either is made of
the same stone by working of fire, for a stone resolved

42 SHAKESPEARE’S [ BREESE.

with heat turneth into Brass. Brass and copper be made
in this manner as other metal be of brimstone and quick-
silver, and that happeth when there is more of brimstone
than of quicksilver. If Brass be meddled with other metal,
it changeth both colour and virtue, as it fareth in latten.
Brazen vessels be soon red and rusty, but they be oft scoured
with sand, and have an evil savour and smell but they be
tinned. Also Brass, if it be without tin, burneth soon.
Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xv. § 37.

RIcHMONDSHIRE—the mountains plentifully yield lead,
pit-coals and some Brass. .. . Cumberland hath mines of
Brass [7.e., copper ].

Fynes Moryson, “Itinerary,” part iil, p. 144.

Breese.
Yon ribaudred nag of Egypt,

* * * * x

The breese upon her, like a cow in June,
Hoists sails and flies.
Antony anp Creopatra, iii, 10, 10-5.

In her ray and brightness
The herd hath more annoyance by the breese
Than by the tiger.
TroiLus anp Cressrpa, i. 3, 47-9.

The horrid Breese man’s body doth not spare,
He flies from us into the open air.

But they fled home as herds of oxen do,
When that the Breese doth force them for to go,
In the springtime when days do longer grow.

Tue fly called estrum is of a yellowish colour, who
when it enters the ears of an ox causeth him to run mad;
he carries before him a very hard, stiff and well-compacted
sting, with which he strikes through the ox his hide.
They follow oxen and horses and young cattle by scent of
their sweat, because they cannot reach them with their sight,
being very weak-sighted. They are generated of the worms
that come out of the wood putrefied [or, according to
another authority, from horse-leeches|.

Mouffet, “Theatre of Insects,” Pp. 935-6.:

BROCK. | NATURAL HISTORY. 43

Briar. V. Rose.

Timon oF ATHENS, iv. 3, 422.

Tue root of the Briar-bush is a singular remedy found
out by oracle against the biting of a mad dog. The fruit
when it is ripe maketh most pleasant meats and banqueting
dishes, as tarts and such like; the making whereof I commit
to the cunning cook, and teeth to eat them in the rich
man’s mouth. Gerard’s “Herbal,” bk. iii. ch. iii.

Brimstone. /. Sulphur.

To put fire in your heart, and brimstone in your liver,
Twetrra NIGHT, ili, 2, 21-2.

Ir you would have any beast or any part of the same
(of what colour soever he be) to be turned into white,
shave off the hairs, and smoke the same that is shaven
with the fume of "Beinistone, and white hairs will grow
there. You may prove the same in flowers.

Lupton’s “Notable Things,” bk. vi. § 1.

Brock [Badger].

Twetrru Nicut, il. 5, 11

Tue Brock is a beast of the quantity of a fox, and his
skin is full hairy and rough. In such beasts is wit and
flight, and holdeth in the breath, and blowing ; [and]
stretcheth the skin so holding their breathings, when they
be hunted and chased with hunters’ dogs, and so they find
sleight and manner, by such strutting out of the skin, to
eschew and put off the biting of those hounds that so do
pursue and follow to noy them, and also for to slay them,
and in like wise put they off the smitings of the hunters.
These beasts know when tempest shall fall, and maketh
them therefore dens under earth with diverse enterings, and
when the Northern wind bloweth, he stoppeth the north
entering with his rough tail, and letteth stand open the
south entering, and againwards, There is a manner kind of

rv SHAKESPEARE'’S [BRock.

Brocks that gather meat with the female against -winter, and
layeth it up in his den, and when cold winter cometh, the
male dreadeth lest store of meat should fail, and refraineth
the female, and withdraweth her meat and suffereth her not
to eat her fill, and she feigneth peace, as it were following
the male’s will, and cometh in on that other side of the
den, and openeth her jaws, and eateth and devoureth and
wasteth the meat that is gathered, unwitting the male.
These beasts hate the fox, and fight. oft-times with him,
but when the fox seeth that he may not for roughness
and for hardness of the skin grieve him, he feigneth him
as though he were sick and overcome, and fleeth away, and
while the Brock goeth out to get his prey, the fox cometh
into his den, and defileth his chamber with urine and other
uncleanness. And the Brock is squeamish of such foul
things, and forsaketh his house that is so defiled, and
getteth needfully another dwelling-place.

Bartholimew (Berthelet), bk. xviii. § 103.

Tue Brock has short legs, and not equal on the two
sides, but shorter on the left side, so that planting the
feet of the right side in the ruts made by wheels, it runs
valiantly, and escapes its pursuers. The fat of the Badger
grows when the moon waxes, and decreases as it wanes,
so that if it be killed on the last day of the old moon
none is found. This is strange, that though this part of
the beast is medicinal, yet its bite is often very serious
and fatal; and the reason of this is that it lives on wasps,
and animals which creep on the ground, and are venomous,
and therefore they infect its teeth. Its brain boiled with oil

cures all pains. Hortus Sanitatis, part ii. ch. cxlii.

[Sir Toby probably calls Malvolio “ Brock” in allusion to the
habit described by Bartholomew of this animal in_ strutting

(puffing) out its skin, so the word conveys a vivid and ludicrous
idea of Malvolio’s gait.]

We have Badgers in our sandy and light grounds, where
woods, furzes, broom and plenty of shrubs are to shrowd
them in, when they be from their burrows. Foxes and
Badgers are rather preserved by gentlemen to hunt and

BULL. | NATURAL HISTORY. 45

have pastime withal at their own pleasures, than otherwise
suffered to live, as not able to be destroyed because of
their great numbers.

Harrison's “Description of England,” p. 225 (1586), in Holinshed.

Buck. V. Hart, Stag, Deer.

Bugle.

[Bugle-Bracelet is probably a bracelet of glass beads (“ Winter’s
Tale,” iv. 4, 224), but “your Bugle eyeballs” (‘As You Like It,”
iii. 5, 47) may refer to the Bugle or buffalo, as ‘“‘ Bugle-browed ”
in Middleton’s “ Anything for a Quiet Life.” Phebe quotes
Rosalind’s words with a difference in 1. 130:

He said mine eyes were black.

Bartholomew (bk. xviii. § 15) describes the Bugle (¢.¢., buffalo)
as black or red. Or “ Bugle eyeballs” may have a similar mean-
ing to Homer’s “ox-eyed.”]

Bucte flesh sod or roasted healeth man’s biting. His
marrow taken out of the right leg doth away hair off the
eyelids. His hoof with myrrh fasteneth wagging teeth.
And Bugle-milk is full good against smiting of serpents
and of scorpions, and against venom of the cricket [and
of the salamander]. Also some be wonderful great, and
nevertheless most quiver and swift; in so much wt fimum —
quem projiciunt in turning about falleth on their horns or
ever it may come to the ground. When the cow’s time
of calving cometh, many of them come about her, and make
of dirt as it were a wall. Bartholomew, ut supra,

Bull.

Butts of Ind be red, and swift and cruel, and their
hair is turned in contrary wise, and such a Bull bendeth
the neck at his own will, and putteth off darts and shot
with hardness of the back; and is fierce and is not over-
come ; and when he is tied under a fig-tree, he loseth and
leaveth all his fierceness, and is suddenly sober and soft.
If. thou dost cut and slit his skin, so that it arear some-
what from his flesh with blowing with a. pipe, and givest
him afterward to eat, then he fatteth; and is made fat

,

46 SHAKESPEARE’S [ BULLOCK.

with sweetmeats, as with figs and grapes and raisins. Some
Bulls have movable horns, and move them one after another
in fighting ; and be always fierce when they be taken, and
destroy themselves, and die for indignation.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xviii. § 100,

Ir the right knee of a Bull be tied with a broad band,

it will make him tame.
Lupton, “ A Thousand Notable Things,” bk. iii, § 64.

A su is the husband of a cow, and ringleader of the
herd. When Bulls fight with wolves, they wind their tails
together, and so drive them away with their horns, The
blood of Bulls is accounted among the chiefest poisons.

Topsell, ‘‘Four-footed Beasts,” pp. 47-50.

[In Cibola, near Mexico,] they drink the blood of the
ox hot (which of our Bulls is counted poison),
Purchas’ “Pilgrims,” p. 778 (ed. 1616).

Bullock. VY. Bull.

Bunting.
My dial goes not true; I took this lark for a bunting.
Auv’s Wett tHat Enns WELL, ii. 5, 6-7.
The goss-hawk beats not at a bunting.
Ray’s “ Proverbs.”

[The Bunting is the woodlark.]

Burnet.

The freckled cowslip, burnet, and green clover.
Kinc Henry Vig “Vi 2s 49.

BurNET is a_ singular good herb for wounds; it
stauncheth bleeding, as well inwardly taken, as outwardly
applied. The lesser Burnet is pleasant to be eaten in
salads, in which it is thought to make the heart merry
and glad, as also being put into wine, to which it yieldeth
a certain grace in the drinking. Gerard’s “Herbal,” 5.7,

[Evelyn, in his ‘‘ Acetaria, or Discourse of Sallets,” gives the
same ‘characteristics of Burnet.]

BUTTERFLY. | NATURAL HISTORY. 47

Burr.

I am a kind of burr; I shall stick.
Measure For Measurg, iv. 3, 189-90.

They are but burrs, cousin, thrown upon thee in holiday foolery; if
we walk not in the trodden paths, our very petticoats will catch them.
As You Like It, i, 3, 13-6.

[Burr] the Clete groweth by old walls; and hight
Philanthropos, as it were loving mankind, for it cleaveth
to men’s clothes by a manner affection and love, as it
seemeth. They heal smiting of scorpions, nor they smite
not a man that is balmed with the juice thereof.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvii. § 93.

Tue Burr or fruit of the lesser Burr dock before it be
fully withered, being stamped and put into an earthen
vessel, and afterwards when need requireth the weight of
two ounces thereof and somewhat more, being steeped in
warm water and rubbed on, maketh the hairs of the head
red; yet the head is first to be dressed or rubbed with
nitre. The roots being stamped with a little salt, and
applied to the biting of a mad dog, cureth the same, and
so speedily setteth free the sick man. The juice of the
leaves drunk with old wine doth wonderfully help against
the bitings of serpents. The stalk of Clot burr before the
Burrs come forth, the rind pilled off, being eaten raw
with salt and pepper, or boiled in the broth of fat meat,
is pleasant to be eaten. Gerard’s “Herbal,” 5.0.

Butterfly.

Butterflies
Show not their mealy wings but to the summer.
Troius anp Cressipa, iii. 3, 78-9.

There is differency between a grub and a butterfly ; yet your butterfly
was a grub,
Corioanus, v. 4, II-2.

ButrerFLizs are small birds, which chiefly abound when
the mallows are in flower. Butterflies are flying grubs,
which get their food from flowers. The female lays eggs,
and dies after laying them; the eggs last through the

48 SHAKESPEARE’S [ BUZZARD.

winter, and in the summer become grubs, which, invigorated
by the warmth of the sun and by nocturnal dew, produce
wings for flying. Butterflies should be killed in the month
of April when they hurt the bees.

Hortus Sanitatis, part iii. (“ Of Birds”) § 96.

Burrerriies be called small fowls, and be most in
fruit in apples, and breedeth therein worms that come of
their stinking filth, For of malshrags [caterpillars] cometh.
and breedeth Butterflies, and of the dirt of Butterflies left
upon leaves breedeth and cometh again malshrags.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xviii. § 47.

[In Mouffet’s “ Theatre of Insects” are described and pictured
some eighty different moths and Butterflies (including apparently,
some flies and beetles), but no English names are given. He
says that the venomous dung of Butterflies, with aniseed, goat’s
milk cheese, hog’s blood, galbanum, and opoponax made into
troches (or lozenges) with good sharp wine, and dried in the
sun, allure fish to your hook.]

Buzzard.

O slow-wing’d turtle! shall a buzzard take thee?
TaMING OF THE SHREW, il. I, 208.

More pity that the eagle should be mew’d
While kites and buzzards prey at liberty.
Kine Ricwarp IIL, i. 1, 132-3.

Tue Buzzard is of the class of hawks; but somewhat
darker, and very slow and sluggish in flight; yet it lives
on prey, which it is able to catch by cunning, or when it
is let by some sickness or slowness. This bird is very
sweet in taste. Hortus Sanitatis, ch. xvii.

[A Buzzard was one of the chief dishes in Lieutenant Slicer’s
valiant dinner, for which see Cartwright’s “The Ordinary,” ii. 1.]

Cabbage or Cole or Colewort.

Good worts! good cabbage !
Merry Wives or Winnsor, i. I, 124.

Tue tombstone of the introducer of Cabbage into England
is said to exist at Wimborne, probably the Sir “Anthony
Ashley who was (according to Anthony-a~Wood) a woman-

CABBAGE. | NATURAL HISTORY. 49

hater. Evelyn, in his ‘“ Acetaria” (1699), says, ‘Tis
scarce an hundred years since we first had Cabbages out
of Holland,” in which statement he must be mistaken,
as Cabbage was commonly eaten all over England before
1633. (fobnson’s Gerard's ‘‘ Herbal,” p. 313.)

First men ate Coles ere they had corn and flesh to eat;
tofore the flood men ate apples, Coles and herbs, as beasts
eat grass and herbs. The stalks and leaves thereof grow
swifter than stalks -and leaves of other herbs; and the
overmost crop thereof is called thyme; and the natural
virtue of this herb is namely in the crop thereof. The
herb breedeth thick blood and troubly and horrible smell.
And some Cole is summer Cole, and some is winter
Cole. The malice thereof is withdrawn if it be sod or
boiled in water, and that water thrown away, and the Cole
then sodden in other water with good fatness and savoury.
Leaves thereof, bruised and laid to two days, healeth
wounds of hounds both new and old, and that wonderly.
Cole withstandeth wine and drunkenness, and _ ‘comforteth
the sinews. And the juice thereof helpeth against venom,
and also against biting of a wood hound; and serpents
flee the smell of Cole sod.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvii. § 114.

[Gerard in his ‘‘ Herbal” describes the following sorts of
Coleworts: Garden Colewort, curled garden Cole, red Colewort,
white Cabbage Cole, red Cabbage Cole, open Cabbage Cole, double
Colewort, double crisp or curled Colewort, cauliflower, swollen
Colewort (blue and curly), Savoy Cole, curled Savoy Cole, parsley
Colewort, and small-cut Colewort; and sea-Colewort (which may
be a wild sea-kale), and wild Colewort, grown for its seeds.]

Tue Colewort being eaten is good for them that have
dim eyes, and that are troubled with the shaking palsy.
The raw Colewort being eaten before meat doth preserve a
man from drunkenness; the reason is yielded, for that
there is a natural enmity between it and the vine, which
is such, as if it grow near unto it, forthwith the vine
perisheth and withereth away ; yea, if wine be poured unto
it while it is in boiling, it will not be any more boiled,
and the colour thereof quite altered. The seed taketh
away freckles of the face and’ sun-burning. _

Gerard’s “ Herbal,” bk. ii. ch. xl.
4

50 SHAKESPEARE’S [ CALF.
Calf.

The steer, the heifer, and the calf
Are all calied neat.
Winter’s Tae, i, 2, 124.

Tue Calf when he is calved hath a certain black spot in
the forehead, and witches mean that that speck or whelk
exciteth love; but the mother biteth away this speck out
of the Calf’s forehead, and receiveth him not to her teats,
ere the foresaid venom be taken off and done away.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xviii. § 111.

Camel.
Of no more soul nor fitness for the world
Than camels in the war, who have their provand
Only for bearing burdens, and sore blows
For sinking under them.
CorioLanus, ii. 1, 266.

RSX *

Nn: "

A

Camexs be beasts that bear charges and burthens, and
be mild and soft, and ordainéd to bear charge and carriage

CAMOMILE. | NATURAL HISTORY. 51

of men. The Camel of Arabia hath two bunches on the
back, and the Camel of Bactria hath but one in the back,
on the which he beareth his burthen and charge, and
another on the breast, and leaneth thereon. And _ the
Camel hateth the horse by kind, and suffereth thirst four
days, and stirreth the water with his feet when he drinketh,
or else the drink doth him no good.. Among four-footed
beasts Camels wax bald as men do, and as the ostrich and
certain beasts among fowls. Camels have the podagra and
the frenzy, and by the podagra their feet be strained, and
this evil slayeth them sometime. The Camel is the most
hottest beast of kind, and is therefore lean by kind, for
the heat draweth off all fatness of the blood, and therefore
the Camel is lean. Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xviii. § 19.

Tuoszt Camels which are conceived by boars are the
strongest, and fall not so quickly into the mire as other.
It is disdainful and a discontented creature. In the Lake
of Asphaltites, wherein all things sink that come in it,
many Camels and bulls swim through without danger,

Topsell, “‘Four-footed Beasts,” pp. 72 and 75.

Camomile.

Though the camomile, the more it is trodden on, the faster it grows,
i. Kinc Henry IV.,, ii. 4, 441.

Tue oil compounded of the flowers is a remedy against
all wearisomeness. Gerara’s “Herbal,” s.v.

Tuoucu the Camomile, the more it is trodden and
pressed down, the more it spreadeth; yet the violet the
oftener it is handled and touched the sooner it withereth
and decayeth. Lilly, “‘Euphues’ Golden Legacy.”

Tue Camomile shall teach thee patience, which thriveth
best, when trodden most upon.
“The More the Merrier” (1608), ‘quoted by’ Steevens.

52 | SHAKESPEARE’S [caPER.

Caper.

Sir Anp. Faith, I can cut a caper.
Sir Tosy. And I can cut the mutton to ‘t.
TwetrtH NicuT, i. 3,°129.

Tuey stir up an appetite to meat. They are eaten
boiled (the salt first washed off) with oil and vinegar as
other salads be, and sometimes are boiled with meat. They

be rather a sauce and medicine than a meat.
Gerard’s “Herbal,” s.v.

Tuy say that those who eat them daily are in no
danger of paralysis. They should not be eaten without
coriander. Hortus Sanitatis, bk. 1. ch. xcvili.

Capon.

Item, A capon, : . 25. 2d,
i. King Henry IV., i. 4, 584.

He steps me to her trencher, and steals her capon’s leg.
Two GeEnTLEMEN OF VERONA, iv. 4, I0.

Tue Capon sitteth on brood upon eggs that be not his
own, as it were an hen, and companieth with hens, and
eateth with them of their meat, but he feedeth them not;
he is fatted with them but he fatteth not them. And
sometime his feet are broken to compel him to sit on
brood upon eggs. When he is fat, his feet be bound
together, and his head hangeth down towards the ground,
and is borne by the feet to fairs and to markets. And
their brain is better and more profitable than the brains ot

other fowls, Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xii. § 17.

A Capon if he be well beaten with nettles will lead its
chickens about like a hen, which as they say, he does not
for the good of the chickens, but for his own good, that
by the warmth of the chickens he may make the poison
of the nettle to evaporate. Hortus Sanitatis, bk. iii. ch. liv.

Auxectoria [or Electorius], is a stone that is found in
the maws of Capons, and is like dim crystal. And as
witches tell, it is supposed that in battle-fighting, this stone

CARBUNCLE. | NATURAL HISTORY, 53

maketh men insuperable, and maketh a man gracious and
steadfast, and victor, wise and ready and cunning in plea,
and accordeth friends, and quencheth thirst in the mouth.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvi.'§ 17

Caraway.

We will eat a last year’s pippin of my own graffing, with a dish of
caraways, and so forth, :
* ii, Kine Henry IV., v. 3, 3-

[Whether “Caraways” is a kind of apple, or the well-known
seeds, the learned commentators on Shakespeare have left -un-
decided. To the many references in Steevens’ Shakespeare may
be added Dekker’s “ Bankrupt’s Banquet” and Heywood’s “Fair
Maid of the West,” in both which places the seeds are alluded
to. Possibly Caraway-seeds were to be eaten with the pippin
to correct its crudity, for Gerard says that they are very good
for the stomach, help digestion, assuage and dissolve all windi-
ness (“ Herbal,” s.v.). ;

Sir John Neville at the marriage of his daughter in 1530
provided among a great quantity of other spices ‘1 pound of
Caraways” for one shilling.]

Carbuncle.

A carbuncle entire, as big as thou art,
Were not so rich a jewel.
CortoLanus, i. 4, 55.

54 SHAKESPEARE'S [CARNATION.

Carnation. V/V. Gilliflower.

Carp.

Here is a purr of fortune’s, sir, or of fortune’s cat—but not a musk-
cat—that has fallen into the unclean fish-pond of her displeasure, and,
as he says, is muddied withal ; pray you, sir, use the carp as you may.

Att’s Wet, THAT Enps WELL, v. 2, 209.

Tue Carp is a fish with scales like gold living in lakes or
rivers. This fish has much cunning, so that it evades the
net. For when it has entered the net, it swims round to
look for the opening; and if it cannot find it, it tries to
jump over the net so as to get into the open air. Sometimes
it seeks a refuge under the net; sometimes it holds sea-
weed in its mouth at the bottom of the water, so as to
get over the net and escape; sometimes coming with a
rush from above, it fixes its head firmly in the mud, so as
to escape capture by getting its tail over the net. Its
brain is said to grow and diminish as the moon waxes and
wanes ; and though this holds with all fishes, yet especially
so in this one, as among quadrupeds in the wolf and the
dog. Hortus Sanitatis, bk. iti. ch. xviii.

V. Fish.
Cat.

Hang me in a bottle like a cat, and shoot at me.
Mvucu Apo asour NorHIne, i, I, 259.

[Gf Steevens’ notes.]

Tue Cat falleth on his own feet when he falleth out of
high places, and unneath is hurt when he is thrown down
off an high place. And when he hath a fair skin, he is
as it were proud thereof, and goeth fast about; and when
his skin is burnt, then he bideth at home; and is oft for
his fair skin taken of the skinner, and flain and slain.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xviii. § 76,

Witp Cats flee from the smoke of rue, and _ bitter
almonds. The dirt of the Tom or of the She-Cat with
mustard and vinegar cures baldness.

Hortus Sanitatis, bk. ii. ch. xxv.

cat. ] NATURAL HISTORY. 55

Ir is an unclean and a poisonous animal. It is said to
fight against toads, and though it be beaten off by their
venomed darts, yet it is not killed.

Hortus Sanitatis, bk. ii. ch. ‘ci.

Ir dogs chance to find a Cat’s skin, they will rub «and
roll themselves upon it. And they will do so likewise
where it is buried; they delight so much of the thing
dead, which they hated alive. 7

Lupton, “A Thousand Notable: Things,” bk. i. § 77.

Cats are of divers colours, but for the most part
grizzled, like to congealed ice, which cometh from the
condition of her meat. If the long hairs growing about
her mouth be cut away, she loseth her courage. There
was in a certain monastery a Cat nourished by the monks,
and suddenly the most part of the monks which used to
play with the Cat fell sick; whereof the Physicians could
find no cause, but some secret poison, and all of them
were assured that they never tasted any. At the last a
poor labouring man came unto them, affirming that he

56 SHAKESPEARE'S [caT.

saw the Abbey-cat playing with a serpent, which the
Physicians understanding presently conceived that the serpent
had emptied some of her poison upon the Cat, which
brought the same to the monks, and they by stroking and
handling the Cat were infected therewith; and whereas
there remained one difficulty, namely, how it came to pass
the Cat herself was not poisoned thereby, it was resolved,
that forasmuch as the serpent’s poison came from him but
‘in play and sport, and not in malice and wrath, that
therefore the venom thereof, being lost in play, neither
harmed the Cat at all, nor much endangered the monks ;
and the very like is observed of mice that will play with
- serpents. A Cat is much delighted to play with her image
in a glass, and if at any time she behold it in water,
presently she leapeth down into the water which naturally
she doth abhor; but if she be not quickly pulled forth
and dried she dieth thereof, because she is impatient of all
wet. Those which will keep their Cats indoors, and from
hunting birds abroad, must cut off their ears, for they
cannot endure to have drops of rain distil into them, and
therefore keep themselves in harbour. They cannot abide
the savour of ointments, but fall mad thereby. It is most
certain that the breath and savour of Cats consume the
radical humour and destroy the lungs, and therefore they
which keep their Cats with them in their beds have the
air corrupted, and fall into several hectics and consump-
tions. There was a certain company of monks much given
to nourish and play with Cats, whereby they were so in-
fected, that within a short space none of them were able
either to say, read, pray or sing in all the monastery.
And therefore also they are dangerous in the time of
pestilence, for they are not only apt to bring home
venomous infection, but to poison a man with very looking
upon him; wherefore there is in some men a_ natural
dislike and abhorring of Cats. The flesh of Cats can
seldom be free from poison, by reason of their daily food,
eating rats and mice, wrens and other birds which feed on
poison; and, above all, the brain of a Cat is most
venomous, by reason whereof memory faileth, and the in-
fected person falleth into a frenzy. But a Cat doth as
much harm with her venomous teeth. The hair also of a
Cat, being eaten unawares, stoppeth the artery and causeth

CATERPILLAR.| NATURAL HISTORY. “e

suffocation. It must needs be an unclean and impure beast
that liveth only upon vermin and by ravening, for it is
commonly said of a man when he [s]neezeth—that he hath
eaten with Cats; likewise, the familiars of witches do most
ordinarily “appear in the shape of Cats, which is an argu-
ment that this beast is dangerous to soul and body.

Topsell, ‘‘Four-footed Beasts,” pp. 81-3.’

Caterpillar.

Caterpillars eat my leaves away.
ii. Henry VL, iii. 1, go.

WueEwn the rainbow toucheth the tree, no Caterpillars will
hang on the leaves. Lilly, Epilogue to “ Campaspe.”

Ir you would destroy Caterpillars, do thus: Anoint all
the bottom of the tree round about with tar, then get a
great sort of ants or pismires, and put them in some bag,
and draw the same by a cord unto the tree, and so let it
hang there, so that it touch the body of the tree, and the
ants letted to go down from the tree by the means of the
tar will for want of food eat and destroy all the Cater-
pulars there, without hurting any of the fruit. This was
told me for a very truth.

Lupton, “A Thousand Notable Things,” bk. x. § 51.

Tue Malshrag [i.e., Caterpillar] is a nesh [soft] worm
and full of matter, distinguished with divers colours, shining
as a star by night, and hath many colours and foul shape
by day. And is not without some pestilential venom, for
when he creepeth upon an hot member of a man, he
scaldeth the skin, and maketh whelks [i.e., pustules] arise.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xviii. § 47.

V. Vermin and Worm.

Some Caterpillars are the offspring and breed of dew, as
common experience can witness. All Caterpillars are not
converted into aurelias [chrysalis], but some of them. being
gathered and drawn together ‘on a heap (as the vine
fretters), do grow at length to putrefaction, from which

58 SHAKESPEARE’S [cat 0’ MOUNTAIN.

sometimes there falleth as it were three blackish eggs, the
true and proper mothers and breeders of flies and cantha-
rides. There is not any one sort of Caterpillars, but they
are malign, naught and venomous. If you rub a naughty
or a rotten tooth with the colewort-Caterpillars, and that
often, within a few days following, the tooth will fall out
of his own accord. Caterpillars mixed with oil do drive
away serpents. Topsell, “ History of Serpents,” pp. 668-70.

Cat o’ Mountain.

More pinch-spotted make them
Than pard or cat o’ mountain.
TEmpEsT, iv. I, 262.

V. Pard.

In the Senators’ Palace [at Florence] I saw a Cat of the
Mountain, not unlike to a dog, with the head of a black
colour, and the back like an hedgehog, a light touch
whereof gave a very sweet scent to my gloves.

Fynes Moryson, “Itinerary,” part i, p. 149.

Cedar.

He shall flourish,
And, like a mountain cedar, reach his branches
To all the plains about him.

Kine Henry VIIL, v. 5, 54.

CepaR is a tree with merry smell, and endureth and
abideth long time, and is never destroyed with moth,
neither with the tree-worm. Then the Cedar-tree is always
green with good smell, and the smell of it driveth away
serpents and all manner of venomous worms, And _ the
apple of Cedar hath three manner savours.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvii. § 23.

Evelyn (‘“Sylva,” bk. ii, ch. iv.) says that chests and
presses of Cedar-wood corrupt woollen cloth and furs, but
preserve other goods from moths, and, indeed, that the
dust and very chips are exitial to moths and worms; that
the oil yielded by the wood above all other best preserves
books and writings.

CHAMELEON. | NATURAL HISTORY. 59

Or all trees the Cedar is greatest, and hath the smallest
seeds. Lilly, « Galatea.”

Tue Cedar’s juice, whose bitter poison gives

The most strong body unavoided death,

Procures the carcase by its dying force

Void of corruption. Glapthorne, “ Hollander.”

Ir his malady grow out of ambition, a top of Cedar or
an oak-apple is very sovereign with the spirit of hemp-seed.

Brome, “ Court-beggar,” iii, 1,

Chameleon.

Though the chameleon Love can feed on the air, I am one that am
nourished by my victuals,
Two GENTLEMEN OF VERONA, ii. I, 178.

T can add colours to the chameleon.
iii, King Henry VL, iii. 2, 191.

CHAMELEON is a little beast with divers colours, and his
body changeth full soon into divers colours. For it is a

60 SHAKESPEARE’S [ CHAMELEON.

fearful beast with little blood, and changeth therefore
colours. And is four manner divers [guadrupes (Bartholo-
mew)|: he hath the face of the eft, and sharp claws and
crooked, and the body sharp, and an hard skin as the
crocodile. And his sides be even long to the nether parts
of his womb as it were a fish; his face is as it were a
beast compounded of a swine and of an ape; and his tail
is full long and small at the end; and his feet be crooked
as it were a little eft; and each of his feet is departed atwin
[in two], and the comparison of one foot to another is as in

pee / /,| :
iia |

7

‘i

ZENS

comparison of the thumb of a man to the other deal of
the hand; and each of those two parts is divided in
fingers ; and his claws be like to the claws of a bird, and
all his body is rough and sharp as the body of a Bardan
[partan (Bartholomew), (? pard or crab)]. His eyes be deep,
great and round, and contained with a skin, like to the
skin of the body, and that skin covereth the eyes. And
he turneth and casteth oft his eyes hither and_ thither.
And changeth his colour when his skin is blown, and his

CHAMELEON. | NATURAL HISTORY. 61

colour is somewhat black with black speckles therein. And
this diversity is in all his body, and namely in the eyes,
and also in the tail, and is full heavy in moving and foul
of colour in his death, and what is in his body ‘is but of
little flesh ; and hath little blood, but in the head, and in
the end of the tail, where he hath little blood and also.
in the heart, and in the veins that come therefrom; and
also hath blood about the eyes, though it be right little.
His most might and strength is against the kind of gos-
hawks; for he draweth them, and they fly to him, and he
taketh them wilfully to other beasts to be devoured. If
his head and his. throat be set afire with oaken wood, it
maketh both rain and thunder., In sickness he feigneth
himself soft and mild, though he be cruel. And it is said,
that the Chameleon liveth only by air, and the mole by
earth, and the herring by water, and the cricket [sala-
mander (Bartholomew) | by fire.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xviii. § 21.

Ir the Chameleon at any time see a serpent taking the
air, and sunning himself under some green tree, he climbeth
up into that tree, and settleth himself directly over the
serpent, then out of his mouth he casteth a thread like a
spider, at the,end whereof hangeth a drop of poison as
bright as any pearl, which lighting upon the serpent
killeth it immediately. The right claw of the fore-feet,
bound to the left arm with the skin of his cheeks, is good
against robberies and terrors of the night, and the right
pap against all fears. If the left foot be scorched in a
furnace with the herb Chameleon, and afterward putting a
little ointment to it, and made into little pasties, so being
carried about in a wooden box, it maketh the party to go
invisible. Likewise the liver dissolveth amorous enchant-
ments. The entrails and dung of this beast washed in the
urine of an ape, and hung up at our enemies’ gates,
causeth reconciliation. With the tail they bring serpents
asleep, and stay the flowing of the floods and waters; the
same mingled with cedar and myrrh, bound to two rods
of palm, and struck upon water, causeth all things that
are contained in the same water to appear.

Topsell, “ History of Serpents,” pp. 675-6.

62 SHAKESPEARE’S [ CHERRY.

Cherry.
Kinc Henry VIIL, v. 1, 169.

[Gerard (‘‘Herbal,” s.v.) reckons up the following sorts of
Cherries: English, Flanders, Spanish, Gascon (late-ripe), Chester,
double - flowered, barren double-flowered, bird’s Cherry or black
grape Cherry, another bird’s Cherry, common black Cherry,
dwarf Cherry, greater and lesser heart Cherry (or Luke Ward’s
Cherry and the Naples Cherry), large black Cherry, agriot, large-
fruited dwarf, and dun-coloured Cherry, besides many other un-
named sorts. Later, he speaks of Kentish Cherries and Morella
Cherries, but he has no good word to say of any of them.

Evelyn (‘‘ Sylva,” ch. xx.) says that Cherries were said to
have been brought into Kent out of Flanders by Henry VIII.]

As many several change of faces
As I have seen carved upon a Cherry-stone.
Webster's “ Devil’s Law Case,” iii. 4.

Chestnut.

Do you tell me of a woman’s tongue,
That gives not half so great a blow to hear
As will a chestnut in a farmer's fire?
TAMING OF THE SHREW, 1. 2, 208.

A Castz1n tempered with a little honey healeth at the
best biting of a wood hound, or man’s biting. Also the
rinds and leaves burnt and made to powder, tempered with
vinegar and laid to a young man’s head in a plaster-wise,
maketh hair increase, and keepeth hair from falling.

Bartholimew (Berthelet), bk. xvii. § 88.

Tue Chestnut is next the oak one of the most sought
after by the carpenter and joiner. It hath formerly built
a good part of our ancient houses in the City of London,
as does yet appear. If water touch the roots of the
growing trees, it spoils both fruit and timber. The beams
made of Chestnut-tree have this property, that, being some-
what brittle, they give warning, and premonish the danger
by a certain crackling which it makes.

Evelyn's “Sylva,” bk. i. ch. viii.
Marps, if you look to roast your Chestnuts well,
Observe first with a knife to wound the shell ;
If with unbroken skin it touch the fire,
"Twill break in pieces, and with noise retire.
Heywood’s “ Anna and Phillis,’ emb. 33.

CHRYSOLITE, | NATURAL HISTORY. 63
Chick, Chicken.

Troitus anp Cressipa, i. 2, 147.

A WaLNnutT put fast in a Chicken, that it fall not out
in the roasting thereof; it makes that the same Chicken
will be the sooner roasted.

Lupton, “A Thousand Notable Things,’’ bk. v. § 32.

Chrysolite.

If heaven’ would make me such another world
Of one entire and perfect chrysolite,
Tid not have sold her for it.

OTHELLO, v. 2, 143.

CuryYsoLiTe is a little stone of Ethiopia, shining as
gold, and sprinkling as fire, and is like to the sea in
colour, and somewhat green. If it be set in gold and

Wide mec na

D il

borne on the left arm, it feareth fiends and chaseth them
away, and it helpeth night-frays and dreads; and abateth
an evil that hight melancholy, or doth it away; and.

64 SHAKESPEARE’S [CIVET.

comforteth the in-wit. One manner of Chrysolite is deemed
golden by day, and fiery by night. And another manner
kind is coloured as gold, and is right fair in sight in the
morrow tide; and then as the day passeth his colour
waxeth dim. And this stone taketh most soonest heat ; for
if it be set by the fire, anon it waxeth on aflame.
Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvi. § 29.

According to the Hortus Sanitatis (bk. iv. § 38), Chrysolite
drives away demons and the worst melancholy fears if
pierced, and the hole filled up with ass’s bristles, and the
stone bound on the left arm. And some say that it drives
away folly, and brings wisdom.

Curyso.ite, the purer the sooner stained.
“Euphues’ Golden Legacy.”

Civet.
A’ rubs himself with civet.
Mvucw Apo asout Noruine, iil. 2, 45

Civet is of a baser birth than tar, the very uncleanly flux of a cat.
As You Like Ir, iii. 2, 69.
Tuts is Civet, this comes from the cat’s tail, this per-
fumes your ladies, this drug is precious and dear.
Sharpham, “The Fleire.”

I vow to poison your musk-~cats, if their Civet excre-
ment do but once play with my nose.
Dekker’s “ Gull’s Hornbook,” bk. ii.

He wears Civet,
And when it was ask’d him where he had that musk,
He said all his kindred smelt so.
“Soliman and Perseda,” i.

(Civer as an ingredient of a pomandet.) «Lingua,” iv. 3,

Musx-cat, I'ld make your Civet worship stink
First in your perfumed buff.
Thomas Razlins, ‘The Rebellion,” ii, 1.

THis beast is a very clean beast, and therefore the place
where it lieth must be swept every day and the vessels
clean washed. The Civet or liquor running out doth go

coc. ] NATURAL HISTORY. 65

back again if any vessel be put to receive it, except it be
a silver spoon or porringer. This Civet is nothing else but
the sweat of the beast under the ribs, fore-legs, neck and tail.

Topsell, “ Four-footed Beasts,” p. 586.

Cloves.
Brron. A lemon.
Lone. Stuck with cloves.
Love’s Lazsour’s Lost, v. 2, 653.

Here’s New Year's gift has an orange and rosemary,
but not a Clove to stick in ’t.

Ben Fonson, “ Masque of Christmas.”

Wine will be pleasant in taste and in savour and
colour ; it will much please thee, if an orange or a lemon
(stuck round about with Cloves) be hanged within the
vessel that it touch not the wine. And so the wine will
be preserved from foistiness and evil savour.

Lupton, “A Thousand Notable Things,” bk. ii. § 40.

He walks most commonly with a Clove or pick-tooth in
his mouth. Ben Fonson, “ Cynthia’s Revels,” ii. 3.

In the goose-market numbers of freshmen stuck here and
there with a graduate, like Cloves with great heads in a
gammon of bacon. Webster’s “Northward Ho!” i. 1.

Tuat Westphalian gammon Clove-stuck face.
Marston's “Scourge of Villainy,” Satire vii., line 114.

Some be feigned with powder of good Cloves meddled
with vinegar and wine with good smell, and be unneath
known. But these that be feigned may not be kept passing
twenty days. Good Cloves comfort the brain and the virtue
of feeling, and help also against indignation and ache of
the stomach. . Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvii. § 79.

Cock.

TaminGc OF THE SHREW, il. I, 227-8.

Cock’s flesh raw, and laid hot upon the biting of a
serpent, doth away the venom. And to the same his. brain
is good, taken in drink. And if a man be [a]nointed. with

5)

66 SHAKESPEARE'S [cock.

his grease, or with his juice, he shall be sure from panthers
and lions. And if the bones of a Cock or of an hen be
meddled with gold when it is molten, they destroy and
waste the gold. And so hen’s bones be venomous to gold,
and that is wonder. When he hath the mastery [over his
adversaries | he singeth anon ; and ere he singeth, he beateth
himself with his wings to make him the more able to
sing. And he useth far in the night to sing most clearly,
and to sing strongly. And about the morrow-tide he
shapeth light voice and song. The Cock beareth a red
comb on his head instead of a crown; which being lost he
loseth his hardiness, and is more slow and coward to assail
his adversary. And he setteth next to him on the roost
the hen that is most fat and tender, and loveth her best ;
in the morrow-tide, when he flieth to get his meat, first he
layeth his side to her side ; and he fighteth for her specially
as though he were jealous. And he breedeth a precious stone
called allectricium, [or allectoria, v. Capon] like to the stone
that hight chalcedony ; and the Cock beareth that stone, and
by cause of that stone (as some men trow) the lion dreadeth

and abhorreth [him], and specially if the Cock be white. :

For the lion dreadeth the white Cock. Also the Cock
dreadeth the eagle and the goshawk, which take their prey
on the ground. And the Cock is right sharp of sight,
and therefore he looketh downward with the one eye to
seek his meat, and upward into the air with the other eye
to beware of coming of the eagle and of the goshawk.
Also a right aged Cock layeth eggs in his last end, and
the eggs are small and full round, and as they were wan
or yellow. And if any venomous worm sitteth on brood
on them in the canicular days, of them be bred and grow
cockatrices. Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xii. § 16.

Ir is to be marvelled at, that a Cock or Cockerel which
doth not fear a serpent or a dragon is so afraid of the

shadow of a glead, when he is flying, that suddenly he |

seeks a place of refuge, and hides himself.
Lupton, “A Thousand Notable Things,” bk. i. § 24,

Ir the blood of a Cock be dried, and made in powder,
and mixed in wine, wherein there is water, it makes the
water swim above. This was the relation of a learned
monk. Ibid. bk. vi. § 6,

ee ae FS a

COCKLE. | NATURAL HISTORY. 67

Ir any man wishes that a Cock should not crow, let him
anoint its head and brow with oil.

Albertus Magnus, “Of the Wonders of the World.”

In the beginning of the night God causeth all the gates
of heaven to be shut, and the Angels stay at them in
silence, ‘and sendeth evil spirits into the world, which hurt
all they meet; but after midnight they are commanded to
open the same. This command and call is heard of the
Cocks, and therefore they clap their wings and crow to
awaken men; and then the evil spirits lose their power of
hurting.

Purchas, “ Pilgrims,” p. 194 (ed. 1616); cf Hamuet, i. 1, 147-155.

Cockatrice. VY. Basilisk.

Cockle.

‘Hamer, iv. 5, 25.

Tue flesh of river Cockles, whether raw or cooked, resist
the stings of scorpions. Hortus Sanitatis, bk. iii. ch. xxiii,

CoLcHESTER oysters and your Selsey Cockles.
Ben Fonson, “ The Fox,” ii. 1.

Have our Cockles boiled in silver shells.
Ben Fonson, “The Alchemist,” iv. 1.

You may eat the cramm’d Cockle.
Middleton, “A Game at Chess,” v. 3, 70,

Cockle (plant).

Love’s Lasour’s Lost, iv. 3, 383.

Ray is a certain herb; poets call this herb ungracious
Cockle or weed; and it groweth among wheat in corrupt
time and dry. And ray hath a sharp strength and work-
ing, and somedeal venomous, and maketh men drunk, and

68 SHAKESPEARE'S [copiine-

disturbeth the wit, and grieveth the head, and changeth
savour of bread and infecteth bread that it is meddled with,
and grieveth full soon, and slayeth sometime if it be eaten
in great quantity. Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvii. § 194.

V, Darnel.

Codling.

Not yet old enough for a man, nor young enough for a boy; as a
squash is before ‘tis a peascod, or a codling when ’tis almost an apple.
Twetrra Nicut, i. 5, 167.

[So in Ben Jonson’s “ Alchemist,’ and Brome’s ‘Mad Couple,”
i. I]
V. Apple.

Columbine.

There’s fennel for you, and columbines.
Hamuet, v. 4, 180.

[To the notes in Szeevens’ Shakespeare on this passage may
be added that the Columbine was also called Herba Leonis, or
“the herb wherein the lion doth delight,” and that it was “ used
especially to deck the gardens of the curious, garlands and
houses” (Gerard’s ‘‘ Herbal,” s.v.).

Minsheu (Dictionary, s.v.) translates Columbine into the Latin
Aquilegia (“because in its flowers there is some likeness to the
eagle”), and Chelidonia (i.e., celandine), which is so called, “ for
it springeth or bloometh in the coming of swallows.” “By the
juice of celandine swallows’ eyes turneth again to the first
state, if they be hurt or put out” (Bartholomew, bk. xvii. § 46).
So Lupton (“A Thousand Notable Things,” bk. iii. § 89): “The
eyes of young swallows being in the nest, pricked with a needle
or a pin, and so made blind, within four or five days after,
they will see again; which is very true, for I have proved it.
But how they recover their sight I know not. But divers
write, if their eyes be hurt, the old swallows restore their
sight again with the juice of celandine.” And the same author
states: ‘‘ Celandine with the heart of a wont or a mould-warp
[z.e., mole], laid under the head of one that is grievously sick
if he be in danger of death, immediately he will cry with a
loud voice, or sing: if not, he will weep” (bk. ii. § 4).

Most probably Minsheu translated “Columbine” wrongly, but
the virtues of celandine are worthy of record.] i.

coNncER.] NATURAL HISTORY. 69
Cony:

They will out of their burrows like conies after rain.
CorioLanus, iv. 5, 226-7

Contes be called small hares and feeble, and they dig
the earth with their claws, and make them bowers and
dens under the earth, and dwell therein, and bring forth
many rabbits, and multiply right much. And rabbits be
so loved in the Balearic Isles that those rabbits without
mothers be taken and eaten of the men of the country,
though the guts be unneath cleansed. As many dens as
be in the increasing [excrement (Bartholomew)| of the
Conies, so many years they have of age. In [that part of]
the body be so many holes as the Conies have years. It
is said that they have both sexes, male and female. And is a
profitable beast both to meat and to clothing, and to many

manner medicines, Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xviii. § 68.

By night he devours vine-shoots and fruits, but in the
morning he enters his den, and makes the opening of it
level with the soil by dust from within, lest men coming
past by day should find out his dwelling.

Hortus Sanitatis, bk. ii. ch. xlv.

Conger.

Eats conger and fennel.
ii, Kinc Hewry IV., li. 4, 229.

ConceER is a sea-fish, as long as a lamprey, but much
larger in the body. When the wind blows strongly it
grows fat, and its flesh is most sweet to eat. It 1s an
enemy to lampreys and other fish, yet it is strong, so that
it can tear a polypus by the strength of its teeth. The
Conger and the lamprey hate one another, and bite each

; -
other’s tails. Hortus Sanitatis, bk. iti. ch. xxiv.

Tue Conger hath many wiles, and is witty and wily of
getting of meat, for when he seeth meat on a hook, he
dreadeth the hook, and biteth not the bait, but holdeth

70 SHAKESPEARE'S [COPPER.

the hook with his fins, and letteth it not pass till he have
gnawn the meat. Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xiii. § 29.

FENNEL was commonly eaten with Conger.

Ben ‘fonson, “Bartholomew Fair,” and ‘ Philaster.”

Copper.
i. Kine Henry IV., iii. 3, 162.

V. Brass.

Copper is lately not found, but restored again to light.
Strangers have most commonly the governance of our mines.

Holinshed, ‘Description of England,” p. 238.

Coral.

Full fathom five thy father lies ;
Of his bones are coral made.
‘TEMPEST, i. 2, 397.

Cora is gendered in the Red Sea, and is a tree as long
as it is covered with water; but anon as it is drawn out
of water and touched with air, it turneth into stone.
Witches tell that this stone withstandeth lightning. His
might and virtue is wonderful, for it putteth off lightning,
whirlwind, tempest and storms from ships and houses that
it is in. And it is double white and red, and is never
found passing half a foot long. And the red helpeth
against the fiend’s guile and scorn, and against divers
wondrous doing, and multiplieth fruit, and speedeth begin-
ning and ending of causes and of needs.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk xv. § 33.

[Szr Thomas Browne (“ Vulgar Errors,” bk. ii. ch. v.), doubts
whether Coral be soft under water, and adds that “a gentleman
caused a man to go down into the sea no less than a hundred
fathom to see if it were so.” Truly there were divers in those
days! Further (bk. v. ch. xxiii.) he says: “Though Coral
doth properly preserve and fasten the teeth in men, yet it is
used in children to make an easier passage for them, and for
that intent is worn about their necks.”]. .

CRAB. | NATURAL HISTORY. 71

Cow.
The breese upon her, like a cow in June
Hoists sails and flies,
Antony anp CLEOPATRA, iil, 10, 14.

Wuen the kine do oft calve and have many calves, it
is a token as men mean that in winter shall be much rain.
And when they have sore feet, it is medicine therefor
to anoint them between the horns with oil and pitch and
other medicines. And have the gout and die of that evil;
and the token thereof is when they bear down their ears,
and eat not. And when she is stung with a great fly, -
then she raiseth up her tail in a wonder wise, and startleth
as she were wood about fields and plains.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xviii. § 109.

Tue hoofs of the fore-feet of a Cow dried, and made
in fine powder, increaseth milk in nurses if they eat it in
their pottage, or use it in their drink; and being cast
upon burning coals, the smoke thereof doth kill mice, or
at the least doth drive them away.

Lupton, “A Thousand Notable Things,” bk. i. § 4.

Cowslip.
Freckled cowslip.
Kine Henry V., v. 2, 49.

Cowstip, because the cow licketh this flower up with

her lips. Minsheu’s Dictionary, 5.0.
Cows.ips [or] two-in-a-hose. Gerara’s “Herbal,” 5.0.
Crab.

If like a crab you could go backward. ,
: Hamtet, ii. 2, 206.

Great cold grieveth them [i.c., fish] sore, and namely
them that have stones in their heads as Crabs and other
such, For the stone in the head runneth and freezeth,
and such a fish dieth soon. Also the Crab is enemy to
the oyster, for he liveth by fish thereof with a wonderful
wit. For because that ye [? he] may not open the hard
shell of the oyster, he spieth and awaiteth when the oyster
openeth, and then the Crab (that lieth in await) taketh a
little stone, and putteth between the shells, that the oyster

vi SHAKESPEARE'’S . [CRaB.

may not close himself. And when the closing is so let,
the Crab eateth and gnaweth the fish of the oyster.
Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xiii. § 29.

Tue Crab goes backward, and has never known how to
follow his nose. When he grows old, two stones of a
white colour mixed with red are found in his head, which
are said to be of such virtue that, given in drink, they
heal punctures of the heart. There are some little Crabs
on the coast of Judea which are called soldiers, because
they run so fast and cannot be caught. And if one of
them be cut in half, there is no flesh or superfluity at all
to be found in its body, because they take no food.

Hortus Sanitatis, bk. iv. ch, xvi. |

[In the Moluccas shipwrecked men were forced to build
a fort] to defend themselves from certain Crabs of exceed-
‘ng greatness, and in as great numbers, and of such force,
that whosoever they got under their claws it cost him his
life. Purchas, ‘* Pilgrims,” p. 504, ed. 1616.

Crags here with us have a sympathy with the moon,
and are fullest with her fulness. In India there is a
contrary antipathy, for at full moon they are emptiest.

Lbid., p. 505.
Crab (i.c., Grab-apple).
And sometimes lurk I in a gossip’s bowl

In very likeness of a roasted crab.
Mipsummer Nicut’s Dream, ii. 1, 48.

[Lamb’s wool was made of cultivated apples, not of crabs.
Cf. Gerara’s “ Herbal,” s.v. Apple.]

A cup of ale had in his hand, and a Crab lay in the fire.

““«Gammer Gurton’s Needle.”

Cricket.
As merry as crickets,
i, Kinc Henry IV.,, ii. 400.
[Cricket] is a little beast, feeble and mightless and thievish
and venomous with pricks and pikes. This beast goeth back-
ward, and saweth and diggeth the earth, and worketh by
night ; and is hunted with an ant tied with an hair, and
thrown into his den: and the powder [dust] is first blown
away, lest the ant hide herself therein, and so he is drawn
to love of the ant. Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xviii. § 58,

ih!

CROCODILE. | NATURAL HISTORY. 73

Crocodile.

Your serpent of Egypt is bred now of your mud by the operation of
the sun: so is your crocodile.
Antony anp CLEOPATRA, il. 7, 29.

If that the earth could teem with woman’s tears
Each drop she falls would prove a crocodile.
OTHELLO, iv. I, 256.

The mournful crocodile
With sorrow snares relenting passengers.
ii. Kino Henry VI, iil. 1, 226.
O tanpb Crocodiles,
Made of Egyptian slime, accursed women !
Massinger, “The Renegado,”’ iii. 1.

Tue Crocodile is a serpent that from a small egg, grows
in short time to a mighty length and bigness; he is bold
over those that fly him, but fearful of them that pursue

—v"

o) oy)

Bir

S
»

’

AAR

him; the four winter months, November, December,
January and February, he eats not at all; he hath no
tongue, but teeth sharp and long; neither in feeding doth
he move his lower jaw.

Thomas Heywood, “ London’s Peaceable Estate.”

74 SHAKESPEARE’S [ CROCODILE.

CrocopiLe is nigh twenty cubits long, and his skin is
hard that recketh not though he be strongly beaten on the
back with stones. And a certain fish, having a crest like
to a saw, rendeth his tender womb, and slayeth him. And
it is said that among beasts only the Crocodile moveth the
over jaw. Among beasts of the land he is tongueless, and
his biting is venomous; his teeth be horrible and strongly
shapen as a comb or a.saw, and no beast that cometh of
so little beginning waxeth so great, and is a beast nourished
in great gluttony, and eateth right much. And so when

he is full, he lieth by the brink or by the cliff, and bloweth
for fullness; and then there cometh a little bird, which is
called king of fowls among the Italians, and this bird flyeth
tofore his mouth, and sometime he putteth the bird off,
and at the last he openeth his mouth to the bird, and
suffereth him enter. fAnd this bird claweth him first with
claws softly, and miaketh him have a manner liking in
clawing, and falleth anon asleep, and when this bird
knoweth and perceiveth that this beast sleepeth, anon he
descendeth into his womb, and forthwith sticketh him as
it were with a dart, and biteth him full grievously and full

CROCODILE. | NATURAL HISTORY. 75

sore. The Crocodile is right nesh and full tender in the
womb, and for that cause he is soon overcome of such
fishes, which have sharp pricks and crests growing on their
backs on highy This grim and most horrible beast followeth )1..
and pursueth them that fly, and is dreadful to them; and
he fleeth serpents, and hath dim eyes while he is in the.
water, and seeth too sharply when he is out of water.
And he waxeth more all the time that he is alive. If the
Crocodile findeth a man by the brim of the water, or by
the cliff, he slayeth him if he may, and then he weepeth upon
-him, and swalloweth him at the last. ,/And of his dirt is
made an ointment, and with that ointment women anoint
their own faces. And so old women and rivelled [wrinkled]
seem young wenches for a time. And the Crocodile eateth
gladly good herbs and grass, among whom lurketh a little
serpent, and is enemy to the Crocodile, and hideth him privily
in the grass, and wrappeth himself therein, and so while
the Crocodile eateth grass, he swalloweth this serpent, and
this serpent entereth into his womb, and allto [quite] rendeth
his guts, and slayeth him, and cometh out harmless. ‘The same
worm lieth in await on the Crocodile when he sleepeth,
and then wrappeth himself in fen [#.e. mud], and entereth
in between his teeth, and cometh into his body. The
Crocodile lieth in await on certain small birds that breed
among the grass of the River Nile, the which birds fly
into the womb of the Crocodile for heat of the sun, and
eateth the worms of his womb; and so that fierce beast
is cleansed and purified of worms. And so dwelleth in
land by day, and in water by night; for the water is
hotter by night than by day, for the water holdeth the
sunbeams, and be moved, and so the water is hot.
Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xviii. § 33.

Or late years, there hath been brought into England the
cases or skins of such Crocodiles, to be seen,—and much
money given for the sight thereof, the policy of strangers ;
laugh at our folly, either that we are too wealthy, or else
that we know not how to bestow our money.

Batman's addition to Bartholomew, bk. xviii. § 33.

His nature is ever when he would have his prey to cry Her
and sob like a Christian body, to provoke them to come to
him, and then he snatcheth at them; and thereupon came

76 ‘SHAKESPEARE'’S [ CROCODILE.

this proverb that is applied to women when they weep,
Lachryme crocodili, the meaning whereof is, that as the
Crocodile when he crieth, goeth then about most to deceive,
so doth a woman most commonly when she weepeth.

Master Fobn Hawkins’ ‘Second Voyage”
apud Hakluyt, p. 534 (ed. 1598).

Tue Crocodile is a great worm, abiding near the rivers
sides. The Crocodile of the earth is afraid of saffron, and
therefore the country-people, to defend their hives of bees
and honey from them, strew upon the places saftron. It
is doubtful whether it hath any place of excrement except
the mouth. They do not cast their skins as other serpents
do. After the egg is laid by the Crocodile, many times
there is a cruel stinging scorpion which cometh out thereof,
and woundeth the Crocodile that laid it. The Crocodile is a
fearful serpent, abhorring all manner of noise, especially from
the strained voice of a man. The Crocodile runneth away
from a man if he wink with his left eye, and look steadfastly
upon him with his right eye. Because he knoweth that
he is not able to overtake a man in his course or chase,
he taketh a great deal of water in his mouth, and casteth
it in the path-ways, so that when they endeavour to run
from the Crocodile, they fall down in the slippery path.
There is an amity and natural concord betwixt swine and
Crocodiles. If but a feather of the ibis come upon the
Crocodile by chance, or by direction of a man’s hand, it
maketh it immoveable and cannot stir. There is a kind
of thorny wild bean growing in Egypt, this is a great
terror to the Crocodile, for he is in great dread of his eyes,
and therefore all the people bear them in their hands when
they travel. When they go to the land to forage and seek
after a prey, they cannot return back again, but by the
same footsteps of their own which they left imprinted in
the sand [and so they may be caught in a trench made in

vay

their path]. The Indians have a kind of Crocodile in Ganges, |

which hath'a horn growing out of his nose like a rhinocerot.
The blood of a Crocodile is thought to cure the bitings of
any serpent. ‘The skin both of the land and water Crocodile
dried into powder, and the same powder with vinegar or
oil laid upon a part or member of the body to be seared,
cut off, or lanced, taketh away all sense and feeling of pain

cRow. | NATURAL HISTORY. re

from the instrument in the action. The poison of the
Crocodile worketh by cold air and light, and therefore by
the want of both is to be cured.

Topsell, *‘ History of Serpents,” pp. 683-92.

Crow.
Crows are fatted with the murrion flock.
Mipsummer Nicut’s Dream, ii. 1, 97.

Tue Crow is a bird of long life. And diviners tell
that she. taketh heed of spyings and awaitings, and teacheth
and sheweth ways, and warneth what shall fall. But it
is full unlawful to believe, that God showeth his privy
_ council to Crows. Among many divinations, diviners mean
that Crows token rain with greding and crying. And is 4
jangling bird and unmild, and grievous to men there they
dwell. And eateth unclean meats and venomous, and liveth
right long. In age their feathers wax white; but in,
flesh within, the longer they live, the more black they be.
Crows rule and lead storks, and come about them as it
were in routs, and fly about the storks, and defend them.
and fight against .other birds and fowls that hate storks.
And take upon them the battle of other birds upon their
own peril. And an open proof thereof is,—for in that
time that the storks pass out of the country Crows be
not seen in places where they were wont to be; and also
for they come again with sore wounds, and with voice of
blood that is well known, and with other signs and tokens,
and show that they have been in strong fighting. And
the mildness of the bird is wonderful. For when father
and mother in age be both naked and. bare of feathers,
then the young Crows hide and cover them with their
feathers and gather meat and feed them. And sometime
when the father and mother wax old and feeble, then the
young Crows underset them and rear them up with their
wings, and comfort them to use to fly, to bring the
members that be diseased into state again,

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xii. § 9.

In the solstice the Crow is seized with disease; it feeds
freely on nuts. It lies in wait for the eggs of the dove,
to break them and suck them.

Hortus Sanitatis, bk. iti. che xxxiii.

78 SHAKESPEARE’S [CROW-FLOWERS.

Ir a Crow chance to eat of the rest of the flesh whereof
a wolf hath eaten before: the same Crow will die soon after.

Lupton, “A Thousand Notable Things,” bk. vi. § 49.

Crow-flowers.
Hamtet, iv. 7, 170.

Besipes these kinds. of Pinks before described, there is a
certain other kind either of the gilly-flowers or else of the
Sweet Williams, altogether and every where wild. I do
hold it for a degenerate kind of wild gilly-flower. These
grow all about in meadows and pastures and darkish places.
They begin to flower in May and end in June. The
Crow-flower is called wild Williams, marsh gilly-flowers,
and cuckoo gilly-flowers. These are not used in medicine
or in nourishment ; but they serve for garlands and crowns,
and to deck up gardens. Gerara’s “ Herbal,” 5.7,

Crown imperial.

Winter’s Tate, iv. 4, 126.

Tuis plant hath been brought from Constantinople
amongst other bulbous roots, and made denizens in our
London gardens, whereof I have great plenty.

Gerard’s “ Herbal,” sv.

Crystal.

Love’s Lazour’s Losr, ii. 1, 243.

Crysra is a bright stone and clear with watery colour.
Men trow that it 1s of snow or ice made hard in space
of many years. This stone set in the sun taketh fire,
insomuch if dry tow be put thereto, it setteth the tow
on fire. Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvi. $31.

Cuckoo.
Mipsummer Nicut’s Dream, iii. 1, 134.

Tue Cuckoo is a dishonest bird, and is very slow, and
does not stay in a place. In winter it is said to lose its

CUCKOO-BUD. | NATURAL HISTORY. 79

feathers; and it enters a hole in the earth or hollow trees;
there in the summer it lays up that on which it lives in
the winter. They have their own time of coming, and
are borne upon the wings of kites, because of their short
and small flight, lest they be tired in the long tracts of
air and die. From their spittle grasshoppers are produced.
In the winter it lies languishing and unfeathered, and looks
like an owl. Hortus Sanitatis, bk, iii. ch. xxxix.

Ir you mark where your right foot doth stand at the
first time that you do hear the Cuckoo, and then grave
or take up the earth under the same,—wheresover the
same is sprinkled about, there will no fleas breed. And
I know it hath proved true.

Lupton, “ A Thousand Notable Things,” bk. iii. § 47.

WHEN you first see the Cuckoo, mark well where your
right foot doth stand; for you shall find there an hair,
which, if it be black, it signifies that you shall have very
evil luck all that year following. If it be white, then it
signifies very good luck ; but if it be grey, then indifferent.
It is certain such a hair hath been found accordingly, but
what event did follow thereof I am yet uncertain. But
this was affirmed unto me for a very truth. It was also
credibly reported to me, that the like hair will be found
under the right foot at. the first seeing of the swallow,
after they are come at the spring-time; so that you look
after the said swallow, as long as you can see her.

Ibid, bk. x. § 80.

Cuckoo-bud.

When daisies pied and violets blue
And lady smocks all silver white
And cuckoo-buds of yellow hue
Do paint the meadows with delight.
Love’s Lasour’s Lost, v. 2, 906.

[If the learned Steevens in writing his note on this passage
had noticed that Shakespeare draws a special distinction between
the colours of “lady-smocks” and ‘“ Cuckoo-buds,” he would
not have suggested that Shakespeare might not have been
sufficiently acquainted with botany to be aware that lady-smocks
are also called Cuckoo-flowers (which latter word occurs “ Lear,”
iv. 4,4). ‘“Cuckoo-bud” may be the Ranunculus bulbosus, which

v

80 SHAKESPEARE’S — [cuckoo-FLOWER.

Gerard calls the Round-rooted Crow’s-foot, or it may be the
“‘ Cuckoo-bread,” “‘ Cuckoo-brood,” or as Gerard calls it, “ Cuckoo-
meat,” 2.¢., the Oxalis acetosella. Gerard describes a variety
of this plant with yellow flowers, and says that it has its name
“because either the Cuckoo feedeth thereon, or by reason when
it springeth forth and flowereth the Cuckoo singeth most.”]

Cuckoo-flower.

[See above and Lady-smock.]

Currants.
Winter’s Taz, iv. 3, 40.

[Gerard only casually alludes to the Currant-bush which now
grows in England, of which, however, Johnson, in his appendix
to Gerard’s “‘ Herbal” gives a full description. These currants,
therefore, will be currants of Zante or Cephalonia, as Fynes
Moryson calls them.]

Tue black Currants are used in sauces, and so are the
leaves also by many. Parkinson's “ Herbal,” s.v.

Cuttle.
An you play the saucy cuttle with me.
ii. Kine Hewry IV., ii. 4, 139.

CuTTe-FisH is a kind of sea-fish, with a pointed snout,
with which they pierce and sink ships in the Atlantic Ocean.

Minsheu’s Dictionary, 5.2.

Irs ink is so strong that when thrown on a lamp, men
seem to be Ethiopians. It conceives by the mouth like a
viper. Hortus Sanitatis, bk. iv. ch. |xxxi.

Cypress.
Cypress chests.
TaMInG OF THE SHREW, ii, 1, 353.

Tus Cypress-tree is formable and necessary to edifying
and building of _towers and temples, and for other great
and pompous edifices. And for because it may not rot,

DaIsy. | NATURAL HISTORY. 81

it faileth never, but abideth and dureth and lasteth always
in the first estate and condition; and hath a right good
savour, and most sweetest smelling.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvii. § 24.

Cypress groweth in divers places of England where it
hath been planted, as at Sion, a place near London, some-
time a house of Nuns. Gerard’s “ Herbal,” 5.2.

Tue leaves of Cyprus do make the hair red.

Gerard’s “ Herbal,” s.v. “ Privet,”

[Cyprus (“Winter’s Tale,” iv. 3, 221), ze, lawn or crape, was
so called from the island, whence it first was brought to Eng-
land.]

Dace.
If the young dace be a bait for the old pike.
ii. Kinc Henry IV.,, iii. 2, 356.

[Minsheu (Dictionary, s.v.) gives apua for the Latin of ‘Dace,
and Cooper (“ Thesaurus,” s.v.) explains apwa—or, as he writes it,
aphya—as a “fish having [its] beginning of abundance of rain.’”’|

Daffodils.
Daffodils,
That come before the swallow dares, and take
The winds of March with beauty,
Winter’s Tate, iv. 4, 118.

[Gerard describes fourteen kinds of Daffodils, to which John-
son adds eighteen more.]

A carapLtasm made of the root of Daffodil, honey and
oatmeal draws forth spills, shivers, arrow-heads, and thorns,
and whatsoever stick within the body.

Holland’s Pliny, bk. xxi. ch. xix.

1

Daisy.
y Daisies pied.
Love’s Lasour’s Lost, v. 2, 904.

Darsy or Ox-eye: The young roots are frequently eaten
by the Spaniards and Italians all the spring till June.

Evelyn's “ Acetaria,” § 22.

1

82 SHAKESPEARE’S [ DAMSON.

[Gerard describes six different Daisies, and states further that
the juice of the leaves and root given to little dogs keepeth
them from growing great (‘‘ Herbal,” s.v.).]

Damson.
My wife desired some damsons,
ii, Kino Henry VI, ii. 1, ror.

Or the plum-tree is many manner of kinds; but the
Damascene is the best, that cometh out of Damask; only
of this tree droppeth and cometh glue and fast gum,
physicians say that it is profitable to medicine, and for to
make ink for writers’ use.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvii. § 125.

Darnel,
Darnel and all the idle weeds that grow

In our sustaining corn.
King Lear, iv. 4, 5.

Amonc the hurtful weeds, Darnel is the first. They
grow in fields among wheat and barley of the corrupt and
bad seed. They spring and flourish with the corn. The
new bread wherein Darnel is eaten, hot, causeth drunken-
ness; in like manner doth beer or ale wherein the seed
is fallen, or put into the malt. Darnel hurteth the eyes,
and maketh them dim, if it happen in corn either for
bread or drink. Gerard's “ Herbal,” 5.0.

Date.

Your date is better in your pie and your porridge than in your

cheek.
Aut’s Wait ruat Enns Wet, i. 1, 173.

TuereE is made hereof both by the cunning confectioners
and cooks divers excellent cordial, comfortable and nourish-
ing medicines, and that procure lust of the body very
mightily. The ashes of the Date-stones heal falling away
of the hair of the eye-lids, being applied together with
spikenard. Gerard’s “Herbal,” 5.2,

DEER. | NATURAL HISTORY. 83

Daw.

I am no wiser than a daw.
i. King Henry VI, ii. 4, 18.

Tue Daw fights with the owl, because the owl has but
weak sight by day; for this reason the Daw carries off
the owl’s eggs and eats them. Its flesh causes itching in
the head, for itself loves to be scratched on the head.

It is said to go mad often; so that it often hangs itself
in the forked branches of trees.

Hortus Sanitatis, bk. ii, chs. lxxx. and lv.

Dead Men’s Fingers.

Long purples
That liberal shepherds give a grosser name,
But our cold maids do dead men’s fingers call them.
Hamtet, iv. 7, 171.

[Dead Men’s Fingers is the Orchis mascula, or, as Gerard
calls it, Satyrion Royal or finger orchis; the plant has this
name from the shape and colour of the root.]

Deer.
Love’s Lasour’s Lost, iv. 2, 3 ¢f seg.

Tue most excellent of all animals.
Minshew’s Dictionary, s.v.

Cf. Hart.

In the blood of these kind of Deer [Fallow-Deer] are
not strings or fibres, wherefore it doth not congeal as other
doth, and this is assigned to be one cause of their fearful
nature ; they are also said to have no gall. Their blood
doth increase above measure melancholy. The dung or fime
of this beast, mingled with oil of myrtles, increaseth hair,
and amendeth those which are corrupt. Some of the late
writers do prescribe the fat of a mole, of a Deer, and of
a bear, mingled together to rub the head withal for increase
of memory. Topsell, “ Four-footed Beasts,” p. go.

84 SHAKESPEARE’S [DEW-BERRY.

Dew-berry.

Mrpsummer Nicut’s Dream, iii. 1, 169.
Also in Marlow’s “Dido, Queen of Carthage,” iv, 5

[The Dew-berry is the Rubus cesius, or heath bramble. The
commentators explain this word as either raspberry or goose-
berry. ]

Diamond. VY. Adamant.

Diamonp that will receive but one form.
“Euphues’ Golden Legacie.”

Tue third part [of Ind] toward the Septentrion is full
cold ; so that for pure cold and continual frost, the water
becometh crystal. And upon the rocks of crystal grow the
good diamonds that be of trouble colour. Yellow crystal
draweth colour like oil. And they be so hard that no man
may polish them. And men find many times hard Diamonds
in a mass, that cometh out of gold, when men pure it and
fine it out of the mine; when men break that mass in
small pieces. And they grow many together, one little,
another great. And they grow together male and female.
And they be nourished with the dew of heaven. And they
engender commonly and bring forth small children, that
multiply and grow all the year. I have oft times assayed
that if a man keep them witha little of the rock, and
wet them with May-dew often-times, they shall grow every
year; and the small will wax great. For right as the
fine pearl congealeth and waxeth great of the dew of
heaven, right so doth the very Diamond. And men shall
bear the Diamond on his left side; for it is of greater
virtue then, than on the right side. For the strength of
their growing is toward the North, that is the left side of
the world; and the left part of man is when he turneth
his face toward the East. He that beareth the Diamond
upon him, it giveth him hardiness and manhood, and it
keepeth the limbs of his body whole. It giveth him victory
of his enemies in play and in war (if his cause be rightful) ;
and it keepeth him that beareth it in good wit; and it
keepeth him from strife and riot, from sorrows and from
enchantments, and from fantasies and illusions of wicked

Doc. | NATURAL HISTORY. 85

spirits. And if any cursed witch or enchanter would be-
witch him that beareth the Diamond ; all that sorrow and
mischance shall turn to himself through virtue of that
stone. And also no wild beast dare assail the man, that
beareth it on him. Also the Diamond should be given
freely without coveting and without begging; and then it
is of greater virtue. And it maketh a man more strong
and more sad against his enemies. And it healeth him
that is lunatic, and him that the fiend pursueth or
travaileth. And if venom or. poison be brought in presence
of the Diamond, anon it beginneth to wax moist and for
to sweat. 2

Natheless it befalleth often time, that the good Diamond
loseth his virtue, by sin and for incontinence of him that
beareth it; and then it is needful to make it to recover
his virtue again, or else it is of little value.

Sir Fohn Mandeville, ch. xiv.

Dock. V. Burr.

Kinc Henry V., v. 2, 52.

Au. kinds of Docks have this property, that what flesh
or meat is sod therewith, though they be never so old, hard
or tough, they will become tender and meet to be eaten.

Lupton, “A Thousand Notable Things,” bk. i. § 30.

Doe. Y. Hart, Stag, Deer.

Dog.

[Often used by Shakespeare, though it is said that he has
no good word for a Dog; but cf “ Lear,” iii. 6, €5, and “ Taming.
of the Shrew,” Induction, i. 21.]

Noruine is more busy or wittier than an Hound, for
he hath more wit than other beasts. Oft Hounds gender
with wolves, and of that gendering cometh cruel Hounds.
Also oft the Indians teach Bitches, and leave them in woods
by night, for tigers should gender with them, and of them,

86 SHAKESPEARE'’S [Doc.

come most sharp Hounds and swift, and be so strong, that
they throw down cruel beasts as lions. The cruelness of
Hounds abateth to a meek man.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xviii. § 25.

GentTLeness and nobility of Hounds and of Bitches is
known by length of face and of the snout, and by breadth
of the breast, and by smallness of the womb and flank.
And a gentle Hound hath long ears and pliant, and long
legs and small, and that is needful to be the more swift

in course and in running; and his tail is more long and
crooked than the tails of other Hounds, and hath less
flesh than a Dog and shorter hair, and more thin and
smooth. Ibid, § 26,

Unver the Hound’s tongue lieth a worm that maketh
the Hound wood, and if this worm is taken out of the
tongue then the evil ceaseth, The violence and biting of
a wood Hound is so much, that his urine grieveth a man
if the tread thereon, and namely if he have a botch or
a wound. Also who that throweth his own urine upon

Doc. | NATURAL HISTORY. 87

the urine of a wood Hound, he shall anon feel sore ache
of the guts and of the loins, Also the Hound is envious ;
and he gathereth herbs privily, by whom he purgeth him-
self with parbraking [vomiting] and casting, and hath envy,
and is right sorry, if any man knoweth the virtue of those
herbs. Ibid., § 27.

Tue tongue of a Dog laid under the great toe within
the shoe doth cease the barking of Dogs at the party that
sO wears the same.

Lupton, “ A Thousand Notable Things,” bk. vil. § 22.

Ir you pluck out one of the eyes of a black Dog, whiles
he is living, and will carry it with you, it will make that
no Dogs shall bark at you; yea, though you walk among
them. But it will be more sure, if you put thereto a little
of the heart. of a wolf. Ibid., § 85.

THE uttermost or last joint of the tail of a young
whelp, after he is forty days old, being writhen off, the
same Dog will never be mad. Besides that his tail will
be thereby of a comely length. Tbid., bk. ii. § 45.

Tue teeth of a mad Dog that hath bitten a man or
woman, tied in leather, and then hanged at the shoulder,
doth preserve and keep the party that bears it, from being
bitten of any mad Dog. Ibid., bk. iv. § 52.

Ir a wood Hound’s drivelling fall into the water, it
infecteth the water; and who that drinketh of that water
shall be dropsical and wood.

Bartholumew (Berthelet), bk. vii. § 68.

Tue delicate, neat and pretty kind of Dogs called the
Spaniel-gentle, or the Comforter [Maltese Dog] :—These
little Dogs are good to assuage the sickness of the stomach,
being oftentimes thereunto applied as a plaster preservative,
or borne in the bosom of the diseased and weak person.
Moreover, the disease and sickness’ changeth his place and
entereth (though it be not precisely marked) into the Dog,
which to be truth experience can testify, for these kind of
Dogs sometimes fall sick and sometimes die, without any
harm outwardly enforced, which is an argument that the

88 SHAKESPEARE’S [DOG-APE.

disease of the gentleman or gentlewoman entereth into the
Dog by the operation of heat intermingled and infected.
Topsell, “ Four-footed Beasts,” pp. 135-6.

THaT men may appear to have Dogs’ faces :—Take the
fat of a Dog’s ear, and anoint with it a little new silk,
put it in a new lamp of green glass, and place it among
the men, and they see Dogs’ faces.

Albertus Magnus, “Of the Wonders of the World.”

In many places our Mastiffs (besides the use which
tinkers have of them, in carrying their heavy budgets) are
made to draw water in great wheels out of deep wells.
Besides these also, we have Sholts [? Shoughs] or Curs
daily brought out of Iceland, and much made of amongst
us, because of their sauciness and quarrelling.

Hlolinshed, “Description of Britain,” pp. 230-1.

Dog-ape. [Perhaps a He-ape.]

As You Lixe Iv, ii. 5, 27.

Or Apes some be like to an Hound in the face, and in
the body like to an Ape.
Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xviii. § 96.

DOLPHIN. | NATURAL HISTORY. 89

Dog-fish.
i. Kinc Henry VI, i. 4, 107.

Tue Dog-fish is a terrible monster, and hostile to all
living creatures, which die from its blows. These hunt the
shoals of fish in the sea, like dogs hunting wild beasts on
land, except that they cannot bark ; but instead of a bark
they have a horrible breath. These monsters are with
difficulty killed by many fish-spears. Its gall is said to be
poison, and if any one eats the quantity of a bean of it,
he dies after a week. Hortus Sanitatis, bk. iv. ch. xvii.

Dolphin.
i, Kinc Henry VI, i. 4, 107.

Tue Dolphins follow man’s voice, and come together in
flocks to the voice of the symphony, and have liking in
harmony; and in the sea is nothing more swift than

Dolphins be. For oft they startle [spring] and overleap
ships, the whose leaping and playing in the waves of the
sea tokeneth tempest. And in the river of Nile is a kind
of Dolphins with ridges [back-bones], toothed as a saw,

go SHAKESPEARE'’S [DORMOUSE.

that cutteth the tender wombs of crocodiles, and slayeth
them. Dolphins know by the smell if a dead man that is
on the sea ate ever of Dolphin’s kind; and if the dead
man hath eaten thereof, he eateth him anon; and if he
did not, he keepeth and defendeth him from eating and
biting of other fish, and shoveth him and bringeth him to
the cliff with his own wroting [cum rostris suis (Bartholo-
mew)—so wroting is rooting with the snout, as a pig does}.
Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xiii. § 29.

Tue Dolphin is called the brother of man, because he is
in some degree like to man in his ways. They sleep on
the water, so that they may be heard to snore. They live
to 140 years. The Dolphin alone among fish has no gall.
When a Dolphin dies, the other Dolphins come together
and surround him, and bear him down to the depths, and
bury him, lest other fish should eat him. Small Dolphins
are always together like flocks of sheep; and they have
two big Dolphins as guards. Dolphins have their eyes on
their backs, and their mouths on the opposite side, and
therefore they are not good at catching their prey, because
of the want of agreement of the mouth and the eyes;
therefore they turn their mouths towards the heaven, and
their backs and eyes towards the earth, so as to follow their
prey. They are said to have helped sailors when their
ship was about to be wrecked. They are supposed also to
weep when they are caught. Hortus Sanitatis, bk. iv. ch. xxvii.

Dormouse.
Tweirru Nica, iii. 2, 20.

Guires [i.e., Dormice] be little beasts, as it were great
mice, and have that name (glires) for sleep makes them
fat. They love their fellows that they know, and strive
and fight against other. And they love their father and
mother with great mildness and pity, and feed and serve
them in their age. Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xviii. § 57.

THE soles of the feet anointed with the fat of a Dor-
mouse doth procure sleep.

Lupton, “ A Thousand Notable Things,” bk. ii. § 16,

DRAGON, | NATURAL HISTORY. gt

Ir the viper find their nest, because she cannot eat all
the young ones at one time, at the first she filleth herself
with one or two, and putteth out the eyes of all the
residue, and afterwards bringeth them meat and nourisheth
them being blind, until the time that her stomach serveth
her to eat them every one. But if it happen that in the
mean time, any man chance to light upon these viper-
nourished-blind Dormice, and to kill and eat them, they
poison themselves through the venom which the viper hath
left in them. Dormice are bigger in quantity than a
squirrel. It is a biting and an angry beast.

Topsell, ‘Four-footed Beasts,” p. 409.

Dove.

He eats nothing but doves, love, and that breeds hot blood.
Troitus anp Cressipa, ill. I, 140.

Wuew the Culver [7.e., Dove] hath birds [7.e., young],
anon the male ruleth the birds. And if the female tarry
over long ere she come to the birds for soreness of the
birth, then the male’ smiteth and beateth her, and com-
pelleth her to sit herself upon the birds. And when the
birds wax, the male goeth and sucketh salt earth; and he
giveth and putteth it in the mouth of the birds, to make
them have talent to meat. A Culver hath no gall, and
hurteth and woundeth not with the bill, but his own peer.
And hath groaning instead of song.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xii. § 6.

Doves are very hot, and eat small stones to temper the
stomach, The fresh flesh of a Dove helps against serpents.
Hortus Sanitatis, bk. iti. ch. xxxil,

VY, Pigeon.

Dragon.
A lonely dragon, that his fen

Makes fear’d and talk’d of more than seen.
CorroLanus, iv. 1, 30.

Tue Dragon is most greatest of all serpents, and oft he
is drawn out of his den, and reseth up into the air, and

g2 SHAKESPEARE’S [DRAGON.

the air is moved by him; and also the sea swelleth
against his venom. And he hath a crest with a little
mouth, and draweth breath at small pipes and strait, and
reareth his tongue, and hath teeth like a saw. And hath
strength, and not only in teeth, but also in his tail, and
grieveth both with biting and with stinging, and hath not
so much venom as other serpents; for to the end to slay
any thing, to him venom is not needful; for whom he
findeth he slayeth, and the elephant is not sicher of him
[safe from him] for all his greatness of body, for he lurketh

in the way where the elephant goeth, and bindeth and
spanneth his legs, and strangleth and slayeth him. The
Dragon breedeth in Ind and in Ethiopia, there as is great
burning of continual heat. The Dragon is twenty cubits
great. Oft four or five of them fasten their tails together,
and reareth up the heads, and sail over sea and over rivers
to get good meat. The cause why the Dragon desireth his
blood is coldness of the elephant’s blood, by the which the
Dragon desireth to cool himself. The Dragon is a full
thirsty beast, insomuch that unneath [hardly] he may have

DRAGON, | NATURAL HISTORY. 93

water enough to quench his great thirst, and openeth his
mouth therefore against the wind to quench the burning
of his thirst in that wise. Therefore when he seeth ships
sail in the sea in great wind, he flieth against the sail to
take there cold wind, and overthroweth the ship sometimes
for greatness of body, and by strong rese against the sail.
And when the shipmen see the Dragon come nigh, and
know his coming by the water that swelleth against him,
they strike the sail anon, and scape in that wise. Also
for might of the venom, his tongue is always a-reared
[raised up], and sometimes he setteth the air on fire by
heat of his venom; so that it seemeth, that he bloweth
and casteth fire out of his mouth, and sometimes he bloweth
out outrageous blasts, and thereby the air is corrupt and
infected, and thereof cometh pestilent evils. And they
dwell sometimes in the sea, and sometimes swim in rivers,
and lurk sometimes in caves and in dens, and sleep but
seld, but wake nigh always. The Dragon’s biting that
eateth venomous beasts is perilous, as the Dragon’s biting
that eateth scorpions, for against his biting unneath is any
remedy or medicine found. Also all venomous beasts flee
and void the grease and the fatness of the Dragon; and
his grease meddled with honey cureth dimness of the eyes.
Also those fishes die that be bitten of the Dragon.
Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xviii. § 38.

Tue Dragon has wings formed from its loose and mobile
skin, and they are broad in proportion to the: size of its
body. Wherever it stops, it poisons the air. Between
eagles and Dragons there are often fights, and these much
more doubtful if in the air. Also the vulture and the
Dragon fight, because they prey on animals.

.From the brains of Dragons is hatched the stone Dra-
contias; but the stone is only to be taken from the living
animal; for if it die first, the hardness of the stone dis-
appears with the breath. Dragons are put to sleep with
medicated grasses, and thus the stone is procured; and the
Eastern kings are especially proud of the use of this stone.
The ‘heads of Dragons make a house prosperous and fortu-
nate. Dragon’s flesh is of the colour of glass, and it cools
those who eat it. Therefore the Ethiopians who dwell on
that burning coast gladly eat the flesh of Dragons, so that

94 SHAKESPEARE’S [ DRAGON.

their factors tame the Dragon with certain songs, and,
sitting on his back, guide him with a bridle until they
come into Ethiopia. Hortus Sanitatis, bk. ii. ch. xlviii.

[This last statement recalls Mr. Waterton’s exploit with the
alligator. ]

Ir was wont to be said, because Dragons are the greatest
serpents, that except a serpent eat a serpent, he shall never
be a Dragon. In Ethiopia they grow to be thirty yards
long. There are tame Dragons in Macedonia, where they
are so meek, that women feed them, and suffer them to
suck their breasts like little children,—their infants also play
with them, riding upon them and pinching them, as, they
would do with dogs. The apples of their eyes are precious
stones, and as bright as fire. The Africans believe that the
original of Dragons took beginning from the unnatural
conjunction of an eagle and a she-wolf. The Dragons of
Phrygia when they are hungry turn themselves towards the
west, and gaping wide, with the force of their breath do
draw the birds that fly over their heads into their throats.
They greatly preserve their health by eating of wild lettuce,
for that they make them to vomit, and they are most
specially offended by eating of apples. They renew and
recover their sight again by rubbing their eyes against
fennel, or else by eating of it. The Indians take a gar-
ment of scarlet, and picture upon it a charm in golden
letters,—this_they lay upon the mouth of the Dragon’s
den, for with the red colour and the gold, the eyes of
the Dragon. are overcome, and he falleth asleep, the Indians
in the mean season watching and muttering secretly words
of incantation; when they perceive he is fast asleep, sud-
denly they strike off his neck with an axe, and so take
out the balls of his eyes, wherein are lodged those rare
and precious stones which contain in them virtues unutter-
able. Many times it falleth out, that the Dragon draweth
in the Indian both with his axe and instruments into his
den and there devoureth him, in the rage whereof he so
beateth the mountain that it shaketh. [Topse// gives several
long stories of the love of some Dragons for men and
women, and lastly the tale of Winckelried, who slew a
horrible Dragon, whereat for joy he lifted up his sword,
and the blood of the Dragon dripped off the sword and

EAGLE. | NATURAL HISTORY. 95

killed him.] The eagles when they shake their wings
make the Dragons afraid with their rattling noise, then the
Dragon hideth himself within his den. The eagle devoureth
the Dragons and little serpents upon earth, and the Dragons
again and serpents do the like against the eagles in the
air. /The griffins are likewise said to fight with the Dragons
and overcome them. The panther [g.v.] also is an enemy
unto the Dragons, and driveth them many times into their
dens. Topsell, “History of Serpents,” pp. 706-15.

Tue inhabitants of Paraca, by eating a Dragon’s heart
and liver, attain to understand the language (if so I may
term it) of beasts. Purchas’ “Pilgrims,” p. 457 (ed. 1616).

Drone.
A huge feeder ;
Snail slow in profit, and he sleeps by day
More than the wild-cat; drones hive not with me.
MercuanT oF VENICE, li. 5, 48.

Tue Drone is a larger kind of bee; and it eats the
fruit of others’ labour; for it eats what it has not worked
for, as it makes no honey.

Hortus Sanitatis, bk. iii. (“Of Birds”), ch. li.

Duck.

Ir you see Ducks fly massed together, even though the
sky be clear, you will expect rain speedily; if they flap
their wings together while on the land, you may suppose
that there will be a gale.

Fonston, “ Natural History of Birds,” ch. iii. § 3 (1657).

Eagle.

Love’s Lasour’s Lost, iv. 3, 334.

Amonc all manner kinds of divers fowls, the Eagle is
the more liberal and free of heart; for the prey that she
taketh, but it be for great hunger she eateth not alone, but
putteth it forth in common to fowls that follow her; but

\

96 SHAKESPEARE’S [ EAGLE.

first she taketh her own portion and part. And therefore.
oft other fowls follow the Eagle for hope and trust to have
some part of her prey. But, when the prey that is taken,
is not sufficient to her self, then as a king that taketh heed
of a commonty [common people], he taketh the bird that
is next to him, and giveth it among the other, and serveth
them therewith. And she setteth in her nest two precious
stones, which be called agates; the one of them is male,
and that other female ; and it is said that they cannot bring
forth their birds without those stones. And she layeth in
her nest that precious stone, that bright agate, to keep her
birds from the venomous biting of creeping worms. And
among all fowls, in the Eagle the virtue of sight is most
mighty and strong; for in the Eagle the spirit of sight is
most temperate, and most sharp in act and deed of seeing and
beholding the sun in the roundness of his circle, without
any blemishing of eyes; and the sharpness of her sight is
not rebounded again with clearness of light of the sun,
neither disparpled [dispersed]. Also there is one manner
Eagle that is full sharp of sight, and she taketh her own
birds in her claws, and maketh them to look even on the
sun, and that ere their wings be full grown, and except
they look stiffly and steadfastly against the sun, she beateth
them, and setteth them even tofore the sun; and if
any eye of any of her birds watereth in looking on the
sun, she slayeth him, as though he went out of kind;
or else driveth him out of the nest, and despiseth him,
and setteth not by him. Also the Eagle is a fowl that
seldom sitteth abrood, and seldom hath birds; and
nourisheth and feedeth her birds. The Eagle layeth three
eggs at the most, and throweth the third egg out of the
nest ; for she sitteth abrood heavily thereupon. And at
that time she is so much feebled, that she may not well
hunt birds of other fowls; for then her claws be crooked,
and her wings wax white, and then she is sore grieved in
feeding of her birds. And if it happeth that the Eagle
hath three birds, she throweth out one of her nest, for
difficulty of feeding and nourishing; but a bird that is
called ossifraga feedeth the bird that the Eagle casteth so
haply out of her nest. In age the Eagle hath darkness and
dimness in eyes, and heaviness in wings. And against this
disadvantage she is taught by kind to seek a well of

EAGLE. | NATURAL HISTORY. 97

springing water, and then she flieth up into the air as far
as she may, till she be full hot by heat of the air and by
travail of flight, and so then by heat the pores be opened,
and the feathers chafed, and she falleth suddenly into the
well, and there the feathers be changed, and the dimness of
her eyes is wiped away and purged, and she taketh again
her might and strength. Also, when the Eagle ageth, the
bill waxeth so hard and so crooked, that unneath he may
take his meat. And against this disadvantage he findeth a
remedy; for he seeketh a stone, against the which he
smiteth and beateth strongly his bill, and cutteth off the
charge of the bill, and receiveth meat and might and
strength, and so becometh young again. The gentle falcon
or other such fowls unneath take preys on that day that
they hear the Eagle; and that perchance cometh of great
dread. And that Eagle that taketh her prey on the water
hath one foot close and whole, as the foot of a gander, and
therewith she ruleth herself in the water, when she cometh
down because of her prey. And her other foot is a cloven
foot, with full sharp claws, with the which she taketh her
prey. And the Eagle’s feathers have a privy fretting virtue;
tor the Eagle’s feathers done and set among feathers of
wings of other birds corrumpeth and fretteth them; as
strings made of wolf’s guts done and put in a lute or in
an harp among strings made of sheep’s guts do destroy and
fret and corrump the strings made of sheep’s guts, if it so
be that they be set among them. Also she 1s right cruel
against her own birds, for, to teach and to compel them to
take prey of other birds, she beateth and woundeth them

with her bill. Bartholomew {Berthelet), bk. xii. § 1.

Wuerever an Eagle sees from on high a serpent, he
attacks it with great clamour, and tears it with his claws,
and after taking out the deadly venom from its entrails,
he devours it, and the strength of the venom which was
in it, being cooked by the heat of the Eagle, is extin-
guished. And by this experiment he is either made sad, or
else he glories in it. There is in the North a large Eagle
which always lays two eggs; and it catches a hare or a
fox, and carefully flays off its skin, in which it wraps its
eggs, and puts them in the warmth of the sun, and so
leaves them and does not sit, but waits until they are

7

98 SHAKESPEARE’S [ EBONY.

broken by natural maturity, and returns when the young
birds are hatched, and then feeds them: until they attain to

perfect strength. Hortus Sanitatis, bk. iii. ch. i,

Harts that cast their horns, snakes their skins, Eagles
their bills, become more fresh for any other labour.

Lilly, Prologue to ‘“ Campaspe.”

Tue princely Eagle, fearing to surfeit on spices, stoopeth
to bite on worm-wood. [did., Prologue to “Sapho and Phaon.”

Tue Eagle is never stricken with thunder.
Ibid, Act ii, Scene 3.

Eac es cast their evil feathers in the sun.
Ibid., “ Galatea,” Act iti. Scene 4.

Ebony.
Black as ebony.
Love’s Lasour’s Lost, iv. 3, 247. |

Exony is oft set by cradles, for black sights should not
fear the children.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvii. § 52.

Esony is a tree whereof the wood is black as jet within,
and beareth neither leaves nor fruit.

Batman's addition to Bartholomew, lc.

Eel.

Love’s Lasour’s Lost, i. 2, 30.

Tue Eel is generated from the slime of other fishes; it
is hard to skin, and very difficult to kill, as it lives even
after it has been skinned ; it is disturbed by the sound of
thunder. It is most easily caught when the Pleiades have
set. And they say that in the Eastern river Ganges, Eels
are gendered with feet to walk on the land. Eels live for
eight years ; and they exist without water for six days while
the North-east wind blows, but less while the South wind

EISEL. | NATURAL HISTORY. 99

blows. Among all Eels there is no male nor female, and
they gender neither live creature nor egg, as they are
neuter, Hortus Sanitatis, bk. iv. § 2.

Tue Eel is a well known fish; and its virtues are won-
derful; for if it dies from want of water and its body
remains whole, and if strong vinegar be mixed with the
blood of a vulture, and.it be put somewhere under dung,
they will all revive just as they were before. And if the
worm [? spinal marrow] of that Eel be extracted and set
in the foresaid mixture for a month, the worm will be changed
into a very black Eel, and if any one eat of that Eel he

will die. Albertus Magnus, “Of the Virtues of Animals.”

In many ponds, all the water and mud taken out, by
and by Fels do breed, if rain-water come into them, for
that’ with the dew, they do live and are nourished.

Lupton, “A Thousand Notable Things,” bk. iii, § 63.

Ir you have many Eels in a vessel of wine, and put
mulberries to them,—if any one drink of that, he will
abhor wine for a year, and perhaps for ever.

Albertus Magnus, ‘*Of the Wonders of the World.”
Thunder shall not so awake the beds of eels.
Pericues, iv. 3, 156.

Fels that never will appear
Tull that tempestuous winds or thunder tear
Their slimy beds.

Marston’s “Scourge of Villany,’

V. Fish.

’

satire vii. 1. 78.

Eglantine.

Mipsummer Nicut’s Dream, ii. I, 252.
[The sweet-briar.]
V. s. Rose.

Eisel. VY. Vinegar.

HaMLeT, v. I, 299.

100 SHAKESPEARE'’S [ELDER.

Elder

The stinking elder.
CyYMBELINE, Iv. 2, 59.

Tue Ellern is a little nesh tree, and beareth flowers and
fruit twice in one vear, and that fruit is black with horrible
smell and savour. And this is, therefore, unprofitable to
eat. And wonder it is to see in Ellern, for if the middle
rind of the stalk, or of the root, be shaven upward, then
it purgeth upward, and if it be shaven downward, then it

purgeth downward. Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvii. § 144.

THE inner bark of Elder applied to any burning takes
out the fire immediately. An extract or theriaca may be
composed of the berries which is not only efficacious greatly
to assist longevity (so famous is the story of Neander),
but is a kind of catholicon against all infirmities whatever.
And yet when I have said all this, I do by no means
commend the scent of it, which is very noxious to the air.
A certain house in Spain, seated amongst many Elder-trees,
diseased and killed almost all the inhabitants, which when
at last they were grubbed up became a very wholesome

and healthy place. Evelyn’s “Silva,” bk. i. ch. xx. § 18.

SHEPHERDS think that pipes made from Elder are more
sonorous; and it is cut when the shrub cannot hear the
song of the cock. Its leaves drunk in wine resist the bites

of serpents. tes : ’
r Hortus Sanitatis, bk. i. ch. ccccvi.

Elephant.

The elephant hath joints, but none for courtesy.
Trot.us ano Cressipa, ii, 3, 113.

TuEse beasts void and flee the mouse. When they be
sick, they gather good herbs, and ere they use the herbs,
they heave up the head, and look up toward heaven, and
pray for help of God in a certain religion. If Elephants
see a man coming against them, that is out of the way in
wilderness, for they would not affray him, they will draw
themself somewhat out of the way, and then they stint
[wait ], and pass little and little tofore him, and teach
him the way. And if a dragon come against him, they

ELEPHANT. | NATURAL HISTORY IOI

fight with the dragon, and defend the man, and putteth
them forth to defend the man strongly and mightily ; and
do so namely [especially] when they have young foals,
for they dread that the man seeketh their foals. They
dread and flee the voice of the least sound of a swine.
Also between Elephants and dragons is perpetual wrath and
strife [v. Dragon]. And when the Elephant sitteth, he
bendeth his feet; and may not bend four at once for
heaviness and weight of the body, but he leaneth to the
' right side, or to the left side, and sleepeth standing, and

he bendeth the hinder legs right as a man. If he hath
iron in his body, oil is given him to drink, and the iron
is drawn out by drink of oil. And Elephants be without -
gall, but they be accidentally cruel and fierce, when they
be too soon angered, or if they be wine-drunken to make.
them sharp to fight in battle. Also no beast liveth so
long as the Elephant, and his complexion is like to the air
that he dwelleth in: Elephants keep lore and discipline of
the stars, and in waxing of the moon go to rivers, and
when they be besprung with liquor, they salute and welcome

102 SHAKESPEARE’S [ ELEPHANT.

the rising of the sun with certain movings, as they may,
and then they turn again into woods and launds. Their
youth is known by whiteness of teeth, of the which teeth
that one is always working, and that other is spared, lest
he should wax dull with continual smiting and rubbing,
but when they be pursued with hunters, then they smite
both together, and break them, that they be no longer
pursued, when the teeth be appaired and defoiled {dam-
aged], for they know that the teeth be cause of their peril.
And a cave or a ditch is made under the earth, as it were
a pit-fall in the Elephant’s way, and unawares he falleth
therein. And then one of the hunters cometh to him, and
beateth and smiteth him, and pricketh him full sore. And
then another hunter cometh and smiteth the first hunter,
and doth him away, and defendeth the Elephant, and giveth
him barley to eat; and when he hath eaten thrice or four
times, then he loveth him that defended him, and is after-
wards mild and obedient to him. And if it happeth that
he swalloweth a worm that is hight Chameleon, he taketh
and eateth of wild olive-tree, and is so holp against the
venom. Also the Elephant’s bones brent [7.e. burnt] chase
and drive away serpents and all venomous beasts. Also
there is another thing that is full wonderful ; for among the
Ethiopians in some countries, Elephants be hunted in this
wise :—There go in desert two maidens all naked and bare
with open hair of the head; and one of them beareth a
vessel, and the other a sword; and these maidens begin to
sing alone, and the beast hath liking when he heareth their
song, and cometh to them, and licketh their teats, and
falleth asleep anon for liking of the song, and then the
one maid sticketh him in the throat, or in the side with a
sword, and the other taketh his blood in a vessel, and with
that blood the people of the same country dye cloth [which
is called purple—Bartholomew].

_ Bartholomew (and Berthelet’s translation), bk. xviii. §§ 42-5.

Evepnants of all other beasts do chiefly hate the mouse ;
so that if they shall see or perceive that a mouse hath
once touched their meat that is before them, they loathe
the same, and will not eat a bit thereof.

Lupton, “A Thousand Notable Things,” bk. vi. § 43,

ELEPHANT, | NATURAL HISTORY. 103

ELEPHANTS cannot bend their legs and thighs except in
youth. Its inside is like a pig’s inside, and therefore like
a man’s. It has no joints in its legs.

Hortus Sanitatis, bk. ii. ch. lv.

[Sir Thomas Browne (“Vulgar Errors,” bk. iii. ch. i.) adduces
sundry grave arguments to prove that an Elephant has joints :]

WHILE men conceive they never lie down, and enjoy
not the position of rest ordained unto all pedestrious
animals, hereby they imagine (what reason cannot conceive)
that an animal of the vastest dimension and longest dura-
tion, should live in a continual motion, without that alternity
and vicissitude of rest whereby all others continue.

“Vulgar Errors,” bk. iii. ch. i.

In the woods or fields where they [Indians or Africans]
suspect [Elephants] teeth to be buried, they bring forth
pots or bottles of water, and disperse them, here one,
there another, and so let them stand, and tarry to watch
them,—so one sleepeth, another singeth, or bestoweth his
time as he pleaseth; after a little time they go and look
in their pots, and if the teeth lie near their bottles, by an
unspeakable and secret attractive power in nature, they draw
all the water out of them that are near them, which the
watchman taketh for a sure sign, and so diggeth about his
bottle, till he find the tooth. [Topsell decides after argu-
ment that tusks are not horns.]| The trunk hath two
passages,—one into the head and bedy by which he
-breatheth, and the other into his mouth. It is false that
they have no joints or articles in their legs, They drink
not wine, except in war, when they are to fight, but water
at all times, whereof they will not taste, except it be muddy
and not clear, for they avoid clear water, loathing to see
their own shadow therein. In the summer-time they choose
out and gather the sweetest flowers, and being led into
their stables, they will not eat meat until they take of their
flowers, and dress the brims of their mangers therewith,
pleasing themselves with their meat, because of the savour
of the flowers stuck about their cratch, like dainty - fed
persons which set their dishes with green herbs, and put
them into their cups of wine. They are never so fierce,
violent, or wild, but the sight of a ram tameth and dis-

104 SHAKESPEARE’S [ELM.

mayeth them, for they fear his horns; and not only a
ram, but also the gruntling clamour or cry of hogs. Lions
set upon the young calves of Elephants and wound them,
but, at the sight of the mothers, the lions run away, and
when the mothers find their young ones embrued in their
own blood, they themselves are so enraged, that they kill
them, and so retire from them, after which time the lions
return and eat their flesh. In the River Ganges there are
blue worms of sixty cubits long having two arms; these,
when the Elephants come to drink in that river, take their
trunks in their hands and pull them off. At the sight of a
beautiful woman iBlephants| leave off all rage and grow meek
and gentle. In Africa there are certain springs of water,
which, if at any time they dry up, by the teeth of
Elephants, they are opened and recovered again. In the
night-time, Elephants seem to lament with sighs and tears”
their captivity and bondage, but if any come to that speed,
like modest persons they refrain suddenly, and are ashamed
to be found either murmuring or sorrowing. When they
drink a leech, they are grievously pained. The fime [or
dung] by anointing cureth a lousy skin, and taketh away
that power which breedeth these vermin; the same per-
fumed driveth gnats or marsh-flies out of a house.

Topsell, “‘ Four-footed Beasts,” pp. 150-65.

Elm.

The barky fingers of the clm.
Minsummer Nicut’s Dream, iv. 1, 49.

Tue shadow of Elms is mild and nourishing to those
things that it falls pots Hortus Sanitatis, bk. i. ch. dvii.

[Evelyn (“ Silva,” bk. i ch. iv.), among the uses of the Elm,
states that it is proper for dressers and shovel-board tables, and
that cattle prefer the dried leaves to oats in the winter when
hay and fodder are dear.]

Tue leaves of an Elm-tree, or of peach-tree, falling before
their time doth foreshow or betokens a murrain or death of

cattle. Lupton, “A Thousand Notable Things,” bk. iii, § 25.

EMERALD. | NATURAL HISTORY. 105

Emerald.
Merry Wives oF ‘Winnsor, v. 5, 74. [As adjective.]

Or all green precious stones is the chief. Men in old
time gave thereto the third dignity after margarites and
unions. In no herbs nor in precious stone is more green-
ness than in the stone Emerald. It passeth herbs and grass,
twigs and branches. And it infecteth the air about it with
passing green colour. And-his green colour abateth not in
the sun in no manner wise. Nothing comforteth more their
eyes that be gravers than this stone. Thereof be twelve
manner of kinds, but the most noble be found in Scythia,
and in Bactria holdeth the second place. And Emeralds be
found among and under stones, and in chines thereof, when
the Northern wind bloweth. For then the earth is un-
covered, and Emerald shineth among the stones. For in
such wind gravel and sand is most moved. Though the
Emerald be green by kind, yet if it be meddled with wine
or with oil, his green colour increaseth. This stone is
taken of and from griffins, and plenty of Emeralds may
not be found, for great griffins let the coming of men by
the way that goeth thereto. The body thereof hath of gift
of kind a goodness of virtue to heal divers sicknesses and
evils. It inmcreaseth riches, and maketh men have good
words and fair evidence in cause and in plea. If this
stone be hanged about the neck, it maketh good mind, and
helpeth also against all phantasies and japes of fiends, and
ceaseth tempest. It is said that it helpeth them that use
to divine and guess what shall befall.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvi. § 88.

A TRUTHFUL and curious experimenter coming from
Greece said that this stone is generated in the rocks which
are under the sea, and is there found. And this is reason-
able, for it is generated in veins of brass, and that evidently,
but it does not come to the substance of brass; because
it has the greenness of the rust of brass [2.c., verdigris}.
The Emerald if put in drink is suitable ‘for deadly
venoms, and for venomous bites and punctures of stings.
The Emerald, if it be worn, increases substance ; causes
persuasiveness in all business; makes men chaste and

106 SHAKESPEARE’S [ERINGO.

cheerful of body and of speech; and helps in tempests.
Also it makes the memory good.
Hortus Sanitatis, bk. v. § 113.

Ir any one carries an Emerald under his tongue, straight-
way he will prophesy.
Albertus Magnus, “Of the Virtues of Stones.”

Eringo or Eryngo (é¢., Sea-holly).
Merry Wives or Winpsor, v. 5, 23.

Tue roots condited or preserved with sugar, as hereafter
followeth, are exceeding good to be given unto old or aged
people that are consumed and withered with age, and which
want natural moisture; they are also good for other sorts
of people that have no delight or appetite to venery,
nourishing and restoring the aged, and amending the defects
of nature in the younger.

The manner to condite Eringoes :

Refine sugar fit for the purpose, and take a pound of it,
the white of an egg, and a pint of clear water; boil them
together and skim it, then let it boil until it be come to
good strong syrup, and when it is boiled, as it cooleth, add
thereto a saucer-ful of Rose-water, a spoon-ful of cinnamon-
water, and a grain of musk, which have been infused
together the night before, and now strained; into which
syrup being more than half cold, put in your roots to
soak and infuse until the next day ;—your roots being
ordered in manner hereafter following :—These your roots
being washed and picked, must be boiled in fair water by
the space of four hours, until they be soft, then must they
be pilled clean, as ye pill parsnips, and the pith must be
drawn out at the end of the root; and if there be any
whose pith cannot be drawn out at the end, then you
must slit them, and so take out the pith; these you must
also keep from much handling, that they may be clean;
let them remain in the syrup till the next day, and then
set them on the fire in a fair broad pan until they be very
hot, but let them not boil at all; let them there remain
over the fire an hour or more, removing them easily in
the pan from one place to another with a wooden slice.
This done, have in a readiness great cap or royal papers,

FALCON. |] NATURAL HISTORY. 107

Whereupon you must straw some sugars, upon which lay
your roots after that you have taken them out of the. pan.
These papers you must put into a stove or hot house to
harden; but if you have not such a place, lay them before
a good fire. In this manner if you condite your roots,
there is not any that can prescribe you a better way. And
thus you may condite any other root whatsoever, which will
not only be exceeding delicate, but very wholesome. They
report that the herb Sea-holly, if one goat take it into her
mouth, it causeth her first to stand still, and afterwards
the whole flock, until such time as the shepherd take it forth
of her mouth. Gerard’s “Herbal,” 5.7.

[References to the rejuvenating power of Eringoes, especially
when candied (or condite), occur in very many old plays.]

Estridge.
i, Kine Henry IV.,, iv. 1, 98.
Antony ano CLeoparRa, iil, 13, 197.

[Estridge, as Douce suggests, is probably a goshawk or
Estridge-falcon; but the word was also commonly used for
ostrich. ] :

Ewe. VY. Sheep.

Falcon.

[Gervase Markham, in his treatise on Husbandry, devotes
twenty-six chapters to the treatment of the diseases of Hawks.
In the last chapter he says: “It is a known experience among
the best falconers, that if the Gerfalcon shall lose but two or
three drops of blood, it is mortal, and the Hawk will die
suddenly after; which to prevent, if the blood proceed from
any pounce, which is most ordinary, then upon the instant
hurt, you shall take a little hard merchant’s wax, and drop it
upon the sore, and it will presently stop it.”]

Tue Falcon is:a royal fowl, and desireth prey, and useth
to sit on his hand that beareth him, and is a bold bird
and an hardy, as is the goshawk. And hath little flesh in
comparison to his body, and hath many feathers; and there-
fore he is more light to fly. And is so great-hearted that if

108 SHAKESPEARE’S [FAWN.

he fail of his prey in the first flight and rest, in the second
he taketh wreak on himself; and so if he be wild, unneath
that day he seeketh prey; and if he be tame, as it were
for shame he flieth about in the air, and then unneath he
cometh to his lord’s hands. For he holdeth himself over-
come, and as it were put out of kind, if he taketh not
the fowl that he flieth to. And among all birds and fowls,
these fowls have little affection, and take little heed of their
birds [7.e., young]. With the same office of business that
he feedeth his own birds, with such service he taketh and
feedeth the birds that the eagle throweth out of her nest, and is
unknown to him. Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xii. § 20.

V. Hawk—Goshawk.

Fawn.
As You Like It, ii 7, 128.

Tue hart-calf hight innulus, and is the hart’s son, and
hath that name binnulus of becking or nodding, for he is
hid by becks and signs of his mother, and is a feeble beast
and loath to fight, and he is most sharp of sight, and swift
of course and of running. And the hart-calf is contrary
to the serpents in a wonder wise; for he that is anointed
with his suet or with his blood shall not be touched of
any serpent. Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk, xviii. § §9.

Fennel.
Ham tet, iv. 5, 180.

FENNEL is a common herb, and is of great virtue and
might, and is hot and dry in the second degree, and hath
virtue to temper and to shed, and to open, and to carve,
and to cut; and that by subtle cause and qualities thereof.
The juice of the stalk and of the root thereof sharpeth the
sight. And it is said that serpents taste thereof and do
away the age of their years. Serpents make this herb noble,
and they restore the sight, and maketh it sharp with juice
thereof. And understanding of inwit is arred [i.e., increased]
therewith, and dimness put off. The seed thereof drunk
with wine helpeth against biting of serpents, and stinging of
scorpions. The root thereof, if it be sod in wine, healeth
biting of hounds. Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvii. § 70.

FIG. | NATURAL HISTORY. 109

Ferret.
Jutius Casar, i. 2, 186.

THERE is no beast that more desireth fish than Ferrets
and cats, and yet I cannot consent unto them which will
have the Ferret descend and hunt fish in the waters like
otters or beavers. Young boys and scholars also use to put
them into the holes of rocks and walls to hunt out birds,
and likewise into hollow trees, whereout they bring the birds
in the claws of their feet. Wheras a long fly (called a
Friar) flying to the flaming candles in the night, is ac-
counted among poisons, the antidote and resister thereof is
a goat’s gall or liver mixed with a Ferret, or wild weasel,
and the gall of Ferrets is held precious against the poison
of asps, although the flesh and teeth of a Ferret be ac-
counted poison. Topsell, ‘‘ Four-footed Beasts,” pp. 170-1.

Fig.
Mripsummer Nicut’s Dream, iil. 1, 170,

The fig of Spain.
Kine Henry V.,, iii. 6, 62.

Tue Fig-tree is more fruitful than other trees, for it
beareth fruit three or four times in one year, and while
one ripeth, another springeth anon. And the stock thereof
done in water sinketh anon to the ground, and riseth and
cometh up above the water after that it hath lien in the
mud, against the common course of kind. Tofore Pytha-
goras’ time hawks were fed with Figs, tofore he brought
them to choose of flesh, that is the stronger meat. Figs do
away rivels [i.e., wrinkles] of old men, if they eat thereof
among their meat. And full cruel bulls become mild anon
if they be tied to a Fig-tree. The milk of the Fig-tree .
hath virtue of running together to make cheese. Some trees
shall be set nigh trees that bear well fruit, that blasts of wind
‘may be borne therefrom to the Fig-tree, and thereto the
southern wind is better than the northern wind, for the
northern wind grieveth the Fig-tree more than the southern
wind. Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvii. § 61.

Tue blood made from Figs is not good, and for this
reason it makes lice. Hortus Sanitatis, bk. i. ch, exciv.

110 SHAKESPEARE’S [FILBERT.

I po look now for a Spanish Fig, or an Italian salad
daily. Webster, “ Vittoria Corrombona.”
PotsoneD! A Spanish Fig

For the imputation.
Ibid., ‘Duchess of Malfi,” ii. 3.

A LappER made of the wood of a Fig-tree hath a mar-
vellous property; for if flesh in the seething thereof be
often stirred therewith, or if it be in the pot while it is
seething, it makes the flesh to be sooner sodden.

Lupton, “ A Thousand Notable Things,” bk. x. § 98.

Filbert.

Tempest, ll. 2, 175.

A caTALocuE of the best Filberts :

a \ Avelans.

Large Hazel.
Long, Thin, and Great Round Nuts.

Evelyn, “‘Kalendarium Hortense.”

Tuey engender much ventosity, if they be ate with the
small skins; therefore to take away the grief, it is good
to blanch them in hot water. The skin thereof meddled
with honey helpeth against falling of hair, and maketh hair

grow in the body. - Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvii. § 109.

A suPERSTITIOUS notion prevails with the common people,
that if it rains about the time of Midsummer Eve, the
Filberts will be spoiled that season.

Brand’s “Popular Antiquities,” vol. i. p. 253.

Ir it be rubbed on the heads of boys who have eyes of
different colours, it takes away the diversity. It helps
against venom and bites, and especially with figs and rue
against the punctures of scorpions,

. Hortus Sanitatis, bk. i. ch. cecxiii.

FISH. | NATURAL HISTORY. LI
Fire-drake [| Will-o’-th’-Wisp].

Kino Hewry VIII, v. 4, 465.

Tuat which is spoken of the poison of dragons infecting
the air wherein they live is to be understood of the meteor
called a Fire-drake, which doth many times destroy the
fruits of the earth, seeming to be a certain burning fire in
the air, sometime on the sea, and sometime on the land.

Topsel/, “‘ History of Serpents,” p. 713.

How many oaths flew toward heaven,
Which ne’er came half-way thither, but, like Fire-drakes,
Mounted a little, gave a crack, and fell.

Middleton, ““Your Five Gallants,” iii. 2.

Ir may be, ’tis but a glow-worm now,—but ’twill
Grow to a Fire-drake presently.

Beaumont and Fletcher, “ Beggar’s Bush,” v. 1.

Fish.

Fisu licketh the earth and watery herbs, and so get they
meat and nourishing. Also they be called Reptilia, creeping,
‘because in swimming they seem as they did creep; for in
swimming they creep, though they sink down to the bottom.
Also Fish love their children, and feed and nourish them
long time. Ali Fish feed and keep their birds [7.e., young
ones], out take frogs. Some Fish be gendered, without
eggs or peasen [spawn], of slime and of ooze, of gravel
and of rottenness that is upon the water. And there is a
Fish that hight a Lamprey, that of his like conceiveth not,
but of an adder, which he calleth to love with hissing.
And therefore fishers call it with hissing and whistling, and
taketh her in that wise. Unneath she dieth, though she be
smit with a staff; and if she be smit with a rod, she dieth
anon.. It is certain that the soul of the Fish is in the
tail; for unneath she is slain, though she be smit on the
‘head; and if she be smit on the tail, or if the tail be
smit off, she dieth anon. And the contrary is of the ser-
pent, for if the head be broke and bruised or cut off, the
‘serpent dieth anon; and if the tail be smitten, he liveth

112 SHAKESPEARE’S (rise.

Jong time. Also the serpent doth away his venom ere he
gender with the lamprey. Also Fish conceive of dew only
as oysters and other shell-fish. Fish that be called Elich
come out of the water by night, and conceive in land of
the morrow dew, and bring forth their brood; and in
waning of the moon their shells be void. Also Fish is
stirred to conceive and to breed by rising and down-going
of stars. So Fish that hight Australis arise, when the stars
that hight Pleiades begin to go down, and be not seen till
Pleiades arise again. Generally Fish be giuttons, and covet
much meat. And generally Fish travail more by day than
by night, and more tofore midnight than after. And there-
fore they be hunted tofore the sun rise, and then fishers set
their nets; for that time fish see not. Full well they see
when light increaseth; but by night they seek their meat
by smelling. Also there is some kind of great huge Fish
with great bodies and huge, as it were mountains and hills;
such was the whale that swallowed Jonas the prophet ; his
womb was so great that it might be called hell. The
barnacle [g.v.] when he knoweth and feeleth that tempest
of wind and weathers be great, he cometh and taketh a
great stone, and holdeth him fast thereby, as it were by an
anchor, lest he be smitten away, and thrown about with
waves of the sea. And so he saveth not himself by his own
strength, but helpeth to save himself by heaviness and weight
that is not his own. And is made steadfast and stable
against the coming of tempest and storm. And shipmen
see this and beware that they be not overset unwarily with
tempest and with storms. Heads of salt Fish burnt
healeth the biting of a wood hound, and the stinging of
a scorpion, Also the juice of every Fish helpeth
against venom that is drunken, and against venomous
stingings. [Cooper (“ Thesaurus,” s.v.) adds “The mugil
[i.e. mullet] is of all scaled Fishes the swiftest, of colour
white, having a great belly, and in greediness unsatiable ;
when he is full he lieth still in one place, and being afraid
hideth his head, deeming thereby that no part of his body
is seen, They are so desirous each of other's kind, that
when fishers hang a male of that sort on their line, all the
females resort un‘o it, and so be taken; and likewise do
all the males to the females.”] Also of a Fish which hight
estaurus; for among Fish only that Fish cheweth his cud:

FISH. | NATURAL HISTORY. 113

and this Fish is right witty. For when he knoweth that he
is entered, and is within the dangers of the fishers’ gin, he
reseth not forth headlong, neither putteth his head between
the rolls of the gin; but he beateth fast on the other side
with his tail, and beginneth to make him a way with
breaking and renting of rods, and so passeth backward.
And if it happen that another Fish of the same kind seeth
this doing, and how he travaileth for to break out, he
busieth to help him, and taketh his tail in his mouth, and
helpeth as he may to draw him out, and deliver him of
the gin, Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xiii. § 26.

V. also Crab, Oyster, Lamprey, Whale, Conger, etc.

. Beccars are sometimes carted in pairs of paniers or in
dossers like fresh Fish from Rye, that comes on horseback.

Dekker’s “Lanthorn and Candlelight,” ch. viii,

Heaven is not pleased with our vocation. I speak it
to my grief, and to the burthen of my conscience, we fry
our Fish with salt butter.

Marston's “Dutch Courtezan,” ii, 3, 12.

He, excellent in love as the sea-inhabitant,
Of whom ’tis writ that, when the flattering hook
Has struck his female, he will help her off,
Although he desperately put on himself,
But if he fail, and see her leave his eye,
He swims to land, will languish, and there die—
Such is his love to me.

Robt. Davenport, “City Nightcap,” Act v, (1624).

In Snowdonie are two lakes, whereof one beareth a
movable island, which is carried to and fro as the wind
bloweth ; the other hath three kinds of Fishes in it, as eels,
trouts and perches; but herein resteth the wonder, that all
those have but one eye apiece only, and the same situate in
the right side of their heads.

Holinshed, “Description of Britain,” p. 129 (ed. 1586).

Tue osprey, both alive and dead, yea even her very oil
is a deadly terror to such Fish as come within the wind
of it. Ibid, p. 227.

8

T14 SHAKESPEARE’S [ FITCHEW.

Tue pike is friend unto the tench as to his leech and
surgeon ; for when the fishmonger hath opened his side and
laid out his rivet and fat unto the buyer, for the better
utterance of his ware, and cannot make him away at that
present, he layeth the same again into the proper place, and
sewing up the wound, he restoreth him to the pond where
tenches are, who never cease to suck and lick his grieved
place, till they have restored him to health, and made him
ready to come again to the stall, when his turn shall come
about. It is believed with no less assurance of some than
that an horse-hair, laid in a pail full of the like [i.e., fenny |
water, will in short time stir and become a living creature.

Holinshed, “Description of Britain,” pp. 223-4.

Tue Lomond Lake [hath] fleeting isles and Fish with-
out fins, Ibid., p. 88.

[In Cuba] fishermen after a strange fashion used to hunt
Fish, and take them by the help of another Fish, which
they kept tied in a cord by the boat’s side, and when they
espied a Fish loosed the cord; this hunting Fish presently
lays hold on the prey, and, with a skin like a purse grow-
ing behind her head, graspeth it so fast that by no means
it can be taken from her, till they draw her up above the

water. Purchas “Pilgrims,” p. go4 (ed. 1616).

Fitchew.

A dog, a mule, a cat, a fitchew, a toad, a lizard, an owl, a puttock,
or a herring without a row.

Troitus ano Cressipa, v. 1, 67.
V. Pole-cat.

Tue skin is stiff, harsh and rugged in handling, and
therefore long lasting in garments, yet the savour of it is
so rank, that it is not in any great request, and moreover
it offendeth the head, and produceth ache therein, and
therefore it is sold cheaper than a fox-skin.

Topsell, “ Four-footed Beasts,” p. 172,

FLEA. | NATURAL HISTORY. 115
Flax.

Merry Wives or Winpsor, v. 5, 159.

Tue Flax is made to knots and little bundles, and so
laid in water, and lieth there long time. And then it is
taken out of the water, and laid abroad till it be dried,
and turned and wended [Bartholomew—desiccantur| in the
sun, and then bound in pretty niches and bundles; and
afterward knocked, beaten and brayed, and carfled [? sliced ?]
rodded, and gnodded [? from gnide, i.¢., rub ?] ribbed and
heckled, and at the last spun. Then the thread is sod and
bleached, and bucked and oft laid to drying, wetted and
washed, and sprinkled with water until that it be white,
after diverse working and travail.

Bartholamew (Berthelet), bk. xvii. § 97.

Fiax ought by law to be sown in every country-town
in England, more or less; but I see no success of that
good and wholesome law.

Holinshed, “Description of England,” p. 111.

Flea.
i. Kinc Henry IV., ii. 1, 16, 23.

Tue Flea is a little worm, and grieveth men most, and
it is namely fed with powder [i.e., dust]; and is a little
worm of wonder lightness, and scapeth and voideth peril
with leaping, and not with running, and waxeth slow, and
faileth in cold time, and in summer time it waxeth quiver
and swift. And the Flea is bred white, and changeth as
it were suddenly into black colour, and desireth blood, and
doth let them that would sleep with sharp biting, and
spareth not kings, but a little Flea grieveth them, if he
touch their flesh. And to Fleas wormwood is venom, and
so be leaves of the wild fig-tree. And coloquintida a weed
that is like to a wild nep helpeth against Fleas, if it be
stamped and meddled with water, and sprung in the place
there as many Fleas be; and they bite full sore against
rain. Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xviii. § 89.

A S.utrtisu kept house breedeth Fleas, and lodging next
to stables of horses; also the horse-urine breedeth Fleas,
his dung; falling upon his tail, breedeth snakes, his flesh,

wasps. Batman's addition to Bartholomew, bk, xvili. § 89.

116 . SHAKESPEARE'’S [ FLEA.

A Fea divided in two parts revives. If the water in
which brambles have been boiled be sprinkled in a house,
Fleas will be quite destroyed. When the blood of a goat
is placed in a hole in a house, Fleas collect about it, and
then die. Hortus Sanitatis, bk. ii, § 118,

Wuen any draws nigh toward their death, and their.
members lack blood and vital heat: then Fleas and lice
leave them quite, or else draw to that part of the body
where the said heat tarries the longest ; which is in the
hole in the neck under the chin, etc. This is a token that
death is at hand.

Lupton, “*A Thousand Notable Things,” bk. iii. § 75.

z = ——— 2
At} In SS
Am =
ayy, pcan
oe

Nin ili SA Aa

Re Fi
Pm has Sl

Irem, paid to goodwife Wells for salt to destroy the
Fleas in churchwardens’ pew, 6d.

Parish Accounts of St. Margaret’s, Westminster (1610).

Ir is not any disgrace to a man to be troubled with
Fleas, as it is to be lousy. Their first original is from

dust. Mouffet, “Theatre of Insects,” p. 1102.

FLY. | NATURAL HISTORY. 117

Ir any one be anointed with the milk of an ass, all the
Fleas in the house will gather together upon him.

Albertus Magnus, ‘Of the Wonders of the World.”

Fly and Flesh-fly.

When the splitting wind
Makes flexible the knees of knotted oaks,
And flies fled under shade.

Troitus anp Cressipa, i. 3, §I.

FLizs are unquiet, and importunate, and malicious, sting-
ing and worrying. Flies, like bees, if killed in water,
sometimes revive after an hour. If Flies be burnt, and
smeared with honey on bald places, they produce hair.

Hortus Sanitatis, bk, iii, (“De Avibus’’) § 81.

Wuewn thou wilt drive away Flies from any place that
there shall none be seen there again, make the image of
a Fly in the stone of a ring; or in a plate of brass or
copper, or of tin, make the image of a Fly, of a spider,
or of a.serpent, the second face of Pisces then ascending,
And whiles you are making a graving of them, say: This
is the image which doth clean rid all Flies for ever. Then
bury the same in the midst of the house, or hang it in
any place of the house, (but if thou hast four such plates,
and bury them or hang them in four corners of the house,
or hide them within the walls, that nobody take them away,
it were far better). But this laying of them must be when
the first face of Taurus doth ascend. And so no Fly
will come in there, nor tarry there. Ptolomy saith that he
saw the trial hereof in the house of King Adebarus ; who
was very wise, and was marvellous expert in natural magic,
in whose palace or place, there was neither Fly nor any
other hurting worm. And that I might search it out (saith
he), I brought in thither live Flies, which presently died.

Lupton, “A Thousand Notable Things,” bk. ii. § 21.

In the common place where the Censors of Venice sit,
there never enter any Flies. And in the flesh shambles of
Toledo in Spain, is not seen but one Fly in all the whole
year. And in Westminster Hall, in the timber-work, there

118 SHAKESPEARE'’S [ FLY.

is not to be found one spider, nor a spider’s web. Because
(as it is thought) the timber wherewith the roof is builded
was brought out of Ireland, and did grow there.
[N.B. This belief was still held in Wales in 1869.] In
all which country of Ireland, I have not only heard it
credibly told that there is neither spider, toad, nor any
other venomous thing; but also that some of the earth of
that country hath been brought hither, whereon a toad
being laid, she hath died presently. Though this be mar-
vellous and strange, yet it is true.

Lupton, “A Thousand Notable Things,” bk. iv. § 31.

Ir you rub slightly any kind of beast or cattle with the
juice of gourds in hot weather, no kind of Flies will then
hurt or molest them, nor yet annoy them. A thing desired
of many, and very necessary for such as rides in the hot

weather. Ibid., bk. v. § 42.

Figs are generated two ways,—by coupling with their
own species, or by the putrefaction of other things. When
the Flies bite harder than ordinary, making at the face and
eyes of men, they foretell rain or wet weather. Trouts
are taken with the Ground-fly, but chiefly with the Dung-
fly; so that the anglers use to fasten one or two of them
to their hook, and with a sporting or rather cunning snatch-
ing back of their line do invite the trouts more greedily to
bite, and the bait being swallowed down to hang the surer.
Others put as many of those Flies upon their hooks as
they will hold, and plunge them quite down to the bottom,
especially where they know the greater trouts use to ‘haunt.
But every month must have his several Fly ; the which the
fishers do very well know, who in defect of the natural
Fly do substitute artificial Flies made of wool, feathers, or
divers kind of silken colours, with which they cozen and
deceive the fish, Only you must take heed that as soon as
ever they bite, you pull your line to you, lest the fish
refusing the unsavoury bait get away. We conclude this
art of making Flies to be very ancient, and derived to us
by long tract of time; however, we have some bold

bragging book-men at this day [7.e., 1582] that ascribe it
to their own invention.

Mouffet, “Theatre of Insects,” pp. 932, 944, 946.

FOX. | NATURAL HISTORY. 119

As to Flies, we have none that can do hurt or hindrance
naturally unto any. The cut- or girt-waisted (for so I
English the word Insecta) are the hornets, wasps, bees, and
such like, whereof we have great store, and of which an
opinion is conceived that the first do breed of the corrup-
tion of dead horses, the second of pears and apples, and
the last of kine and oxen; which may be true, especially
the first and latter in some parts of the beast, and not
their whole substances, as- also in the second, sith [since]
we have never wasps, but when our fruit beginneth to wax
ripe. Yet sure I am of this that no one living creature
corrupteth without the production of another; as we may
see by ourselves, whose flesh doth alter into lice; and also
in sheep for excessive numbers of flesh-flies, if they be
suffered to be unburied.

Holinshed, “Description of England,” p. 228.

Fowl.

Out of the fig-tree there comes such a sharp vapour,
that if a hen be hanged thereon, it will so prepare her,
that she will be soon and easily roasted. And the like will
be if the feathers be plucked off from Fowls and birds,
and the skins pulled off from beasts, and then laid or
covered a day or two in a heap of wheat.

Lupton, “A Thousand Notable Things,” bk. iv. § 19.

You are now in Lincolnshire, where you can want no
Fowl, if you can devise means to catch them.

Lilly, “Galatea,” Act i. Scene 4.
VY. Bird.

Fox.

A Fox hight vulpes, and hath that name as it were
wallowing feet aside [uneven-legged : see below], and goeth
never forthright, but alway aslant, and with fraud. And:
is a false beast and deceivable ; for when him lacketh meat,
he feigneth himself dead, and then fowls come to him, as
it were to a carrion, and anon he catcheth one and de-

120 SHAKESPEARE’S [ Fox.

voureth him. The Fox halteth alway; for the right legs
be shorter than the left legs; his skin is right hairy, rough,
and hot ; his tail is great and rough; and when an hound
weeneth to take him by the tail, he taketh his mouth full
of hair, and stoppeth it. The Fox doth fight with the
brock for dens, and defileth the brock’s den with his urine
and with his dirt, and hath so the mastery over him with
fraud and deceit, and not by strength. The hart is friend
to a Fox, and fighteth therefor with the brock, and helpeth
the Fox. The Fox is a stinking beast and corrupt, and
doth corrupt oft the place that they dwell in continually,
and maketh them to be barren. His biting is somedeal
venomous. And when hounds do pursue him, he draweth
in his tail between his legs, and when he seeth he may not
scape, he [micturates] in his tail that is full hairy and
rough, and swappeth his tail full of [urine] in the hounds’
faces that pursue him. And the stench of the [urine] 1s
full grievous to the hounds, and therefore the hounds spare
him somewhat. The Fox feigneth himself tame in time of
need; but by night he waiteth his time, and doeth shrewd
deeds. And although he be right guileful in himself and
malicious ; yet he is good and profitable in use of medicine.
For if a man have upon him a Fox-tongue in a ring or in
a bracelet, he shall not be blind, as witches mean.
Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xviii. § 114.

You may take Foxes with this oil following: Anoint
the soles of your shoes, with a piece of fat swine’s flesh
as broad as your hand, newly toasted or a little broiled at
the fire, when you go out of the wood homeward. And
in every of your steps, cast a piece of the liver of a swine
roasted, and dipped in honey, and draw after your back
the dead carcase of a cat, and when the Fox following thee
comes near unto the steps, be sure to have a man nigh thee
with bow and shafts to shoot at him: or by some other
means to hit him. Mizaldus had this of an expert hunter.

Lupton, “A Thousand Notable Things,” bk. vi. § 21.

Foxes being sod or cut in pieces, and then given to
hens or geese among their meat, it makes them safe from
being hurt of any Foxes after, for the space of two months

(Mizaldus). Ibid., bk. vii. § 44.

FOX. | NATURAL HISTORY. 121

Tue Fox takes the juice which flows from the pine-tree
into his food, and so recovers his health and prolongs his
life. When hungry, he imitates the barking of a dog.

Hortus Sanitatis, bk. ii. ch. clix.

SERPENTS, apes and Foxes, and all other dangerous,
harmful beasts have small eyes, but sheep and oxen, which
are simple, very great eyes. The Fox with his breath
draweth field-mice out of their holes, like as a hart draweth
out serpents with his breath, and devoureth them, In
Arabia and Palestine they are so ravenous that in the night
they fear not to carry into their dens old shoes and vessels,
or instruments of husbandry. But if a Fox eat any meat
wherein are bitter almonds [or aloes] they die thereof if
they drink not presently. If wild rue be secretly hung
under a hen’s wing, no Fox will meddle with her. In some
places they take upon them to take him [the Fox] with
nets, which seldom proveth, because with his teeth he
teareth them in pieces. The French have a kind of gin to
take by the legs, and I have heard of some which have
found the Fox’s leg in the same gin, bitten off with his
own teeth from his body; other have counterfeited them-
selves dead, restraining their breath and winking, not
stirring any member when they saw the hunter come to
take them out of the gin [and] so soon as the Fox per-
ceiveth himself free, away he went, and never gave thanks
for his deliverance. With his tail he draweth fishes to the
brim of the river, and when that he observeth a good
booty, he casteth the fishes clean out of the water upon
the dry land, and then devoureth them. The tongue [of
a Fox] either dried or green, laid to the flesh wherein 1s
any dart or other sharp head, it draweth them forth
violently. The liver dried and drunk cureth often-sighing.

Topsell, “* Four-footed Beasts,” pp. 174-9.

A Fox will not touch any cocks, hens, or such like
pullen, that have eaten (before) the dried liver of a Rey-
nard, nor those hens which a cock, having a collar about
his neck of a Fox-skin, hath trodden.

Holland’s Pliny, bk, xxviii, ch. xx.
V. also Brock.

122 SHAKESPEARE’S [ FROG.

Frog.
Eye of newt and toe of frog,
Wool of bat and tongue of dog. '
Macsery, iv. I, 14.

[Note that the Frog occurs here among other animals sup-
posed to be venomous as an ingredient of the witches’ cauldron.]

Tue Frog crieth greedily and maketh much noise in those
marais [i.e., marshes] where he is bred. And some Frogs
be water-frogs; and some be of moors and of marais.
And there is a manner Frog, that maketh an hound still
and dumb, if he cometh in his mouth. And the Frog hath
his own voice, and maketh not that voice but only in
water. His eyes shineth as a candle, and namely by night.
And all fish nourisheth and feedeth his brood, out-take[n]
the Frog. Then the Frog is watery and moorish, crying
and slimy, with a great womb and speckled there-under,
and is venomous, and abominable therefore to men and
most hated, and both in water and in land he liveth.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xviii. § 91.

By Frogs I understand not such as arising from putre-
faction are bred without copulation, and because they subsist
not long are called Temporaria.

Sir Thos, Browne, “Vulgar Errors,” bk. iii. ch. xiil.

Forsear in plenty of other meat this wanton eating of
Frogs, as things perilous to life and health, They which
use to eat Frogs fall to have a colour like lead. They did
burn the young Frogs, putting the powder thereof into a
cat, whose bowels were taken out, then roasting the cat,
and after she was roasted, they anointed her all over with
honey, then laid her by a wood-side; by the odour and
savour whereof, all the wolves and foxes lodging in the
said wood were allured to come to it, and then the hunters
lying in wait did take, destroy and kill them. The flesh
of Frogs is good against the biting of the sea-hare, the
scorpion, and all kind of serpents. The broth taken into
the body with roots of sea-holm expelleth the salamander.
The little Frogs are an antidote against the Toads and
great Frogs. Topsell, ‘* History of Serpents,” pp. 722-3.

V. Paddock, Toad.

FURZE. | NATURAL HISTORY. 123

THaT a woman may confess what she has done :—Catch
a live Water-frog, and take out its tongue, and put the
Frog back into the water, and put the tongue over the
region of the woman’s heart while she is asleep, and when
she is questioned, she will tell the truth.

Albertus Magnus, ‘Of the Wonders of the World.”

Frocs abound where snakes do keep their residence.
Holinshed, “Description of England,” p. 228.

Fumitory.
Rank fumitory
Kine Henry V., v. 2, 45.

Fumitory [ fumus terre] springeth and groweth out of
the earth in great quantity, as smoke doth, or fumosity that
cometh of the earth. And the more green the herb is, the
better it is; and is of no virtue when it is dry. And is
an herb with horrible savour and heavy smell, and is nathe-
‘less most of virtue. For it cleanseth and purgeth melan-
cholia, phlegm and cholera.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvii. § 69.

Doves are delighted with it.
Minsheu’s Dictionary, 5.7.

Furze.
TEMPEST, iv. I, 180,

Is full bitter to man’s taste, and is a shrub that groweth
in a place that is forsaken, stony and untilled.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvii. § 80.

Cammock [or rest-harrow or Ground-furze] hath this
singular virtue, that it gendereth fire of itself, for when
the leaves thereof fall and be dry, those leaves by a little
blast of hot wind and drought are set on fire.

[bid., bk. xvii. § 138.

124 SHAKESPEARE'’S [GALL.

Gall,

Let there be gall enough in thy ink.
‘TWELFTH NIGHT, iii. 2, 52.

Tuere breedeth on the leaves [of the oak] a manner
thing sour and unsavoury. And physicians call it Gall.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk, xviii. § 134.

Ir the inner part of the Gall be taken and put on a
decayed tooth, it allays the pain of it.

Hortus Sanitatis, bk. i. § 206,

Garlic.
Mipvsummer Nicut’s Dream, iv. 2, 43.
Winter’s Tate, iv. 4, 162.

Men that must needs pass by stinking places, or make
clean uncleanly rotten places, arm and defend themselves
with strong sauce of Garlic. Garlic breedeth whelks and
wounds in the body, if it be laid thereto. And if choleric
men eat too much thereof, it is cause of madness and of
phrensy, and grieveth the sight, and maketh it dim.
Therein is virtue to put out venom, and all venomous
things. Therefore it was not without cause called Treacle
of churls. It helpeth best against the biting and venom of
a wood hound, if it be eaten with salt and nuts, and with
rue. Smape [i.e., pound or crush; Lat. contero| these
four together, and give oft thereof to the patient, in the
quantity of a great nut, and that with wine, and lay the
same confection to the sore without, for it helpeth the
wound, and draweth out venom, and wasteth it, and
keepeth and saveth and delivereth of peril as effectually as
treacle. Also it helpeth against the biting of an adder, if
it be stamped and laid thereto with oil of bay.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvii. § 11,

Wiru fig-leaves and cummin it is laid on against the
bitings of the mouse called a shrew.

Gerard’s “Herbal,” s.0,

Gartic has so strong a scent that the leopard not being
able to endure it, runs away. So that if any one rubs

GILLIFLOWER.| NATURAL HISTORY. Tg

garlic on any place, the leopard springs away, and does not
stay. It drives away serpents and scorpions by its smell.

Hortus Sanitatis, bk. i. § 14.

Gartic being sown when the moon is under the earth,
and plucked up when the moon is above the earth, it is
said that then his stinking smell will be gone. Garlic will
be made the sweeter, if in the planting thereof, you do set
the stones of olives round about it. Or else if you set the
garlic bruised.

Lupton, “ A Thousand Notable Things,” bk. vii, § 80.

Cocxs that eat Garlic are most stout to fight ; therefore
travellers do often bite thereof, and also such as follow
wars ; because it increaseth agility, strengtheneth them, and
makes them bold. It is given to horses with bread and
wine, at the hour of battle or conflict, to make them more
fierce, lively, and to suffer more easily their labour and

travail. Ibid., bk. viii. § 79.

Gem.
Kine Hewry VIIL., ii. 3, 78.

Gem hath that name for it shineth as gum. Of precious
stones some breed in bodies of fowls and of creeping beasts.
But from whence-so-ever precious stones come they be
found endowed by the grace of God with passing great
virtue when they be noble and very [#.¢., genuine].

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvi. § 48.

Gilliflower.

The year growing ancient,
Not yet on summer’s death, nor on the birth
Of trembling winter, the fairest flowers o’ the season
Are our carnations and streak’d gillyvors,
Which some call nature’s bastards: of that kind
Our rustic garden’s barren ; and I care not
To get slips of them. For I have heard it said
There is an art which in their piedness shares
With great creating nature.
. Winter’s Tate, iv. 3, 79, etc.

126 SHAKESPEARE'’S [GINGER.

[The Gilliflower or Gillyvor is the pink or carnation, and is
to be distinguished from the Gillyflower of the wall, z.2., wall-

flower. ]

Tue Gilliflower also, the skilful do know,
Doth look to be covered in frost and in snow:
The knot and the border, and rosemary gay,
Do crave the like succour for dying away.

Tusser, “Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry,”
ch, xxii. st. 22: December’s Husbandry,

Ginger.
Tweirte Nicut, ii. 3, 126.
Measure For Measurg, iv. 3, 6, 9.

Some Ginger is tame, and some is wild; the wild Ginger
hath more sharper savour than hath the tame, and is more
sadder and faster, and not so white, but it breaketh more
sooner. And the more whiter it is, and the more new,
the more sharp it is and the more better. And Ginger is
kept three years in good might and virtue, but afterward
it waxeth dry, and worms eat and gnaw, and make holes
therein and rotteth also for moisture thereof. Who that
purposeth to keep Ginger by long continuance of time shall
put Ginger among pepper, that the moisture of the Ginger
may be tempered and suaged by dryness of the pepper.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvii. § 195.

THERE are some who season Ginger with honey and
some with rob [a barbarous word signifying the juice of
herbs or fruits defoccate—Cooper’s “‘ Thesaurus’ ]—and some
with water and salt; and that, lest it putrefy; and it is
converiient in food, and is eaten with fish and salt.

Hortus Sanitatis, bk. i. § 525.

Green Ginger will cure me of a grievous fit of the colic.
Beaumont and Fletcher, “ Scornful Lady,” iv. 1.

[For a race of Ginger (‘‘ Winter’s Tale,” iv. 3, 20), or raze
(i. “King Henry IV.,” ii. 1, 26), which was probably cheap, as
the Clown in the “ Winter’s Tale” says that he may beg it
compare Greene’s “Looking-Glass for London and England eB

GLow-worm.| NATURAL HISTORY. 127

“T spent eleven pence [for ale], beside three races of Ginger.
Tapster, ho! for the king a cup of ale and a fresh toast;
here’s two races more.” Race was probably a definite quantity,
as the Clown says (“ Winter’s Tale,” doc. czt.), “‘a race or two of
ginger ”; so also in is“ King Henry IV.,” ii. 1, 26, “two razes
of ginger”; and in “The Life and Death of Thomas Lord
Cromwell” (1602 or 1613) the phrase occurs.]

THAT cinnamon, Ginger, clove, mace, and nutmeg are but
the several parts and fruits of the same tree, is the common
belief of those which daily use them.

Sir Thos. Browne, ‘Vulgar Errors,” bk. ii, ch. vi.

Glow-worm.
Ham tet, i. 5, 89, 90.

Tue Glow-worm is a little beast, with feet and with
wings, and is therefore sometime accounted among volatiles,
.and he shineth in darkness as a candle, and namely about
the hinder parts, and is foul and dark in full light. And
infecteth and smiteth his hand that him toucheth. And
though he be unseen in light, yet he fleéth light, and hateth
it, and goeth only by night.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xviii. § 77.

CerTaIn worms that shine in the night called Glow-
worms, being well stopped in a glass, and covered within
hot horse-dung, standing there a certain time, will be re-
solved into a liquor, which being mixed with like propor-
tion of quicksilver, first cleansed and purged: which will be
within half-a-dozen times washing in pure vinegar, mixed
with bay-salt, which after every washing and rubbing must
be cast away, and then hot water put to the quicksilver,
and therewith washed, and then put and closed in a fair,
bright and pure glass, and so hanged up in the midst of a
house, or other place or room: will give such a light in
the dark, as the moon doth, when she shines in a bright
night. Lupton, “A Thousand Notable Things,” bk. iv. § 40.

To make a light that never shall fail—Take the worms
that shine in the night called Glow-worms, stamp them, and
let them stand till the shining matter be above, then with
a feather take of the same shining matter, and mingle it

128 SHAKESPEARE’S [GNaT.

with quicksilver, and so put it into a vial and hang the
same in a dark place, and it will give light. This I had
out of an old book, which is not much unlike the descrip-
tion of Mizaldus.
Lupton, “A Thousand Notable Things,” bk. viii, § 84.

Wuere the Glow-worm creepeth in the night, no adder
will go in the day. Lilly, “‘ Campaspe,” Epilogue.

[Albertus Magnus (‘Of the Wonders of the World’’) states
that you may make a carbuncle of Glow-worms, treated accord-
ing to the directions given in the first quotation from Lupton’s
‘Notable Things.’’]

Gnat.

Comepy or Errors, ii. 2, 30.

A Gyar isa little fly, and is accounted among volatiles,
as the bee is, though he have tht body of a worm with
many feet. And is gendered of rotted or corrupt vapours
of carrions and corrupt place of marais [7.e., marshes]. By
continual flapping of wings he maketh noise in the air, as
though he [w]hurred; and sitteth gladly upon carrions,
botches, scabs and sores; and is full noyful to scabbed
horses and sore-backed, and grieveth sleeping men with
noise and with biting, and waketh them of their rest, and
fleéth about most by night, and pierceth and biteth mem-
bers upon the which he sitteth, and draweth toward light,
and so unwarily he falleth into a candle or into the fire.
And for covetous[ness] for to see light, he burneth himself
oft, and is best to feeding of swallows.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xii. § 12.

Ir any list to sleep, and lay by him the branches of moist
hemp, Gnats will not trouble him nor come nigh him.
Lupton, “A Thousand Notable Things,” bk. iv. § 47.

Tue network coverlid spread on beds, we at this day
name a canopy, a thing to catch all manner of Gnats. The
Gnat seems to be a kind of fly, yet as flies love sweet
things, Gnats love things sour and tart ; the flies do couple,
the Gnats do not. By their goodwill, they will wound

GOAT. | NATURAL HISTORY. 129

none but the fairest. Gnats seem to be more worthy esteem
than the ordinary sort of almanac-makers; for they will tell
you the weather at all times, and for nothing, and that
more certainly and truly. For if the Gnats near sunset
do play up and down in open air, they presage heat ; if
in the shade, warm and mild showers ; but if they alto-
gether sting those that pass by them, then expect cold
weather and very much rain. When a Gnat comes forth of
the oak-apple about Michaelmas, it foretells war and
hostility; if a spider, dearth; if a worm, fertility and fruitful-
ness, If any one would find water either in a hill or valley,
let him observe the sun-rising, and where the Gnats whirl
round in form of an obelisk, underneath there is water to
be found. Yea, dreams of Gnats do foretell news of war
or a disease, and that so much the more dangerous as it
shall be apprehended to approach the more principal parts
of the body. Hang some horse-hair and make it fast in
the middle of the doors, and Gnats will not come in at it.
Our countrymen that live about the fens have invented a
fen-canopy, being made of a broad, plain, half-dry, some-
what hard piece or many pieces together of cow’s dung, and
these they hang at their bed’s feet; with the smell and
juice whereof the Gnats being very much taken, and feed-

ing thereon all the night long, let them sleep quietly in
their beds.
Mouffet, “Theatre of Insects,” bk. i ch. xiii.

Goat.
i, Kine Henry IV., iit. 1, 39.

Tue Goat breathes at the ears, and not at the nose, and
is seld without fever. And we mean not that Goats see
less by night than by day. And if a man draw one out
of the flock by the beard, the others be astonied and behold.
And also the same happeth when one of them biteth a cer-
tain herb. And if the Goat conceive afore the northern
wind, she yeaneth males, and if she conceive afore the
southern wind, she yeaneth females. And if a man take a
Goat, and rear him up suddenly, then the other rear them
also, and behold him sadly. Serpents be chased and driven
away. with ashes of Goats’ horns, and with their wool burnt.

9

130 SHAKESPEARE'S [GoaT.

And by remedy of Goats’ horns divers manner kind of
venom is overcome. With new Goat-skins wounds be holp
and healed. Goat’s blood meddled with marrow and sod
excludeth poison of venom, biting of creeping worms, and
smiting of scorpions be saved and healed. And a certain
beast sucketh goat’s milk of the udder and teats, and then
the milk is destroyed and wasted, and the goat waxeth

blind thereby.. Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xviii. § 24.

Wixtp Goats dwell in high rocks and crags; and if they
perceive sometime that they be pursued of men or of wild
beasts, they fall down headlong out of the high crags, and
save themselves harmless on their own horns. Also the
leopard drinketh milk of the wild Goat, and voideth
sorrow and woe. Ibid., § 22.

Wuen he is wounded, he eateth Dragon tea, and taketh
so the arrow out of the body. Serpents hate and flee the
wild Goat, and may not suffer the breath of him.

Ibid, § 35.

Tue hot blood of the Goat buck nesheth and carveth
the hard adamant stone, that neither fire nor iron may
overcome. And the Goat buck hath many and strong
horns, and much fatness and namely within about the reins,
and then he dieth lightly, but the fatness be withdrawn.
Sometime it happed that a Goat buck was seen with horns
in the legs, and that was full wonderful to see. The liver
of the Goat buck helpeth against biting of the wood

hound. Tbid., § 60.

Goats will not stray nor wander, if you cut off their

beards.
Lupton’s “ A Thousand Notable Things,” bk. v. § 58.

Tue bite of the Goat is deadly to trees. And Goats
die if they lick honey. They live on venomous herbs, If
Goats drink or eat out of vessels of tamarisk, they will
have no spleen. If they lick serpents after these have cast
their skin, they will not grow old, though they become

GoaT. | NATURAL HISTORY. 131

white. The Goat does not see well in the day-light ; but
its sight is more acute by night. The eyes of the Goat
shine by night, and they throw out light. Also he-Goats
have more teeth than she-Goats. Goat’s cheese appeases all
wounds and pains if laid upon them. Their hoofs burnt
and pounded with liquid pitch cure baldness. Their blood.
does as much ; and if it be drunk destroys venom.

Hortus Sanitatis, bk. ii. § 22.

Upon provocation the he-Goat striketh through an
ordinary piece of armour or shield at one blow,—his force
and the sharpness of his horns are so pregnable. Goats
foresee and foreshew change of weather, for they depart
from their stables, and run wantonly abroad before showers,
and afterward, having well fed, of their own accord return
to their folds again. Goats take breath through their
ears; and certain Goats have a certain hole or passage in
the middle of their head, betwixt the horns, which goeth
directly unto the liver, and the same stopped with liquid
wax suffocateth or stifleth the beast. There is no_ beast
that heareth so perfectly and so sure as a Goat, for he is
not only holp in this sense with his ears, but also hath the
organ of hearing in part of his throat. With Goat’s milk
wine is preserved from corruption by sourness, Of the suet
and fat of Goats are the best candles made, because it is
hard and not over liquid. The blood of a Goat scoureth
rusty iron better than a file. The loadstone draweth iron,
and the same, being rubbed. with garlic, dieth and loseth
that property, but being dipped again in Goat’s blood,
reviveth and recovereth the former nature. In ancient time
they made fruitful their vineyards by this means :—they
took three horns of a female Goat, and buried them in the
earth with their points or tops downward to the root of
the vine stocks. The gall of a female Goat put into a
vessel and set in the earth hath a natural power to draw
Goats unto it. Herein appeareth the pride of this beast,
that he scorneth to come behind either cattle or sheep, but
always goeth before. Goats love singularity, and may well
be called schismatics among cattle; in great stocks they are
soon infected with the pestilence. The wild Goats of Crete
eat dittany against the strokes of darts; and Goats by lick-

132 SHAKESPEARE’S [GoaT.

ing the leaves of tamarisk lose their gall. The rhodo-
dendron is poison to Goats, and yet the same helpeth a
man against the venom of serpents. Also they avoid
cummin, for it maketh them mad, or bringeth upon them
lethargies, and such like infirmities. He avoideth also the
spittle of man, for it is hurtful to him, and yet he eateth
many venomous herbs and groweth fat thereby. The Goats
of Cephalonia drink not every day like other Goats, but
only once or twice in six months, And wheras all other
kind of cattle, when they are sick, consume and pule away by
little and little, only Goats perish suddenly, insomuch as all
that are sick are unrecoverable ; and the other of the stock
must be instantly let blood and separated before the infec-
tion overspread all. The female Goat easeth the pain of
her eyes by pricking them upon a bullrush, and the male
Goat by pricking them upon a thorn. The females never
wink in their sleep, being herein like the roe-bucks. There
are certain birds called [Goatsuckers] because of their suck-
ing of Goats, and when these have sucked a Goat, she
presently falleth blind. Young wild Goats gather meat
and bring it to their mothers in their age, and likewise
they run to the rivers or watering-places, and with their
mouths suck up water, which they bring to quench the
thirst of their parents; and whereas their bodies are rough
and ugly to look upon, the young ones lick them over with
their tongues, making them smooth and neat. The horns
[of the wild Goats] serve them [the shepherds] instead of
buckets to draw water out of the running streams; they
are .so great, that no man is able to drink them off at one
draught. The wild Goats of Egypt are said never to be

hurt by scorpions.
Topsell, “ Four-footed Beasts,” pp. 181-94.

Ir Goat's blood be taken warm, with vinegar and the
juice of hay and the like be boiled with glass, it makes the
glass soft like paste, and it may be thrown against a wall,
and will not break, and if the aforesaid be poured into a
vase, and the face anointed with it, strange and horrible
things will appear, and the man will think that he must
die.

Albertus Magnus, “ Of the Virtues of Animals,”

GOOSE. | NATURAL HISTORY. 133

Goose, Gosling.

Love’s Lazour’s Lost, iii. I, 102, etc.
CorioLanus, v. 3, 35.

In the Alps there is a kind of Goose, biggest of all
birds except the ostrich ; but so heavy that it may be taken
immovable on the ground by the hand. There is no animal
which so quickly perceives the scent of man as the Goose.

Its fat helps against baldness.
Hortus Sanitatis, bk. iii. § 10.

Ir a man steal their eggs from them, they lay still, and
never give over till they be ready to burst with laying. If
one of their Goslings be stung never so little by a nettle,
it will die of it. Their greedy feeding also is their bane, for
one while they will eat till they burst again; another whiles
kill themselves with straining their own selves; for if they
chance to catch hold of a root with their bill, they will
bite and pull so hard for to have it, that many times they
break their own necks withal, before they leave their hold.
Against the stinging of nettles the remedy is, that so soon
as they be hatched there be some nettle roots laid under
their bed of straw. Holland’s Pliny, bk, x. ch. lix.

Ir is said that all summer long even unto the fall of the
leaf, Geese and ravens be continually sick.
Lbid., bk. xxix. ch. iii,

[Wuirsy.] It is also ascribed to the sanctity of Hilda,
that those wild Geese (which in winter fly in great flocks
to the unfrozen lakes and rivers in the southern parts), to
the great amazement of every body, fall down suddenly
upon the ground, when they are in their flight over certain
neighbouring fields hereabouts; a relation that I should not
have given, if I had not received it from several very credible
persons. Camden's “ Britannia,” col. 906-7 (ed. 1722).

Aw excellent pickled Goose, a new service.
Dekker and Webster, ‘Westward Ho!” 1. 2.

Younc gentlemen shall be eaten up (for dainty meat)
as if they were pickled Geese, or baked woodcocks.
Dekker, “ Raven’s Almanack.”

134 SHAKESPEARE’S [GOOSEBERRY.

Joun pe ta Hay held a parcel of land of Will.
Barneby Lord of Lastres in County Hereford, and was to
render thence 20d. yearly, and one Goose fit for.the Lord’s
dinner on the Feast of St. Michael the Archangel.

Blount's “Jocular Tenures,” 10 Edward IV., p. 8.

. [An old proverb: ‘Teach him a trick to shoe the goose ”’—
(“‘ Bacchus’ Bounty,” and “ Parliament of Birds’”’).]

Some hold an opinion that in over rank soils Goose-
dung doth so qualify the batableness [fertility] of the soil,
that their cattle is thereby kept from the garget, and sundry
other diseases, although some of them come to their ends
now and then by licking up of their feathers.

Holinshed, “ Description of England,” p. 222.

Gooseberry.
ii. Kinc Hewry IV., i 2, 194.

GoosEBERRY, because they commonly make goose-sauce
with Gooseberries, Its flavour is like that of the green fig.

Minsheu’s Dictionary, 5.2.

In English Gooseberry, and fea-berry in Cheshire. The
fruit is used in divers sauces for meat, as those that are
skilfull in cookery can better tell than myself. They are
used in broths instead of verjuice, which maketh the broth
not only pleasant to the taste, but is greatly profitable to
such as are troubled with a hot burning ague. They pro-
voke appetite. [The fruit must have been very small, as]
there is another whose fruit is almost as big as a small
cherry. These plants do grow in our London gardens and
elsewhere in great abundance.

Gerard’s “‘ Herbal,” bk. iii. ch. xxii.

[Johnson (Gerard's “ Herbal,” Zoc. cz¢.) mentions six sorts of
Gooseberries: the long green, the great yellowish, the blue, the
great round red, the long red, and the prickly.]

GRASS. | NATURAL HISTORY. 135

Grape.
Auw’s Wet, tHat Enps WELL, ii. I, 73.
As You Lixge It, v. 1, 39.
Muipsummer Nicut’s Dream, iii. I, 170,

THERE is a kind of black Grape named Inerticula, as a
man would say dull and harmless; but they that so called
it might more justly have named it The sober Grape;
the wine made thereof is very commendable when it is old,
howbeit nothing hurtful, for never makes it any man
drunk ; and this property hath it alone by itself.

Holland's Pliny, bk. xiv. chs, ii., tii.

Grapes may be kept the whole year. Take the meal
of mustard-seed, and strew in the bottom of any earthen
pot well leaded; whereupon you shall lay the fairest
bunches of the ripest Grapes, the which you shall cover
with more of the foresaid meal, and lay upon that another
sort of Grapes, so doing until the pot be full. Then shall
you fill up the pot to the brim with a kind of sweet wine
called must. The pot being very close covered shall be
set into some cellar or other cold place. The Grapes you
may take forth at your pleasure, washing them with fair

water from the powder.
Gerard’s “Herbal,” bk. ii. ch. ccexxiii.

Gorse.
TEMPEST, iv. I, 180,

[Distinguished from “ furze.”]

Vv. Furze.

Grass.

Grass cometh of the green, and is pleasing in sight, and
liking to beasts in pasture and meat, and ‘comforteth the
sick in doing, for as in roots so in herbs and Grass be
many manner virtues. Herbs and Grass love stern weather,
rain and great showers, for heat and colour of herbs need
much moisture. Hounds know this herb, and eat it to
purge themselves, but they do it so privily, that unneath
‘men may spy it. Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvii. § 76.

136 SHAKESPEARE’S [GRASSHOPPER.

Tuer earth found in or about a man or woman’s skull is
a singular depilatory, and fetcheth away the hair of the
eyebrows. As for the Grass or weed that groweth therein
(if any such may be found) it causeth the teeth to fall out
of the head with chewing only.
Holland’s Pliny, bk. xxviii. ch. iv. p. 302, G.

Five-Leavep Grass, through Jupiter’s force, doth resist
venom or poison. Whereof if one leaf twice every day,
morning and evening, be drunken with wine, it is said to
put away the quotidian ague. Three leaves the tertian
ague. And four leaves the quartan ague.

Lupton, “ A Thousand Notable Things,” bk. iii. § 45.

Tue fine Grass which groweth upon the banks of [the
Dove] is so fine and batable [luxuriant], that there goeth
a proverb upon the same; so oft as a man will commend
his pasture, to say that there groweth no better feed on
Dove-bank. Holinshed, “Description of England,” p. 98.

Grasshopper.

Romeo anv JuLIgT, i. 4, 60.

TuHey never alter their place, or at least very seldom ;
or if they do, they are ever after silent, they sing no
more; so much doth the love of their native soil prevail
with them. If clay be not dug up in due time, it will
breed Grasshoppers. The Grasshoppers abounding in the
end of spring do foretell a sickly year to come. Often-
times their coming and singing doth portend the happy
state of things. What year that few of them are to be
seen, they presage dearness of victuals, and scarcity of all
things else. Mouffer, “Theatre of Insects,” bk. i, ch. xvii.

V. Locust.
Griffin.

Mivsummer Nicut’s Dream, il. I, 232.
A Gripe is accounted among volatiles. And the Gripe

is four-footed, and like to the eagle in head and in wings;
and is like to the lion in the other part of the body, and

GRIFFIN. | NATURAL HISTORY. 137

dwelleth in those hills that be called Hyperborean, and be
most enemies to horses and men, and grieveth them most,
and layeth in his nest a stone that hight Smaragdus against
venomous beasts of the mountain.

Bartholamew (Berthelet), bk. xii. § 19.

Tuer Gripes are of colour of a dark ochre on the base,
their breast of purple colour, their wings brown and white,
' their talons black, and the beak turning“ as doth the eagle’s ;
_he is more higher than the lion,—the hinder feet cloven as

the stag’s,—able to carry away the weight of two men, a
stag, or the like beast.
Batman's addition to Bartholomew, bk. xii. § 19.

GrirFrins dig up gold and delight in looking ‘at it when
dug up. The body of a large Griffin is larger than eight
lions of those parts; for having killed an ox, a horse, or
even an armed man, it lifts them up and carries them off
in its flight. Hortus Sanitatis, bk. iii. § 56.

Tuey build their nests of the gold which they dig up,
and lay two eggs larger, harder, hotter and drier than those

of eagles.
Fouston, *‘ Natural History,” bk. iii., appendix, ch. i.

Gripes keep the mountains, in the which be gems and
precious stones, as emerald and jasper, and suffer them not
to be taken from thence. And in some countries in
Scythia is plenty of gold and of precious stones; but for
great Gripes men dare not come thither openly, but seld
for fierceness of Gripes. There is best emerald and crystal.
And the Gripe hath so great claws and so large, that of
them be made cups that be set upon boards of kings.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xviii. § 56.

In that country [Bacharie] be many Griffins, more plenty
than in any other country. One Griffin is more great
and stronger than an .hundred eagles such as we have
among us. For one Griffin there will bear, flying to his
nest, a great horse, or two oxen yoked together, as they
go at the plough. For he hath his talons so long and so
large and great upon his feet, as though they were horns

138 SHAKESPEARE’S [GUDGEON.

of great oxen, or of bugles [ze., buffaloes] or of kine; so
that men make cups of them to drink of; and of their
ribs and of the pens [7.e., feathers] of their wings, men
make bows full strong, to shoot with arrows and quarrels.
Sir Fohn Mandeville, ch. xxvi. ad fin.

Gripes make their nests of gold, though their coats are
feathers, Lilly, “ Galatea,” ii. 3.

Tue Griffin never spreadeth her wings in the sun, when
she hath any sick feathers.
Lilly, “Sappho and Phaon”’ (Prologue at the Blackfriars).

Gudgeon.

This fool gudgeon,
MercuanT oF VENICE, i, I, 102.

Some say that the Gudgeon feeds on dead carcases, but
fishermen hold this to be a fable.

Hortus Sanitatis, bk. iv. § 41.

Some have said that the Gudgeon is generated from the
brain of horses.
Fonston, “ Natural History,” bk. ii, tit. i. ch. x.

Wuar fish soever you be, you have made both me and
Philantus to swallow a Gudgeon.
“Euphues”; so Dekker’s “Honest Whore,” part ii. ii, 2.

a

Gurnet.

A soused gurnet.
i. Kine Henry IV., v. 2, 11.

[Gurnet is, called in Latin] cuculus, either from the
sound which it makes in common with the bird of that
name [i.e. cuckoo], or because, when it is taken in nets, it
utters the word cu.

Fonston, “ Natural History,” bk. ii. tit. ili, ch. i, p. 2.

[Gurnets cost 2s. 6d. to 3s. each in 1573.
Soused Gurnet was a term of reproach; wide Steevens’
Shakespeare, vol. viii. p. 549.]

HALCYON. | NATURAL HISTORY. 139

Halcyon.
St. Martin’s summer, halcyon’ days.
i. Kinc Henry VIL, i. 2, 131.

Turn their halcyon beaks with every gale.
Kine Lear, ii. 2, 84.

A rrp called also King’s-fisher, because she fisheth in
the sea, and casteth herself with such force at the fishes.
She conceiveth in the sea, and in it she brings forth her
young—and that in chill and cold weather; and mean-
while the heaven is serene, and the sea tranquil, nor
agitated by troubles of winds. Hence those serene days
are called Halcyon-days.

Minsheu’s Dictionary, s.v.

Sue deposits her eggs in the sand, and that in mid-
winter, when the sea rises highest, and the waves beat very
strongly on the shore ; but while she hatches out, the sea
grows suddenly quiet, and all windy’ storms cease. And
she sits on her eggs for seven days, and then brings out
her young, whom she rears for other seven days. And
therefore seamen watch for these xiv days, expecting calms.
Her nest cannot be cut by iron, but is broken by a strong
knock.

Hortus Sanitatis, bk. iii. § 8.

THERE is a second kind of them breeding about the
sea-side, differing both in quantity and also in voice; for
it singeth not as the former do, which are lesser ; for they
haunt rivers, and sing among the flags and reeds. It is a
very great chance to see one of these Halcyons, and never
are they seen but about the setting of the star Virgiliz
(i.e., the Brood-hen); or else near mid~snmmer or mid-
winter: for otherwhiles they will fly about a ship, but
soon are they gone again and hidden. In the: beginning
of December they build. ‘Their nests are wondrously made,
in fashion of a round ball; the mouth or entry thereof
standeth somewhat out, and is very narrow, much like
unto great sponges. And no man could ever find of what
they be made. Some think they are framed of the sharp-
pointed pricks of some fishes, for of fish these birds live.

Holland's Pliny, bk. x. chy xxxii,

140 SHAKESPEARE’S [HARE

Tuere is engendered in the sea also that which is called
Halcyoneum, made as some think of the nests of the
birds Halcyons; but, as others suppose, of the filthy foam
of the sea. Four kinds there be of it.

Holland's Pliny, bk. xxxii, ch, viii.

Into the nest of an Halcyon no bird can enter but the
Halcyon. Lilly, “Sappho and Phaon,” iii. 3.
As the birds Halcyon which exceed in whiteness, I hatch
young ones that exceed in blackness,
“ Euphues’ Golden Legacie.”

A uittre bird called the King’s fisher, being hanged up
in the air by the neck, his neb or bill will be always direct
or straight against the wind. This was told me for a very
truth by one that knew it by proof, as he said.

Lupton, “A Thousand Notable Things,” bk. x. § 96.

Bur now how stands the wind?

Into what corner peers my Halcyon’s bill?

Ha! To the East? Yes! See, how stand the vanes?
East and by south. Marlowe, “Jew of Malta,” i. 1.

As a Halcyon with her turning breast
Demonstrates wind from wind, and east from west.

Storer, “Life and Death of Thomas Wolsey, Cardinal” (1599).

Hare.
[Melancholy] hare.
i, Kinc Henry IV., i. 2, 86.

Tue Hare is fearful, and fighteth not, and is feeble of
sight, as other beasts be, that close not the eye-lids in
sleeping ; and is better of hearing than of sight, namely
when he reareth up the ears. His ears be full long and
pliant, and that is needful for to defend the eyes that be
open, and not defended with covering, nor with heling to
keep them from gnats and flies great and small for against
noyful [i.e., noxious] things, kind giveth remedy to
creatures. < Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xviii. § 68.

HARE. | NATURAL HISTORY 141

Like your melancholy Hare
Feed after midnight.

Webster, ** Vittoria Corombona.”

- Howsozver Hares are thought to nourish melancholy,
yet they are eaten as venison, both roasted and boiled.

Fynes' Moryson, “Itinerary,” part iii. p. 149.

[Hares were roasted (second part of “The Good Huswife’s
Jewel,” 1597, p. 66) with parsley, thyme, savory, cream, butter,
small raisins and barberries worked all together in the Hare’s
belly, and served with venison sauce.]

THE juice of henbane, mixed with the blood of an Hare,
and sod within the skin of a Hare, it is said that all the
Hares will gather together, which be within that trace
where it is buried. This was affirmed for truth to

Mizaldus.
Lupton, “A Thousand Notable Things,” bk. ii, § 5.

[Hare-tip comes of seeing a Hare or longing for its
flesh. Ibid., bk. ii, § 6.]

Tue blood of an Hare dried and made in powder, and
thrown upon flesh newly roasted or sodden, makes the
same flesh seem to be bloody and corrupt. So that they
that be present, and sees the same, unless such as know
the secret thereof, will loathe to eat thereof (Mizaldus).

Tbid., bk. vii. § 66.

Wiru its brain boys’ gums are cleansed; for it has the
property to make the teeth come quickly, and without
ain. Its head burnt with bear’s grease, and used as a
plaster, helps baldness, Hortus Sanitatis, bk. ii. § 83.

In Chersonesus all the Hares have ordinarily two livers ;
and (a wondrous thing it is to tell) if they be brought
into other countries, one of the said livers they lose.

Holland's Pliny, bk. xi. p. 341.

' Some creatures there are that will never be fat, as the
Hare and partridge. Ibid, p. 344.

142 SHAKESPEARE'S [HARE

Tue hairiest creature of all other is the Hare.
Holland’s Pliny, bk. xi. p. 347.

Men have assayed to make cloth of Hares’ and Cony’s
hair; but in the hand they are not so soft as is the fur
upon the skin or case; neither will they last, by reason
that the hair is short, and will soon shed.

Ibid, p. 232.

Tue common sort of people are persuaded, that the meat
of this kind of venison [i.e., Hare’s flesh] causeth them
that feed upon it to look fair, lovely and gracious, for a
week together afterwards. There must needs be some cause
and reason of this settled opinion, which hath thus gener-
ally carried the world away to think so.

Ibid., bk. xxviii. p. 341.

Tue eye-lids coming from the brows are too short to
cover their eyes, and therefore this sense is very weak in
them ; and besides their over-much sleep, their fear of dogs
and swiftness causeth them to see the less; when they
watch, they shut their eyes, and when they sleep they open
them. The common sort of people suppose they are one
year male, and another female. Men find in Hares certain
little bladders filled with matter, and against rain Hares
suck thereout a certain humour, and anoint their bodies all
over therewith, and so are defended in time of rain.
Hares never drink, but content themselves with the dew,
and for that cause they often fall rotteri. She keepeth not
her young ones together in one litter, but layeth them a
furlong one from another, that so she may not lose them
all together, if peradventure men or beasts light upon
them. The ears of this beast are like angels’ wings, ships’
sails and rowing oars, to help her in her flight. The
eating of Hares procureth sleep. A waistcoat made of
Hares’ skins straightens the bodies of young and old. The
rennet being mingled with vinegar is drunk against poison ;
and also if a man or beast be anointed with it, no serpent,
scorpion, spider or wild mouse, whose teeth are venomous,
will venture to sting the body so anointed. The same
being mingled with snails or any other shell-fish, which

HART. | NATURAL HISTORY, 143

feed upon’ green herbs or leaves, draweth forth thorns,
darts, arrows or reeds out of the belly.
Topsell, “ Four-footed Beasts,” pp. 208-16.

Tue feet of a Hare together with the stone otherwise
the head of an ousel move a man to boldness, so that he
fears not death. And if it be bound on the left arm, he
will go whither he will, and return safely without danger.
And if it be given to a dog to eat with the heart of a
weasel, he will make no noise from thenceforth, even if he
is being killed.

Albertus Magnus, ‘Of Virtues of Animals.”

Wirtu [the red deer] in degree of venerie are accounted
the Hare, boar and wolf. As for Hares, they run at their
own adventure, except some gentleman or other (for his
pleasure) do make an enclosure for them.

Holinshed, “ Description of England,” p. 226.
VY, Cony.

Hare-bell.

CyYMBELINE, iv. 2, 222.

Tue roots, being beaten and applied with white wine,
hinder or keep back the growth of hairs, The ‘root boiled
in wine and drunk helpeth against the venomous bitings
of the field-spider. The seed is of the same virtue.

Gerard’s “Herbal,” «o,

Harlock.
Kine Lear, iv. 4, 4.

[A doubtful reading. Hardock is Arctium Lappa. “UHar-
lock” is used by Drayton, but the plant has not been identified.
It is possible that ‘“charlock” or “burdock” may be the right
word.]

Hart.

As You Like It, iii, 2, 107.

A wart is a stag of five years old complete. And if
the King or Queen do hunt him, and he escape away alive,
then afterward he is called a Hart Royal. And if the

144 SHAKESPEARE'S [HART.

beast, by the King’s or Queen’s hunting, be chased out of
the forest, and so escape, proclamation is commonly made
in the places thereabout, that in regard of the pastime that
the beast hath showed to the King or Queen, none shall
hurt him or hinder him from returning to the forest ; and
then is he a Hart Royal Proclaimed.

Minsheu's Dictionary, sz.

Harts be enemies to serpents; which when they feel
themselves grieved with sickness, they draw them with
breath of their nostrils out of their dens, and, the malice
of the venom overcome, they are repaired with feeding of
them. And they taught first the virtue of the herb
Dittany, for they eat thereof, and cast out arrows and
arrow-heads, when they be wounded of hunters. And they
wonder of noise of pipes, and have liking in accord of
melody, and they hear well when they rear up their ears,
and bear down the ears when they swim and pass rivers
and great waters. And then in swimming the stronger
swim tofore, and the feebler lay their heads upon the loins
of the stronger. And the Hart is most pleasing beast,
and runneth wilfully and fleéth to a man when he is over-
set with hounds. [And in rutting time] the males wax
cruel, and dig up clods and stones with their feet, and then
their snouts be black until they be washed with rain.
[And after the female has calved] the male eateth busily ;_
and when he feeleth himself too fat, he seeketh dens and
lurking-places, for he dreadeth damage and harm by heavi-
ness of body. And when the Hart casteth his right horn,
for envy he hideth it, and is sorry if any man hath medi-
cine thereof. Serpents flee and avoid the odour and smell
of burning of an Hart’s horn. His rennet is good against
all biting of serpents. Also the Hart’s blood and hare’s
blood congealeth never. And the Hart roareth, cryeth and
weepeth when he is taken. And when the Hind feeleth
heaviness, she swalloweth a stone, and is holpen by virtue

of that stone. Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xviii § 30.

Give the bone of a Hart’s heart, ground, to a barren
woman in drink, and thou shalt see the glory of God.

Batman’s addition to Bartholomew, bk. xviii. § 30,

HART, | NATURAL HISTORY. 145

Harts being the most cowardly and heartless creatures
have also the largest horns.
Dekker, “News from Hell.”

Oxen, kine, bullocks or horses shall not be troubled
with any disease, if you hang a Hart’s horn upon them.

Lupton, “A Thousand Notable Things,” bk. vi. § 53.

A Hart doth so abhor a ram, that he cannot abide the
sight of him, Ibid., bk. ix. § 36.

CERTAIN worms are bred in the bowels or guts of the
Hart, and they are destroyed by the eating of serpents,
which the Hart doth allure with the breath of his nose to
come out of their hole or den; and lest the poison of
them should hurt him, he goes apace to some fair spring
of water, and whiles all his whole body is therein unto the
lips, little drops or tears distil out of his eyes, which at
length increaseth to a thing as big as a walnut, and are in
manner of a stone, and when he perceives he hath thereby
avoided all the poison, and being come forth of the water,
with the rubbing of his eyes at a tree, the same lump or
stone (being a hindrance to his sight) he gets away.
Which matter or stone is a thing most effectual against
any venom or poison. The Arabian physicians call the
stone Bezoar. Ibid, bk. x. § 21.

Tue Hart hath a worm in his head, which vexes him
constantly in the spring. But every animal and man him-
self has a worm under the tongue. The Hart, where he
finds a serpent, fills his mouth with water, and pours it
into the hole, then with the breath of his mouth he draws
the serpent out, and treads on it with his feet and kills it,

and eats it. Any one who is wrapped in the hide of a

Hart does not fear serpents, The end of a hart’s tail is
venomous. Hortus Sanitatis, bk. ii. § 34.

Harts being stung with a kind of spider, or some such
venomous vermin, they cure themselves with eating cray-
fishes or fresh-water crabs.

Holland's Pliny, bk. viii. ch. xxvii.
Io

146 SHAKESPEARE’S [ HART.

Tue stag and hind feeling themselves poisoned with
some venomous weed among grass where they pasture go
by and by to the artichoke, and therewith cure themselves.

Holland’s Pliny, bk. viii. ch. xxvii.

ra

Tuts creature of all diseases is not subject to the fever,

but he is good to cure it.
Tbid., bk. ii, ch. xxxil.

Ir together with deer’s blood, there be burnt the herb
Dragon, Bastard Marjoram, and Orchanet, in a fire made
with Lentisk wood, serpents will gather round together
into an heap; take away the same blood and put into the
fire the root of Pyrethrum (Pellitory of Spain), they will
scatter asunder again. Ibid., bk. xxviii. ch. ix,

Harts are deceived with music, for they so love that
harmony, that they forbear their food to follow it. They
live very long—2,112 years. The bones of young Harts
are applied for making of pipes, but if a young one be
pricked in his legs with cactus, his bones. will never make
pipes. If men drink in pots wherein are wrought Harts’
horns, it will weaken all force of venom. The magicians
have also devised that if the fat of a dragon’s heart be
bound up in the skin of a roe, with the nerves of a Hart,
it promiseth victory to him that beareth it on his shoulder,
and that if the teeth be so bound in a roe’s skin, it
maketh one’s lord, master, or all superior powers, exorable
and appeased towards their husbands and suitors. Orpheus,
in his Book of Stones, commandeth a husband to carry
about him a Hart’s horn, if he will live in amity and con-
cord with his wife.

Topsell, “ Four-footed Beasts,” pp. rol-s.

THe young males which our fallow deer do bring forth
are commonly named according to their several ages ;—for
the first year it is a fawn, the second a pricket, the third
a sorrel, the fourth a sore, the fifth a buck of the first
head. In examining the condition of our red deer, I find
that the young male is called in the first year a calf, in
the second a brocket, the third a spay, the fourth a stagon
or stag, the fifth a great stag, the sixth an Hart, and so
forth unto his death. And with him in degree of venery

HAWK. | NATURAL HISTORY. 147

are accounted the hare, boar and wolf. Of these also the
stag is accounted for the most noble game, the fallow deer
is the next, then the roe, whereof we have indifferent
store, and last of all the hare.

Holinsted, “Description of Britain,” p, 226,

Hawk.

TaminG oF THE SHREW, Induction, Sc. 2, 45.

We have the eagle; the lanner [male] and the lanneret
[female]; the tiercel and the goshawk ; the musket [male-
sparrow-hawk] and the sparhawk ; the jack and the hobby
[a small Hawk]; and finally some though very few marlions
[merlins]. And these are all the Hawks that I do hear as
yet to be bred within this island. Howbeit as these are
not wanting with us, so are they not very plentiful ; where-
fore such as delight in Hawking do make their chief pur-
veyance and provision for the same out of Dansk [Denmark],
Germany and the East countries; from whence we have
them in great abundance, and at excessive prices, whereas
at home they are sold for almost right naught. The spar-
hawk is enemy to young children, as is also the ape; but
of the peacock she is marvellously afraid, and so appalled,
that all courage and stomach for a time is taken from her
upon the sight thereof.

Holinshed, “Description of England,” p. 2273; ch. v.

Tue goshawk is a royal bird, and is armed more with
boldness than with claws, and as much as kind taketh from
her in quantity of body, he rewardeth her with boldness of
heart. And she is a covetous fowl to take other fowls.
Also such Hawks be cruel against their birds, so that they
take from them meat when they be fledge and ripe, and
they beat and drive them out of their nest, as the eagle
doth her birds. And some such Hawks be thieves of the
air only, and some of the earth only. And the more sharp
her breast is, the better she is of flight. And the goshawk
hath this property, that in age, when she feeleth herself
grieved with heaviness and weight of feathers, she spreadeth
her wings against the beams of the sun, when the wind is
south, and so by sudden weather and resolving heat the

148 SHAKESPEARE’S [ HAZEL.

pores be opened. And when the pores be so opened, she
smiteth and flappeth her wings, and in so doing the old
feathers leap out, and new grow; and so the new feathers
make her in better state and the more able to flight. And
two kinds there be of such fowls: for some be tame, and
some be wild. And he that is tame taketh wild fowls, and
taketh them to his lord ; and he that is wild taketh tame
fowls. And this goshawk is of a. disdainous kind; for if
she fail by any hap of the prey that she reseth to, that day
uneath she cometh to her lord’s hand. And they be borne
on the left hand, that they may somewhat take of the right
hand, and be fed therewith.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xii. § 2., where also are various
directions for keeping and feeding hawks, for which see

also Markham’s ‘* Husbandry,” etc.

We find in falconry: 16 kinds of Hawks or fowls that
prey. Of which the Circos (which is lame and limpeth of
one leg) was held in ancient time for the luckiest augury
in case of weddings and of cattle. In general, Hawks are
divided into sundry and distinct kinds by their greediness
more or less. Hollana’s Pliny, bk. x. ch. viii.

Tue Hawk holds beneath its talons all night a bird that
fortune offers it at night-time, but when the sun rises the
Hawk even though hungry lets the bird fly away, and if
he meets it at some other time, does not pursue it.

Hortus Sanitatis, bk. iii, § 4.

Hazel.

Taminc oF THE SHREW, ii, I, 255.

V. Filbert.

Heart’s-ease.

Romeo anv JuLieT, iv. 5 (not of the plant).

[A writer in the Saturday Review (March 24, 1894) says that
“‘ Heart’s-ease”’ is properly the name of the wall-flower, but he
gives no authority for the statement.]

®

Vv. Pansy.

ry

SANSNNNNS,

HEDGEHOG. | NATURAL HISTORY. 149
Heath.

TEMPEST, i. I, 70.

Tue tender tops and flowers are good to be laid upon
the bitings and stingings of any venomous beast ; of these
flowers the bees do gather bad honey.

Gerara’s “Herbal,” sv.

Tue leaf of this plant is an enemy to serpents.
Holland’s Pliny, bk. xxiv. ch. ix.

Ir it be eaten alone, it induces head-ache, therefore it
should be eaten with lettuce or endive. If mixed with
milk or vinegar and lozenges made of it, it can keep flesh
from putrefaction. Hortus Sanitatis, bk. i. § 176.

A xKinpD of broom, whereof brushes be made.
Minshew’s Dictionary, 5.7.

Hedgehog.

Mipsummer Nicut’s Dream, ii. 2, 9.

Tue Urchin is a beast heled with pricks, hard and sharp,
and his skin is closed about with pikes and pricks, andjhe
closeth himself therewith. And is a beast of purveyance ;
for he climbeth upon a vine or an apple-tree, and shaketh
down grapes and apples. And when they be felled, he
walloweth on them, and sticketh his pricks in them, and
so beareth meat to his children in that manner wise. And
there is a manner kind of Urchins with a white shell and
white pikes, and layeth many eggs. Also the urchin hath
feeble hearing, more feeble than other beasts with hard
shells, and that go on four feet. In Urchins is wit and
knowing of coming of winds north or south; for he maketh
a den in the ground when he is ware that such winds
come. And so sometime was one in Constantinople, that
had an Urchin, and knew and warned thereby that winds
should come, and of what side, and none of his neighbours
wist whereby he had such knowledge and warning. Also
the Urchin breedeth five eggs better than other, and the eggs
of some be much and great, and some be less; for some

150 SHAKESPEARE’S [HEDGEHOG.

be better to seething and to defying [i.e., digesting] than
other. Also Urchins have a little body and many pikes,
that occupy more place than the body; and the cause of
many great pricks, and the littleness of the body is for
feeding of the body passeth into nourishing and growing of
pikes, because of scarcity of heat, and for the meat is not
well defied; and therefore in his body breedeth much
superfluity, and that superfluity passeth into nourishing and
feeding of pricks.
Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk xviii. § 62.

Is a little beast with pricks, and is like to the Urchin ;
but he is accounted more than he. He walloweth upon
apples, as the Urchin doth, which stick there on his pricks,
and he beareth them into hollowness of trees. And beside
the apples that he beareth on his back, alway he beareth
one in his mouth. And after that he is charged with
grapes or with apples, if any apple or grape fall out of the
pikes in any manner wise, then for indignation he throweth
away off his back all the other deal; and oft turneth again
to the tree to charge him again with new charge. And
his skin that is-so piked is needful to men, that if there

HEMLOCK. | NATURAL HISTORY. 151

were no pikes and pricks, neshness of flesh in beasts were
idle to mankind. For with such a beast’s skin, cloths be
cleansed and piked.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xviii. § 63.

THE serpent seeketh out the Hedgehog’s den, and falleth
upon her to kill her; the Hedgehog draweth itself up
together round like a foot-ball, so that nothing appeareth
on her but her thorny prickles ; whereat the serpent biteth
in vain, for the more she laboureth to annoy the Hedge-
hog, the more she is wounded and harmeth herself. The
Hedge-hog rolleth upon the serpent, piercing his skin and
flesh (yea, many times tearing the flesh from the bones)
whereby he scapeth alive, and killeth his adversary, carrying
the flesh upon his spears, like an honourable banner won
from his adversary in the field. The wolf also is afraid of
and flieth from the Hedge-hog; and there is a story of
hatred between the hare and the Hedge-hog, for a hare
was seen to pluck off the prickles from the Hedge-hog,
and leave her bald, peeled and naked without any defence.
With the skin, brushes are made for garments, and also it
is set upon a javelin at the door to drive away dogs.

Topsell, “* Four-footed Beasts,” p. 219.

Hemlock.

MacserH, iv. I, 25.

In English, Hemlock, Homlock, Kexe, and Herb Bennet.
Hemlock is a very evil, dangerous, hurtful and poisonous
herb, insomuch that whosoever taketh of it into his body
dieth remediless, except the party drink some wine that is
naturally hot, before the venom have taken the heart ; but
being drunk with wine the poison is with greater speed
carried to the heart by reason whereof it killeth presently,
therefore not to be applied outwardly, much less taken in-

wardly into the body.
Gerard’s “Herbal,” s.v.

Irs greatest strength is in the root, the second in the
leaves, the least in the seed. Its leaves drive away vipers

and serpents.
Hortus Sanitatis, bk. i, § 115.

a

152 SHAKESPEARE’S [ HEMP.

Hemp.
ii. Kine Hewry IV., ii. 1, 64.

[‘‘ Hemp-seed” here, of course, refers to the use of Hemp for
making ropes.]

Tue female Hemp [is] barren and without seed, contrary
unto the nature of that sex; which is very like to the
male, and one must be gathered before the other be ripe,
else it will wither away, and come to no good i

Gerard’s “Herbal,” s

Ir you lay the wick of a candle to infuse or steep in
the oil of Hemp-seed, and after make a tallow candle
thereof, which if you do light after it be cold, the same
candle will not go out with any wind, so long as the whole
candle lasteth. And in like sort may lights be made to
serve in the night-time, if that fine linen rags be first
soaked in the oil of Hemp-seed, and dipped into molten
tallow, being so bound or wrought on a staff’s end, or other-
wise lying in an iron or plate at the end of a ‘staff,

Lupton, ‘A Thousand Notable Things,” bk. x. § 23.

Tue juice of green Hemp-seed, being dropped into the
ears, driveth out any worms or vermin there engendered,
yea, and what ear-wigs or such like creatures that are gotten
into them; but it will cause head-ache withal. So forcible
is this plant, that if it be put into water, it will make it to

gather and coagulate. Holland's Pliny, bk. xx. ch. xxiii,

Hen.

Short-legged hens.
ii. Kinc Henry IV., v. 1, 28.

As some men mean if her members were meddled with
gold when it is molten, the gold should waste. The Hen
is a fowl of great laying, and layeth many eggs without
treading, and they be called wind-eggs, and be more un-
savoury and less worthy than other eggs. A Hen is a mild
bird about chickens; for she taketh sickness for sorrow of

HERB. | NATURAL HISTORY. 153

her chickens, and loseth her feathers. And her kindly love
about her chickens is known by roughness of feathers, and-
by hoarseness of voice.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xii. § 18.

[N.B. In the article from which the above is an extract,.
the word “chickens” is spelt as: follows: chekyns, chekens,
chekynnes, chekennes, chykynnes, chykyns,. and chykens.]

Aw odd number of eggs should always be put under a
Hen, and that while the moon is waxing from the tenth
to the fifteenth day. The flesh of hens clears the voice.

Hortus Sanitatis, bk. iii. ch, Iii.

Tue Hens of country-houses have a certain ceremonious
religion. When they have laid an egg, they fall a trembling
and quaking, and all to shake themselves. They turn about
also, as in procession, to be purified, and with some festue
[or fescue, a straw] or such like thing, they keep a ceremony
of hallowing, as well themselves as their eggs.

Hollana’s Pliny, bk. x. ch, xli.

Ir it thunder while she is broody the eggs will be addle,
yea, and if-the Hen chance but to hear an hawk cry they
will be marred. The remedy against thunder is to put an
iron nail under the straw of the Hen’s nest, or else some

earth newly turned up with the plough.
. Ibid., ch. liv.

Ar this day, the English inhabitants eat almost no flesh
more commonly than Hens.
Fynes Moryson, “ Itinerary,” bk. iii. ch, iti.

V. Fowl.

Herb.
SEEDS AND HERBS FOR THE KITCHEN.

Avens—Betony—Bleets or Beets, white or yellow—Blood-
wort—Bugloss—Burnet—Borage—Cabbage, remove in June
— Clary — Coleworts — Cresses — Endive — Fennel — French
Mallows—French Saffron, set in August—Lang de Beef—

154 SHAKESPEARE’S [ HERB.

Leeks, remove in June—Lettuce, remove in May—Longwort
—Liverwort—Marigolds, often cut—Mercury—Mints, at all
times—Nep—Onions, from December to March—Orach or
Arache, red and white—Patience—Parsley—Penny-royal—
Primrose—Poret—Rosemary, in the spring-time, to grow
south or west—Sage, red and white—English Saffron, set in
August —Summer Savory — Sorrell — Spinach — Succory —
Siethes—Tansey—Thyme—Violets of all sorts.

Herzps aNd Roots FoR SALADS AND SAUCE.

Alexanders, at all times—Artichokes—Blessed Thistle, or
Carduus Benedictus—Cucumbers in April and May—Cresses,
sow with lettuce in spring—Endive—Mustard-seed, sow in
the spring, and at Michaelmas—Musk-melon, in April and
May—Mints—Purslane—Radish, and often remove them—
Rampions—Rocket, in April—Sage—Sorrel—Spinach, for
the summer—Sea-holly [7.e., Eringo] Sparage [i.e., Asparagus],
let grow two years, and then remove—Skirrets, set these
plants in March—Succory—Tarragon, set in slips, in March
—Violets, of all colours.

These buy with the penny
Or Icok not for any.

Capers—Lemons—Olives—Oranges— Rice—Samphire.

Herss anp Roots, TO BOIL OR TO BUTTER.

Beans, set in winter—Cabbages, sow in March, and often
remove—Carrots—Citrons, sow in May—Gourds, in May—
Navews, sow in June—Pompions, in May—Parsnips, in
winter—Runcival Pease, set in winter—Rapes, sow in June
—Turnips in March and April.

STREWING HERBs oF ALL Sorts,

Basil, fine and bushed, sow in May—Balm, set in March
—Camomile—Costmary—Cowslips and Paggles [or Paigles,
i.e., Oxlips|—Daisies of all sorts—Sweet Fennel—Germander
—Hyssop, set in February—Lavender—Lavender spike—
Lavender cotton—Marjoram, knotted, sow or set, at the

HERB. | NATURAL HISTORY. 1§5

spring—Maudlein [2.e., Ageratum, akin to Costmary, 7.¢.,
Balsamita|—Penny-royal—Roses of all sorts, in January and
September—Red Mints —Sage— Tansey— Violets— Winter
Savory.

Herss, BRancuts AND Flowers, FoR WINnDows
AND Pots.

Bays, sow or plant in January—Bachelor’s Buttons—
Bottles, blue, red and tawny [2.e., Corn-flowers]—Colum-
bines—Campions—Cowslips—Daffodils, or Daffadowndillies
—Eglantine, or Sweet-briar—Feverfew—Flower Amour, sow
in May [2.e., Amaranthus|—Flower de Luce—Flower Gentle,
white and red [also 4maranthus|—Flower Nice—Gilliflowers,
red, white, and carnations, set in spring, and at harvest in
pots, pails, or tubs, or for summer in beds—Hhollyhocks,
red, white, and carnations—Indian Eye, sow in May, or set
in slips in March-—Lavender, of all sorts—Lark’s Foot—
Laus Tibi—-Lilium Convallium——Lilies, red and white, sow
or set in March or September—Marigolds double— Nigella
Romana—Pansies, or Heart’s-ease—Paggles, green and yellow
—Pinks of all sorts—Queen’s Gilliflowers—Rosemary—
Roses of all sorts—Snap-dragon—Sops-in-wine [7.e., Pinks
—Sweet Williams—Sweet Johns—Star of Bethlem—Star of
Jerusalem—Stock Gilliflowers of all sorts—Tuft Gilliflowers
—Velvet Flowers, or French Marigolds—Violets, yellow and
white—Wall Gilliflowers of all sorts.

HERBS TO STILL IN SUMMER,

Blessed Thistle — Betony — Dill — Endive — Eyebright —
Fennel—Fumitory—Hyssop—Mints—Plantain—Roses, _ red
and damask—Respies [Raspberries |—Saxifrage—Strawberries
—Sorrel—Succery—Woodruff, for sweet waters and cakes,

Necessary Herbs TO GROW IN THE GARDEN, FOR
Puysic, NOT REHEARSED BEFORE,

Anise — Archangel —Betony — Chervil —Cingfoil—Cummin
—Dragons—Dittany, or Garden Ginger—Gromwell seed, for
the stone—Hart’s Tongue—-Horehound—Lovage, for the
stone— Licquorice—Mandrake—Mugwort—Peony—-Poppy—

156 SHAKESPEARE'’S [HERRING.

Rue—Rhubarb—Smallage, for swellings—Saxifrage, for the

stone—Savin, for the bots—Stitchwort—Valerian—W ood-
bine.

Thus ends in brief Read whom ye will
Of Herbs the chief. Such mo to have
To get more skill Of field go crave.

Tusser's “Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry,”
March’s abstract.

I wave brought here good Herbs, and of them plenty,
To make good broth and farcing, and that full dainty.

. . . Here is Thyme and Parsley, Spinach and Rosemary,
Endive, Succory, Lacture, Violet, Clary,

Liverwort, Marigold, Sorrell, Hart’s Tongue, and Sage,
Pennyroyal, Purslane, Bugloss and Borage, __,

With many very good Herbs, mo than I do name.

“The History of Jacob and Esau,” iv. 5.

Be not merry among those that put Bugloss in their
wine and sugar in thine.
Lilly, “Sappho and Phaon,” ii. 1.

SucH unexpected kindness
Is like Herb John in broth—
*T may e’en as well be laid aside as used.

«A Warning for Fair Women,” Act 1. line 331.

Herring.
Twerry NicHT, iii, 1, 40.

Tue Herring’s eyes shine by night in the sea like a light,
but their virtue dies with the fish. Wherever they see a
light in the sea above the water, thither they swim in shoals.
The Herring is said to live on water only, as the salamander
on fire. The Herring helps against the bite of a dog,

and of a sea-dragon. Hortus Sanitatis, bk. iv. § 3.

Fresu Herring plenty, Michell [i.e., Michaelmas] brings
With fatted crones, and such old things.

Tusser, “Farmer’s Daily Diet.”

HONEY. | NATURAL HISTORY. 157

[The Dutch caught the Herrings in English waters, and sold
them to Englishmen, so that they were sold in England at
20s. to 30s. the barrel; cf ‘“‘England’s Way to Win Wealth”
(1614); but “the English export into Italy great quantity of
red Herrings” (Hynes Moryson’s “Itinerary,” bk. iii. p. 148),
though this trade was afterwards encroached on by the Dutch.

As to the cooking of the red Herring: “Take well in worth
a farthing-worth of flour to white him over and wamble him
in” (Wash’s “Lenten Stuff”). He was ‘hosted, roasted and
toasted” (zbid.), ‘‘ powdered and salted” (zbza.), and was served
with mustard (zbzd., and Greene's ‘‘ Looking-Glass for London,”
etc.), or with ‘oil and onion, crowned with a lemon-pill”
(Beaumont and Fletcher's “Elder Brother’’). The first dish that
was brought up to table (at Queen’s College, Oxford) on Easter
Day was a red Herring riding away on horseback, z.e., a Herring
ordered by the cook something after the likeness of a man on
horseback set in a corn salad (Audrey’s MS. Account of English
Customs (1678).] ;

Hind. VY. Deer,
Hog. Y/Y. Swine.

Honey.
Kine Hewry V., i. 2, 199.

Puysicians tell, that treat of kind of things, that Honey
is unprofitable meat and grievous to children and young
men, in the which is much heat, and according to full old
men and cold, with wine and with hot meats. Also for
Honey is even and temperate, Honey is much according
and friend to kind, and likeneth itself much to the
members. Honey keepeth and saveth and cleanseth and
tempereth bitterness, and is therefore put in Conservatives,
and cleanseth medicines to temper bitterness of spicery.
But raw Honey not well clarified is right ventuous, and
breedeth a fever that hight Diurna, and stretcheth and to-
hauleth the body under the small ribs.

Bartholumew (Berthelet), bk, xix. § 54.

158 SHAKESPEARE'S [ Honey.

Honey will suffer no dead bodies to putrefy.

Honey boiled cureth the wounds inflicted by the sting
or teeth of serpents, and helpeth those who have eaten
venomous mushrooms. Good it is also for to kill lice and
such like vermin in the head, and to rid away nits.

Holland’s Pliny, bk. xxii. ch. xxiv.

Honey is engendered naturally in the air, and especially
by the influence and rising of some stars. Be it what it
will, either a certain sweat of the sky, or some unctuous
jelly proceeding from the stars, or rather a liquor purged
from the air when it purifieth itself; would God we had
it so pure, so clear, and so natural, and in the own kind
refined, as when it descendeth first, whether it be from sky,
from star or from the air. Ibid., bk. xi. ch. xii.

SOMETIME among honey deep in the hive, breedeth
certain small worms, as it were attercops [spiders], and do
spin and weave and make webs, and have the mastery of
all the hive, and therefore the Honey rotteth and is
corrupt. Honey that long abideth in old wax, waxeth
red, and the corruption of Honey is like to the corruption
of wine in flaskets [7.e., bottles; Bartholomew has in
viribus—in strength], and shall therefore be taken in time.
Also bees do sit on the hive and suck the superfluity that
is in the Honey-combs ; and if they did not so the Honey
should be corrupt that is in the combs, and spiders should
be gendered. They sit on. the combs, and do keep busily
that those spiders have no mastery, and eat them if they
find them, and should else all die.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xix. § 55.

Our Honey is reputed and taken to be the best, because
it is harder, better wrought and cleanlier vesselled up, than
that which cometh from beyond the sea, where they stamp
and strain their combs, bees and young blowings altogether
into the stuff. Also it breedeth (being gotten in harvest-
time) less choler. Our hives are made commonly of rye-
straw, and wattled about with bramble quarters; but some
make the same of wicker, and cast them over with clay.
We cherish none in trees, but set our hives somewhere on

+

HORSE. | NATURAL HISTORY. 159

the warmest side of the house. This furthermore is to be
noted, that of Honey the best which is heaviest and
moistest is always next the bottom.

Holinshed, “Description of England,” p. 229.

V, Bee.

Honey-suckle.
Mucs Apo azsout Noruina, iii. 1, 8.

Fires that die on the Honey-suckle become poison to

bees. Lilly, “Sappho and Phaon,” ii. 4.

s
s

Horse. F

Horses be joyful in fields, and smell battles, and be
comforted with noise of trumps to battles and to fighting,
and be excited to run with noise that they know, and be
sorry when they be overcome, and glad when they have
the mastery. And so feeleth and knoweth their enemies
in battles, so far forth that they arise on their enemies with
biting and smiting, and also some know their own lords,
and forgetteth mildness, if their lords be overcome. And
many Horses weep when their lords be dead. Also oft
men that shall fight take evidence and divine and guess
what shall befall by sorrow or by the joy that the Horse
maketh. And those Horses be accounted best in war and
in battle, that thrust the head deepest into the water when
they drink. Also the gall of a Horse is accounted among
venom. His fresh blood and raw is venomous, as_ the
blood of a bull. The Horse’s foam drunken with asses’
milk slayeth venomous worms. Also sometime Horses.
have the podagre, and lose the soles of their feet, and
then gendereth new. And sometime an Horse is wood
[i.e mad], and the token thereof is that his ears bend
toward the neck; and this evil hath no medicine. And
the Horse knoweth his neighing that will fight with him,
and hath liking to stand in meads, and to swim in water,

as

160 SHAKESPEARE’S [ HORSE.

and to drink troublous and thick water, and if the water
be clear, the horse stampeth and stirreth it with his foot
to make it thick. Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xviii. § 39.

I knew two [scholars] hired for ten groats apiece to say
service on Sunday, and that’s no more than a post Horse
from hence [i.e., from Rochester] to Canterbury [= 26
miles]. Lill, “Mother Bombie,” iv. 1.

[Bur in the time of the plague (1625) Horse-hire was
dear :] ‘‘Coach-men ride a cock-horse and are so full of
jadish tricks that you cannot be jolted six miles from
London under 30 or 40 shillings.”

Dekker, “ A Rod for Run-aways (Epistle to the Reader).

[Horse-feed cost sixpence a day in Middleton’s time
(“ Phoenix,” i. 4, 35).]

[Ten pounds was a great price for a Horse («f Dekker’s
“Seven Deadly Sins”); and from the same author's “ Bellman
of London” we find that sales of Horses were registered in a
toll-book. In the same tract is an account of “ Horse-priggers”
and ‘* Horse-coursers,” of -whose tricks more is said in “ Lan-
thorn and Candlelight,” as well as of the cheating of hostlers,
and of the sale of Horses at Smithfield.

In Ruggles’ “Ignoramus” (First Prologue) a list of the
favourite Race-Horses in 1614-15 is given.

Sir Thos. Browne devotes a whole chapter of his ‘“ Vulgar
Errors” to a refutation of the fallacies that Horses have no
gall, and that, if they have gall, jt is venomous.]

Ir is said that if Horses be shod with that iron, where-
with one hath been before killed, it makes the same
Horses very lively and quick. And if of the same you
make a bit or a snafHe, that Horse that hath it in his
mouth will. be made tame and easy to be handled, yea,
though he be never so wild, stubborn, or given to biting.

Lupton, “A Thousand Notable Things,” bk. vit. § 97.

In the heart of Horses there is found a bone most like
unto a dog’s tooth; it is said that’ this doth drive away
all grief or sorrow from a man’s heart, and that a tooth
being pulled from the cheeks or jaw -bones of a dead

HORSE. | NATURAL HISTORY. 161

Horse doth shew the full and right number of the sorrows
of the party so grieved. If swords, knives, or the points
of spears when they are red fire hot, be anointed. with the
sweat of a horse, they will be so venomous and full of
poison, that if a man or woman be smitten or pricked
therewith, they will never cease from bleeding as long as
life doth last. Topsell, ‘Four-footed Beasts,” pp. 337-8.

Tue tooth of a yearling colt laid on the neck of a
baby, makes its teeth come without pain.

Albertus Magnus, “Of the Wonders of the Wonld.”

Tue tooth of a mare placed on the head of a raving
madman straightway frees him. Ibid.

Tue hoof of a Horse burnt in a house drives away
mice. The same with the hoof of a mule. Ibid.

Tue Londoners pronounce woe to him that buys a
Horse in Smithfield, that takes a servant in Paul’s Church,
‘that marries a wife out of Westminster.

Fynes Moryson, “Itinerary,” part ili, p. 53.
Cf. ii. Kinc Henry IV., i. 2.

Our Horses moreover are high, and although not com-
monly of such huge greatness as in other places of the
main, yet if you respect the easiness of their pace, it is
hard to say where their like are to be had. Such as serve
for the saddle are now grown to be very dear among us.
There is no greater deceit used anywhere than among our
Horse-keepers, Horse-coursers and ostlers. There are cer-
tain notable markets, wherein great plenty of Horses and
colts is bought and sold, as Ripon, Newport Pond, Wolf-
pit, Harborough and divers other. But as most drovers
are very diligent to bring store of these unto those places,
so many of them are too lewd in abusing such as buy
them. For they have a custom to make them look fair to
the eye, — when they come within two days’ journey of
the market, to drive them till they sweat, and for the
space of 8 or 12 hours, which being done, they turn them
all over the backs into some water, where they stand for
a season, and then go forward with them to the place

II

162 SHAKESPEARE’S [ HORSE-LEECH.

appointed, where they make sale of their infected ware,
and such as by this means do fall into many diseases and
maladies. Of such outlandish Horses as are daily brought
over unto us I speak not, as the jennet of Spain, the
courser of Naples, the hobby of Ireland, the Flemish roil
and Scottish nag. King MHenry VIII. erected a noble
studdery, and for a time had very good success with them,
till the officers waxing weary procured a mixed brood
of bastard races, whereby his good purpose came to little
effect. Sir Nicholas Arnold of late hath bred the best
horses in England.
Holinshed, “Description of England,” p. 220.

Horse-leech.
Kine Henry V., ii. 3, 58.

Ix a river of Mauritania are found some of seven cubits
in length, which breathe, through perforations in the gullet.
Leeches are produced from rottenness, and it is not known
whether they gender.

Fonston’s “Natural History,” bk. iv. (“On Insects’’), tit. ii, ch. i.

Hound. /. Dog.

Hyena.
As You Like It, iv. 1, 156,

Hyna is a cruel beast like to the wolf in devouring
and gluttony. It is his kind to change sexes, for he is
now found male and now female, and is therefore an un-
clean beast. And cometh to houses by night, and feigneth
man’s voice as he may, for men should trow that it is a
man. And herds tell that among stables, he feigneth
speech of mankind, and calleth some man by his own name,
and rendeth him when he hath him without. And he
feigneth oft the name of some man for to make hounds
run out, that he may take and eat them. And hath the
neck of the adder viper, and the ridge of an elephant, and

HY ANA, | NATURAL HISTORY. 163
may not bend but if he bear all the body about. And

this beast hath endless many manners and diverse colours
in his eyes, and full movable eyes and unsteadfast. And
his shadow maketh hounds leave barking, and be still, if
he come near them, And if this beast Hyzna goeth thrice
about any beast, that beast shall stint [#.e., stop] within his
steps. And this beast gendereth with a lioness of Ethiopia,
and gendereth on her a beast that is most cruel, and
followeth the voice of men and of tame beasts, and hath
many rows of teeth in every side of the mouth. This
beast Hyzna breedeth a stone that hight Hyena; and
what man that beareth it under his tongue, he shall by
virtue of that stone divine and tell what shall befall. Also
Hyena hateth the panther. And if both their skins be
hanged together, the hair of the panther’s skin shall fall
away. This beast Hyzna fleéth the hunter, and draweth
toward the right side to occupy the trace of the man that
goeth before; and if he [z.e., the man] cometh not after,
he [the man again] goeth out of his wit, or else falleth
down off his horse. And if he turn against the Hyena,
the beast is soon taken. And also witches use the heart
of this beast and the liver in many witchcrafts.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xviii. § 61.

In the Hyena itself there is a certain magical virtue
transporting the mind of man or woman, and ravishing
their senses so as that it will allure them unto her very
strangely. When the Hyznas fly before the hunter and
would not be taken, they wind with a career out of the
way toward the right hand, and wheel about until the man
be gotten before them; and this they do because they
would meet with his tracts and footing; which if they
happen upon, and get behind him, you shall see the hunter
incontinently to be so intoxicate in his brain, that he is
not able to bear his head nor sit his horse, but to fall from
his back. But in case that they turn on the left hand, it
is an evident sign that they be ready to faint, and then
will they quickly be taken. The sooner also and with
more ease be they caught if the hunter tie his girdie about
his middle with 7 knots, and the cord of his whip likewise
wherewith he ruleth and jerketh his horse with as many.
This chase after the Hyena must be just at the very point

164 SHAKESPEARE'’S [HYNA.

when the moon is passing through the sign Gemini; and
then if they be taken, the huntsman must be sure to save
every hair of their skins, and miss not one, so medicinable
they are. Whosoever are haunted with sprites in the
night-season, and be affrighted with such bugbears, let them
but take one of the master-teeth of the Hyzna, and wear it
about them tied by a linen thread, they shall be freed from
all such fantastical illusions. And as for those that wear
under the soles of their feet within the shoe a Hyzna’s
tongue, there is not a dog will be so hardy as to bay or
bark at them. And the hairs growing about the muzzle
‘of this beast have an amatorious virtue with them to make
a woman love a man, in case her lips be but touched
therewith. If the side-posts or door-cheeks of any house
be striked with the Hyzna’s blood, wheresoever magicians
are busy with their feats and juggling casts, they shall take
no effect, whether they be charms, exorcisms or invoca-
tions; insomuch as they shall not be able to raise up
spirits, nor have any conference with familiars by any
means of conjuration, whether it be by torch-lights, by
bason, by water, by globe or otherwise. A decoction made
with the ashes of the pastern bone of the left leg, boiled
together with the blood of a weasel, causeth as many as be
anointed therewith to be odious in the eyes of all men.
The hindmost end of the gut in this beast is of virtue
that no captain, prince or potentate shall be able to wrong
or oppress those who have but the same about them ; but
contrariwise assureth them of good speed in all their
petitions, and of happy issue in all suits of law and trials

of judgments. Holland’s Pliny, bk. xxvili. ch. viii.

Tue Hyzna when she mourns is then most guileful.
“Euphues’ Golden Legacy.”

Tue middle of his back is a little crooked or dented,
the colour yellowish, but bespeckled on the sides with
blue spots, which make him look more terrible, as if it
had so many eyes. The eyes change their colour at the
pleasure of the beast, a thousand times a day. The skilful
lapidarists affirm that the beast hath a stone in his eyes (or
rather in his head) called Hyena or Hyenius; but the

HY ANA. | NATURAL HISTORY. 165

ancients say, that the apple or pupil of his eye is turned
into such a stone, and that if a man lay it under his
tongue, he shall be able to foretell and prophesy of things
to come. Their neck cannot bend, except the whole
body be turned about. This beast hath a very great
heart. There is a fish of this name which turneth sex.
[| Hyznas] engender not only among themselves, but also
with dogs, lions, tigers and wolves. This is accounted a
most subtle and crafty beast, and the female is far more
subtle than the male, and therefore more seldom taken, for
they are afraid of their own company. If she find a man
or dog on sleep she [kills it if it be smaller than herself,
and runs away if it be bigger]. One of these coming to a
man asleep in a sheep-cote, by laying her left hand or fore-
foot to his mouth, made or cast him into a dead sleep,
and afterward digged about him such a hole like a grave,
as she covered all his body over with earth, except his
throat and head, whereupon she sat, until she suffocated
and stifled him; yet this is attributed to’ her right foot.
There is also great hatred between a pardel and this beast,
for if after death their skins be mingled together, the hair
falleth off from the pardel’s skin, but not from the:
Hyzna’s. He that will go safely through the mountains
or places of this beast’s abode must carry in his hand a
root of coloquintida. Also if a man compass his ground
about with the skin of a crocodile, an Hyzna, or a sea-
calf, and hang it up in the gates or gaps thereof, the
fruits enclosed shall not be molested with hail or lightning.
And a man clothed with this skin may pass without fear
or danger through the midst of his enemies. A fig-tree
also is never oppressed with hail or lightning; and the
true cause hereof is assigned by the philosophers to be the
bitterness of it; for the influence of the heavens hath no
destructive operation upon bitter, but upon sweet things.
If the left foot and nails be bound up together in a linen
bag, and so fastened unto the right arm of a man, he shall
never forget whatsoever he hath heard or knoweth. And
if he cut off the right foot with the left hand and wear
the same, whosoever’ seeth him shall fall in love with
him, besides the beast. Also the marrow of the right foot
is profitable for a woman that loveth not her husband, if it
be put into her nostrils. And with the powder of the left

166 SHAKESPEARE’S [ HYSSOP.

claw, they which are anointed therewith, it being first of
all ‘decocted in the blood of a weasel, do fall into the
hatred of all men. And if the nails of any beast be found
in his maw after he is slain, it signifieth the death of some
of his hunters. The dung or filth of an Hyzna, being
mingled with certain other medicines is very excellent to
cure and heal the bites and stingings of crocodiles, and

other venomous serpents,
Topsell, “ Four-footed Beasts,” pp. 339-47.

Hyssop.

OTHELLO, i. 3, 325.

In’ summer when Hyssop beareth flowers, ye must gather
them, and dry them in a clean place and dark, that it be
not smoky, and they have virtue to dissolve, to temper,
to consume, to waste and to cleanse the lungs.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvii. § 85.

Hyssop, stamped with honey, salt and cummin, and so
reduced into a plaster, is thought to be a proper remedy
for the sting of serpents. Holland’s Pliny, bk. xxv. ch. 11.

Ir a man perceive that he hath either inwardly taken
for a medicine, or applied outwardly, a radish root which
is over strong, he must presently have Hyssop given him ;
for this antipathy and natural contrariety there is between
these two herbs, that the one correcteth the other.

Ibid., bk. xx. ch. 4.

You are, Sir,
Just like the Indian Hyssop, prais’d of strangers
For the sweet scent, but hated of the inhabitants
For the injurious quality.
Robert Davenport, “City Night-cap,” Act. i, (1624).

Incense or Frankincense.

Kine Lear, v. 3, 21.

[FRANKINCENSE | is the name of a tree, and of the gum
that oozeth and cometh out thereof. It is a tree of Arabia,
and is great with many boughs, and with the most lightest

INSANE ROoT.] NATURAL HISTORY. 167

rind. And thereof cometh juice with good smell, and is
white as almonds, and is fat when it is tempered and
neshed [i.e., softened]. And so the tree that beareth Frank-
incense groweth without tilling, and loveth clay-land; and
the Arabs tell that Frankincense shall not be gathered nor
the tree thereof pared but of holy men and religious, that
be not defiled by touching of women in time of gathering.
Frankincense is gathered and brought on camels’ backs to
the city that hight Sabocriam ; and there is a gate opened
therefor. And it is not lawful to lead it by another way.
And [it] is not lawful to beg neither to sell thereof, before
due portion be offered to the god that they worship. And
is assayed by witness, if it burneth anon to coals, and
waxeth on light on high, if it hold not together the teeth,
when it is bitten, but breaketh anon and falleth to powder.
Of Frankincense set afire cometh a good smelling smoke,
shapen as a rod, and small beneath, and full movable, and
turning, and crooked with many bendings and wrinklings,
and moveth towards contrary sides with most light movings,
and destroyeth stench of carrion by good savour thereof,
and thirleth and passeth straight to the brain, and com-
forteth and refresheth the spirit of feeling, and spreadeth
into the cells of the brain.
Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvii. § 173.

Ir Incense be drunk by a healthy man, he runs the risk
of becoming mad, or of dying. It strengthens the memory.

Flortus Sanitatis, bk. i, ch. cccclxxxiv.

In English Frankincense and Incense. It doth help and
strengthen the wit and understanding, but the often taking
of it will breed the head-ache, and if too much of it be

drunk with wine, it killeth.
Gerard's “ Herbal,” s.v.

Insane Root.
Macsety, i. 3, 85.

[The commentators consider this to be hemlock, but it is
possible that it might be henbane, which as Gerard notes
(“ Herbal,” s.v.), was called /nsana, and, according. to Pliny
(bk. xxv. ch. 4), troubles the brain, and puts men_ beside
their right wits.]

168 SHAKESPEARE'S [ivy.

Ivy.

Mipsummer Nicut’s Dream, iv. 1, 48.

Ivy multiplieth milk in goats that eat thereof. The
root thereof pierceth things that be full hard; and is cold
of kind, and tokeneth that the ground is of cold kind that
it groweth in. And of Ivy is double kind, white and black,
male and female; the male is harder in leaves and more
fat and greater. The white Ivy hath white fruit, and the
black hath black. The shadow thereof is noyful and
grievous, and strong enemy to cold, and most loved of
serpents, and breaketh walls and graves. Also the kind
of Ivy is full wonderful in knowledge and assaying of
wine. For it is certain, that if wine meddled with water
be in a vessel of Ivy, the wine fleeth over the brink, and

the water abideth. Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvii. § 53.

Tue gum of Ivy killeth lice and nits, and being laid to
it taketh away hair. It is unwholesome to sleep under the
Ivy or in an Ivy-bush. It maketh the head light and
dizzy.

Batman on Bartholomew, ut supra.

AttuHoucn Ivy be cut asunder in many places, yet it
continueth and liveth still.

Holland’s Pliny, bk. xvi. ch. 34.

Tue liquor issuing out of Ivy is depilatory ; but as it
taketh away hair, so it riddeth lice and vermin. The
berries of Ivy colour the hair black. The juice of the
Ivy-root, drawn with vinegar and taken in drink, is singular
against the poison of the venomous spiders Phalangia.

Ibid,, bk. xxiv. ch. 10.

Boars cure their ailments with Ivy. A man crowned
with Ivy cannot get drunk.
Hortus Sanitatis, bk. i. § 172.

Cato saith that a cup of Ivy will hold no wine at all.
I have made some vessels of the same wood, which refuse
no kind of liquor; and yet I deny not but the Ivy of
Greece or Italy may have such a property.

Holinshed, “ Description of England,” p. 239.

jet. | NATURAL HISTORY. 169

Jack-a-napes.
Kine Henry V., v. 2, 148.

Your wife is your ape, and that heavy burden, wedlock,
your Jack an ape’s clog.
Dekker, “Patient Grissell,” line 814,

_ He would sit upon’s tail before [my enemies], and frown
like John-a~-Napes when the Pope is named.

Thomas Killigrew, “The Parson’s Wedding,” v. 2.
V. Ape.

Jet.

Mercuant or Venice, ili, I, 42.

Jer is a boisterous [Bartholmew—rudis| stone, and never-
theless it is precious. Most plenty and best be in Britain.
And is double, that is to say, yellow and black. The black
is plain and light, and burneth soon in fire, and driveth
away adders with smell thereof, when it is kindled. This
giveth monition of them that have fiends within them ;
and is holden contrary to fiends; and giveth knowledge
of maidenhead,—for if a maid drink of the water thereof,
non urinabit, and if she be no maid and drinketh thereof,
urinabit anon and also against her will; and so by this
stone a maiden is anon proved. Also the power thereof is
good to feeble teeth and wagging, and strengtheth and
fasteneth them. Also it is said that this stone helpeth for
fantasies, and against vexations of fiends by night ; also it
helpeth against witch-craft, and fordoeth [hinders] hard en-
chantments. And so, if so boisterous a stone doth so great
wonders, none should be despised for foul colour without,
while the virtue that is hid within is unknown. And this
stone is kindled in water, and quenched in oil, and that is

wonder. Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvi. § 49.

Even to this day there is some plenty to be had of this
commodity in Derbyshire and about. Berwick, whereof rings,
salts, small cups and sundry trifling toys are made. The
German writers confound it with amber as ‘if it were a
kind thereof [because of its electrical property]. Charles IV.

170 SHAKESPEARE’S [JEWEL.

Emperor glazed the church withal that standeth at the Fall
of Tangra, but I cannot imagine that light should enter
thereby. The writers also divide this stone into five kinds,
of which the one is in colour like unto lion-tawny, another
streaked with white veins, the third with yellow lines, the
fourth is garled [variegated] with divers colours, among
which some are like drops of blood (but those come out
of Ind), and the fifth shining-black as any raven’s feather.
Holinshed, “ Description of England,” p. 239.

Jewel.
Mercnant oF Venice, iii, 1, QI.

In the earth are many kinds of humours. Some there
are which are hardened by nature; from these all ores of
metal are generated, from which gold and silver are made.
Some there are which are turned from fluid into stone, from
whence precious stones grow.

Hortus Sanitatis, bk. v. (Introduction).

Were there no sun, by whose kind, lovely heat,
The earth brings forth those stones we hold of price.
Heywood, First Part of “King Edward IV.”

[This same theory is alluded to in Glapthorne's “ Hollander.”]

Here's a Jewel for thee,
A pretty wanton label for thine ear,
Dekker, “Witch of Edmonton,” iii. 2.

I woutp have a Jewel for mine ear,
And a fine brooch to put into my hat.
Marlowe, “Dido, Queen of Carthage,” i, 1.

A DIAMOND ring out of her ear.
Randolph, “Jealous Lovers,” i. 8 (stage direction),

[So also Beaumont and Fletcher's “A King and No King,”
i. 1, and Ben Jonson’s “Every Man in his Humour,” iv. 9,
etc. In the same author “ Fox,” (ii. 5) we find:

WERE you enamoured on his copper rings
His saffron Jewel, with the Toad-stone in’t ?

VY, Gem.

KITE. | NATURAL HISTORY. 171
Keech.

ii. Kino Henry IV,, ii, 1, 101,

A Keecw is the fat of an ox rolled up by the butcher
into a round lump.

Steevens, loc. cit., and cf Kinc Henry VIII i. 1, 55.

Kernel. V. Nut.

Kex.

Kine Henry V., v. 2,

V, Hemlock.

Kite.

A Krre is weak in flight and in strength. And is a
bird that may well away with travail, and therefore he
taketh cuckoos upon his shoulders, and beareth them, lest
they fail in space of long ways, and bringeth them out of
the countries of Spain. .And he is a ravishing fowl, and
hardy among small birds, and a coward and fearful among
great birds, and dreadeth to lie in wait to take wild birds,
and dreadeth not to lie in wait to take tame birds, and
lieth oft in wait to take chickens, and he eateth carrions
and unclean things. And is taken with the sparhawk, and
for his faintness and cowardness he is overcome of a bird
that is less than he. And in youth there seemeth no
difference between the Kite and other birds of prey; but
the longer he liveth, the more he sheweth that his own
kind is unkind. And there is a manner Kite, that taketh
birds in the beginning, and afterward he eateth guts of
beasts, and taketh unneath afterward flies and small worms.
And he dieth for hunger at the last, and is a cruel fowl
about his birds [#.e., young], and is sorry when he seeth
them fat; and to make them lean, he beateth them with
his bill, and withdraweth their meat; and hath a voice of
plaining and of moan, as it were messenger of hunger ;
for when he hungereth, he seeketh his meat weeping with
voice of plaining and of moan.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xii. § 26,

172 SHAKESPEARE’S [KNOT-GRASS.

Tue Kites or Gleads are of the kind of hawks or birds
of prey, only they be greater. These Gleads or Puttocks
seem by the winding and turning of their tails to and fro
as they fly to have taught pilots the use of the helm, After
the sunsteads alway in summer they be troubled with the
gout in their feet. Holland's Pliny, bk. x. ch. 10.

Ir the Kite’s head be taken, and borne before the breast,
it brings the love and favour of all men and women ; if
it be hung on a hen’s neck, it will never cease to run, until
it gets it off; and if a cock’s comb be anointed with its
blood, from thenceforth it will not crow. In its knees 1s
found a certain stone, if you look carefully, and if this be
put in the food of two enemies, they will become friends,
and there will be good peace between them.

Albertus Magnus, “Of the Virtues of Animals.”

Knot-grass [Polygonum Vulgare].

Hindering knot-grass.
Mipsummer Nicut’s Dream, iil. 2, 239.

We want a boy extremely for this function kept under
for a year with milk and Knot-grass.
Beaumont and Fletcher, ‘The Coxcomb,”’ ii. 1.

[Steevens quotes also to the same effect, ‘The Knight of
the Burning Pestle,” by the same authors, but I have not the
reference.

Knot-grass is binding, stays any flux, solders the lips of
green wounds, and knits broken bones, according to Parkinson's
“ Herbal.” ]

Lady-smock (or Cuckoo-flower).
Love’s Lasour’s Lost, v. 2, 905.

V. Cuckoo-bud.
Lamb.

Amonc all the beasts of the earth, the Lamb is most
innocent, soft and mild; for he nothing grieveth neither
hurteth nor with teeth nor with horn nor with claws.
Those which be yeaned in springing time be more huge

LAPWING. | NATURAL HISTORY. 173

and great of body, and more stronger of body, than those
which be yeaned in harvest and in winter. Lambs which
be conceived in the Northern wind be better than those
that be conceived in the Southern wind, And Lambs have
such colour in flesh and in wool, as the father and the
mother have colour in veins of the tongue. The Lamb
hoppeth and leapeth tofore the flock, and playeth, and
dreadeth full sore when he seeth the wolf, and fleeth sud-
denly away; — but anon he is astonied for dread, and
stinteth [#.e., stoppeth] suddenly, and dare flee no further ;
and prayeth to be spared, not with bleating, but with a
simple cheer, when he is taken of his enemy. Also
whether he be led to pasture or to death, he grudgeth not,
nor pranceth not, but is obedient and meek. It is peril to
leave Lambs alone, for they die soon, if there fall any
strong thunder ; for the Lamb hath kindly a feeble ‘head.
Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xviii. § 4.

Lamps have an evil, that is when they be too fat about
the reins, for if the tallow covereth the reins, then they
die, and the tallow increaseth in good. pasture; and, there-
fore, Lambs be put out of the pasture, lest they wax too
fat. Ibid. § 6.

Tue rennet of a Lamb is good against all evil medi-
cines, and against the bites or blows of marine animals,
and cures all venomous bites. Hortus Sanitatis, bk. ii. § 2.

Lapwing.

Measure For Mzasurg, i, 4, 32.

Tue Lapwing eateth man’s dirt 5 for it is a bird most
filthy and unclean, and is copped [i.e., crested] on the head,
and dwelleth always in graves or in ‘dirt, And if a man
anoint himself with her blood when he goeth to sleep, he
shall see fiends busy to strangle and snare him; and her
heart is good to evil-doers, for in their evil-doings they
use their hearts. When he ageth, so that he may neither
see nor fly; his birds [#2 young] pull away the feeble
feathers, and anoint his eyes with juice of herbs, and hide
him under their wings till his feathers be grown; and so
he is renewed, and flieth and seeth clearly.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xii. § 37.

174 SHAKESPEARE'S [LATTEN.

Tue Lapwing’s tongue, if hung over a man who suffers
from much forgetfulness, helps him,
Hortus Sanitatis, bk. iit. § 118.

Ir the Lapwing do sing before the vines do bud, it fore-
shows great plenty of wine.
Lupton, “A Thousand Notable Things,” bk, ix. § 21,

Quirin is a stone that is found in Lapwings’ nests.
This stone bewrayeth and discovereth in sleep counsel and
privity. For this stone, laid and set under a man’s head
that sleepeth, maketh him tell as he thinketh sleeping, and
multiplieth wonderly phantasies. Therefore witches love
that stone, for they work witchcraft therewith.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvi. § 83.

Latten,

Merry Wives or Winpsor, i. 1, 165.

Lartren, though it be brass or copper, yet it shineth as
gold without. Also Latten is hard as brass or copper.
For by meddling of copper and of tin and of auripig-
mentum, and with other metal, it is brought in the fire to
colour of gold. Also of Latten be composed divers manner
of vessel, and fair, that seem gold when they be new, but
the first brightness dimmeth some and some, and becometh
as it were rusty. Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvi. § 5.

Laurel.
“iii, Kine Henry VIL, iv. 6, 34.

THE common fame is that only this tree is not smit with
lightning ; therefore the land that beareth laurel-tree is safe
from lightning both in field and in house. The green
leaves thereof that smell full well, if they be stamped,
healeth stinging of bees and of wasps.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvii. § 48.

Vv. Bay.

LEATHER-coaT.| NATURAL HISTORY. 175

Lavender.
Winrer’s Tag, iv, 3, 104.

LavenperR has no seed. The smell thereof oppresses
the head, and causes sleep. Hortus Sanitatis, bk. i. § 250.

Tuose hose are in Lavender [7.e., pawned].
Middleton, “Family of Love,” iii, 2, 79.

[So Ben Jonson, “Every Man out of his Humour,” iii. 3,
Greene, ‘Quip for an Upstart Courtier.”]

Lead.

Or brimstone that is boistous, and not swiftly pured,
but troubly and thick, and of quicksilver, the substance of
lead is gendered; so of uncleanness of unpure brimstone
lead hath a manner neshness [softness], and smircheth his
hand that toucheth it. If thou hang lead over vinegar,
it hurteth it; for vinegar shall thirl the substance thereof,
and turn it to powder; therewith women paint themself
for to seem fair of colour.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvi. § 81.

Tin and Lead are very plentiful with us, the one in
Cornwall, Devonshire and elsewhere in the North, the other
in Derbyshire, Weardale, and sundry places of this island,
whereby my countrymen do reap no small commodity, but
especially our pewterers. There were mines of lead some-
times also in Wales, which endured so long till the people
had consumed all their wood by melting of the same.

Holinshed, ‘Description of England,” p. 238.

Leather-coat.
ii. Kinc Henry IV., v. 3, 44.

[Henley, in Steevens’ edition (/oc. cit.), says: “The apple
commonly denominated “russeting,” in Devonshire is called
the ‘ buff-coat.’ ”

Evelyn, in his “Kalendarium Hortense,” under “Fruits in
Prime, or yet lasting” (in December), enumerates, ‘‘ Russeting,
Pippins, Leather-coat”; and in the same work “ Leather-coat”
is distinguished from ‘‘russet pippin” and “golden russet
pippin” in the catalogue of the best apple-trees.]

176 SHAKESPEARE’S [LEECH.
Leech. Y/Y. Horse-leech.

A WATER-LEECH sitteth upon venomous things, and,
therefore, when he shall be set to a member bycause of
medicine, first he shall be wrapped in nettles and in salt,
and is thereby compelled to cast out of his body if he hath
tasted any venomous thing in warm water.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xviii. § 93.

Leek.

The [leek] skin is good for your broken coxcomb,
Kine Henry V.,-v. 1, 55.

Tue juice thereof drunk with wine helpeth against biting
of serpents, and against every venomous beast. Leek
stamped with honey healeth wounds, if it be laid thereto
in a plaster-wise. Leek meddled with salt closeth soon
and healeth new wounds, and soldereth soon breaches.
And Leeks eaten raw helpeth against drunkenness, Also
the smell of Leeks driveth away scorpions and _ serpents,
and healeth the biting of a wood hound with honey, and
breedeth sleep.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvii. § 133.

Ir you prick the head of a Leek with a reed or a stick
sharped, and put within the same the seeds of rape, or of
cucumbers, the said Leek’s head will so swell, that it will
seem monstrous.

Lupton, “A Thousand Notable Things,” bk. it, § 51.

Now Leeks are in season, for pottage full good,
And spareth the milch-cow, and purgeth the blood ;
These having with peason, for pottage in Lent,
Thou sparest both oatmeal, and bread to be spent.

Tusser, “Good Husbandry,” March, st. 26.

WueEn the seed of a Leek is thrown upon vinegar, it
restores its acidity.

Albertus Magnus, “Of the Wonders of the World.”

LEOPARD. | NATURAL HISTORY. 177

Lemon.
Love’s Lazour’s Lost, v. 2, 653.

{Probably unknown to Bartholomew, who does not mention
lemons nor oranges. |

Ir is eaten seasoned with salt.
Hortus Sanitatis, bk. i. § 260.

Tuy breath smells of Lemon-pills,
Webster, “Duchess of Malfi,” ii. 1.

Ir you want Lemon-waters
Or anything to take the edge of the sea off,
Pray speak and be provided.

Beaumont and Fletcher, “'Tamer Tamed,” iv. 4.

V, also Cloves.

Leopard.

Kine Ricuarp IL, i. 1, 174.

Tue Leopard is a beast most cruel, and is gendered in
spouse breach of a pard and of a lioness, The Leopard
is a full resing [i.e., raging] beast and headstrong, and
thirsteth blood, and the female is more cruel than the male,
and pursueth his prey startling and leaping and _ not
running, and if he taketh not his prey in the third leap,
or in the fourth, then he stinteth [7.e., ceaseth] for indig-
nation, and goeth backward, as though he were overcome.
And he is less in body than the lion, and therefore he
dreadeth the lion, and maketh a cave under earth with
double entering, one by which he goeth in, and another by
which he goeth out. And that cave is full wide and large
in either entering, and more narrow and strait in the
middle. And so when the lion cometh, he fleeth and
falleth suddenly into the cave, and the lion pursueth him
with a’ great rese [2.¢., rush, or rage], and entereth also
into the cave, and weeneth there to have the mastery of
the Leopard, but for greatness of his body he may not pass
freely by the middle of the den, which 1s full strait,—and
when the Leopard knoweth that the lion is so let and
holden in the strait place, he goeth out of the den for-

12

178 SHAKESPEARE’S [LETTUCE.

ward, and cometh again into the den in the other side be-
hind the lion, and reseth on him behindforth with biting
and with claws. And so the Leopard hath often in that
wise the mastery of the lion by craft and not by strength.
This beast eateth sometime venomous thing, and seeketh
then man’s dirt and eateth it, and therefore hunters
hangeth such dirt in some vessel on a tree, and when the
Leopard cometh to that tree, and leapeth up to take the

dirt, then the hunters slay him in the meantime, while he
is thereabout. Also sometime the Leopard is sick, and
drinketh wild goat’s blood, and scapeth by it the sickness
in that wise. Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk, xviii. § 67.

Tue Leopard flees when he sees a man’s scull, and he
is afraid of the grass called Leopard-grass, and is killed by
the herb which is called “ strangle-leopard ” [ perhaps aconite,
—‘ Leopard’s bane”’]. Hortus Sanitatis, bk. ii, § 81.

Lettuce.

OTHELLO, i. 3, 324.

_ Wuen it is old, it is hard, and use thereof appaireth
[injures] the sight, and maketh it fail, and slayeth the feeling,

LEVIATHAN. | NATURAL HISTORY, 179

for it stifleth natural feeling with sourness thereof. A manner
kind of Lettuce groweth of itself without tilling, and if it
be thrown into the sea, it slayeth all the fish that is nigh
thereabout. Hawks scrape this herb, and take out the
juice thereof, and touch and heal their eyes therewith, and
do away dimness and blindness when they be old. And
it healeth biting of serpents, and stinging of scorpions,
if the juice thereof be drunk in wine, and the leaves,
stamped and laid to the wound in a plaster wise, suageth
and healeth all manner swelling. But oft use thereof,
and too much thereof eaten grieveth the clearness of the

eyes.
Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvii. § 92.

By manuring, transplanting, and having a regard to the
moon and other circumstances, the leaves of the artificial
Lettuce are oftentimes transformed into another shape. If
Lettuce be boiled, it is sooner digested, and nourisheth
more. It is served in these days, and in these countries,
in the beginning of supper, and eaten first before any other
meat ; for being taken before meat it doth many times stir
up appetite; eaten after supper it keepeth away drunken-

ness which cometh by the wine.
Gerara’s “Herbal,” s.z

Wuen I nursed thee with Lettuce, would it had

turned to hemlock.
Lilly, “Sappho and Phaon,” iv. 2.

Leviathan.

Mipsummer Nicat’s Dream, ii. 1, 174,

ia

Tue Leviathan often lies in wait for the whale, and
fights with him ; and all the fishes of the sea which behold
the fight flock quickly to the tail of the whale. Now if
the whale be overcome he must die, and those fish too,
which he had girdled with his tail, are quickly swallowed.
But if the Leviathan cannot overcome the whale, he emits
from his jaws a most foul stench with water; but the

180 SHAKESPEARE’S [LIBBARD.

Se

whale swallows the water, and rejects it, and repels that
very foul stench, and so saves and defends him and his.

Hortus Sanitatis, bk. ii. § 84, and bk. iv. § 50,

Libbard.

Love’s Lasour’s Lost, v. 2, 551.

VY. Leopard.

Lily.

Tue root thereof drunk with wine healeth biting of
serpents, and helpeth against the malice and venom of .

frogs. Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvii. § gt. \5°

Ir the root be curiously opened, and therein be put
some red, blue or yellow colour that hath no caustic or
burning quality, it will cause the flower to be of the same

colour. Gerard’s “Herbal,” 5.0,

Tue leaves of the herb applied are good against the
stinging of serpents. The roots boiled in wine causeth the

LIME. | NATURAL HISTORY, 181

corns of the feet to fall away within few days, with re-
moving the medicine until it have wrought his effect.
Ibid.

Ir is called in English Lily of the Valley, or the Conval
Lily, and May- Lilies, and in some places Liticonfancy.
The flowers of the Valley Lily distilled with wine, and
drunk, the quantity of a spoonful, restoreth speech unto
those that have the dumb palsy, and that are fallen into
the Apoplexy. The water aforesaid doth strengthen the
memory that is weakened and diminished. The flowers of
May-Lilies put into a glass, and set in a hill of ants close
stopped for the space of a month and then taken out,
therein you shall find a liquor that appeaseth the pain and
grief of the gout, being outwardly applied, which is com-
mended to be most excellent. Ibid., s.v. Lilly in the Valley.

Ir you gather this herb while the sun is in the Sign
of Leo, and mix it with the juice of laurel, then put it
under dung for some time, worms will be generated, and if
a powder be made of these, and be strewed about the neck
of anyone, or in his clothes, he will never sleep, nor be
able to sleep, until it has been removed. And if you shall
anoint anyone with these worms, he will straightway be-
come feverish. And if the said plant be placed in any
vessel in which there is cow’s milk, and covered with the
skin of a cow of one colour, all the cows will lose their
milk. And this has been well tried in our time.

Albertus Magnus, “Of Virtues of Herbs,” § 9. )s52

Lime. V. Bird-lime.

Termpsst, iv. I, 246.

Lime.
Mipsummer Nicur’s Dream, v. I, 132+
ii. Kinc Henry IV., ii. 4, 136, etc.

Lime is called hot, for while it is cold in handling, it
containeth privily within fire and great heat; and when it.
is sprung [i.e., sprinkled] with water, anon the fire that is
within .breaketh out. In the kind thereof is some wonder ;
—for after that it is burnt, it is kindled in water that

182 . SHAKESPEARE’S [ LING.

quencheth fire. Hot lime sod with auripigment and water
maketh hair to fall. Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvi. § 24.

Since the Spanish sacks have been common in our
taverns, which for conservation are mingled with Lime in

the making.
Sir Richard Hawkins, quoted in Steevens’ Shakespeare.

Ling.
Auu’s WeLt tTHaT Enps WELL, ill. 2, 14.
[Or salted and dried cod-fish] Haberdine and Ling are
accounted the best and daintiest.
Hart, “Diet of the Diseased,” bk. i. ch. xxi.

Rep herring and Ling never come to the board without
mustard their waiting-maid. Nash, “ Lenten Stuff.”

Dank Ling forgot
Will quickly rot.
Tusser, “Good Husbandry,” December’s Abstract.

[A side of Ling cost 20d. in 1573 ; whereas a side of haber-
dine cost but 8d. A whole Ling was worth 3s. to 3s. 4d.]

His Majesty’s [James I.’s] Serjeant-caterer hath yearly
gratis, out of every ship and bark, one hundred of the
choicest and fairest Lings, which are worth more than £10

the hundred.
Tobias Gentleman, “ England’s Way to Win Wealth.”

A coop tough gentleman! He looks like a dry
Poul [perhaps Jowl] of Ling upon Easter-Eve, that has
furnished the table all Lent.

Ben Fonson, “Every Man out of his Humour,” iv. 4.

Lion.

Some Lions be short with crisp hair and mane,
and these Lions fight not; and some Lions have
simple hair of mane, and these Lions have sharp and
fierce hearts. And he dreadeth noise and rushing of
wheels, but he dreadeth fire much more. And when they
sleep their eyes wake. And when they go forth or about,

LION, | NATURAL HISTORY. 183

they hele [i.e., cover or conceal] their fores [ie., goings]
and steps, for hunters should not find them. And it is
trowed that the Lion-whelp, when he is whelped, sleepeth
three days and three nights; and the place of the couch
trembleth and shaketh by roaring of the father, that
waketh the whelp that sleepeth. It is the kind of Lions
not to be wroth with man, but if they be grieved or hurt.
Also their mercy is known by many and oft ensamples ;
for they spare them that lie on the ground, and suffer
them to pass homeward that be prisoners, and come out
of thraldom, and eat not a man nor slay him, but in great
hunger. The Lion is in most gentleness and nobility,
when his neck and shoulders be heled with hair and
mane; and he that is gendered of the pard lacketh that
nobility. The Lion knoweth by smell if the pard
gendereth with the lioness, and reseth [rageth] against the
lioness that breaketh spousehead [wedlock], and punisheth her
full sore, but if she wash her in a river, and then it is not
known to the Lion. And when the lioness whelpeth, her
womb is rent with the claws of her whelps, and whelpeth
therefore not oft. And the lioness whelpeth first five
whelps, and afterward four, and so each year less by one,
and waxeth barren when she whelpeth one at last. And
she whelpeth whelps evil shapen and small, in quantity
[i.2., ae of a weasel in the beginning. And whelps of
six months may unneath [hardly] be whelped, and whelps
of two months may unneath move. And when the Lion
eateth once enough, afterward he is meatless two days or
three. And if him needeth to flee, he casteth up his
meat into his mouth, and draweth it out with his claws, to
be in that wise the more light to run and to flee. The
Lion liveth most long, and that is known by working and
wasting of his teeth; and then in age he reseth on a
man; for his virtue and might faileth to pursue great
beasts and wild. And then he besiegeth cities to ransom,
and to take men; but when the Lions be taken, then they
be hanged, for other Lions should dread such manner pain.
The old Lion reseth woodly [madly, furiously] on men,
and only grunteth on women, and reseth seld on children,
but in great hunger. By the tail the boldness and heart
of the Lion is known, as the horse is known by the ears,
For when the Lion is wroth, first he beateth the earth

184 SHAKESPEARE’S [ LION.

with his tail, and afterward, as the wrath increaseth, he
smiteth and beateth his own back. And out of each
wound, that the Lion maketh with claw or with teeth,
runneth sharp and sour blood. Also in peril the Lion is
most gentle and noble, for when he is pursued with hounds
and with hunters, the Lion lurketh not nor hideth himself,
but sitteth in fields, where he may be seen, and arrayeth
himself to defence. And he hideth himself not for dread
that he hath, but he dreadeth himself sometime, only for
he would not be dread. When he is wounded, he taketh
wonderly heed, and knoweth them that him first smiteth,

4 aS # o ‘ & é
ie ‘ >= y.
Loy

and reseth on the smiter, though he be in never so great
multitude ; and if a man shoot at him [and do not hit
him—BSartholomew] the Lion chaseth him and_ throweth
him down, and woundeth him not, nor hurteth him.
When the Lion dieth, he biteth the earth, and tears fall
out of his eyes; and when he is sick, he is healed and
holpen with the blood of an ape. And he dreadeth
greatly the crowing and the comb of a cock. And the
Lion hath a neck as it were unmovable, and is full
grim; and moveth alway first with the right foot, and
afterward with the left foot, as a camel doth; and [hath]

LION. | NATURAL HISTORY. 185

little marrow in his bones ; and his bones be so hard that by
smiting of them together, fire springeth out thereof. The
Lion dreadeth when he seeth or heareth a whelp beaten.
He hideth himself in high mountains, and espieth from
thence his prey. And he maketh a circle all about
other beasts with his tail, and all the beasts dread to pass
out over the line of the circle, and the beasts stand
astonied and afeard, as it were abiding the hest and com-
mandment of their King. And he is ashamed to eat alone
the prey that he taketh; therefore of his grace, of free
heart, he leaveth some of his prey to other beasts that
follow him afar off. And is so hot of his complexion,
that he hath alway the fever quartan; and hath kindly
this evil to abate his fierceness. His grease is contrary to
venom, so that whoso be anointed therewith shall not
dread that time biting of serpents nor creeping worms.
Also his grease meddled with oil of roses keepeth and
saveth the skin of the face from wens and vices, and
keepeth whiteness. His gall meddled with water sharpeth
and cleareth the sight, and helpeth against infecting evils.
His heart taken in meat destroyeth the fever quartan.
Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xviii. § 65.

Tue Lion has a strong smell, and especially in the
mouth. When he sleeps in a ship, the ship is in danger.
The Lion flees before a mouse, and is afraid of the wood
which is called sethin. Hellebore too and squill kill dogs

and Lions and many wild beasts.
Hortus Sanitatis, bk. ii. § 80.

Tue circles of cart-wheels, empty carts, and the comb
on a cock’s head do marvellously fear a Lion being a most

hardy or fierce beast.
Lupton, “Notable Things,” bk. iii. § 37.

Ir you join a Lion’s skin to the skin of a wolf or any
other beast, it will make them without hair, or cause their
hair to fall or consume away. Ibid., bk. vi. § 54.

CLotuHes wrapped in a Lion’s skin killeth moths. And
so great is the fear of Lions to wolves, that if any part of
a Lion’s grease be cast into a fountain, the wolves never
dare to drink thereof, or to come near unto it. The

186 SHAKESPEARE'’S [LIONESS.

flesh of a Lion being eaten either by a man or woman,
which is troubled with dreams and fantasies in the night-
time, will very speedily and effectually work him ease and
quietness. The grease of a Lion being dissolved and pre-
sently again conglutinated together, and so being anointed
upon the body of those who are heavy and sad, it will
speedily extirpate all sorrow and grief from their hearts,
The gall of a Lion being taken in drink by anyone doth
kill or poison him out of hand.
Topsell, “ Four-footed Beasts,” pp. 376-9.

Ir thongs be cut from a Lion’s skin, a man girt with
them will not fear his foes; and if his eyes be put under
the arm-pits, or worn, all beasts will bow their heads, and
flee behind his back.

Albertus Magnus, “Of the Virtues of Animals.”

Lions we have had very many in the North parts of
Scotland, and those with manes of no less force than those
of Mauritania; but how and when they were destroyed as
yet I do not read.

Holinshed, “ Description of England,” p. 225.

In Pietra Rossa [Barbary], the Lions are so tame that
they will gather up bones in the streets, the people not
fearing them. The like Lions are in Guraigura, where
one may drive them away with a staff. At Agla the
Lions are so fearful, that they will flee at the voice of a
child, whence a cowardly braggart is proverbially called a
Lion of Agla. Purchas’ “ Pilgrims,” p. 621 (ed. 1616).

Lioness.
As You Like Ir, iv. 3, 115.

Tue Lioness is more cruel than the lion, and namely
when she hath whelps, for she putteth her in peril of
death for her whelps. There is a little beast that the lion
and the Lioness dreadeth wonderfully, and that beast hight
Leontophonus. For that beast beareth a certain venom,
which slayeth the lion and the Lioness. Therefore this
said beast is taken, and afterward burnt, and the flesh
[which] is sprung [sprinkled] with the ashes, and laid and
set in meeting of ways, shall slay and destroy the lions

LIZARD. | NATURAL HISTORY. 187

which eat thereof. The lion’s breath stinketh, and is
right infectious and contagious, and infecteth other things,
and his biting is deadly and venomous, and namely when
he is wood. For the lion waxeth wood, as the hound
doth. Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xviii. § 66.

STRANGE it is that a Lioness, by showing her hinder
parts to the male, should make him run away.
Purchas ‘‘Pilgrims,” p. 557 (ed. 1616).

Lizard.

"Venom toads, or lizards’ dreadful stings.
iii. Kine Henry VL, ii. 2, 138.

Tue Lizard is a little beast painted on the back with
shining specks as it were stars. The Lizard is so contrary
to scorpions that the scorpions dread and lose comfort
when they see the Lizard. The Lizard liveth most by
dew ; and though he be a fair beast and fair painted, yet
he is right venomous; for the worst medicine is made of
the Lizard, for when he is dead in wine, he covereth their
faces that drink thereof with vile scale ; therefore they
eschew [Pensue. Bartholomew has—“<for this ointment
they who envy the fairness of strumpets kill the Lizard” ]
to put him in medicine and ointment that have envy
to fairness of strumpets. His remedy is the yolk of
an egg, honey and glass. And the gail of a Lizard stamped
in water assembleth together weasels. And the Lizard
lurketh in winter in dens and chines, and his sight
dimmeth ; and in springing time he cometh out of his den,
and feeleth that his sight faileth, and changeth his place,
and seeketh him a place toward the East, and openeth
continually his eyes toward the rising of the sun, until the
humour in the eye be full dried, and the mist wasted that
is cause of dimness in the eye.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xviii. § 94.

A creen Lizard hath a great delight to behold a man
in the face, for he will lovingly fawn upon him as a dog
with the moving of his tail, And as much as in him lies,
will defend him from a serpent that lies lurking in the

neaths to hurt him.
Lupton, “Notable Things,” bk. vi. § 73.

188 SHAKESPEARE’S [LIZARD.

Tue venom of the Lizard is deadly, and the remedy for
it is made from the pounded flesh of scorpions. There is
no animal more deceitful than the Lizard, and he envies
man. In the flesh of the Lizard is virtue for extracting
splinters and thorns. Its fat fattens much.

Ffortus Sanitatis, bk. uu. § 130.

Tue Lizard when he lies
Too open to the hot sun faints and dies.

Heywood’s “ Anna and Phillis,” emb. 16.

LLL

WHEN a certain man had taken a great fat Lizard, he
did} put out her eyes with an instrument of brass, and so
put her into a new earthen pot, which had in it two small
holes or passages, big enough to take breath at, but too
little to creep out at, and, with her, moist earth and a
certain herb; and furthermore he took an iron ring,
wherein was set an engagataes [Pagate] stone with the
picture of a Lizard engraven upon it; and besides upon
the ring he made nine several marks, whereof he put out
every day one, until at the last he came at the ninth, and
then he opened the pot again, and the Lizard did see as

LOACH. | NATURAL HISTORY. 189

perfectly as ever he did before the eyes were put out.
The old one devoureth the young ones as soon as they be
hatched, except one which she suffereth to live, and this
one is the basest and most dullard; yet notwithstanding,
afterwards it devoureth both his parents. Twice a year they
change their skin. They live by couples together, and
when one of them is taken, the other waxeth mad, and
rageth upon him that took it. They are enemies to bees.
They fight with all kind of serpents. The eggs of
Lizards do kill speedily, except there come a remedy
from falcon’s dung and pure wine. Mingled with oil it
causeth hair to grow again upon the head of a man. If
green Lizards see a man, they instantly gather about him,
and laying their heads at the one side with great admira-
tion behold his face. The use of these green Lizards is
by their skin and gall to keep apples from rotting, and
also to drive away caterpillars, by hanging up the skin on
the tops of trees, and by touching the apples with the said
gall. The ashes of a green Lizard do reduce scars in the
body to their own colour.
Topsell, “‘ History of Serpents,”’ pp. 739-42.

Take a Lizard and cut off its tail, and take what comes
out, because it is like quicksilver. Then take a taper, and
moisten it with oil, and put it in a new lamp, and light it,—
that man’s house will appear splendid and white or silvered.

Albertus Magnus, “Of the Wonders of the World.”

[In the deserts of Lybia is] a kind of great Lizard
which never drinketh, and, if water be put in his mouth,
he presently dieth. Purchas “Pilgrims,” p. 559 (ed. 1616).

Loach.

i, Kine Henry IV., ii. 1, 23.

Tue Loach is a little river-fish, white with black spots.
Some say that it feeds on dead bodies, but this is held by
fishermen to be fabulous. They are considered poor and

contemptible eating. Hortus Sanitatis, bk. iv. § 41.
[The commentators are puzzled by this passage in “i. Kin

Henry IV.” It is quite probable that “like a Loach” aes
no more accurate meaning than “like a house afire,” or “ like

190 SHAKESPEARE’S [Locusr.

the deuce.” But ‘Some fishes there be, which of themselves
are given to breed fleas and lice, among which the chalczs, a
kind of turbot, is one” (PAzlemon Holland’s Pliny, bk. ix.
ch. xlvii.}\—and perhaps the Loach is another.]

Locust.
OTHELLO, i. 3, 354.

[May perhaps be the fruit of the Locust-tree.]

Locusr hath that name for it hath long legs as the shaft
of a spear. And these worms that hight Locust have no
king, and yet they pass forth ordinately in companies.
And hath a square mouth, and a sting instead of a tail,
and crooked and folding legs. And are gendered of the
southern wind, and excited to flight. And they die in the
Northern wind. Also this worm Locust for the most part
is all womb, and therefore it hath never meat enough.
And of their dirt worms be gendered.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xii. ( Of Birds”) § 24.

He burneth corn with touching, and devoureth the
residue. In India be of them three foot in length, which

the people of the country do eat.
Batman's addition, ut supra.

Tue Locust [is] none other creature than the grass-
hopper. In Barbary [etc.] they are eaten; nevertheless
they shorten the life of the eaters by the production at the
last of an irksome and filthy disease. In India they are
three foot long, in Ethiopia much shorter.

Holinshed, “ Description of England,” p. 229.

Louse.
TRoiLus anp Cressipa, v. I, 72.

_. A Louse is a worm of the skin, and grieveth more in
the skin with the feet and with creeping, than he doth
with biting, and is gendered of right corrupt air and
vapours, that sweat out between the skin and the flesh by
pores. And some lice gender of sanguine humour, and be
red and great; and some of phlegmatic humours, and they
be nesh and white; and some of choleric humours, and be

LOUSE. | NATURAL HISTORY. 191

citrine [i.e., yellow], long, swift and sharp; some of melan-
cholic humour, and they be coloured as ashes, and be lean
and slow in moving. And the leaner that a Louse is, the
sharper she biteth and grieveth.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xviii. § 88.

Lice cometh also of that cloth that is trained in the
wool with the fat or grease of an horse or of a swine, and
therefore the Northern cloths worn of a sweating body do
breed lice in 12 hours.

Batman's addition to Bartholomew, bk. xviii. § 116.

—)

ay

WS

Be

ae dU Ne

Lp
es

Tus disease is undoubtedly created from the very flesh
of man, and yet invisibly. Hortus Sanitatis, bk. ii, § 119,

Tue old skin or slough that snakes do cast off in the
spring, whosoever drinketh in his ordinary drink, it will
kill all the vermin or Lice of the body within three days,

Holland’s Pliny, bk. xxx. ch. xv.

[So many remedies are given for this complaint, that it must
have been very common. |]

192 SHAKESPEARE’S _ [Love-IN-IDLENESS.

Our doublets were lined with taffeta, wherein Lice cannot
breed or harbour; so as howsoever I wore one and the
same doublet till my return into England, yet I found not
the least uncleanliness therein.

Fynes Meryson, “Itinerary,” part i. p. 209.

V. Flea.

Love-in-Idleness.

Mipsummer Nicut’s Dream, il. 1, 168.

VY. Heart’s-ease, Pansy.

Luce.
Merry Wives or Winpsor, i. I, 16.

Tue Luce feeds on poisons, toads and such like ; yet it
is said to be good food for the sick. If the net in which
it has been caught be lifted from the water so that it sees
the light of day, it rarely or never happens that it remains
any longer, but seeks itself some way out. The Luce
has in its brain a stone like crystal, but only when it has
lived long. Hortus Sanitatis, bk. iv. § 53.

[The Sea-Luce is the codfish. ]

Mace.
Winrer’s Tate, iv. 3, 49.

Vv. Nutmeg.

Mackerel.
i. Kinc Henry IV.,, ii. 4, 395.

Wuen Mackerel ceaseth from the seas
John Baptist brings grass-beef and pease.
Tusser, “Good Husbandry :” ‘* The Farmer’s Daily Diet.”

Tuis law-French is worse than butter’d Mackerel,—
Full o’ bones, full o’ bones.

“Life and Death of Captain Thos, Stucley,” line 291.

MALLARD. | NATURAL HISTORY. 193

Tue old tunnies and the young enter into the sea Pontus;
and every company of them hath their several leaders and
captains ; and before them all the Mackerels lead the. way,
which, while they be in the water, have a colour of brim-
stone ; but without, like they be to the rest.

Holland’s Pliny, bk. ix. ch. xv.

Maggot-pie.
Macsers, iii. 4, 125.
Macorapie.
Minsheu’s Dictionary.

Tue Magpie makes up for the shortness of its wings by
the length of its tail. It builds its nest with two holes,—
by the one it goes in, and at the other it puts out its tail.

, Hortus Sanitatis, bk. iii. § 99.

Pizs take a love to the words that they speak; for they
not only learn them as a lesson, but they learn them with
a delight and pleasure; and by their careful thinking upon
that which they learn, they shew plainly how mindful and
intentive they be thereto. It is for certain known that they
have died for very anger and grief that they could not
learn to pronounce some hard words; as also, unless they
hear the same words repeated often unto them, their
memory is so shittle, they will soon forget the same again.

Holland's Pliny, bk. x. ch. xlii.

Ir you wish to loose chains, go into a wood, and look
where a Pie has her nest with young ones, and when you
are there, climb up the tree, and bind the opening [of the
nest] round with anything you please, because, when the
Pie sees you, it goes for a certain herb, which it puts to
the bond, and forthwith it is broken, and then that herb
falls to the ground onto a cloth which you should have
put under the tree, and do you be handy and take it.

Albertus Magnus, “ Of the Wonders of the World.”

Mallard.

Anrony AND CLEOPATRA, ill. 10, 20.

Tue blood of ducks and Mallards bred in the realm of
Pontus is passing good for any such indirect means wrought
by poison or witchcraft; and therefore their blood is

13

194 SHAKESPEARE’S [MALLOW.

ordinarily kept dry in a thick mass, and as need requireth
is dissolved and given in wine; but some think that the
blood of the female duck is better than that of the Mal-
lard or drake. Hollana’s Pliny, bk. xxix. ch. v.

Your citizens’ wives love green geese in spring, Mallard
and teal in the fall, and woodcock in winter.
Webster, “Westward Ho!” i. 1.

[Mallards were boiled with cabbage or onions (“Good Hus-
wife’s Handmaid,” p. 5), or stewed (“The Good Huswife’s

Jewel ”).]

Mallow.

TEMPEST, ii. I, 144.

He that is balmed with the juice of the hock [ze.,
Mallow—hollyhock], meddled with oil may not be grieved
with stinging of bees. Also members balmed with juice
thereof be not bitten of attercops [7.e., spiders], nor stung
of scorpions. The broth thereof maketh sleep, if the face
be washed therewith, and the outer parts of the body.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvii. § 107.

Ir a man or woman sup off a small draught (though it
were no more but half a spoonful) every day of the juice
of any Mallow, it skills not which, he shall be free from
all diseases and live in perfect health.

Holland’s Pliny, bk. xx. ch. xxi.

[Mallows were eaten as a vegetable (cf “ The Good Hus-
wife’s Handmaid,” p. 1, and Evelyn's “ Acetaria,” § 40).]

Malmsey.
Kino Ricuarp IIL, i. 4, 161.
ii. Kinc Henry IV., ii. 1, 42, etc.

Ma.tmsey and muscadine were wines of Candia,
Fynes Moryson, ‘‘Utinerary,” part iii,

Tue Vintners of the Low Countries (I will not say of
London) do make of Cute and wine mixed in a certain

MANDRAGORA.| NATURAL HISTORY. 195

proportion, a compound and counterfeit wine, which they
sell for Candy wine, commonly called Malmsey.
Gerard’s “Herbal,” bk. ii. ch. cccxxiii.

I Love thee next to Malmsey in a morning. —
Beaumont and Fletcher, “ The Captain,” iv. 2.

Malt.

Kine Lear, iii, 2, 82.

Our Malt is made all the year long in some great
towns, but in gentlemen’s and yeomen’s houses, who com-
monly make sufficient for their own expenses only, the
winter half is thought most meet for that commodity ; the
Malt that is made when the willow doth bud, is commonly
worst of all. The best Malt is tried by the hardness and
colour, for if it look fresh with a yellow hue, and thereto
will write like a piece of chalk, after you have bitten a
kernel in sunder in the midst, then you may assure your-
self that it is dried down—of all, the straw-dried is the
most excellent. For the wood-dried Malt, when it is
brewed, doth hurt and annoy the head of him that is not
used thereto. Holinsked, “Description of England,” p. 169.

Mandragora, Mandrake.

Not poppy nor mandragora
Nor all the drowsy syrups of the world
Shall ever medicine thee to that sweet sleep
Which thou owedst yesterday,
OTHELLO, ill. 3, 330.

Kill, as doth the mandrake’s groan.
ii, Kino Henry VI, iii, 2, 310.

Mawnpracora beareth apples with great savour. The
rind thereof meddled with wine is given to them to drink
that shall be cut in the body, for they should sleep and
not feel the sore cutting. And apples grow on the leaves,
and be yellow and sweet of smell, but with a manner
heaviness, and be fresh in savour. But yet Mandragora
must be warily used, for it slayeth if men take much
thereof. The juice thereof with woman’s milk laid to the
temples maketh to sleep, yea though it were in the most
hot ague. Mandragora hath many other virtues, and smiteth

196 SHAKESPEARE’S [MANDRAGORA.

off’ and destroyeth swelling of the body, and withstandeth
venomous biting. They that dig Mandragora be busy to
beware of contrary winds, while they dig, and make three
circles about with a sword, and abide with the digging
unto the sun going down, and trow so to have the herb
with the chief virtues. The juice thereof is gathered and
dried in the sun, the apples thereof be dried in the shadow.
Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvii. § 104.

THERE hath been many ridiculous tales brought up of
this plant, whether of old wives, or of some runagate
surgeons or physic-mongers ] know not. That it is never
or very seldom to be found growing naturally but under a
gallows, where the matter that hath fallen from a dead
body hath given it the shape of a man; and the matter
of a woman the substance of a female plant. That. he
who would take up a plant thereof must tie a dog there-

MANDRAGORA, | NATURAL HISTORY. 197

unto to pull it up, which will give a great shriek at the
digging up; otherwise if a man should do it, he should
surely die in short space after. Gerara’s “ Herbal,” 5.0.

[Full directions are given by Lupton (‘Notable Things,”
bk. iii. § 43) “to make the counterfeit Mandrake, which hath
been sold by deceivers for much money,” from the ‘“ great
double root of Briony ”—hair to be imitated by millet-seeds—
and the whole to be buried “until it have gotten upon it a
certain little skin.”]

A Mawnprake’s voice, whose tunes are cries
So piercing that the hearer dies.
Dekker, “Double P. P.”

Wiruovut the death of some living thing it cannot be
drawn out of the earth to man’s use. Therefore they did

198 SHAKESPEARE’S [ MARBLE.

tie some dog or some other living beast unto the root
' thereof with a cord, and digged the earth in compass
round about, and in the mean time stopped their own
ears for fear of the terrible shriek and cry of this Man-
drake. In which cry it doth not only die itself, but the
fear thereof killeth the dog or beast which pulleth it out

of the earth.
Bullein, “ Bulwark of Defence against Sickness,” p. 41
quoted in Reed’s Shakespeare.

Ir the root be seethed for six hours with ivory, it
softens it and makes it easy to work into any shape
desired. Hortus Sanitatis, bk. i. § 276.

I FRAMED a mole under my child’s ear by art; you
shall see it taken away with the juice of Mandrake.
Lilly, “‘ Mother Bombie,” v. 3.

Marble.

MacseTH, ill. 4, 22.

Marsie stones be noble stones, and be praised for
speckles and diverse colours. Over all things we may
wonder that Marble stones be not hewed neither cloven
with iron, neither with steel, with hammer nor with saw,
as they be with a plate of lead set between nesh [soft]
shingles or spoons. For with lead and not with iron
Marble stones be hewen and cloven and planed, as shingles
or small stones. Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvi. § 69.

Many mines of coarse and fine Marble are there in
England ; but chiefly one in Staffordshire, another near to
the Peak, the third at Vauldry (?), the fourth at Snothill (?)
(belonging to the Lord Chandos), the fifth at Eaglestone,
which ‘is of black Marble spotted with grey or white spots,
the sixth not far from Durham. Of white Marble also we
have store. The black Marble spotted with green is none
of the vilest sort.

Holinshed, *‘ Description of England,” p. 235.

Mare.
Kine Hewry V., ii. I, 25.

THE name of an horse’s wife shall be called a Mare.
And if a Mare, being with foal, smelleth the snuff of a

MARIGOL D. | NATURAL HISTORY. 199

candle, she casteth her foal. Also in the forehead of the
colt breedeth a black skin of the quantity of a sedge, and
the mother licketh it with her tongue, and taketh it away,
and receiveth never the colt to suck her teats, but it be
first taken away. Also the Mare is proud, and hath joy
of her mane, and is sorry when it is shorn, as though the
virtue of love were in the mane. Also a bird that hight
Ibis [the stork] fighteth with the horse, because the horse
driveth her out of her pasture and leys; for the stork is
feeble of sight, and hath a voice as an horse; and when
he flieth above an horse, he stonieth [astonisheth] him, and
maketh him flee, and slayeth him sometime.
- Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xviii. § 40.

A Mare will bring forth a foal of divers colours if she
be covered with a cloth of divers colours, whiles she is
taking the horse. The same may be proved with dogs
and other beasts. Lupton, “Notable Things,” bk. v. § 1.

Marigold.

The marigold that goes to bed wi? the sun
And with him rises weeping.
Winter’s Tate, iv. 4, 105.

[Marigold is one of the herbs to make broth and farcing
(enumerated in the ‘‘ History of Jacob and Esau,” iv. 5).]

I ruink of kings’ favours as of a Marigold flower
That, as long as the sun shineth, openeth her leaves,
And with the least cloud closeth again.

‘*A Knack to Know a Knave.”

Ir the mouth be washed with the juice, it helpeth the
tooth-ache. The yellow leaves of the flowers are dried and
kept throughout Dutchland against winter to put into
broths, in physical potions, and for divers others purposes,
in such quantity, that in some grocers’ or spice-sellers’
houses are to be found barrels filled with them, and re-
tailed by the penny more or less, insomuch that no broths

are well made without dry Marigolds.
Gerard’s “Herbal,” sv.

200 SHAKESPEARE’S [MARJORAM.

Lupton (“A Thousand Notable Things,” bk. vi. § 85, and
bk. iv. § 79) confuses Marigolds with sunflowers. |

Tuus the Marigold opens at the splendour of a hot
constant friendship ‘twixt you both. —
Middleton, “No Wit, No Help Like a Woman’s,” i. I.

Marjoram.
Winter’s Tae, iv. 4, 104.

Sweet Marjoram is a remedy against cold diseases of the
brain and head, being taken any way to your best liking ;
put up into the nostrils it provoketh sneezing, and draweth
forth much baggage phlegm ; it easetn the toothache being
chewed in the mouth ; being drunk, it is used in medicines
against poison. The leaves, dried and mingled with honey,
and given, dissolveth congealed or clotted blood, and
putteth away black and blue marks after stripes and bruises
being applied thereto. Gerard's “Herbal,” 5.2.

As a plaster or drink, it cures those grieved by a
scorpion, if mixed with vinegar and salt.
Hortus Sanitatis, bk. 1. § 409.

Witp Marjoram or Organy is profitably used in a looch,
or medicine to. be licked, against an old cough and the
stuffing of the lungs. The herb strewed upon the ground
driveth away serpents. Gerard’s “ Herbal,” 5.0.

Marl.

Mucw Avo asout Noruine, ii. 1, 6%.

We have pits of fat and white and other-coloured Marl,
wherewith in many places the inhabiters do compost their
soil, and which doth benefit their land in ample manner
for many years to come.

Holinshed, “Description of England,” p. 236.

We have a kind of white Marl, which is of so great
force, that if it be cast over a piece of land but once in
three score years, it shall not need of any further com-
posting. [It] lieth sometime a hundred foot deep.

Ibid., p. 1¢9.

MAST. | NATURAL HISTORY. 201

Marmoset.
TEMPEST, il. 2, 174.

Huspanp is like your clog to your Marmoset.
Ben Fonson’s “Poetaster,” iv. 2.

V. Monkey.
Martlet.
The martlet
Builds in the weather on the outward wall.
Mercuant oF Venice, ii. 9, 28.
v. Macsera, i. 6, 3-10.
Martinets, Martins, Martlets. — These birds are so

called because they come to us about the end of the month
of March from warm regions, and depart before the feast
of St. Martin. Minshew’s Dictionary, 5.v.

Martins are good to eat.
Batman's addition to Bartholomew, bk. xii. § 21.

V, Swallow.

Mary-bud.

CyMBELINE, ii. 3, 25.

V. Marigold.

Mast.

The oaks bear mast.
Timon oF ATHENS, iv. 3, 422.

Tue oak bringeth forth a profitable kind of Mast,
whereby such as dwell near unto the aforesaid places do
cherish and bring up innumerable herds of swine. [Red
and fallow deer eat Mast also]; yea, our common poultry
if they may come unto them; but those eggs which these
latter do bring forth (beside blackness in colour and bitter-
ness of taste) have not seldom been found to breed divers
diseases unto such persons as have eaten of the same.
(The like have I seen where hens do feed upon the tender
blades of garlick [marginal note].)

Holinshea, “ Description of England,” p. 214.

202 SHAKESPEARE’S [MASTIFF,

Mastiff.
Kine Henry V.,, iil. 7, 151.

Or Bandog—keeping the house—or molossus.
Minsheu’s Dictionary, 5.7.

Medlar.

As You Like Ir, iii, 2, 125.
Measure For Measure, iv. 3, 184.
Romeo anp Juuiet, ii. 1, 36.
So also Middleton, ‘Women Beware Women,” iv. 2, 100.

[The prejudices of the nineteenth century will not allow the
popular name of the Medlar in the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries to be recalled.]

Ir you graft the slips of a wilding or sour apple upon
the stock of a hawthorn, you shall have Medlars grow
thereof. This I have seen proved: therefore I affirm it
for a very truth. Lupton, “ Notable Things,” bk. x. § 95.

Tue graft should be taken from the middle of the
tree ; for one from the top is faulty.

Hortus Sanitatis, bk. i. § 294.

Tue fruit of the three-grain [Neapolitan] Medlar is
eaten both raw and boiled. These Medlars be oftentimes
preserved with sugar or honey. Moreover, they are
singular good for women with child; for they strengthen
the stomach, and stay the loathsomeness thereof.

Gerard’s “Herbal,” 5.7.

Meptars, the best :—The Great Dutch, Neapolitan, and
one without stones.
Evelyn, “Kalendarium Hortense,” p. 274.

Mermaid.

Pll drown more sailors than the mermaid shall.
ili. Kino Henry VI., iii. 2, 186.

VY. Siren.
Milk.
Wuen cow's Milk is first congealed, it is as it were a

stone, and that happeth when it is meddled with water.
Also when a child is nourished with hot Milk, his teeth

MITE. | NATURAL HISTORY. 203

springeth the sooner. And if any hair cometh therein,
there falleth a great sickness; and the ache ceaseth not ere
the hair cometh out with the Milk, or rotteth. And a
black woman hath much better Milk and more nourishing
than a white woman. A drop of good Milk put on the
nail abideth continually, and droppeth not away.
Bartholumew (Berthelet), bk. xix: § 63.

Cow’s Milk is the better and more wholesome, if the
most deal of wateriness be consumed and wasted by stones
of the rivers that be heated fiery hot and then quenched
therein. Ibid., § 65.

[Stow, in his “Survey of London,” gives the price of milk
in his youth (c¢yca 1535) as three ale-pints for a halfpenny in
the summer, nor less than one ale-quart for a halfpenny in the
winter, always hot from the kine, and he fetched it from the
Minories farm just outside Aldgate. ]

Mint.
Winter’s Tate, iv. 4, 104.

Mint is an herb with good smell, and thereof is double
kind, wild and tame. It taketh away abomination of
wambling, and abateth the yexing [7.e., hiccough].

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvii. § 106.

Ir is taken inwardly against scolopenders, bear-worms,
sea-scorpions and serpents. It is applied with salt to the
bitings of mad dogs. It will not suffer milk to curdle in
the stomach, therefore it is put in milk that is drunk for
fear that those who have drunk thereof should be strangled.

Gerard’s *‘ Herbal,” s.v.
Misletoe.
Tirus Anpronicus, ii. 3, 95.

Mistietoz with red lily opens all locks. If the afore-
said be hung on a tree with the wing of a swallow, thither
will congregate all the birds within quite five miles, and
this last has been tried in my time.

Albertus Magnus, “ Of Virtues of Herbs,” § tro.

Mite.

Auu’s We._t tTHaT Enps WELL, i. 1, 154.
? i

Vv, Worm.

204 - SHAKESPEARE'’S [ MOLDWARP.

Moldwarp.
i. Kine, Henry IV., iii. 1, 149.

Mole.

TEMPEST, iv. I, 194.

A Motz is a little beast somewhat like unto a mouse.
And he is damned in everlasting blindness and darkness,
and is without eyes, and hath a snout as a swine, and
diggeth therewith the earth, and casteth up that he diggeth,
and gnaweth and eateth roots under earth, and hateth the
sun, and may not live above the earth. And the Mole
hath none eyes seen without, and who that slitteth the skin
subtly and warily shall find within the fores [7.e., traces]
of eyes hidden. And some men trow that that skin
breaketh for anguish and for sorrow when he beginneth to
die, and beginneth then to open the eyes in dying that were
closed living. Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xviii, § 102.

}\

4! |

A Move or want enclosed in an earthen pot, if you set
then the powder of brimstone on fire, she will call other
Moles or wants to help her with a very mourning voice.

Lupton, “Notable Things,” bk. iii. § 6,

MOON-CALF. | NATURAL HISTORY. 205

Ir you will catch Moles or wants, put garlic, leeks or an
onion in the mouths of their holes, and you shall see them
come or leap out quickly, as though they were amazed or
astonied. Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. ix. § 14.

Mo tz’s blood sprinkled on a bald head makes the hairs
come back.

Hortus Sanitatis, bk. i. § 139.
Motes have no ears, and yet they understand all speeches
spoken of themselves. If a man eat the heart of a Mole
newly taken out of her belly and panting, he shall be able
to divine and foretell infallible events. There is nothing
which is more profitable or medicinable for the curing of
the bites of a shrew, than a Mole being flayed and clapped
thereunto. For the changing of the hairs of horses from
black to white, take a Mole and boil her in salt water, or
lye made of ashes three days together, and when the water
or lye shall be quite consumed, put new water or lye there-
unto; this being done, wash or bathe the place with the
water or lye somewhat hot; presently the black hairs will
fall and slide away, and in some short time there will
come white. Topsell, “ Four-footed Beasts,” pp. 389-91.

Ir the foot of a Mole be wrapped in a laurel-leaf and
put into a horse’s ear, he will run away for fear ; and if it
be put in the nest of any bird, no young ones will be
hatched out of those eggs.

Albertus Magnus, “ Of the Virtues of Animals,”

Monkey.

Mercuant or VENICE, lil. I, 124.
V, Ape.

[Monkeys were common pets for ladies, and shared their
favour with dogs and paroquets (so Massinger, ‘New Way
to Pay Old Debts”; Bex Jonson, ‘‘Cynthia’s Revels”;
Middleton, “ Michaelmas Term,” etc.).]

Moon-calf.
Tempest, ii, 2, 111.

A raxsE conception called mola or Moon-calf, that is to
say, a lump of flesh without shape, without life, and so

206 SHAKESPEARE’S [ Moss.

hard withal, that unneath a knife will enter and pierce it
either with edge or point. Howbeit a kind of moving
it hath. Holland’s Pliny, bk. vii, ch. xv.

Moss.
Tirus Anpronicus, il. 3, 95.

[Gerard (“ Herbal,” s.v.) states that he has found “ goldilocks,
or golden maiden-hair, the bigger and less in great abundance,”
between Hampstead Heath and Highgate, and ‘“‘club-moss or
wolf-claw Moss” only upon Hampstead Heath, and he testifies
that the latter Moss, if it be hanged in a vessel of “ floating
wine, which is now become slimy,” the wine is restored to his
former goodness. Moreover, the kind of Moss, which “is found
upon the skulls or bare scalps of men and women lying long
in charnel-houses or other places, where the bones of men and
women are kept together, is thought to be a singular remedy
against the falling evil, and the chin-cough in children, if it be
produced and then given in sweet wine for certain days
together.”]

Moth.

Corroanus, i. 3, 94.

A Mors is a worm of clothes, and is gendered of cor-
ruption of cloth, when the cloth is too long in press and
thick air, and is not blown with wind, neither unfolded in
pure air. And though he be a sensible beast, yet he hideth
himself within the cloth, that unneath he is seen. Leaves
of the laurel-tree, of cedars, and of cypress, and other such,
put among clothes in hutches save the clothes and also books
from corruption and eating of Moths.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xviii. § 105.

Ir you seethe the dregs, or mother, or foam of oil to the
half, and therewith anoint the bottom, corners, and feet of
any chest or press,—the clothes that you lay therein shall
never be hurt with Moths (so that it be dry before you
put therein your clothes).

Lupton, “ Notable Things,” bk. ii. § 94.

Morus breed in’ garments so much the sooner if a spider
be shut in. They that sell woollen clothes use to wrap
up the skin of a bird called the king-fisher amongst them,

MOUSE. | NATURAL HISTORY. 207

or else hang one in the shop, as a thing by a secret
antipathy that Moths cannot endure. Garments wrapped
up in a lion’s skin will never have any moths.

Mouffet, “Theatre of Insects,” p. 1100,

‘Mouse.
Mipsummer Nicut’s Dream, v. I, 394.

Tue Mouse is a little beast, and he breedeth and is
gendered of humours of the earth. Also the liver of this
beast waxeth in the full of the moon, like as a certain fish
of the sea increaseth then, and waneth again in the waning
of the moon. And the Mouse drinketh not, and if he
drinketh, he dieth ; and is a gluttonous beast, and is there-
fore beguiled with a little meat when he smelleth it, and
will taste thereof. His urine stinketh and is contagious ;
and his biting is venomous, and also his tail is venomous
accounted. In harvest the male and female gather corn, and
charge either other upon the womb, and the male draweth
the female so charged by the tail to her den, and dis-
chargeth her, and layeth up that stuff in a place in the
den, and thus they go again to travail, and gather ears of
corn, and the male layeth himself on his own back, and his
female chargeth him, and taketh his tail in her mouth, and
draweth him so home to the den. And though mice be
full grievous and noyful beasts, yet they be in many things
good and profitable in medicine. Mice dirt bruised with
vinegar keepeth and saveth the head from falling of hair.
His new skin laid all about the heel, healeth and saveth
kibes and wounds therefro.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xviii. § 73.

Put one or more quick [i.e., live] Mice in a long or
deep earthen pot, and set the same unto a fire made of ash-
wood; and when the pot begins to wax hot, the Mice
therein will chirp or make a noise; whereat all the mice
that are nigh them will run towards them, and so will leap
into the fire, as though they should come to help their
poor imprisoned friends and neighbours. The cause whereof
Mizaldus ascribes to the smoke of the ash-wood.

Lupton, “Notable Things,” bk. x. § 93.

208 SHAKESPEARE'S [ MOUSE.

WritiINnG-1NK tempered with water, wine, or vinegar, where-
in wormwood hath been steeped, Mice will not eat the
papers or letters written with that ink.

Lupton, “Notable Things,” bk. vi. § 51.

VICKSILVER killed, burnt lead, the scales of iron, or
black hellebore, mixed with some pleasant meat, that Mice
love—if any Mice eat thereof, it will kill them.

Ibid., bk. x. § 68.

Or the vulgar little Mouse :—Concerning their manners
they are evil, apt to steal, insidious and deceitful. If the
brains of a weasel, the hair or rennet be sprinkled upon
cheese, or any other meat whereunto Mice resort, they not
only forbear to eat thereof, but also to come in that place.
A Mouse watcheth an oyster when he gapeth, and seeing
it open, thrusts in his head to eat the fish ; as soon as ever
the oyster felt his teeth, presently he closeth his shell again,
and ‘so crusheth the Mouse’s head in pieces. A man took
a Mouse, which Mouse he fed only with the flesh of
Mice, and after he had fed it so a long time, he let it go,
who killed all the Mice he did meet, and was not satisfied
with them, but went into every hole that he could find, and
ate them up also. A Mouse being flayed, and afterwards cut
through the middle, and put unto a wound or sore wherein
there is the head of a dart or arrow, or any other thing
whatsoever, will presently and very easily exhale and draw
them out of the same. A young Mouse mingled with salt
is an excellent remedy against the biting of the Mouse
called the shrew, which biting horses and labouring cattle,
it doth-venom until it come unto the heart, and then they
die, except the aforesaid remedy be used. Of the heads
of Mice being burned is made that excellent powder for
the scouring and cleansing of the teeth called tooth-soap.
For the rottenness and diminishing of the teeth, the best
remedy is to take a living Mouse, and to take out one of
her teeth, whether the greatest or the least is no great
matter, and hang it by the teeth of the party grieved ; but
first kill the Mouse from whom you had the tooth, and he
shall presently have ease and help of his pain.

Topsell, ‘‘Four-footed Beasts,” pp. 392-402.

MUSCADEL. | NATURAL HISTORY. 209

Micz are multiplied in dry seasons (which the store of them
this dry winter—1613—confirmeth) of which there are great
ones in Egypt with two feet which they use as hands, not
going but leaping. Purchas’ * Pilgrims,” p. 560 (ed. 1616).

Mulberry.
Mipsummer Nicut’s Dream, ili. 1, 170.
CorioLanus, iii, 2, 79.

Leaves thereof slayeth serpents, if they be thrown or
laid upon them. The leaves sod in rain- water maketh
black hair, and healeth the biting of attercops [spiders],
and easeth the tooth-ache. Of Mulberries is noble drink
made; elephants drink thereof, and be the more bold and
hardy. Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvii. § 100.

Tue Mulberries [in Hegesander’s time] did not bring
forth fruit in twenty years together, and so great a plague
of the gout then reigned and raged so generally, as not
only men, but boys, wenches, eunuchs and women were
troubled with that disease. Gerard’s “Herbal,” 5.7.

Mule.

Wiwe-drinking is forbidden the Mule. The more
water that the Mule drinketh, the more good his meat
doth him. Also the Mule hath no gall openly seen upon

his liver. Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xviii. § 72.
Ir you fumigate a house with the left hoof of a Mule,

no rat will remain in that house. The ashes of a Mule’s
hoofs cure baldness, Hortus Sanitatis, bk. ii. § 98.

Mutes are broken of their flinging and wincing, if they
use often to drink wine. Holland’s Pliny, bk. viii. ch, xliv.

Tue epithets of a Mule are these :—pack-bearer, dirty,
Spanish, rough and bi-formed. .

Topsell, “ History of Four-footed Beasts,” s.v.
Muscadel, or Muscadine.
TaMING OF THE SHREW, Ili. 2, 172.

[Muscadel and brawn were usual refreshments at Christmas
{so Beaumont and Fletchers “Loyal Subject,” iii, 4, also
“Tamer Tamed,” iv. 1, and “The Pilgrim,” ii. 1.

14

210 SHAKESPEARE’S [ MUSHROOM.

Eggs and Muscadine were supposed to be restorative of the
vital powers (“ Tamer Tamed,” i. 1; “ Cupid’s Revenge,” i. I;
and many other plays of Massinger, Middleton, Brome, etc.).

Muscadines were also compounds to sweeten the breath
(Wardes’ “ Treatise of Alexis of Piedmont'’s Secrets,” 1562).]

Muscapines of Candia whereof and especially of red
Muscadine there is great plenty in this island, wherewith
England for the most part is served.

Fynes Moryson, “Itinerary,” part 1. p. 256.

‘Mushroom.
TEMPEST, v. I, 39.

[Gerard describes not very clearly various kinds of edible
and poisonous fungi, but thinks Mushrooms poor food.]

V. Toad-stool.

Iratian delicate oiled Mushrooms,
Massinger, “ Guardian,” ii. 2; so Ben Fonson, “ Alchemist,” ii. 2.

Two small. casks—one of blue figs, the other of pickled
Mushrooms. Fasper Mayne, ‘The City Match,” v. 4.

Musk, Musk-cat.

Merry Wives of Wiwnpsor, il. 2, 68.
Auw’s Wett tHat Enps WELL, v. 2, 21.

In the mountains of Ind be some Cuprioli [deer] that
eateth herbs with good smell and savour, and in their feet
be certain hollowness, in the which certain humours be
gathered, and breedeth posthumes [i.e., imposthumes, ab-
scesses|, the which posthumes first be ripened, and then
broken with moving and with froting [#.e., rubbing], and
thrown out of the body with small hairy leaves. And the
substance, that is contained within the skin, is best of
smelling, and most precious among spicery, and most
profitable and virtuous in medicine, and that we call
commonly Musk. Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xviii. § 23.

In the flank of the Musk-cat grows an imposthume
from collected humours, and when this is ripe, the beast
bruises and rubs it against a tree, and so it is broken, and
the matter runs out, and thickens and hardens there, and
the substance of the humour is called Musk. The whole

MUSK. | NATURAL HISTORY. 211

of its flesh and its dung is named Musk, but that is far
better which runs from the imposthume. Musk which
has lost its smell recovers its virtue in stinks and latrines ;
it strives against stench, and thus revives as it were by

striving. Hortus Sanitatis, bk. ii. § 100.

Tue Musk-cat is neither like a cat nor a mouse. They
make perfume of it; with this the luxurious women per-
fume themselves, to entrap the love of their wooers. The
true Musk is sold for 40s. an ounce at the least. A
Musk-cat is an excellent remedy for those which are
troubled with fear in their heart.

Topsell, “‘ History of Four-footed Beasts,” pp. 427-31 (1658).

Musk is made of the stomach of a_ beast somewhat
greater than a cat. Our greatest sweet we see is but
rottenness and putrefaction. Ibid, p. 502.

V. Civet.

212 SHAKESPEARE’S [MUSK-ROSE.

Musk-rose.
Mipsummer Nicut’s Dream, ii. I, 252.

[The Musk-rose was a moss-rose. Gerard describes and
engraves several species. ]

Mussel.
TEMPEST, i. 2, 462,

Tur Mussel is the male of the whale (g.v.). There are
Mussels which are shell-fish, and from their milk oysters
breed. The Mussel and the whale are examples of friend-
ship, for as the whale’s eyes through the great weight of
its brows are closed, the Mussel swims before it and points
out those things which might be harmful to its bulk, and
the Mussel takes the place of eyes for the whale. This
sea-mussel which precedes the whale has no teeth, but
bristles instead. Hortus Sanitatis, bk. iv. § 57.

[Two distinct fishes are evidently here described, but the
habits of both are interesting. The engraving is of a shell-fish
like a whelk. ;

Mussels were seethed or boiled in their shells (second part
of “The Good Huswife’s Jewel,” p. 53).]

Mustard.

TAMING OF THE SHREW, Iv. 3, 22.

[Eaten with pancakes (As You LIKE IT, i. 2, 66).]

Senvey hight Sinapis [i.e., Mustard], and healeth smiting
of serpents and of scorpions, and overcometh venom of the
scorpions, and abateth tooth-ache, and cleanseth the hair,
and letteth the falling thereof. Bees love best the flowers
and haunt them, and nevertheless bees touch never flowers
of olive. Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvii. § 155.

Ir it be drunk fasting, it makes the intellect good.
Hortus Sanitatis, bk. i. § 436,

Ir helpeth those that have their hair pulled off; it
taketh away the blue and black marks that come of
bruisings. Gerard’s “Herbal,” s.2,

NEAT. | NATURAL HISTORY. 213

_ [Tewkesbury was famous for Mustard (“‘ii. King Henry IV.,”
ii. 4, 262, and Mynes Moryson, “Itinerary,” part iii. p. 139).]

Senvey bruised and ground with vinegar is a wholesome
sauce, meet to be eaten with hard and gross meats, either
flesh or fish. Batman's addition to Bartholomew, Lc.

Myrtle.

Measure For Measure, ii. 2, 117.

Myrtze helpeth against venom, and against stinging of
scorpions, if it be drunk; broth thereof helpeth against
the falling .of hair. Myrtle fasteneth and restoreth weary
members and limbs, and therefore it tokeneth comforters of

holy church. Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvii. § 101.

Tue decoction of Myrtle made with wine withstandeth

drunkenness if it be taken fasting.
Gerard’s “ Herbal,” s.v.

Ir a wayfaring man that hath a great journey for to go
on foot, carry in his hand a stick or rod of the Myrtle-
tree, he shall never be weary.

Holland’s Pliny, bk. xv. ch. xxix.

Neat.

Neat’s tongue.
Mercuant oF VENICE, i. I, I12.
x >

Neat’s tongue dried.
Middleton, “‘ Blunt, Master Constable,” i. 2, 188.
[Neat’s tongue was boiled with red wine, stuffed with cloves
and sugar, and served with red wine and prunes boiled together,
and mustard (Dawson, ‘‘ The Good Huswife’s Jewel ”).]

Neat’s foot., :
TAMING OF THE SHREW, Iv. 3, 17.

[Neat’s foot was fricasseed, and the sauce was barberries or
grape (‘‘Good Huswife’s Jewel”).]

V. Ox.

214 SHAKESPEARE’S [NETTLE.
Nettle.

i. Kinc Henry IV., ii. 3, 10.

Ir is a remedy against the venomous qualities of hem-
lock, mushrooms and quicksilver, and a counterpoison for
henbane, serpents and scorpions. The oil of it takes away
the stinging which the Nettle itself maketh.

Gerara’s “ Herbal,” 5.2.

Cast the water of any sick person newly made at night
on red Nettles, and if the Nettles be withered and dead
in the morning after, then the sick party is like to die of
that disease, if they be green still, then he is like to live.

Lupton, ‘Notable Things,” bk. iv. § 71.

THE virtue of Nettles is to force a woman that waters
them to be as peevish for a whole day, and as waspish, as
if she had been stung in the brow with a hornet.

Greene, “Quip for an Upstart Courtier.”

Now are they plagued in purgatory, and he whips them
with Nettles. Tarleton, “‘ News out of Purgatory.”

His hate to woman made Eupolis eat Nettle-pottage.
“ Lady Alimony,” i, 2.

He who holds this herb in his hand with yarrow is
secure from every fear and from every phantasy. And if it
be put with the juice of house-leek, and the hand be
anointed therewith, and the residue be put in water where
are fishes, they will collect about his hand, and also about
his net. And if the hand be taken out, forthwith they re-
turn to their own places where they were before.

Albertus Magnus, ‘‘Of the Virtues of Herbs,”

Newt. ‘

Mivsummer Nicut’s Dream, iil. 2, TI.

Tus is a little black Lizard of the water; the poison
hereof is like the poison of vipers. This serpent is bred
in fat waters and soils, and sometimes in the ruins of old
walls. There is nothing in nature that so much offendeth
it as salt. Being moved to anger, it standeth upon the

NIGHT-crow.| NATURAL HISTORY. 215

hinder legs, and looketh directly in the face of him that
hath stirred it, and so continueth till all the body be white,
through a kind of white humour or poison, that it swelleth
outward, to harm (if it were possible) the person that did
provoke it. And by this is their venomous nature observed
to be like the salamander, although their continual abode
in the water maketh their poison the more weak. There
be some Apothecaries which do use this Newt instead of
skinks or crocodiles of the earth, but they are deceived in
the virtues and operation, and do also deceive other, for
. there is not in it any such wholesome properties, and there-
fore not to be applied without singular danger.
Topsell, *‘ History of Serpents,” pp. 744.

Ewrs’ eggs be like to serpents’ eggs, but they be less
in quantity, and more glimy [gluey]; and be venomous,
but they be less venomous than serpents’ eggs.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xix. § 101.

VY, Lizard.

Night-crow [=Night-heron].
iil, King Henry VL, v. 6, 45.

Tue Night-crow loveth the night, and fleeth and seeketh
his meat by night, and crieth in seeking, and their cry is
hateful and odious to other birds. And they eat the eggs
of doves and choughs, and fight with them. Also this bird
hight Noctua [7.e., the owl ?]; by night she may see, and
when shining of the sun cometh, her sight is dim. The
Island of Crete hath not this bird; if he cometh thither
out of other lands, he dieth anon.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xii. § 27.

Tuts kind of owl is dog-footed, and covered with hair;
his eyes are like the glistering ice; against death he useth
a strange whoop. Batman's addition to Bartholomew, ut supra.

By night (as the vulgar think) the Night-crow seemeth
with its hateful cry to portend the death of men. It is
pleased with the human voice. The Night-crow is an anti-
dote to bees, wasps, hornets and leeches. Its eggs given

216 SHAKESPEARE’S [ NIGHTINGALE.

in wine for three days cause loathing of wine in drunkards.
[This is a quotation from Pliny, bk. xxx., where Holland
translates “ owls’ eggs.” | Hortus Sanitatis, bk. iii. § 84.

Nightingale.

[In Philemon Holland’s translation of Pliny is a most
elequent description of the Nightingale, too long to quote
(bk. x. ch. xxix.). Also (ch. xlii.) he says that Germanicus
and Drusus had two Nightingales that were taught to speak
Latin and Greek—yea, and were able to continue a long speech
and discourse. |

Night-raven.

Mucu Apo asout Noruine, ii. 3, 84.
VY. Night-crow and Raven.

Tuere isanother kind of Night-raven, black, of the
bigness of a dove, flat-headed, out of the which groweth
three long feathers, like the cop of a lap-wing, his bill
grey, using a sharp voice; whose unaccustomed appearance
betokeneth mortality. He preyeth on mice, weasels, and
such like. Batman's addition to Bartholomew, bk. xii. § 27.

Nit.

Love’s Lasour’s Lost, iv. 1, 150.

Tuese are little, white, living creatures. The Philosopher
affirms that they are called the eggs of lice. They are
like to the flowers of Jessamine that grows with us. For
as Jessamine brings flowers without seed, so Lice bring
forth eggs without young ones in them.

Thos. Mouffet, ‘Theatre of Insects,” bk. ii. ch. xxxv.

Nut.

As You Like Ir, iii. 2, 115.

Droppine of the leaves thereof grieveth and noyeth other
trees about, that be nigh thereto. The fruit thereof hath
so great virtue, that if it be put among frog-stools and
venomous meats, it spoileth and destroyeth and quencheth
all the venom that is therein. And all manner apples that

OAK. | NATURAL HISTORY. ar7

be closed in an hard skin, rind, or shell be called Nuts,
as pines, chestnuts and filberts, and other such. The
shadow of the Nut-tree grieveth them that sleep there-
under, and breedeth diverse sicknesses and evils, but the
fruit thereof dyeth and cleanseth hair, and letteth the
falling thereof. In great French Nuts [z¢., walnuts or
barnuts] generally the shape of the cross is printed therein.
Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvii. § 108.

VY. Chestnut, Filbert, Walnut, etc.

Nutmeg.
Love’s Lazour’s Lost, v. 2.
Winter’s Tae, iv. 3, 20.

THE more heavy the Nutmeg is in weight, and the more
sweet in smell and sharp in savour, the better it is. The
Nutmeg holden to the nose comforteth the brain and the
spiritual members. Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvii. § 109.

Tue Nutmeg is good against freckles of the face [and]
quickeneth the sight. There is not any so simple but
knoweth that the heaviest, fattest and fullest of juice are
the best, which may easily be determined by pricking the
same with a pin or such like. Gerard's “Herbal,” s.v.

As easily deciphered as'the characters in a Nutmeg.
Lilly, “Midas,” iv, 3.

Oak.

Tue Oak is a tree that beareth mast, and is a fast tree
and a sad, and dureth long time, with hard rind, and little
pith or none, and there breedeth on the leaves a manner
thing sour and unsavoury, and physicians call it gall.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvii. § 134.

Tue Oak is a tree with many boughs and branches,
and, by reason of many fair leaves and broad, it causeth
pleasant shadow, and beareth great plenty of fruit and of
mast. The tree is durable and strong,”and nigh unable to
root; for stocks thereof laid under water turneth, as it
were, into hardness of stone; and the longer time they be

218 SHAKESPEARE’S [ OATS.

in such moist places, the more hard they be. And so for
hard and durable matter and kind of such tree, misbelieved
men made thereof images, and maumets [Mahomets] of
false gods. Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvii. § 84.

Tue Oak-apples, being broken in sunder about the time
of their withering,’ do foreshew the sequel of the year, as
the expert Kentish husbandmen have observed, by the living
things found in them; as if they find an ant, they foretell
plenty of grain to ensue—if a spider, then (say they) we
shall have a pestilence or some such like sickness to follow
amongst men—if a white worm like a gentle or maggot,
then they prognosticate murrain of beasts and cattle. These
things the learned also have observed and noted.

Gerara’s “ Herbal,” s.v.

[So Lupton, bk. iii. § 7: “If [the little worm in the oak-
apple] doth fly away, it signifies wars; if it creep, it betokens
scarceness of corn; if it turn about, then it foreshews the
plague. This is the countryman’s astrology, which they have
long observed for truth.’’]

V. Gall.
Oats.

TreMpPEsT, iv. I, 61.

Oats are used in many countries to make sundry sorts
of bread, as in Lancashire, where it is their chiefest bread-
corn for Jannocks [Oat-cakes], Haver-cakes, Tharf-cakes
[Oat-cakes, unleavened], and those which are called generally
Oaten-cakes; and for the most part they call the grain
Haver, whereof they do likewise make drink for want of
‘barley. Oatmeal is good for to make a fair and well-
coloured maid to look like a cake of tallow, especially if
she take next her stomach a good draught of strong vinegar

after it. Gerard’s “ Herbal,” s.v.

Oil.

Oi is the juice of herbs of olive, and the more fresh
it is, the more noble it is, and the more slyly it cometh
out of the hulls, the better it is and the more noble. If
a man be under water with Oil in his mouth and spouteth

ONION. | NATURAL HISTORY. 219

out that Oil there in the water, all that is in the bottom,
and hid by the ground, is the more clear and the more
clearly seen of him. Kind of Oil maketh good savour in
meat, and nourisheth light, and easeth, refresheth and com-
forteth weary bodies and limbs. Many diverse Oils be
pressed out of many diverse things: as Oil of Olive, Oil
of Nuts, Oil of Poppy, Oil of Almonds, of Raphans
[7.e., Radishes |, Oil of Linseed, Oil of Hemp, and of other
such. And Oil slayeth bees, and footless beasts with long
and pliant bodies, if it be shed upon them, and vinegar
turneth them again to life, if it be shed upon them.
Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvii. § 112.

Olive.
As You Like It, iti. 5, 74.

Tue tree thereof is most sad and fast, and pure and
clean without rotting. And the Olive will not be hard
beaten with stones and poles to gather the fruit thereof, as
some men do that be unready and unwise, for it beareth
the worse if it be so beaten.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvii. § 111,

Tue eagle is never stricken with thunder, nor the Olive

with lightning. Lilly, “Sappho and Phaon,” iii. 3.

Score a gallon of sack, and a pint of Olives to the
Unicorn. Beaumont and Fletcher, “The Captain,” iv. 2, 1.
Onion.

Auv’s Weti THat Enps WELL, v. 3, 321.
Mipsummer Nicut’s Dream, iv. 2, 43.

Ir bringeth out venom, and quencheth biting of a wood
hound, and helpeth in other venoms by. bitings, and clari-
fieth the skin, and openeth pores. To eat too much of
them breedeth madness and woodness, and maketh dreadful
dreams, and namely if men that be new recovered of sick-
ness eat thereof. Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvii, § 42.

THE juice anointed upon a pilled or bald head in the
sun, bringeth again the hair very speedily. The Onion
being eaten, yea, though it be boiled, causeth head-ache,

520 SHAKESPEARE’S [OPAL.

hurteth the eyes, maketh a man dim-sighted, dulleth the
senses; and provoketh overmuch sleep, especially being eaten
raw. Gerara’s “ Herbal,” sz.

’Tis better than an Onion to a green wound i’ the left
hand made by fire, it takes out scar and all.
Webster, “Cure for a Cuckold,” iv. 1.

Ave, Aye, Sir Lionel, they are my Onions; I thought
to have had them roasted this:>morning for my cold.
Gervase, you have not wept to-day; pray take your
Onions. John Cook, “ Greene’s Tu Quoque.”

St. THomas’s Onions shall be sold by the rope at
Billingsgate by the. Statute.
‘“‘Pennyless Parliament of Thread-bare Poets,” § 36 (1608).

Opal.

TweLrtH NIGHT, il. 4, 77.

Opat is a stone distingued with colours of divers precious
stones; therein is the fiery colour of the carbuncle, the
shining purple of the amethyst, the bright green colour of
emerald ; and all the colours shine with a manner diversity.
This stone breedeth only in Ind, and is deemed to have as
many virtues as colours. This stone keepeth and saveth his
eyes, that him beareth, clear and sharp and without grief;—
and dimmeth other men’s eyes that be about with a manner
cloud, and smiteth them with a manner blindness, so that
they may not see, neither take heed, what is done tofore
their eyes. Therefore it is said, that it is most sure patron
of thieves—{safest stone for thieves— Bartholomew].

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvi. § 73.

Orange.

Civil count, civil as an orange, and something of that jealous com-
plexion.
Mucw Apo Azsour Noruine, li. I, 304.

Orange-wife.
CorioLanus, ii. 178.

[‘‘ Civil” is prebably a pun upon the word “ Seville.”’]

OSPREY. | NATURAL HISTORY. 227

Tue women [of Portugal] are for the most part like
their Oranges, the fairer the outside the rottener within,
and the sounder at the heart, the rougher the skin.

Heywood, ‘Challenge for Beauty,” ii. 1.

[Recipe] How to dress Oranges.
“The Widow’s Treasure (1595).

[Recipe] To confect Orange pills.
Second part of the “Good Huswife’s Jewel,” p. 42 (1597).

Two lemons and an Orange pill.
Bacchus’ “ Bounty” (1593).

Here's New-Year’s-Gift has an Orange and rosemary, but
not a clove to stick in’t.
Ben Fonson, “ Christmas Masque” (1616).

Wine will be pleasant in taste and in savour and colour;
it will much please thee, if an Orange or a lemon (stuck
round about with cloves) be hanged within the vessel, that
it touch not the wine. And so the wine will be preserved
from fustiness and evil savour.

Lupton, “ Notable Things,” bk. ii, § 40.

[An Orangeado-pie is mentioned as a delicacy by Dekker in
one of his plays.
Neither Pliny nor Bartholomew mentions oranges.]

Osier.
Love’s Lasour’s Lost, iv. 2, I12..

VY, Willow.

Wuar is this snare to which young virgins haste,

But like the Osier wheel in rivers placed?

The fish yet free to enter wind about,

Whilst they within are labouring to get out.
Heywood, “ Anna and Phyllis,” embl. 2

Osprey.
As is the osprey to the fish, who takes it
By sovereignty of nature.
Corionanus, iv. 7, 34.

Tue Osprey only, before her little ones be feathered,
will beat and strike them with her wings, and thereby

222 SHAKESPEARE’S [osTRICH.

force them to look full against the sun-beams ; now if she
see any one of them to wink, or their eyes to water at
the rays of the sun, she turns it with the head forward
out of the nest, as a bastard, and not right, nor none of
hers,—but bringeth up and cherisheth that whose eye will
abide the light of the sun, as she looks directly upon him.
Moreover these Ospreys are not thought to be a several
kind of Eagles by themselves, but to be mongrels, and
engendered of diverse sorts. When [eagles] have cast [their
young] off, the Ospreys, which are near of kin unto them,
are ready to take them, and bring them up with their own
birds. ; Hollana’s Pliny, bk. x. ch. iii.

Ospreys are called ossifragi [or bone-breakers], because
they drop bones from on high, and break them.
Hortus Sanitatis, bk. i. § 89.

Tue Osprey oft here seen, though seldom here it breeds,

Which over them the fish no sooner doth espy,

But, betwixt him and them by an antipathy,

Turning their bellies up, as though their death they saw,

They at his pleasure lie, to stuff his gluttonous maw.
Drayton, “ Polyolbion,” song xxv. (quoted by Steevens),

Ostrich.

il. King Henry VL, iv. 10, 31.

Tue Ostrich hath a body as a beast, and feathers as a
fowl, and also he hath two feet and a bill as a fowl.
And for he is somedeal shaped as a bird, he hath many
feathers in the nether part of the body, and hath two feet
as a fowl, and is cloven-footed as a four-footed beast; and
is so hot, that he swalloweth, and defieth [digesteth] and
wasteth iron. And when the time is come that they shall
lay eggs, they heave up their eyes, and behold the stars
that hight Pleiades, for they lay no eggs, but when that
constellation ariseth and is seen. And about the month of
June, when they see those stars, they dig in gravel, and
lay there their eggs, and cover and hide them with sand;
and when they have left them there, they forget anon
where they have laid them, and come never again thereto;
but the gravel is chauffed [warmed] with the heat of the

OSTRICH. | NATURAL HISTORY, “923

sun, and heateth the eggs that be hid, and breedeth birds
therein, and bringeth them forth; and when the shell is
broken, and birds come out, then first the mother gathereth
and nourisheth them,—and the bird that she despised in
the egg, she knoweth when it is come out of the egg.
Also the Ostrich hateth the horse by kind, and is so
contrary to the horse, that he may not see the horse
without fear. And if an horse come against him, he raiseth
up his wings as it were against his enemy, and compelleth
the horse to flee with beating of his wings.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk, xii. § 33.

Cioven hoofs they have like red deer, and with them
they fight, for good they be to catch up stones withal, and
with their legs they whirl them back as they run away
against those that chase them. But the veriest fools they
be of all others ;—for as high as the rest of their body is,
yet if they thrust their head and neck once into any shrub
or bush, and get it hidden, they think then they are safe
enough, and that no man seeth them.

Holland's Pliny, bk. x. ch. i.

224 . SHAKESPEARE’S [OTTER.

Some reasonless creatures likewise are by nature bold, as
Ostriches. Helland’s Pliny, bk. xi. ch. xxxvii.

Tue Ostrich has a small bone under its wings, by which
it purges itself in the side, and shakes it when it is pro-
voked to anger. It has a very strong skin, by which with
its feathers it is protected from the troublesome cold.

Hortus Sanitatis, bk. iii. § 109-10.

Sir Gosling -—Sing or howl, or Tl break your Ostrich
egg-shell there.

Birdlime :—My egg hurts not you.

[Birdlime is an elderly lady with not the best of
characters. | Webster, « Westward Ho!” v. 3.

[Osrricu] a foolish bird that forgetteth his nest, and
leaveth his eggs for the sun and sand to hatch, that eateth
any thing, even the hardest iron, that heareth nothing.

Purchas’ Pilgrims,” p. 560 (ed. 1616).

Otter.
Neither fish nor flesh.
i. Kinc Henry IV., iii. 3, 142-4,

TuHere is no doubt but this beast is of the kind of
beavers, saving in their tail, for the tail of a beaver is fish,
but the tail of an Otter is flesh, It hath very sharp teeth,
and is a very biting beast. So great is the sagacity and
sense of smelling in this beast, that he can directly wind
the fishes in the water a mile or two off. There is a kind
of Assa called Benjoin, a strong herb, which, being hung
in a linen cloth near fish-ponds, driveth away all Otters
and beavers. The skin doth not lose its beauty by age,
and no rain can hurt it, and is sold for seven or eight
shillings ; thereof they make fringes in hems of garments,
and face about the collars of men and women’s garments,
and the skin of the Otter is far more precious than the
skin of the beaver. Topsell, “ Four-footed Beasts,” s.v.

I mMarvet how it came into the writer’s head to affirm
that the beaver constraineth the Otter in the winter-time
to trouble the water about her tail to ‘the intent it may not
freeze. Lbid.

OUSEL. | NATURAL HISTORY. DAY

Ounce.
Mipvsummer Nicut’s Dream, ii. 3.

Some have said when a man or beast is bitten with an
Ounce, presently mice flock unto him, and poison him with
their urine: The gall of this beast is deadly poison ; it
hateth all creatures, and destroyeth them.

Topsell, *‘Four-footed Beasts,” s.v.

Tue Ounce does not eat its prey, until it has hung it
up on high, but when it comes to a tree, it carries its pre
to the topmost branch, and eats it hanging. [Then follows
the above curious statement about the Ounce-bite and the
mice, with a story of a man bitten by an Ounce, “ who had
himself carried out to sea in a bark,” and so baffled the

mice. | Hortus Sanitatis, bk. ii. § 158.

Ousel.

Mrupsummer Nicat’s Dream, ili. I, 128.

Tue Ousel or blackbird is white in Achaia. The Ousel
purges disgust to meat annually with laurel-leaves. The
Ousel changes its colour from black to russet, sings in
the summer, stutters in winter, changes about the solstice
its bill, which is transformed into ivory in year-old cocks.
The tame Ousel eats flesh against nature. The Ousel like
other birds does not shed its plumage, but changes its bill
to a white colour every year. And in the winter for
fatness it can scarcely fly.

Lbid., bk. iii, § 74,

7

Ir the feathers of the right wing of an Ousel be hung
up on a red thread, which has never been used, in the
middle of a house, no one will be able to sleep in that
house, until the wing has been taken down. And if its
heart be put under the head of a sleeper, and he be ques-
tioned, he will tell with a loud voice all that he has done.
And again if it be put in well-water with the blood of a
hoopoo, and mixed together, and then rubbed on the
temples of any man, he grows weak even to death.

Albertus Magnus, ‘‘Of the Virtues of Animals.”
5

a56 SHAKESPEARE'’S [owL.

Owl.

Tus Owl is a wild bird charged with feathers, but she
is always with-holden with sloth, and is feeble to fly, and
dwelleth by graves by day and by night, and in chincs.
And diviners tell that they betoken ewil; for if the Owl
be seen in a city, it signifieth destruction and waste. The
chough fighteth with the Owl, and taketh the Owl’s eggs,
and eateth them by day, and the Owl eateth the chough’s
eggs by night. The crying of the Owl by night tokeneth
death. The Owl is fed with dirt, and with other unclean
things. Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xii. § 5.

Ir the heart of an Owl be laid on the left side of a
sleeping woman, she will tell all that she hath done. The
feet of Owls burnt with the herb plantain help against
serpents. They put the ashes of Owls’ eyes on madmen.

Hortus Sanitatis, bk. iii. § 16.

Tue Howlet, Screech-owl, etc., when they be hatched
come forth of their shells with their tail first; and by
reason of their heads so heavy, the eggs are turned with
the wrong end downward. Holland’s Pliny, bk. x. ch. xvi.

Ir is a pretty sight to see the wit and dexterity of these
Howlets, when they fight with other birds; for when they
are overlaid and beset with a multitude of them, they lie
upon their backs and with their feet make shift to resist
them. The falcon by a secret instinct and society of nature,
seeing the poor Howlet thus distressed, cometh to succour
and taketh equal part with him, and so endeth the fray.
Howlets for, sixty days in winter keep close and remain in
covert, and they change their voice into nine tunes.

Ibid., ch. xvii.

For the sting of bees, wasps and hornets,—for the biting
also of those horse-leeches called blood-suckers, the Howlet
is counted a sovereign remedy, by a certain antipathy in
nature. Ibid., bk. xxix. ch. iv.

Ir any man put the heart of an Owl under his armpit,
no dog will bark at him, but will keep silence ; and if the

ox. | NATURAL HISTORY. 227

heart and right foot with its breath [cum anima sua] be
hung on a tree, the birds will gather together upon that

tree, Albertus Magnus, ‘Of the Virtues of Animals.”

Ox.

Tue dewlap or freshlap that hangeth down under his
throat and stretcheth to the legs is a token of gentle-
ness and nobility in an Ox. | Oxen wax fat by washing
with hot water. And Oxen with straight horns be ac-
counted excellent in work, and black Oxen with little horns
be accounted less profitable to working. Of Ox-horns be
made tapping and nocks to bows, to arbalisters, and arrows
to shoot against enemies, and breast-plates and other armour
by the which unstrong places of man’s body be warded and
defended against shot and smiting of enemies. And of Ox-
horns be lanterns made to put off darkness, and combs to
right and to cleanse heads of filth. Also writers and painters
use the horns, and «keep in them divers colours at best.
Also there is a little beast like to scarabeus, and hight ,
Burestis, and this burestis beguileth and betrayeth the Ox
in the grass, and that is for the Ox treadeth on him. For
this burestis lieth among herbs and grass that the Ox
loveth, and hideth him therein, and the Ox swalloweth
this beast burestis, and he chafeth suddenly the liver of the
Ox, and maketh him break with great pain and sorrow.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xviii. § 13.

TueopHRastus approves of feeding Oxen with fish, but
only with live fish. Hortus Sanitatis, bk. ii. § 14.

THERE are Oxen in India which will eat flesh like wolves,
and have but one horn and whole hoofs; some also have
three horns. There be Oxen in Leuctria have their ears
and horns growing both together forth of one stem. The
Oxen of the Geramants and all other neat among them feed
with their necks doubled backward, for by reason of their
long and hanging horns, they cannot eat their meat hold-
ing their heads directly straight. There be Oxen in Phrygia
which are of a flaming red colour, of a very high and
winding neck; their horns are not like any other in the

228 SHAKESPEARE'’S [OxLIP.

world, for they are moved with their ears, turning in a
flexible manner sometime one way and sometime another.
In some countries they wash them all over with wine for
two or three days together, which doth wonderfully tame
them, though they have been never so wild. If a wild Ox
be tied with a halter of wool, he will presently wax tame.
If the Ox bend to the right side and lick that, it presageth
a storm; but if he bend to the left side, he foretelleth a
calm, fair day. In like manner, when he loweth and
smelleth to the earth, or when he feedeth fuller than
ordinary, it betokeneth change of weather. If a wolf's
tail be hanged in the rack or manger where an Ox feedeth,
he will abstain from eating. If seed be cast into the earth
out of an Ox’s horn, it will never spring up well out of
the earth, or at the least not so well as when it is sowed
by the hand of man. Of the teeth of Oxen I know no other
use but scraping and making paper smooth with them ;
their gall being sprinkled among seed which is to be sown
maketh it come up quickly, and killeth field-mice that taste
of it. The dung of Oxen is beneficial to bees if the hives.
be anointed therewith, for it killeth spiders, gnats and
drone-bees, When a man biteth any other living creature,
seethe the flesh of an Ox or a calf, and after five days lay
it to the sore, and it shall work the ease thereof. If one:
make a small candle of paper and cow's marrow, setting the.
same on fire, under his brows or eye-lids which are bald
without hair, and often anointing the place, he shall have:
very decent and comely hair grow thereupon. There is.
in the head of an Ox a certain little stone, which only in
the fear of death he casteth out at his mouth ; if this stone-
be taken from them suddenly by cutting the head, it doth.
make children to breed teeth easily, being soon tied about
them. When the bee hath tasted of the flower of the
corn-tree, she presently dieth, except she taste the urine of
a man or an Ox. Topsell, ‘‘Four-footed Beasts,” s.v.

V. Cow and Bull.
Oxlip.

Winter’s Tate, iv. 4, 125.

Oxurps, so called because oxen and cows delight in
eating them, Minsheu’s Dictionary, 5.2,

Oxuips or Paigles. Gerard’s* Herbal,” 5,0,

OYSTER. | NATURAL HISTORY. 229

Oyster.
As You Like It, v. 4, 64.

Fiso conceive of dew only without peasen [7.e.,. spawn]
and without milk [or milt] as Oysters and other shell-fish.
When the moon faileth such fishes be void; and the
waxing of the moon increaseth the humour, and the humour
vanisheth, when the moon vanisheth. By night shell-fish
come to cliffs, and conceive pearls of the dew of heaven.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xiii. § 29.

Tue ashes of an Oyster-shell calcined and incorporate with
honey rid away wrinkles, and make. women’s skin to lie

smooth and even.
Holland’s Pliny, bk. xxxii. ch. vi.

THE gaping Oyster, entertaining stones
By th’ crab injected, is despoiled at once.
Heywood, “ Anna and Phyilis,” embl. 29.

[Colchester Oysters were renowned in Shakespeare’s time
(Massinger, ‘‘New Way to pay Old Debts,” iv. 1, and Nash's
“Lenten Stuff). So Kentish Oysters (Greene’s “Tu quoque ”’),
Wallfleet Oysters (“Vox Graculi,” quoted by Brand, vol. i.

p- 15). Red wine was drunk with Oysters (“ Pennyless Parlia-
ment of Threadbare Poets,” § 3, and Zz//y, “‘ Mother Bombie,”
ii. 5: “He that had a cup of red wine to his Oysters was
hoisted in the Queen’s subsidy-book”). They were seasoned
with vinegar ((/zddleton, ‘‘ Spanish Gipsy,” iv. 1, 10), or eaten
pickled (Greene’s “Tu. quoque”’), or in pies (“ Lingua,” v. 8,
and Sex Jonson, ‘‘ Cynthia’s Revels,” ii. 2), of which the in-
gredients, according to an eighteenth-century recipe in Vares’
Glossary, were pepper, nutmeg, salt, currants, dates, bar-
berries, mace, butter, lemons, anchovies, white wine, sugar, and
the juice of an orange. George Peele, who was always dis-
tressed for money, was found all alone at a feck of Oysters
(Peele's “Merry Conceited Jests”). ‘You may open an
Oyster or two before grace” (Beaumont and Fletcher, ‘‘ Maid
in the Mill,” iv. 1), and ‘‘capons crammed full of itching
Oysters ”’ (ibid, ““Women Pleased,” ii. 4), need no explanation
beyond the context.]

Ar Venice the Oysters are very dear, some twenty for a
lira [7.¢., nine-pence ].
Fynes Moryson, “Itinerary,” part iii, p. 112

V. Crab.

2.30 SHAKESPEARE’S [PADDOCK.
Paddock.

Hamer, ili. 4, 190.
MacserH, i. 1, 9.

Ir is apparent that there be three kinds of frogs of the
earth :—the first is the little green frog; the second is this
Paddock, having a crook back; and the third is the toad.
This second kind is found deep in the earth, in the midst
of rocks and stones. Such as these are found near Tours
in France, among a red sandy stone, whereof they make
the mill-stones, and therefore they break that stone all in
pieces before they make the millstone up, lest while the
Paddock is included in the middle, and the mill-stone going
in the mill, the heat should make the Paddock swell, and
so the mill-stone breaking, the corn should be poisoned.

Topsell, ‘History of Serpents,” p. 725.
V. Toad, Frog.

Palm-tree.
As You Like Ir, iii, 2, 186.

Ir the male Palm be felled, then is the female barren
after two days out. The more noble and old the Palm is
the better the fruit thereof’ And the Palm-tree beareth no
fruit tofore an hundred years, and then it hath the first
perfect and complete virtue.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvii. § 116.

Pansy.
Pansies that’s for thoughts.
Hater, iv. 5, 175.
Heart’s-EasE is named in English: Heart’s ease, Pansies,
Live in idleness, Cull me to you, and Three faces in a

hood. Gerard’s “ Herbal,” s.v.
V. Heart’s-ease, Violet.

Panther.

Titus Anpronicus, i. I, 493.

PantTuer is friend to all beasts save the dragon, for him
he hateth full sore. And is a beast painted with small
round speckles, so that all his skin without seemeth full of

PANTHER. | NATURAL HISTORY. 231

eyes. And this beast whelpeth but once, and the cause
thereof is openly known :—for when the whelps wax strong
in the mother’s womb, they hate the mother, and rend her
womb with claws, and therefore the mother letteth pass
and whelpeth them. The Panther hateth the dragon, and
the dragon fleeth him. And when he hath eaten enough
at full, he hideth him in his den, and sleepeth continually
nigh three days, and riseth after three days and crieth, and
out of his mouth cometh right good air and savour, and
is passing measure sweet; and for the sweetness all beasts
follow him ; and only the dragon is afeard when he heareth

his voice, and fleeth into a den, and may not suffer the
smell thereof, and faileth in himself, and loseth his comfort,
for he weeneth that his smell is very venom. And all
four-footed beasts have liking to behold the diverse colours
of the Panthers and tigers, but they be afeard of the
horribleness of their heads; and therefore they hide their
heads, and toll [#.e., draw] the beasts to them with fairness
of that other deal of the body, and take them when they
come so tolled, and eat them. And though he be a right
cruel beast, yet he is not unkind to them that help and

succour him in any wise.
Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk, xviii. § 82.

Pee) SHAKESPEARE'S [PARAQUITO,

Tuey have one mark on their shoulder resembling the
moon, growing and decreasing as she doth, some times
showing a full compass, and otherwhiles hollowed and

pointed with tips like horns.
Holland’s Pliny, bk. viti. ch. xvii.

A srotu made of such pullein [cocks and capons] hath
a singular virtue—for neither lions nor Panthers will set
upon those persons who are bathed with their decoction,
especially if there were any garlic sodden therein.
Ibid., bk xxix. ch. iv.

Tue Panther so
Breathes odours precious as the Sannatic gums
Of Eastern groves, but the delicious scent,
Not taken in at distance, chokes the sense

With the too musky flavour.
Glapthorne, ‘‘ Hollander.”

Tue Panther though his skin be fair, yet his breath is
infectious. Reynolds, “God’s Revenge against Murder,” p. 257.

VY. Leopard and Pard.

Paraquito.
i. Kinc Henry IV., ii. 388.

VY. Parrot.

Pard.

TEMPEST, iv. 1, 262.

Tue Pard is the most swift beast, with many diverse
colours and round specks as the panther, and reseth to
blood, and dyeth in leaping, and varieth not from the
panther, but the panther hath more white specks. The
Pard when he is sick eateth man’s dirt because of medicine;
hunters hang that dirt on a tree, and he goeth up to it;
and the hunters slay him. And is lecherous, and gendereth
with the lioness :—of that bastard generation cometh the
leopard [v. Lioness]. The Pard is cruel when his whelps

be stolen. Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xviii. § 83.

PARD. | NATURAL HISTORY. 23a

Or the Panther, commonly called a Pardal, a Leopard, and a
Libbard. There have been so many names devised for this one
beast that it is grown a difficult thing to define it perfectly.
The panther is the female, and the Pard the male. When
the lion covereth the Pardal, then is the whelp called a
leopard or libbard, but when the Pardal covereth the
lioness, then it is called a panther. The only difference
betwixt the leopard, Pardal and lion is that the leopard or
Pardal have no manes. The greatest they call panthers,
the second they call Pardals, and the third, least of all,
they call leopards, which in England is called a cat of the
mountain. And truly in my opinion they are all one kind
of beast, and differ in quantity only through adulterous
generation. The leopard is a wrathful and an angry beast,
and, whensoever it is sick, it thirsteth after the blood of a
wild cat, and recovereth by sucking that blood. Above all
other things, it delighteth in the camphor-tree, and there-
fore lieth underneath it to keep it from spoil; and in like
sort the panther delighteth in sweet gums and spices, and
therefore no marvel if they cannot abide garlic, because it
annoyeth their sense of smelling ; and if the walls of one’s
house or sheep-cote be anointed with the juice of garlic,
both panthers and leopards will run away from it. The
leopard is sometimes tamed and used for hunting; yet such
is the nature of this beast, as also of the Pardal, that if
he do not take his prey at the fourth or fifth jump, he
destroyeth whomsoever’ he meeteth, yea, many times his
hunter. Therefore the hunters have always a regard to
carry with them a lamb or a kid, wherewithal they pacify
him after he hath missed his game. The panthers of
Lycia and Caria are very long, but yet weak and without
carriage, being not able to leap far, yet is their skin so
hard as no iron can pierce. There is a beast called Bitis
not unlike to the vulgar leopards in all parts, except that
it wanteth a tail; and if this beast be seen by a woman,
it will instantly make her to be sick. Great is the love
of the panther to all spices and aromatical trees. The
female panther is more generous than the male. There is
great hatred and enmity between the hyena and the panther,
for in the presence of the hyena, the Pardal dare not
resist; and if there be a piece of an hyzna’s skin about
either man or beast, the panther will never touch it; and

234 SHAKESPEARE’S [ PARROT.

if their skins after they be dead be hung up in the
presence of one another, the hair will fall off from the
panther. If anything be anointed with broth wherein a
cock hath been sodden, neither panthers nor lions will ever
touch it. Leopards are afraid of a certain tree called
Leopard’s-tree. Panthers are also afraid of the skull of a
dead man, and run from the sight thereof. Likewise in
Armenia there are certain fishes which are poison to lions,
bears, wolves, lynxes and panthers; the powder of this fish
the inhabitants put into the sides and flesh of their sheep,
goats and kids without all harm to these beasts,—but if
the panthers or any ravening beast come and devour any
of those sheep so dressed, presently they die by poison.
In hunting of wild beasts the wary woodman must make
good choice of his horse, not only for the mettle and
agility—-which are very necessary,—but also for the colour;
for the grey horse is fittest for the bear and most terrible
to him, the yellow or fire-colour against the boar, but the
brown and reddish-colour against the panther. Leopards
and panthers also love wine above all other drink. If the
skin or hide of a leopard being taken and flayed be covered
or laid upon the ground, there is such force and virtue in
the same that any venomous or poisonous serpent dare not
approach into the same place where it is so laid. The
gall of a panther being received into the body either in
meat or drink, doth instantly and out of hand kill or
poison him which doth so receive it.
Topsell, ‘*Four-footed Beasts,” s.v. Pardal.

Parrot.

MercuanT oF Venice, ili. 5, 51

Tse Parrot can endure any other kind of water in any
wise, but dies of rain; and therefore they build in Mt.
Gilboa, because there it seldom or never rains. It drinks
wine freely, and is much pleased with the sight of a virgin.

Hortus Sanitatis, bk. itt, § 102.

SHE hath an head as hard as is her beak; when she
learns to speak, she must be beaten about the head with a
rod of iron, for otherwise she careth for no blows.

Holland’s Pliny, bk. x. ch. xlii.

PARTRIDGE, | NATURAL HISTORY. 235

Parsley.
Parsley to stuff a rabbit.
TaminG oF THE SHREW, iv. 4, I00.

[Parsley is one of the herbs used to make broth and farcing
enumerated in ‘‘ The History of Jacob and Esau,” iv. 5.]

A saLap of Parsley and the herb patience.
“Look About You,” i. 10.

Goop man-mender,
Stop me with some Parsley like stuffed beef,
And let me walk abroad.
Beaumont and Fletcher, “'The Chances,” iii, 2.

ToucH Welsh Parsley which in our vulgar tongue is
strong hempen halters. Ibid., “The Elder Brother,” i. 2.

Partridge.

ii. King Henry VI, iii. 2, 191.

Tue Partridge is an unclean bird, for strong liking of
lechery forgetteth the sex and distinction of male and
female. And is so guileful that the one stealeth the eggs
of the other, and sitteth abrood on them; but this fraud
hath no fruit, for when the birds be haught [grown], and
hear the voice of their own mother, they forsake her that
brooded them when they were eggs, and kept them as her
own birds, and turn and follow their own mother natural.
And the Partridge travaileth not in laying and in brooding,
like as other fowls do. And at the noise of a little bell,
he fleeth about upon the ground, and falleth into the gin
or net ere he be ware. The Partridge’s gall, with even
weight of honey, cleareth much the sight; and therefore it
shall be kept in a silver box.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xii. § 30.

A parrripce will cry aloud, and will tear or break
the cage or coop where she is fed, if there be any deadly
medicine or poison prepared within the same house, which
she doth feel presently, through a wonderful special and
rare gift of nature. Lupton, “ Notable Things,” bk. x. § 99.

Tue Partridge, though cunning in many things, is foolish
in this, that where she can hide her head, she believes that

236 SHAKESPEARE’S [ PEA.

her whole body is hidden, and when she sees no- one, she
thinks that no one sees her. Hortus Sanitatis, bk. iii. § 98.

Partripces do so fortify and impale their. nests with
thorns and twigs of shrubs and ‘bushes, that they be
sufficiently fenced against the invasion of wild beasts.
Partridges live 16 years. Holland's Pliny, bk. x. ch. xxxiii.

In Paphlagonia Partridges have two hearts.
Ibid., bk. xi, ch. xxxvii.

Some creatures there be that will never be fat, as the
hare and Partridge. Ibid.

Pea.

Love’s Lasour’s Lost, v. 2, 316.

THE great Pease is called Roman Pease, or Garden Pease,
of some, Branch-Pease, French Pease, and Rouncivals,
Gerard’s “‘ Herbal,” s.v.

[Rouncivals, Tusser tells us (October’s ‘‘ Husbandry,” st. 30,
and November, st. 7), were gray Pease. He mentions also
Hastings (October, st. 32, margin, and November, st. 7) and
Fulhams (October, ut supra). A dish of buttered Pease is
mentioned in the Interlude of “The Trial for Treasure,’’ and
in Greene’s ‘Quip for an Upstart Courtier.”

White Pease-pottage consisted of boiled white Pease with
butter and verjuice and a little fine powder of March, and was
served upon sops (second part of the ‘‘Good Huswife’s Jewel,’
p. 26), and permission is accorded to boil porpoise and seal in
your Pease.

The price of early Pease is given by Middleton as ten groats
the cod (‘ Blurt, Master Constable,” iii. 3, 123), or four nobles
a peck may be nearer the mark (Dekkers ‘Bachelor's
Wedding.” ]

Peach.
[Shakespeare only uses ‘‘ Peach-coloured.”’]

Measure For Measure, iv. 3, 12.
ii. Kinc Hewry IV,, ii. 2, 19.

[To the four sorts described by Gerard (viz., the White, the
Red, the d@’Avant, and the Yellow), Johnson (1633) adds those
“choice ones”? to be had from his friend Mr, Millen in Old

PEACOCK. | NATURAL HISTORY. 97

Street, ze, Nutmeg (two sorts), Queen’s, Newington, Grand
Carnation, Black, Mellicotton, Roman, Alberza, Island, and
Du Troy. Also of ‘that kind of Peach which some call
Nectarine, the Roman Red (the best of fruits), the Bastard
Red, the little dainty Green, the Yellow, the White, the Russet,
which is not so good as the rest.”

Evelyn (‘ Kalendarium Hortense’) gives the following:
Admirable, Alberge (Sir H. Capel’s), Alberge (small yellow),
Almond Violet, Bourdin, Belle Cheuvreuse, Elruge Nectarine
(excellent), Maudlin, Mignon, Morella, Musk Violet, Murrey
Nectarine, Nutmeg (white, red), Man Peach, Persique, Ram-
bullion, Sion (excellént), Orleans, Savoy Mellicotton, etc.]

PeacueEs, by making the belly slippery, cause other meats
to slip down the sooner. The kernel within the Peach-
stone stamped small, and boiled with vinegar until it be
brought to the form of an ointment, is good to restore and
bring again the hair. Gerard’s “ Herbal,” s.v,

To confect Peaches after the Spanish fashion.
Second part of “ Good Huswife’s Jewel,” p. 43.

Peacock.
i. Kinc Henry VL, iii. 3, 6.

His flesh is so hard that unneath [with difficulty] it
rotteth, and is full hard to seething. The Peacock is a
bird that loveth not his children; for the male seeketh out
the female, and seeketh out her eggs for to break them,
and the female dreadeth that, and hideth busily her eggs,
lest the Peacock might soon find them. And the Peacock
hath foulest feet and rivelled [7.e., wrinkled]. And he
wondereth of the fairness of his feathers, and reareth them
up, as it were a circle about his head, and then he looketh
to his feet, and seeth the foulness of his feet, and, -like as
he were ashamed, ‘he letteth his feathers fall suddenly, and
all the tail downward, as though he took no heed of the
fairness of his feathers. And hath a voice of a fiend, head
of a serpent, pace of a thief.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xii. § 31.

By his voice he frightens serpents, and drives away all
venomous animals, so that they dare not stay where his
voice is often heard. The Peacock when he ascends on
high betokens rain. Hortus Sanitatis, bk. iii. § 93.

238 SHAKESPEARE’S ~ [PEAR.

Pear.
Auu’s Wett THAT :Enps WELL, i. I, 178.
Merry Wives or Winpsor, iv. 5, 100.

Poperin pear.
Romeo anp JuLiet, ii, I, 38.

Few Pears weigh heavier than many apples, if they be
on a beast’s back, And Pears have this property, that, if
they be sod with toadstools, they take away from them all
grief and malice. Powder or ashes of wild Pears drunken
helpeth against fungus, toadstools. Alway after eating of Pears,
wine shall be drunk, for without wine Pears be venom.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvii. § 124.

[Gerard (‘‘ Herbal,” s.v.) names the following Pears: the
Catharine, the Jenneting, St. James, Pear Royal, the Bergamot,
the Quince Pear, the Bishop’s, and the Winter; also of wild
Pears: the great and small Choke-Pears, the wild Hedge-Pear,
the wild Crab-Pear, the lousy Wild-Pear, and the Crow-Pear.
He states that all the garden Pears ‘before specified, and
many sorts more, and those most rare and good, are growing
in the ground of Master Richard Pointer, a most cunning and
curious graffer and planter of all manner of rare fruits, dwelling
in a small village near London, called Twickenham, and also
in the ground of an excellent graffer and painful planter, Mr.
Henry Banbury, of Tothill Street, near Westminster, and like-
wise in the ground of a diligent and most affectionate lover of
plants, Mr. Warner, near Horsely Down, by London.”

‘Malone says that the Poperin Pear came from Poperingue,
near Ypres, in French Flanders.

Pear-pies are mentioned in Pveston’s “Tragedy of Cam-

byses.’’]
V. Warden.

Pearl.
As You Like It, v. 4, 63.

MarcueriteE (i.e, Pearl) is chief of all white precious
stones. It breedeth in flesh of shell-fish, and is sometime
found in the brain of the fish ; and is gendered of the dew .
of heaven, the which dew shellfish receive in certain times
of the year. Of the which marguerites some be called
Unions, and have a convenable name, for only one is found,
and never two or more together. And those that be con-
ceived of the morrow [i.e., morning] dew be made dim with
the air of the even-tide. And some be found kindly [i.e.,

PELICAN, | NATURAL HISTORY. 239

naturally] pierced, and those be better than other; and
some be pierced by craft. And they have virtue comforta-
tive, either of all the whole kind, or else, because they
are besprung [sprinkled] with certain speciality, they com-
fort the limbs; for by constraining and coarcting, they
cleanse them of superfluous humours, And the more of
dew and air that is drawn in, the more and the greater
they be, but no marguerite groweth passing of half a foot.
Also if that lightning or thundering fall, when the mar-
guerite should breed of the dew that is drawn in, the shell
closeth by sudden fear, and so the gendering faileth, and
is cast out. Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvi. § 62.

Tue shell that is the mother-of-pearl, as soon as it per-
ceiveth and feeleth a man’s hand within it, by and by
she shutteth, for well wotteth she that for her riches she
is sought for; but let the fisher look well to his fingers,
for if she catch his hand between, off it goeth. Some say
that these mother-pearls have their kings and captains as
bees have. Holland’s Pliny, bk. ix. ch. xxxv.

Pelican.
Hamer, iv. 5, 146.

A Perxican is a bird of Egypt. And there be two
manner Pelicans : one dwelleth in water and eateth fish, and
the other dwelleth on land and loveth wilderness, and eateth
venomous beasts, as lizards and other such. When the
Pelican’s children be haught [grown], and begin to wax
hoar, they smite the father and the,.mother in the face,
wherefore the mother smiteth them again and slayeth them.
And the third day the mother smiteth herself in her side,
that the blood runneth out, and sheddeth that hot blood
upon the bodies of her children, and by virtue of the blood
the birds, that were before dead, quicken again. The
Pelican is a bird with great wings, and most lean ; for all
that he swalloweth passeth forth anon behind ; for he hath
‘a right slipper gut, and therefore he may not hold meut
till it be incorporate. And the serpent hateth kindly [7.e.,
by nature] this bird; wherefore when the mother passeth
out of the nest to get meat, the serpent climbeth on the
tree, and stingeth and infecteth the birds; and when the

240 SHAKESPEARE’S [ PELICAN.

mother cometh again, she maketh sorrow three days for her
birds. Then she smiteth herself in the breast, and springeth
blood upon them, and reareth them from death to life ;
and then for great bleeding the mother waxeth feeble, and
the birds be compelled to pass out of the nest to get them-
selves meat. And some of them for kind love feed the
mother that is feeble; and some be unkind, and care not
for the mother, and the mother taketh good heed thereto,
and when she cometh to her strength, she nourisheth and
loveth those birds that fed her in her need, and putteth
away her other birds as unworthy and unkind, and suffereth
them not to dwell nor live with her.
Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xii. § 29.

Tue Pelican lives on the milk of the crocodile, and
therefore of choice follows the crocodile.
Hortus Sanitatis, bk. iii, § 97.

Ir it be hung on the neck of any bird, it will fly con-
tinually until it falls dead; and its right foot after three
months, from the moisture and warmth which the bird has,
will be generated alive, and will move itself. [N.B. The
statement is (perhaps intentionally) obscure. ]

Albertus Magnus, “‘ Of the Virtues of Animals,”

PHEASANT, | NATURAL HISTORY. 241

Pepper.

Tweirru NicHt, iii, 4, 158.

Pepper is the seed or the fruit of a tree that groweth in
the south side of the hill Caucasus, and serpents keep the
woods that Pepper groweth in; and when the woods of
Pepper be ripe, men of that country setteth them on fire,
and chacen (chase) away the serpents by violence of fire,—
and by such burning the green of Pepper, that was white
by kind, is made black and rivelly [7.e., wrinkled]. And
of Pepper be three manner kinds, long (and that is not
ripe), white, and black. And black Pepper is most virtuous,
and may longest be kept in heat, and is stronger than
other Pepper—and the more heavy it is, the better it is,
and the more new. And it is feigned new by fraud and
guile of merchandise; for they cover the most eldest
Pepper, and spring [i.e., sprinkle] thereon ore of silver, or
of lead, for it should so seem fresh and new because of the
white husk. Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvii. § 131.

[Pepper came also from Amboyna, in the East Indies (Beau-
mont and Fletcher, ‘‘ Fair Maid of the Inn’’), and from Guinea
(Webster, ‘ Devil’s Law-Case.’’)]

Pheasant.
Winter’s Tavz, iv. 4, 769.

Tue Pheasant is caught thus: sometimes the fowler,
being covered with a cloth on which this bird is painted,
shows himself to the Pheasant, which follows the man so
covered, who does not retire nor fly, and at last, the Pheasant
is caught in a net by the fowler’s mate lying in wait. This
bird is sad in rainy weather, and hides itself in thickets
and woods. It digs its beak into the ground, and believes
itself to be altogether hidden in this way. It moults from
fatness, . Hortus Sanitatis, bk. iii, § 46.

Pueasants will die of lice, unless they bestrew them-
selves with dust. Holland's Pliny, bk. xi, ch. xxxiii.

Men may talk of country Christmasses, and court-gluttony,
Their thirty-pound buttered eggs, their pies of carps’ tongues,
Their Pheasants drench’d with ambergris.
Massinger, “ City Madam,” i. ii. 3.
16

242 SHAKESPEARE'’S [PH@NIX.

A Pueasant, larded.
Massinger, ‘New Way to pay Old Debts,” i. 2.

You shall eat nothing but shrimp-porridge for a fort-
night ; and now and then a Pheasant’s egg supped with a
peacock’s feather. Brome, “The Sparagus Garden,” ii. 3.

PartRipDGEs, Pheasants, woodcocks and the like, in some
places so abound with us, as they bear little or no price.
Fynes Moryson, “Itinerary,” part iit, p. 134.

Pheenix.
TEMPEST, iii. 3, 23. ,
iii, Kinc Henry VL, i. 4, 36.

Puenix is a bird, and there is but one of that kind in
all the wide world; therefore lewd men wonder thereof.
Pheenix is a bird without make [mate], and liveth three

| STi. CP)
4 ASS A

hundred or five hundred years; when the which years be
passed, she feeleth her own default and feebleness, and
maketh a nest of right sweet smelling sticks, that be full

PIG. | NATURAL HISTORY. 243

dry, and in summer when the western wind bloweth, the
sticks and the nest be set on fire with burning heat of the
sun, and burneth strongly. Then this bird Phoenix cometh
wilfully into the burning nest, and is there burnt to ashes,
among these burning sticks, ‘And within three days, a little
worm is gendered of the ashes, and waxeth little and little,
and taketh feathers, and is shaped and turned to a bird.
And is the most fairest bird that is, most like to the

peacock in feathers, and loveth wilderness, and gathereth his
meat of clean greens and fruits.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xii. § 14.

Tue Phoenix is born among the Arabs, a bird of the
size of the eagle, its head adorned with plumes upstanding,
its jaws crested, about its neck a golden sheen, purple on its
hinder parts, except the tail on which a brilliant blue is
mixed with rose-coloured feathers,

Hortus Sanitatis, bk. ii. § 48.

NeEvER man was known to see him feeding. In Arabia
he is held a sacred bird, dedicated unto the sun; he liveth
660 years. And the first thing that the young new Phoenix
doth is to perform the obsequies of the former Phcenix, late
deceased ; to translate and carry away his whole nest into
the city of the Sun, near Panchaea, and to bestow it full
devoutly there upon the altar.

Holland’s Pliny, bk. x. ch. it.

In the city Chora, there is one of these [date-] trees that
bears dates like to pearls, and the bird Phoenix is supposed
to have taken name of this date-tree, for it was assured to
me that the said bird died with that tree, and revived of
itself as the tree sprung again. Wik, Be. Bil, che be:

Pig (i.e., Sucking-pig).

Comepy oF Errors, i. .2, 44.
Tirus AnpRonicus, iv. 2, 145.

Pic :—A little young swine.
Minsheuw’s Dictionary, s.z. .

244 SHAKESPEARE'’S [ PIGEON.

Tuere were three Sucking-pigs serv'd up in a dish,
Ta’en from the sow as soon as farrowed,

A fortnight fed with dates and muscadine,

That stood my master in twenty marks apiece,
Besides the puddings in their bellies.

Massinger, “The City Madam,” ii. 1.

Five shillings a Pig is my price at least; if it be a
Sow-pig, sixpence more.
Ben Fonson, “Bartholomew Fair,” ii. 2.

Roastep with fire of Juniper and Rosemary-branches.
Ibid., iii, 2.

Some of my country-men at Wittenburg, desiring to eat
a Pig, hardly bought one for half a dollar, and were our
selves forced to kill, dress and roast it.

Fynes Moryson, “Itinerary,” part iii, p. 84.

V,. Boar, Swine.

Pigeon.
As You Lixe Iv, i. 2, 993; and iv. 1, 150.
i. Kinc Henry IV., v. 1, 16.

V. Dove.

To boil Pigeons in black broth.
Dawson, “'The Good Huswife’s Jewel.”

Tue sparrow hawk is a fierce enemy to all Pigeons, but
they are defended of the kestril, whose sight and voice the
spar-hawk doth fear, which the Pigeons or doves know
well enough ; for where the kestril is, from thence will not
the Pigeons go (if the spar-hawk be nigh) through the
great trust she hath in the kestril her defender.

Lupton, “ A Thousand Notable Things,” bk. x. § 3.

Piczons do so love the kestril, that if one close young
kestrils in a pot, and stop and cover the same close, and
shall hang them in four corners of the dove-house, it will

PILCHARD. | NATURAL HISTORY. 245

procure such a love to the Pigeons of that place, that for
the desire of them being so enclosed in the said pots, they
will never change that place, so much they love the kestrils
their friends after their death.

Lupton, “A Thousand Notable Things,” bk. i. § 46.

Tat Pigeons be not hunted or killed of cats at the
windows at every passage and at every Pigeon’s hole, hang
or put little branches of rue; for rue hath a marvellous
strength against wild beasts. Ibid. bk. iti. § 38.

Tr the skull of an aged man be hanged in a dove-house,
Pigeons will be increased there, and will live quietly.
Ibid., bk. viii. § 23.

Piczons, now an hurtful fowl by reason of their multi-
tudes, and number of houses daily erected for their increase
(which the bauers of the country call in scorn alms-houses,
and dens of thieves and such like) whereof there is great
plenty in every farmer’s yard. .

Holinshed, ‘Description of England,” p. 223.

Pike.
ii, Kinc Henry IV,, iii. 2, 356.

V. Luce.

To boil a Pike with oranges (a banquet dish) :—[The
Pike was boiled in a pint of water, and a pint of wine,
with oranges, dates, spices, sweet butter, and served with
its head cut off and placed erect before its body, and an
orange in the mouth.

The second part of the “ Good Huswife’s Jewel,” p. 22.]

[Pike was also baked (‘‘ Widow’s Treasure ”’).]

Pilchard.

Twetrru Nicat, iii. 1, 40.

Tue inhabitants of Cornwall make great gain by the
fishing of Pilchards, which they salt and dry in the smoke,

246 SHAKESPEARE'’S [ PINE.

and export an huge multitude of them yearly into Spain
‘and Italy.

Fynes Moryson, “Itinerary,” part iii. p. 136.

Pricuarps otherwise called fumadors, taken on the shore
of Cornwall from July to November, saleable in France.

Nashe, “Lenten Stuff.”

[Minsheu (Dictionary, s.v.) seems to confuse Pilchards with
sardines. ]

[In Peru] because the maize will not grow, except it
first die, they set one or two Pilchards’ heads therewith,
and thus it groweth abundantly.

Purchas, “ Pilgrims,” p. 873 (ed. 1616).

Pine.

MercuanT oF VENICE, iv. I, 75.

In the islands of Germany of the Pine-apple tree [i.e., the
Pine-tree] cometh dropping and oozing, which is made hard
with coldness or with heat, and so turneth into a precious
stone that hight electrum [i.e., amber]. Also this tree is
good to all thing that is kept and continued thereunder,
as the fig-tree grieveth and noyeth all things that is there-
under. Also the Pine-tree and alloren-tree [7.e., alder],
heled [7.¢., covered] with earth deep under the ground, dure
and last long time. Pipes and conduits made of Pine-tree,
and laid deep under the earth, dure many years. And
dureth in an house long time, and rotteth not soon, neither
is worm-eaten, but if it be corrupt with dropping of rain.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvii. § 121.

Pink.
Romeo anp JuLizT, il, 4, 61.
V, Gilliflower.

Pippin.
ii. King Henry IV., v. 3, 2.

V. Apple.

PLANTAIN. | NATURAL HISTORY. 24.7

Pismire.
i. Kinc Henry IV., i. 3, 240.
VY. Ant.
Plantain.
No salve, sir, but a plantain.
Love’s Lasour’s Lost, iil. 1, 75.
Your plantain-leaf is excellent ... for your broken shin.

Romeo anv JuLigT, 1, 2, 52.

WeysreaD hight Plantago [Plantain]. It healeth sore
wounds and biting of wood hounds, and is contrary to
venom, and namely [especially] to the venom of an attercop
[spider ]. Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvii. § 129.

TY, Spider and Toad.

Ir is certainly and constantly affirmed that on Midsummer
Eve, that is the day before the Nativity of Saint John
Baptist, there is found under the root mugwort a coal,
which preserves or keeps them safe from the plague, car-
buncle, lightning, the quartan ague, and from burning, that

248 SHAKESPEARE'’S [ PLUM-TREE.

bears the same about them. And Mizaldus the writer hereof
saith that he doth hear that it is to be found the same
day under the root of Plantain; which I know to be of
a truth, for I have found them the same day under the
root of Plantain, which is especially and chiefly to be found
at noon. Lupton, ‘Notable Things,” bk. i. § 59.

Plum-tree.
ii, Kinc Henry VI, ii. 1, 97.

Or the Plum-tree is many manner of kind; but the
Damascene [Damson] is the best that cometh out of
Damask. Only of this tree droppeth and cometh glue and
fast gum. Physicians say that it is profitable to medicine,
and for to make ink for writers’ use.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvii. § 125.

THERE are divers sorts of Plums, the Damson, the
Apricot, the Pear-Plum, the Wheaten Plum, the Levant
Plum, the White Shrag, the Bullace, the Sloes, the Snages,
besides other strange Plums that grow in other countries
to us unknown.

Batman's addition to Bartholomew, bk. xvii. § 125.

[Tusser, at the end of “ January’s Abstract,” mentions be-
sides some of the above Plums, the Cornet-Plum, and Green or
Grass-Plums,

References to Plum-broth, Plum-porridge, or Plum-pottage,
or, in other words, Plum-pudding, are common enough.]

vs

Pole-cat.
Merry Wives or Winnsor, iv. I, 29.

Tue Pole-cat stinks very badly, especially when it is
angered. Like the badger it has short legs on the left
side, and longer ones on the right.

Hortus Sanitatis, bk. 1. § 113.

Pome-water.
Love’s Lapour’s Lost, iv. 2, 4.

V. Apple.

POPPY. | NATURAL HISTORY. ; 249
Poor-John.

TEMPEST, ii, 2, 28.

[Nares (Glossary, s.v.) says that Poor-John was_ hake
salted and dried, and derives it from pauvre Jean, in preference
to pauvre gens (Malone).]

Tue French carry into Italy dry fish called Poor-John
(brought to them by the English).

Fynes Moryson, “Itinerary,” part iii, p. 134.

A stop of a rope-hauler is first broken to the sea in the
herring-man’s skiff or cock-boat, where [he learns] to eat
Poor-John out of smutty platters, when he may get it,
without butter or mustard. Nashe, “Lenten Stuff.”

Tuis is a patent for the taking of Poor-John and barrel-
cod alive and so to preserve ’em in salt-water for the benefit
of the fish-mongers. Brome, “The Court-beggar,” v. 2.

We thy old friends to thee unwelcome are,
Poor-John and apple-pies are all our fare.
No salmon, sturgeon, oysters, crab, nor conger.

Sir Fobu Harington, “ Epigrams,” bk. ii. 50.

Poperin-pear.
Romeo anp Jutiet, ii. 1, 38.
V, Pear.
Popinjay.
i. King Henry IV,, i. 3, 59.
VY. Parrot.

PoPINJAyY or parrot.
Minsheu’s Dictionary, s.v.

Tue parrot, the Popinjay, Philip-sparrow, and the cuckoo.
Nashe, “Lenten Stuff”; and cf Nares’ Glossary.

Poppy.
OTHELLO, iii. 3, 330.

Tuis seed is good to season bread with.
Gerard’s “ Herbal,” s.v.

250 SHAKESPEARE’S [PORCUPINE.

Poppy and mandragora. Hortus Sanitatis, bk. i. § 328.

ComMonLy sown it is with coleworts, purslane, rocket
and lettuce. Holland’s Pliny, bk. xix. ch. viii.

Porcupine, Porpentine.
Ham er, 3. 5, 20.

Irs anger is most quick to revenge, so that very often
it looses its spines from its back, and wounds dogs or
men that are near it. Hortus Sanitatis, bk. ii. § 73.

Tue Porcupines come out of India and Africa; a kind
of urchin or hedge-hog they be; armed with pricks they
be both, but the Porcupine hath the longer sharp-pointed
quills, and those when he stretcheth his skin, he sendeth
and shooteth from him. Holland's Pliny, bk. viii. ch. xxxv.

Tue pilgrims that come yearly from St. James of Com-
postella in Spain do bring back generally one of these
quills in their caps. The pace of this beast is very slow
and troublesome unto it. It is a filthy beast, smelling
rank because it liveth so much in the earth; being wild
it never drinketh, and I think it eateth apples, roots and
rinds of trees, and peradventure snails and such reptile
creatures.” If men scrape their teeth with their quills, they
will never be loose. Topsell, ‘* Four-footed Beasts,” pp. 457-8.

Potato.

Merry Wives or Winpsor, v. 5. 21.

[Potatoes were held to be incentives to venery (vide Collins’
long note at the end of ‘ Troilus and Cressida” in JZalone and
Steevens’ Shakespeare, vol. xi. ed. 1793).

Potato-pies are mentioned in Ben Jonson’s ‘‘ Every Man out
of his Humour,” Heywood’s “The English Traveller,” and
Dekker’s “‘Gull’s Hornbook,” etc. In the ‘Good Huswife’s
Jewel” is a recipe for a “ potato-tart’; ‘‘ potatoes marrowed”
in Massinger’s “Guardian,” ii. 2).

Potatoes were sometimes cheap, so ‘ Histrio - mastix,”
ii, 1, 76: ,

Merchant's Wife: Ha’ ye any Potatoes?

Seller: The abundance will not quit-cost the bringing.]

PUMPION. | NATURAL HISTORY. 2kT
Pricket.

Love’s Lazour’s Lost, iv. 2, 12, etc.

A Buck is, the first year, a fawn; the second year, a
Pricket ; the third year, a sorrel; the fourth year, a sore;
the fifth, a buck of the first head; the sixth year, a
complete buck. “The Return from Parnassus,” ii. 5.

Primrose.
Winter’s Tae, iv. 4, 122

V, Oxlip, Cowslip.

Provencal Roses.
HaMLet, iii. 2, 288.

Or Provence Roses there were various kinds; e.g., the
Red Rose, the Damask Rose, and the Great Rose, or Rose
of Holland. Gerard's “Herbal,” s.v. Rose, ¢.v.

Prune.

-[As to stewed Prunes, they were usual refreshments in houses
of evil repute (i. ‘ King Henry IV.,” iii. 3, 128; ‘‘ Merry Wives
of Windsor,” i. 1, 296; ‘“ Measure for Measure,” ii. I, 92, etc.) ;
but prunes were also used by respectable people (‘‘ Winter's
Tale,” iv. 3, 51).

Damask Prunes (Lily, ‘‘Mother Bombie,” iii. 4) used in
porridge were dried damsons.
Prunes were made into tarts (“The Good Huswife’s

Treasury,” p. 7).]

Pumpion.

This unwholesome ‘humidity, this gross, watery pumpion.
Merry Wives or Winpsor, iii. 3, 44.

Pumpions strangely hate oil, and love water.
Hortus Sanitatis, bk. 1. § 352.

Tue fruit of Pompions or melons boiled in milk and
buttered is a good wholesome meat for man’s body. The
flesh or pulp of the same sliced and fried in a pan with
butter is also a'good and wholesome meat ; but baked with
apples in an oven, it is food utterly unwholesome for such

252 SHAKESPEARE’S [ PUPPY.

as live idly, but unto robustious and rustic people nothing
hurteth that filleth the belly. Gerard’s “Herbal,” s.v.

[N.B.—Gerard gives six illustrations of “melons or Pom-
pions,” of which some resemble vegetable marrows, and others
water-melons. |

Courtier. A GROAT
My ordinary in Pompions baked with onions.
Peregrine. Do such eat Pompions?
Doctor. Yes, and clowns musk-melons.
Brome, “The Antipodes,” iv. 5.

For ought I see Pompions are as good meat [as
asparagus] for such a hoggish thing as thou art.

Ibid., ‘The Sparagus Garden,” iii. 8.
Puppy.

Two GENTLEMEN OF VERONA, iv. 4, 3

V, Whelp.
Purple (plant).

Hatt, iv. 7, 171.

[The Purple orchis (ovchis mas), which, according to Gerard,
Pliny, and other authorities, has certain wonderful properties,
derived by the doctrine of signatures from the shape of the
root, to which also the “grosser name” is to be ascribed.]

Puttock.
ii. Kinc Henry VI, iii. 2, 191.
Troitus ano Cressipa, v. I, 68.

A BUZZARD, a glede, Puttock or kite.
Minsheu’s Dictionary, s.v. Buzzard.

[In the passage in ii. “King Henry IV.” the Puttock is evi-
dently a kite, as also in Spenser's “Faery Queene,” v. xii. 30
(quoted in Wares’ Glossary).]

Quail.
TroiLus anp Cressipa, v. I, 57.
ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA, ii. 3, 37.

{Latin, Coturnix (Minsheu’s and Cooper's Dictionaries).]

Curtews hight coturnices, and hath that name of the
sound of the voice. These birds have guides and leaders

guar] NATURAL HISTORY. 253

as cranes have; and, for they dread the goshawk, they be
busy to comfort the leaders. Only those birds have the
falling-evil as a man hath, and the sparrows also. And
they pass the sea, and, when they be weary, they fall down
upon the water, and rest upon the one wing, and maketh
his sail of the other wing. His best meat is venomous
seeds. and grains, and for that cause in old time men for-
bade eating of them; and an herb that hight hellebore is
curlews’ meat, and if another beast eateth it in great
quantity, it is perilous and poison. For beasts have broad
and wide veins, by which the smoke passeth, and by
strength of that herb, the heart is suddenly cooled and
dead; and curlews have strait veins about the heart, and
therefore venomous smoke hath no true passage, but he
bideth in the stomach, and is there defied [digested] and
made subtle, and so it grieveth them not. And he runneth
‘upon the earth most swiftly. And such birds love birds of
their own kind.
Bartholomew (Bérthelet), bk. xii. § 7.

As touching Quails, they always come before the cranes
depart. The manner of their flying is in troops; but not
without some danger of the sailors, when they approach
near to land. For oftentimes they settle in great number
on their sails, and there perch, which they do evermore in
the night, and with their poise bear down barks and small
vessels, and finally sink them. _ When the south wind blows,
they never fly. The foremost. of them, as he approacheth
near to land, payeth toll for the rest unto the hawk, who
presently for his welcome preyeth upon him. Whensoever
at any time they are upon their remove and departure out
of these parts, they persuade other birds to bear them
company. If a contrary wind should arise and drive against
them, and hinder their flight—to prevent this inconvenience,
they be well provided; for they fly well ballasted either
-with small, weighty stones within their feet, or else with
sand stuffed in their craw. :
Holland’s Pliny, bk. x. ch. xxiit.

[On the passage in “ Antony and Cleopatra,” Douce (Illustra-
tions, vol. ii. p. 86-7) gives a note on the classical Quail-
fighting. Shakespeare probably got the idea from Worth’s
“Plutarch.”

254 SHAKESPEARE’S [quince.

In “Troilus and Cressida” (loc. cit.) ‘‘ Quail” is a prostitute,
because the Quail was supposed to be very salacious (so
Glapthorne’s “ Hollander,” i. 1). .

Quails were boiled (‘‘Good Huswife’s Jewel ”).]

Quince.
Romeo anpD JULIET, lv. 4, 2.

Quinces are seldom eaten raw; being roasted or baked
they are more pleasant. The woman ‘with child, which
eateth many Quinces during the time of her breeding,
shall bring forth wise children and of good understanding.
The marmalade or cotiniate [is] made of Quinces and
sugar. Many other excellent, dainty and wholesome con-
fections are to be made of Quinces, as jelly of Quinces,
and such odd conceits. Gerard’s “Herbal,” s.v.

Many use syrup of Quinces at the second course after
wine, and it prevents drunkenness.
Hortus Sanitatis, bk. i. § 118.

[Recipes for preserving Quinces are given in the second part
of the “Good Huswife’s Jewel,’ and in the “ Widow’s Treasure.”
Quince-cakes and marmalade are mentioned in Massinger’s
“New Way to Pay Old Debts,” ii. 2.]

Rabbit.

Love’s Lagour’s Lost, ii. 1, 19.

V. Coney.

Rabbit-sucker.
i. Kinc Henry IV., i. 4, 480.

[A young or sucking Rabbit. ]

Radish.
i. Kinc Henry IV., ii. 4, 206.

ii, Kine Henry IV,, iil, 2, 334.

Or the seed of the rape, and also of seed of Radish is
oil made, that is needful in many uses, and namely in
lamps. Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvii. § 137.

RAM. | NATURAL HISTORY. 255

Tue Radish is hostile to vines; for though they be
sown round them, they [the vines] turn away from them,
because of repugnance of nature. It helps against the bitings
of vipers. With honey it restores hair in baldness.

Hortus Sanitatis, bk. i. § 384.

We will have a bunch of Radish, and salt, to taste our

wine.
Ben Fonson’s “Every Man in his Humour,” i. 5, ad fin.
So Randolph, “The Jealous Lovers,” iii. 5.

Raisin.
Raisins o’ th’ sun, :
Winter’s Tate, iv. 3, 26.

Ratsin is made in many manner wise. For sometime
the stalk thereof is woven and wound, and so _ the
grape in certain days is for-dried by heat of the sun. And
this is best to eat. And sometime the grapes be wounden
in vine-leaves, and be bound with thread, for the grapes
should not seed, and be put in an oven so bound and
wrapped, and be dried when the heat is temperate. In
such manner sometime Raisins be made in chimneys.

Bartlolomew (Berthelet), bk. xvii. § 183.

[The first mode of preparation will produce “raisins of the
sun.”

Axmonps and Raisins.
Anthony Munday, “ English Roman Life,” ch. iii. (1590).

Mataca Raisins to make him long-winded.
Webster's “ Devil’s Law Case,” iv. 1.

Ram. ;
As You Like It, iii 2, 87.

Tue Ram is a beast that beareth wool, pleasing in heart,
and mild by kind, and is duke, prince and leader of sheep.
Therefore kind giveth him great strength passing other
sheep. The Ram hath a worm in his head, and for fretting
of that worm and itching, the Ram is excited and busheth
full strongly, and smiteth full hard all that he meeteth.
He is more cruel in heart than the ewes, and his cruelness
abateth if his horns be pierced nigh to the ear. If his
right gendering stone be bound, he gendereth females, and

256 SHAKESPEARE'S [RaT.

if the left be bound, he gendereth males, and he gendereth
males in the Northern wind, and females in the Southern
wind. And such Rams as have black veins under their
tongues, such lambs they gender in colour, and if they be
white, the lambs are white, and if they be speckled, the
lambs be so. The Ram hath a full hard forehead, nigh as
horn, and feeble temples, and somewhat gristly. And when
it rains, they flee not the rain until they be dead. And
they dread kindly the thunder, as sheep do. And they
sleep with the sheep tofore midnight, and after part, and
change, and turn from side to side in sleeping; for from
springing-time to harvest, they sleep on the one side, and
then unto springing-time they sleep on the other side; and
hold up their heads while they sleep, except they be sick;
and they chew their cud sleeping, as they do waking.
And if it happen that they stray and go away, they come
not again, but if the herd bringeth them again. And their
flesh 1s better than flesh of lambs and of ewes.
Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xviii. § 3.

A coms made of the right horn of a Ram doth take
away the head-ache being on the right side of the head,
if the pained head be combed therewith. If the pain be on
the left side of the head, then a comb made of the left
horn of a Ram doth take it away. This I had out of. an
old book. Lupton, “Notable Things,” bk. iv. § 4.

THEY were wont to hang a shrimp at the horn of the
Ram, and then the wolf will never set upon their flocks,
If the horns of a Ram be buried in the earth, they will
turn into the herb spirage [? misprint for spinach, or for
spurge]; for rottenness and putrefaction is the mother of
many creatures and herbs.

Topsell, ‘‘Four-footed Beasts,” p. 493.

V. Lamb, Sheep.

Rat.
The very rats

Instinctively have quit it.
TEMPEST, ii. I, 147,
Tueir tail is counted venomous. The younger Rats
bring food unto the elder, because they are grown to a
great and unwieldy stature of body. With the dung of

é

RAVEN. | NATURAL HISTORY. ey

Rats, the Physicians cure the falling-off of the hair. And
if their urine do fall upon the bare place of a man, it
maketh the flesh rot unto the bones, neither will it suffer
any scar to be made upon the bones,

Topsell, ““Four-footed Beasts,” pp. 403-4.

Ir is found by observation that Rats and Dormice will
forsake old and ruinous houses, three months before they
fall; for they perceive by an instinct of nature, that the joints
and fastening together of the posts and timber of the houses,
by little and little will be loosed, and so thereby. that all

will fall to the ground.
Lupton, “ Notable Things,” bk. ii. § 87.

Ir is said that no Rats have ever been seen in this town
| Hatfield, Yorkshire]. Camden, “Britannia,” col. 849.

V. Mouse, Water-rat, Island.

Ratsbane.
ii. Kine Henry IV., i. 2, 48.

[The following quotation from Holland’s Pliny, bk. xxii,
ch. xviii. seems appropriate:

“If there be water and oil mingled to the juice of
Chameleon [carline Thistle], it draweth rats and mice to it,
but it is their bane, unless presently they drink water.”

But probably Shakespeare. used the word as simply mean-
ing any poison. Florio gives “Ratsbane” as an equivalent
for corrosive sublimate and for arsensic.]

Raven.

Tue Raven beholdeth the mouth of her birds when they
yawn. But she giveth them no meat ere she know and
see the likeness of her own blackness, and of her own
colour and feathers; and when they begin to wax black,
then afterward she feedeth them with all her might and
strength. Ravens’ birds be fed with dew of heaven all
the time that they have no black feathers. And is a
crying fowl, and hath diverse sound and voice; for among
fowls only the Raven hath four and sixty changings of
voice. And is a guileful bird, and taketh away things
thievishly, and layeth and hideth them in privy places.

7

258 SHAKESPEARE'’S [RED-BREAST.

And they have many birds, and, for they be many, they
throw away some of their birds,—for fowls which have
many birds throw away some of them. Also the black
Raven fighteth with the ass, and with the bull, and flieth
upon them, and grieveth them, and smiteth with the bill,
and smiteth out their eyes. Also the black Raven is friend
to the fox, and therefore he fighteth with the brock and
with other small beasts to help the fox.
Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xii. § 10.

Tuey are said to conceive and to lay their eggs at the
bill. The young become black on the seventh day. The
Raven is stronger by day, and the owl by night, and they
eat one another's eggs by turns. It abstains from drinking
so long as the fig-tree rejoices in the sweetness of its fruit.

Hortus Sanitatis, bk. iii. § 34.

Ir women great with child chance to eat a Raven’s egg,
they shall be delivered of their children at the mouth.

Holland’s Pliny, bk. x. ch. xi.

Ir a Raven’s eggs be boiled and put again in the nest,
straightway the Raven goes to a certain island in the Red
Sea, where Aldoricus or Alodrius is buried, and brings a
stone with which it touches its eggs, and immediately they
become raw as they were before. It is wonderful that
boiled eggs should be revived. Now if that stone be set
in a ring with a laurel-leaf under it, and a man bound
with chains, or a closed gate be touched [therewith],
straightway the bound shall be loosed, and the gate be
opened. And if that stone be put in the ear, it gives
understanding of all birds. This stone is of diverse colours,
and causes all anger to be forgotten.

Albertus Magnus, “Of the Virtues of Animals,”

Red-breast, Robin Redbreast.

Two GENTLEMEN OF VERONA, il. I, 22.

Tue bird which is named Robin or Redbreast in winter,
the same is Red-tail [or Red-start] all summer long.

Holland’s Pliny, bk. x. ch, xxix. So Minsheu’s Dictionary,
sv. Robin-redbreast and Red-start.

RICE. | NATURAL HISTORY. 259

A Rosin Repsreast finding the dead body of a man
or woman will cover the face of the same with moss; and
as some hold opinion, he will cover also the whole body.

Lupton, “Notable Things,” bk. i. § 37.
V, Ruddock,

Reremouse, Rearmouse.

Mipvsummer Nicut’s Dream, ii. 2, 4.

V. Bat.

Rhinoceros.
Macsetn, iii. 4, 101.

Ruinoceros, the unicorn, is a wild beast by kind, and
may not be tamed in no wise; and if it hap that he be
taken in any wise, he may not. be kept in no manner ; for
he is so unpatient and so angry that he dieth anon.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xviii. § go.

A Rurnoceros,—his hide or skin of the colour of the
box-tree; an enemy to all beasts of rapine and prey, as
the lion, leopard, bear, wolf, tiger, and the like; but to
others as the horse, ass, ox, sheep, etc.—which teed not
upon the life and blood of the weaker, but of the grass
and herbage of the field,—harmless and gentle, ready to
succour them, when they be any way distressed.

Thos. Heywocd, ‘‘London’s Gate to Piety” (1638).

Aut the later Physicians do attribute the virtue of the
Unicorn’s horn to the Rhinoceros’ horn, but they are
deceived. Topsell, ‘ Four-footed Beasts,” p. 463.

V. Unicorn.
Rice.

Winter’s TALe, iv. 3, II.

Tue plants of Rice did grow in my garden. In Eng-
land we use to make with milk and Rice a certain food or
pottage. Many other good kinds of food is made with this
grain, as those that are skilful in cookery can tell.

Gerarda’s “ Herbal,” s.z.

260 SHAKESPEARE’S [ ROE.
Roe (or Roebuck).

Taminc OF THE SHREW, Jnductiwn, 2, 50.

Tuerr swiftness doth not only appear upon the earth,
but also upon the waters, for with their feet they cut the
waters when they swim as with oars. It hath also been
believed that a Roe doth not change her horns, because
they are never found; whereas in truth, they fall off
yearly as doth a Hart’s, but they hide them to the intent
they should not be found. They never wink, no, not
when they sleep. They are often taken by the counter-
feiting of their voice, which the hunter doth by taking a

leaf and hissing upon it.
Topsell, “Four-footed Beasts,” pp. 91-2.

V. Hart.

Rook.

MacseTH, iil, 4, 125.

A Rook, Chough or Daw.

Minshew’s Dictionary, 5.7.

Tue crow liveth not altogether of carrion, for the Rook
eateth of other food. "The Crows and Rooks have a cast
by themselves, for when they meet with an hard nut which
they be not able to crack, they will fly aloft and fling it
against some rock or tile-house once or twice, yea, and
many times together, till it be so crushed and bruised, that
they may easily break it quite.

Hollana’s Pliny, bk. x. ch. xii.

V. Crow.

Rope.

TEMPEST, 1. I, 33.

Ir you take the Rope with which a thief is or has been
hanged, and some of the straw which is carried into the
air by an eddy of wind, and put it in a pot, and put that
pot with others,—that pot will break all the others. Also
take a piece of the aforesaid Rope and put it in the instru-
ment with which bread is put into the oven, and when he

ROSE. | NATURAL HISTORY 261

whose duty it is to put it into the oven wants to put it
in he wiil not be able to do so, but it will fly out.

Albertus Magnus, “Of the Wonders of the World.”

Rose.

Amonc all flowers of the world, the flower of the Rose
is chief, and beareth the price. And therefore oft the chief
part of man, the head, is crowned with flowers of Roses.
Of green Roses aqua rosacea [rose-water]| is made by seething
of fire, or of the sun, and this water is good in ointment
for ladies, for it cleanseth away webs and foul specks of
the face, and maketh the skin thin and subtle. Powder of
dry Roses comforteth wagging teeth that be in point to fall.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvii. § 136.

Doponevus writeth of ten kind of Roses, among the
which the Eglantine Rose, and Musk‘ Rose, yellow and
white. There is one Rose growing in England is worth
all these Rosa sine spina [by which he seems to mean
Queen Elizabeth, and he breaks off into a discourse to the
- other flowers on self-indulgence, pillage of the. clergy, op-
pression of the poor, etc. ].

Batman’s addition to Bartholomew, loc. cit.

[Gerard (‘‘ Herbal,” s.v.) describes the following sorts of Roses:
the White, the Red, the Provence or Damask, the Rose with-
out prickles, the Holland or Provence, the Single and Double
Musk-Rose, the Great Musk-Rose, the Velvet, the Yellow,’ the
Double Yellow, the Double and Single Cinnamon. Of wild
Roses: the Eglantine or Sweetbriar, the Double Eglantine, the
Briar or Hip-tree, and the Pimpernell or Burnet. He saith
further that “ the distilled water of Roses being put into junketting
dishes, cakes, sauces and many other pleasant things giveth a
fine and delectable taste. The making of the crude or raw
conserve is very well known, as also sugar roset, and divers
other pretty things made of sugar and Roses, which are imperti-
nent unto our history, because I intend neither to make thereof
an apothecary’s shop, nor a sugar-baker’s storehouse, leaving
the rest for our cunning confectioners.”

Rose-water was used to wash in (‘Taming of the Shrew,”
Induction, 1, 57), and to mix with wine. “A cheater meeting

262 SHAKESPEARE’S [ROSEMARY.

a stranger in the dark gets him by some sleight to a tavern,
where calling for two pints of sundry wines, the drawer setting
the wines down with two cups, as the custom is, the Jumper
tastes of one pint (no matter which) and finds fault with the
wine, saying ’tis too hard, but Rose-water and sugar would send
it down merrily ; and for that purpose takes up one of the cups,
telling the stranger he is well acquainted with the boy at the
bar, and can have twopennyworth of Rose-water for a penny
of him, and so steps from his seat, the stranger suspecting no
harm, because the fawn-guest leaves his cloak at the end of
the table behind him. But this Jump [swindle] coming to be
measured, it is found that he that went to take his rising at
the bar hath stolen ground and out-leaped the other more feet
than he can recover in haste, for the cup is leaped away with
him, for which the woodcock that is taken in the springe must
pay fifty shillings or three pound, and hath nothing but an old
threadbare cloak not worth Io groats, to make amends for his
losses’? (Dekker’s “‘ Bellman of London”’).

Rose-water was also put in mince-pies (‘Good Huswife’s
Treasury,” p. 4).] '

Take the seed of a Rose, and the seed of mustard, and
the foot of a weasel, and hang these on a tree, and from
thenceforth it will bear no fruit. And if the aforesaid be
put upon a net, the fish will collect there. And if the
said dust be put in a lamp, and then it be lighted, all
men will seem to be as black as the devil. And if the
said powder be mixed with olive-oil and quick sulphur,
and a house be smeared with this while the sun is shining,
it will appear to be all on fire.

Albertus Magnus, ‘Of Virtues of Herbs,” § 15.

Rosemary.

There’s rosemary, that’s for remembrance.
Hauer, iv. 5, 175.
So Winter’s Tate, iv. 4, 74.

Tury make hedges of it in the gardens of England,
being a great ornament unto the same. Rosemary is spice
in the German kitchens. The flowers, made up into plates
with sugar after the manner of sugar-roset and eaten, com-
fort the heart and make it merry, quicken the spirits and
make them more lively. Gerard’s Herbal,” s.0,

ROSEMARY. | NATURAL HISTORY. 263.

[Rosemary was used both at weddings and funerals. ‘There
will be charges saved too; the same Rosemary that serves for
the funeral will serve for the wedding” (Middleton, “The Old
Law,” iv. 1, 36). So also Herrick's ‘* Hesperides,” ‘“‘ The Rose-:
mary Branch”:

Grow for two ends, it matters not at all
Be ’t for my bridal, or my burial.

From the same author we learn that the Rosemary was.
gilded:

My wooing’s ended; now my wedding’s near,
When gloves are given, gilded be you there.

(«To Rosemary and Bays.”)]

Tue last of the flowers is the Rosemary (Rosmarinus, the
Rosemary is for married men), the which by name, nature.
and continued use, man challengeth as properly belonging
to himself. It over-toppeth all the flowers in the garden,
boasting man’s rule. It helpeth the brain, strengtheneth the
memory, and is very medicinable for the head. Another
property of the Rosemary is, it affects the heart. Let this
Rosmarinus, this flower of men, ensign of your wisdom, love

and loyalty, be carried not only in your hands, but in your
heads and hearts,

Roger Hackett, ‘A Wedding Present,” quoted in
Brana’s “Popular Antiquities,” vol. ii. 49.

Tue Rosemary that was washed in sweet water to set out
the bridal is now wet in tears to furnish her burial.

Thos. Dekker, “The Wonderful Year 1603.”

Tue price of flowers, herbs and garlands rose wonder-
fully [during the plague-time], insomuch that Rosemary
which had wont to be sold for 12 pence an armful went

now for six shillings a handful. Ibid.

Awnp stuck her with Rosemary to sweeten her; she was
tainted ere she came to my hands.

Middleton, ‘The Old Law,” iv. 1, 12.

264 SHAKESPEARE’S [RUBY.

[BEFORE a wedding. | Let us dip our Rosemaries
In one rich bowl of sack to this brave girl
And to the gentleman.
Fasper Mayne, “The City Match,” v. 1 (1639).

Ruby.

Measure ror Measure, ii. I, I0l.

Amonc these red gems, the Rubies otherwise called car-
buncles challenge the principal place.
Hollana’s Pliny, bk, xxxvii. ch. 7.

[So Minsheu’s Dictionary, “ Ruby, v. Carbuncle,” therefore we
may suppose that the stones were considered to be identical.]

V. Carbuncle.

Ruddock.

With fairest flowers,
While summer iasts, 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 azured harebell, 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,—O bill, sore-shaming
Those rich-left heirs that let their fathers lie
Without a monument!—bring thee all this ;
Yea, and furr’d moss besides, when flowers are none,
To winter-ground thy corse.

CyMBELINE, iv. 2, 218-29.

Ca.u for the robin-redbreast 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 rear him hillocks that shall keep him warm
And (when gay tombs are robb’d) sustain no harm ;
But keep the wolf from thence, that’s foe to men,
For with his nails he'll dig them up again.

Webster, “’ White Devil, or Vittoria Corombona,” Act. v.

Vv. Redbreast.

RUE. | NATURAL HISTORY. 265°
Rue.

Hamtet, iv. §, 181-2.

‘RuE is a medicinable herb, and is full fervent. Weasels
teach that this herb is contrary to venom and to venomous
beasts, for he eateth first Rue, and balmeth himself with the
‘smell and the virtue thereof, ere he fighteth with the serpent,
and fighteth afterward sicherly [safely], and reseth [rusheth]
on the cockatrice, and slayeth him. Rue eaten raw sharpeth
the sight of the eyes; and Rue, eaten or drunk with-
-standeth mightily all venom and biting of venomous beasts,
if it be stamped with salt, garlic and nuts, and healeth
wonderly such bitings, and the smell of Rue driveth and
chaseth away all venomous beasts out of gardens, and is
therefore planted about sage to drive away serpents and
toads, which love sage best. And Rue hateth winter, dung
and humour, and thriveth well in dry weather. Ashes
should be meddled with seeds thereof, to destroy malshrags
[caterpillars] and other worms.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvit. § 141.

Ruz, or Herb-grace.
Gerard’s “ Herbal,” s.v. 3 so also Minshex’s Dictionary.

Ir is a common received opinion that Rue will grow the
better if it be filched out of another man’s garden; and it
is as ordinary a saying, that stolen bees will thrive worst.

Hollands Pliny, bk. xix. ch. vil

Is a man disposed to drink freely, and to sit squarely
at it? Let him before he begin take a draught of the
decoction of Rue-leaves, he shall bear his drink well, and
withstand the fumes that might trouble and intoxicate his
brains. Ibid., bk. xx. ch. xiii.

Wuar savour is better, if physic be true,

For places infected, than wormwood and Rue?

It is as a comfort, for heart and the brain,

And therefore to have it, it is not in vain.

Tusser, “Five Hundred Points,” July’s ‘‘ Husbandry,” st. 11.

Take a little Rue or herb-grace, and stamp the same,
then strain out the juice thereof, and after you ‘have thus

266 SHAKESPEARE’S | RUSH.

done, let the party, that is pained with the toothache, drop
three or four drops of the same juice into his ear, on that
side the pain is, and let him lie on his other side an hour
or two, and it will not only take away the present pain,
but also the party that trieth it shall never be troubled
with the tooth-ache afterward. This was reported unto
me for very truth by one which had proved the same.

Lupton, “Notable Things,” bk. x. § 61 (d2s.).

Co.teworts [cabbage] and Rue (otherwise called herb
grace) are so contrary in nature the one to the other, that
they ought not to be sown nigh together.

Ibid., bk. vi. § 55.

Sramp Rue with oil of roses, and lay the same some-
thing thick upon the crown of the head of one that is sick,
the same being first shaven, and if the same party do [s]neeze
within six hours after, he will escape that sickness. If not,
he will die thereof. Thid,, Wis Wi, 8 28.

Rush.

TaMInG OF THE SHREW, iv. 1, 45.
Romeo anp Jutiet, i. 4.

Dry Rush to kindle fire and lanterns; and this herb is
put to burn in prickets [wax candles, 7.e., as wick] and in
tapers. The rind is stripped off unto the pith, and is so
dried, and a little is left of the rind on the one side to
sustain the tender pith, and the less is left of the rind, the
more clear the pith burneth in a lamp, and is the sooner
kindled. Of Rushes be rushen vessels made. And about
Memphis and in Ind be such great Rushes, that they make
boats thereof. And of Rushes be charters made, in the
which were epistles writ, and sent by messengers. Also of
Rushes be made paniers, boxes and cases, and baskets to
keep in letters and other things. With Rushes water is
drawn out of wine. And also they make thereof paper to

write with. Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvii. § 126.

RYE. | NATURAL HISTORY. 267

Five kinds of Rushes are written of: the candle Rush,
the hard Rush and Fen-rush, the Bull-rush or Mat-rush,
squinauth [or, camel’s hay].

Batman's addition to Bartholomew, loc. cit.

{The references to the Rushes strewed on the floors of rooms
are so numerous that there is no need to quote them. The
rushes used were often sweet - scented ones, which are still
found in some marshes in the Eastern Counties. Bulrushes
were also used (Dekker’s “Bellman of London”), and hay
(Hentzner’s “ Itinerary”), or flowers: “Strew all my bowers
with flags and water-mints” (Lz/y’s ‘‘Woman in the Moon,”
iii. 2). The Rushes must. have been frequently changed, for
“all the ladies and gallants lie languishing upon the Rushes”
(Ber Jonson, ‘* Cynthia’s Revels,” ii. 5), and they helped out
conversation : ‘“‘If you had but so far gathered up your spirits
to you, as to have taken up a rush, when you were out, and
wagged it, thus, or cleansed your teeth with it” (2b¢d., iii. 1).
As to the price, the cost was 3d. per burthen in 1559 (Ly¢e's
“Eton College,” p. 169).]

A Rusu dried and put into wine, if there be any water
therein, draws it to it (the wine left alone, or together)—
which is good and profitable for trying of wine.—Mizaldus.

Lupton, “ Notable Things,” bk. iii. § 77.

Rye.
As You Like Iv, v. 3, 23.

For your brown bread, or bread for your hind-servants,
which is the coarsest bread for man’s use, you shall take of
barley, two bushels, of pease, two pecks, of wheat or Rye,
a peck, a peck of malt, etc.

Gervase Markham, “English Housewife’s Skill in Baking,”
p. 187 (1656).

‘

Meats for bread are either simple or compound ; simple,
as wheat, and Rye,—or compound, as Rye and wheat mixed
together, or Rye, wheat and barley mixed together.

Ibid., p. 185.

268 SHAKESPEARE’S [SABLES,
Sables.

Hater, iv. 7, 81.

Tue fur-marten is most excellent, for princes and great
nobles are clothed therewith, every skin being worth a
French crown, or four shillings at the least.

Topsell, ‘ Four-Footed Beasts,” p. 386.

[A thousand ducats were sometimes given for a suit of sables
(Bishop's ‘“ Blossoms,”’ 1577), and none under the degree of an
earl might use Sables (‘‘ Statute of Apparel,” 24 Henry VIII,
c. 13, this quotation and the last being from Malone’s note on
this passage). |

Sack.

[Condensed from Vares’ Glossary: ‘‘ Sack, a Spanish wine of
the dry or rough kind; vzz Sec, French; Sac” (Sekt, which also
means a dry champagne), “German. It was spelt ‘seck,’ and
came from Xeres, and therefore was the same as_ sherry.
Gervase Markham mentions other kinds of Sack, as Canary
and Malaga” [which he says are stronger, those of Galicia
and Portugal being smaller (‘‘ English Housewife’s Skill in
Wines,” p. 118, 1656)]. ‘‘Sack was the general name for
white wines; where sherry: was meant, it was distinguished as
sherrts Sack (‘ Bartholomew Fair,’ v. 4). In‘ Pasquil’s Palinodia’
(1619) Sack and sherry are used throughout as_ perfectly
synonymous :

‘Give me Sack, old Sack, boys,
To make the Muses merry,

The life of mirth, and the joy of the earth,
Is a cup of good old sherry.’”

But Falstaff generally drank his Sack “ brewed,” or mulled, or
“burnt” (‘ Merry Wives of Windsor,” iii. 5, 1. 30, and ii. 1, 223),
or with sugar (i. ‘‘ King Henry IV.,” i. 2, 125, and ii. 4, 515), and
perhaps a toast in it (“‘ Merry Wives of Windsor,” iii. 5, 3), or
eggs (zdzd., iii. 5, 31); and the eggs were sometimes rotten
(Heywood's ‘“‘Fair Maid of the West,” iii. 4, ad fin). Ginger
was put into mulled Sack (Beaumont and Fletcher. ‘The
Captain,” iv. 2). Lime was used to adulterate Sack (i. “‘ King
Henry 1V.,” ii. 4, 130, and ‘‘ Merry Wives of Windsor,” i. 3, 10;
and S7zr Richard Hawkins’ ‘‘ Voyages,” as quoted by War-
burton) ; and horseflesh was hung in the cask to keep it quick
(“ Webster, ‘‘ Westward Ho!” iv. 1, and Glapthorne’s ‘ Hol-
lander ”).] :

SAFFRON. | NATURAL HISTORY, 269

My wag answered me, when I struck him for drinking
Sack :—“ Master, it is the sovereignest drink in the world,
and the safest for all times and weathers; if it thunder,
though all the ale and beer in the town turn, it will be
constant ; if it lighten, and that any. fire come to it, it is
the aptest wine to burn, and the most wholesomest when
it is burnt. So much for summer. If it freeze, why it is
so hot in operation, that no ice can congeal it; if it rain,
why, then, he that cannot abide the heat of it may put in
water. So much for winter.”

Lilly, ‘Mother Bombie,” ii. 5.

Saffron.
Auv’s Wet, THaT Enns WELL, iv. 5, 2.
Winter’s Tate, iv. 3, 17.

SAFFRON is sometimes counterfeited with a thing that is
called crocomagina. Crocomagina is called the superfluity of
spicery of the which Saffron ointment is made. He that
drinketh Saffron first shall not be drunken; and garlands
thereof letteth drunkenness, and letteth a man that he may
not be drunk. And cureth biting of serpents and of
attercops, and stinging of scorpions.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvii. § 41.

SaFFRon colour dyeth and coloureth humours and liquors
more than citrine, and tokeneth passing heat and distemper-
ance of blood in the liver. Most hottest birds of prey have
their utter parts yellow of colour as their feet and bills.

Ibid., bk, xix. § 16,

[Saffron was grown in Essex and Cambridgeshire (Fynes
Moryson's ‘‘ Itinerary,” part iii. p. 140), and was used to colour
not only pies (‘‘Winter’s Tale, uz supra), but custards (Hey-
qwood's **Fair Maid of the Exchange”) and porridge (Beaumont
and Fletcher, ‘‘\WWomen Pleased,” iii. 2), as well as for a dye
(“ All’s Well that End’s Well,” doc. cz¢., and Steevens’ notes).]

My quaint knave
He tickles you to death, makes you die laughing,
As if you had swallow’d down a pound of Saffron.

Webster, “Vittoria Corombona.”

270 SHAKESPEARE'’S [ SAGE.

[Sage. ]

[Sage is not mentioned by Shakespeare, but the following
statements are worth recording]:

Tue learned and wise among the Persians affirm, that if
Sage be putrefied or laid to rot in horse-dung, while the
sun and moon do both occupy the second face of Leo;
thereon will breed a bird like an ousel, or black-bird,—
the ashes whereof being burned, and strewed or cast into
a burning lamp, will make the house seem to be full of

serpents. Lupton, “Notable Things,” bk. ti, § 72.

[Sace treated as above] generates a certain worm or bird
with a tail like a black-bird, and if any one’s breast be
touched with its blood, he will lose his senses for fifteen
[hours ? or days?] and more. And if the aforesaid serpent
be burnt, and its ashes be thrown in the fire, there will
straightway be a horrible clap of thunder. And this has
been tried by the moderns.

Albertus Magnus, “ Of the Virtues of Herbs.”

Sace is singular good for the head and brain; it
quickeneth the senses and memory. Gerardie © Bechal® su.

V. Toad.

Salamander.
i. Kine Hewry IV., iii. 3, 53.

Tue Salamander is like to the newt in shape, and is
never seen but in great rain, and faileth in fair weather,
and his song is crying. And he quencheth the fire that he
toucheth as ice does, and water frore [frozen], And out
of his mouth cometh white matter, and if that matter
touch a man’s body, the hair shall fall, and what it
toucheth is corrupt, and infected, and turneth into foul
colour, And is a pestilent beast most venomous, for the
Salamander infecteth fruit of trees, and corrupteth water, so
that he that eateth or drinketh thereof is slain anon. And
if his spittle touch the foot, it infecteth and corrupteth all
the man’s body. Of all beasts only the Salamander liveth

SALAMANDER.| NATURAL HISTORY. 271

in fire. And a certain kind of Salamander hath rough
skin and hairy, as the skin of the sea seal; of the which
skin be sometime girdles made for the use of kings; the
which girdles when they be full old be thrown into the
fire harmless, and without wem [blemish] purged, and as it.
were renewed, and of that skin be tongues and bonds
[wicks] made in lamps and in lanterns that be never
corrupt with burning of fire.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk, xviii. § 92.

Ir he creepeth on a tree, he infecteth all the apples, and
slayeth them that eat thereof, and if he falleth into a pit,
he siayeth all that drink of the water.

Ibid. bk. xviii. § 9.

Tue Salamander naturally loveth milk, and therefore,
sometimes in the woods or near hedges, it sucketh a cow
that is laid, but afterwards that cow’s udder or stock drieth
up, and never more yieldeth any milk. It is not bred of
the fire as crickets are.

Topsell, “History of Serpents,” pp. 747-8.

272 SHAKESPEARE’S [SALMON.

Salmon.
Kine Hewry V., iv. 7, 32.

[It comes well to pass that he begins this course in a year
when there is so great plenty of excellent venisons and such
store of Salmons, that the like hath not been seen in the
Thames these forty years (‘‘Chamberlain’s Letters to Sir
Dudley Carleton,” from Wichol’s ‘‘ Progress of King James I,”

vol. iii. p. 394).

Half a Salmon cost gs. and a side of fresh Salmon 8s. in
1573, but,—‘‘ You see this Salmon? it cost but sixpence”
(Rowley, “A Woman Never Vexed,” Act. i.).

Salmon was boiled in water with rosemary and thyme, and
a quart of strong ale, and a good deal of vinegar was put in
the broth (“‘ The Good Huswife’s Jewel,” part ii. p. 25). Calvered
Salmon was a luxury (“‘ The Alchemist,” ii. 2).]

Samphire.
Kinc Lear, iv. 6, 16.

Rock-SaMPHIRE groweth on the rocky cliffs at Dover,
Winchelsea (by Rye), about Southampton, [and] the Isle of
Wight. The leaves kept in pickle, and eaten in salads with
oil and vinegar, is a pleasant sauce for meat.

Gerard’s “ Herbal,” s.z.

Sapphire.

Merry Wives or Winpsor, v. 5, 75.

SAPPHIRE 158 a precious stone, and is blue in colour, and
most like to heavén in fair weather and clear, and is best
among precious stones, and most precious, and most apt and
able to fingers of kings, for it lighteneth the body, and
keepeth and saveth limbs whole and sound. In the same
veins of Sapphire in the middle is a certain kind of car-
buncle found; therefore many men ween that the Sapphire
is the carbuncle’s mother. And the Sapphire hath virtue
to rule and accord them that be in strife, and helpeth
much to make peace and accord. Also it hath virtue to
abate unkind [unnatural] heat, for the Sapphire cooleth
much the heat of burning fevers, if it be hanged nigh the
pulse and the veins of the heart. Also it hath virtue to
comfort and to glad the heart. His virtue is contrary to
venom, and quencheth it every deal. And if thou put an
attercop [spider] in a box, and hold a very Sapphire of

SCORPION. | NATURAL HISTORY. 293
Ind at the mouth of the box any while, by virtue thereof
the attercop is overcome and dieth, as it were suddenly.
And this same I have seen proved oft in many and diverse
places. And they that use nigromancy mean that they have
answer of god more thereby than by other precious stones.
Also witches love well this stone, for they ween that they
may work certain wonders by virtue of this stone. This
stone bringeth men out of prison bonds, and undoeth gates
and bonds that it toucheth. The Sapphire loveth chastity,
and therefore lest the effect thereof be let in any wise by
his uncleanness that him beareth, it needeth him that beareth
it to live chaste. Also this stone doth away envy, and
putteth off dread and fear, and maketh a man bold and
hardy, and master and victor, and maketh the heart stead-
fast in goodness, and maketh meek and mild and goodly.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvi. § 87.

Savory.
Winrer’s Tate, iv. 4, 104.

SumMMER Savory maketh thin, and is boiled and eaten
with beans, pease, and other windy pulses,

Gerard’s “ Herbal,” s.v.

Scorpion.
Macsety, iii. 2, 36,

A Scorpion is a land worm with a crooked sting in
the tail, and it stingeth with the tail, and sheddeth venom
in the crooked wound. And it is his property that he
smiteth never, nor hurteth never the palm of the hand.
And they bring forth small worms shapen as eggs, and
breedeth fervent and right pestilential venom as serpents do.
And the venom of Scorpions noyeth and grieveth three —
days full sore, and afterward slayeth with soft death, but
it be holpen and succoured the sooner. And the Scorpion
smiteth maidens with death’s stroke, when he smiteth and
stingeth them, and women also, but he smiteth not men
so soon; and grieveth most and noyeth in the morrow-
tide, when they come out of their dens. The Scorpion’s
tail is alway ready to smite and sting; and he stingeth
and smiteth aslant, and sheddeth in the smiting white

18

274 SHAKESPEARE’S [SCORPION.

venom. Some have [two] stings, and among these Scorpions
the males be most grievous, and namely in time of love.
And they have certain knots or rivels [wrinkles] in the
tail, and the more such they have, the venom is the
worse, and they have sometime such knots six or seven.
In Africa some Scorpions have feathers [wings], and those
be full grievous. And because of winning [2.2., of gain]
enchanters gather venom of divers lands, and labour for to
bear these winged Scorpions into Italy, but they may not
live under heaven within the country of Italy. To a man
smitten of the Scorpion, ashes of Scorpions burnt, drunk in

wine, is remedy. Also Scorpions drowned in oil helpeth
and succoureth beasts that be stung with Scorpions. The
Scorpion hurteth no beast that hath no blood. And some
Scorpions breed and bring forth eleven young Scorpions,
and the mother eateth them sometime, but one of them
that is most sly leapeth on the thigh of the mother, and
sitteth there safe and secure from the stinging of the tail;
and from the biting of the mouth, and this slayeth his
father, and wreaketh the death of his brethren; and kind
ordaineth this provision, for such a pestilential kind should

SCORPION. ] NATURAL HISTORY. 275

not multiply too much. And some Scorpions do eat some
venomous things, and have the worse venom, and so
dragons do eat Scorpions, and those be worst.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xviii. § 98.

Aw Italian, through the oft smelling of an herb called
basil, had a Scorpion bred in his brain, which did not
only a long time grieve him, but also at the last killed
him. Jacobus Hollerius a learned Physician affirms it for
truth. Take heed, therefore, ye smellers of basil.

Lupton, “Notable Things,” bk. i. § 38.

Ir any be bitten or stricken of a Scorpion, which shall
eat basil the same day, he shall be made whole thereof
[“ which” refers to the man, not to the Scorpion, which
might refuse to eat basil]. Ibid., bk. v. § 66.

One handful of basil with ten sea-crabs, stamped or
beaten together, doth make all the Scorpions to come to
that place that are nigh to the same. Ibid, § 73.

ALEXANDRINUS Jovianus Pontanus doth say, that he
saw a man was grievously stung or stricken of a Scorpion,
which presently was delivered and helped thereof, with
drinking of frankincense, wherein was sealed the sign of a
Scorpion: being after made in powder. But it must be
graven in the stone of a ring (Scorpio ascending), the
moon then being there, and placed in the Angle, and the
frankincense must be sealed with that seal, when the moon
is in Scorpio, and found in an Angle. Ibid, bk. ix. § 40.

THERE is an ancient town in Afric called Pescara,
wherein the abundance of Scorpions do so much harm, that
they drive away the inhabitants all the summer-time every
year until November following. The authors have observed
seven several kinds. The fifth kind eateth herbs, and the
bodies of men, and yet remaineth insatiable; it hath a
bunch on the back, and a tail longer than other Scorpions,
The sixth is like a crab, and is of a great body, and hath
tongs and takers very solid and strong, like the gramuel
or crayfish, and is therefore thought to take the beginning

276 SHAKESPEARE'S [scoRPION.

from that fish, The seventh hath wings on the back, like
the wings of a locust. ‘They are all little living creatures,
not much differing in proportion from the great scarabee or
horse-fly, except in the fashion of their tails. The coun-
tenance is fawning, and virgin-like ; notwithstanding the fair
face, it beareth a sharp sting in the tail. And of all other
things they love fresh and clean linen, and next to their
flesh put on this clean linen, as a man would put on a
shirt. The manner of their breed or generation is double,—
one way is by putrefaction, and the other by laying of
eggs. When sea-crabs die, and their bodies are dried upon
the earth, when the sun entereth into Cancer and Scorpio,
out of the putrefaction thereof ariseth a Scorpion, and so
out of the putrefied body of the crayfish burned, and out
of the basilisk beaten into pieces and so putrefied. And
about Estamenus in India there are abundance of Scorpions
generated, only by corrupt rain-water standing in that place.
And when one had planted the herb Basilisca [probably
basil] on a wall in the room or place thereof he found
two Scorpions. And some say that if a man chaw in his
mouth fasting this herb basil, before he wash, and afterward
lay the same abroad uncovered where no sun cometh at it
for the space of seven nights, taking it in all the day-time,
he shall at length find it transmitted into a Scorpion, with
a tail of seven knots. Out of an herb Sissumbria putrefied,
Scorpions are engendered. And out of the crocodile’s eggs
do many times come Scorpions, which at their first
egression do kill their dam that hatched them. The
Lybians, who among other nations are most of all troubled
with Scorpions, do use to set their beds far from any wall,
and very high also from the floor, and they also set the
feet of their beds in vessels of water. Then the Scorpions
in their hatred to mankind climb up to the ceiling, and
one of them taketh hold upon that place in the house or
ceiling over the bed wherein they find the man asleep, and
so hangeth thereby, putting out and stretching his sting to
hurt him, but finding it too short, and not being able to.
reach him, he suffereth another of his fellows to come and
hang as fast by him as he doth upon his hold, and so that
second giveth the wound,—and if that second be not able
likewise, because of the distance, to come at the man, then
they both admit a third to hang upon them, and so a

SEA-MAID. | NATURAL HISTORY. 297

fourth upon the third, and a fifth upon the fourth, until
they have made themselves like a chain, to descend from
the top to the bed wherein the man sleepeth, and the last
striketh him; after which stroke he first of all runneth
away by the back of his fellow, and every one again in
order, till all of them have withdrawn themselves. It is
thought that hares are never molested by Scorpions, because
if a man or beast be anointed with the rennet of a hare,
there is no Scorpion or spider will hurt him. Wild goats
are also said to live without fear of Scorpions. The seed
of nose-wort burnt or scorched doth drive away serpents,
and resist Scorpions, and so doth the seed of violets and
of wild parsnip. The smell of garlic and wild mints set
on fire or strewed on the ground, and dittany have the
same operations ; and above all other, one of these Scorpions
burned driveth away all his fellows which are within the
smell thereof. By touching of hen-bane they lie dead and
overcome, but if one touch them again with white Helle-
bore they revive. The sea-crab with basil in her mouth
destroyeth the Scorpion, and so doth mushroom of trees,
To conclude, the spittle of a man is death unto Scorpions.

Topsell, “ Four-footed Beasts,” pp. 750-57.

Your tongues like Scorpions

Both heal and poison.

Beaumont and Fletcher, “ Philaster,” iii. 1.

Tuey which are stung with the Scorpion cannot be
recovered but by the Scorpion. “Euphues’ Golden Legacie.”

Screech-owl.
Troitus anp Cressipa, v. 10, 16,

Amonc diviners with crying he tokeneth adversity ; and
if he be still, he tokeneth prosperity.
Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xii. § 36,

Sea-maid.
Munsummer Nicur’s Dream, ii. 1, 154.

VY. Siren.

278 SHAKESPEARE'’S [SEA-MEW.

Sea-mew.
Tempest, ii. 2, 176.

[Sea-mew, a small gull.]

In the Lake of Como, certain fishers in the winter did
draw with their nets to the dry land a great sort of Sea-
mews, seeming to be dead, which were joined together
with their bills or nebs in one another’s tail; and being
warmed with their guts, were found alive.

Lupton, “Notable Things,” bk. vi. § 88.

Sedge.

Taminc oF THE SHreEw, Induction, 2, 53.

SepcE is an herb most hard and sharp, and hurteth
never man but he toucheth it.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvii. § 35.

SEDGES or sheargrass, whereof is made mats and hassocks
to sit and kneel upon ; with the said Sedges is made Ham-
boroughs {i.e., collars] for the necks of horses, instead of
leather harness, and for other cartage and plough.

Batman’s addition to Bartholomew, loc. cit.

Serpent.

Aut kind of Serpents and adders, that by kind may
wrap and fold his own body, hath many corners and angles
in such folding, and goeth never straight. And of adders
is many manner kind; and how many kind, so many
manner venom, and how many species, so many manner
malice, and so many manner sores and aches, as there are
colours, And an adder grieveth most now with biting,
now with blowing, now with smiting with the tail, and now
with stinging, now with looking and sight. The Serpent
Dipsas is so little, that he uneath [scarcely] is seen when
men tread thereon, and the venom thereof slayeth ere it be
felt, and he that dieth by that venom feeleth no sore. Some
have two heads, as the adder Amphisbena, one in the one
end, and another in the tother end, and runneth and
glideth and wriggleth with wrinkles, circles and draughts
of the body after either. head, as though one mouth were

SERPENT. | NATURAL HISTORY. 279

too little to cast venom. Also some Serpents have many
heads; for some be doubled, and some trebled, and some
quadrupled. And Aydra is a Serpent with many heads,
and it is said that if one head be smitten off, three grow
again—but this is a fable. The Serpent Scysa/is shineth with:
diversity of speckles, that all that looketh thereon for
wonder of the speckles hath liking to look thereon, and,
for he is most slow in creeping, by a wonder of his diversity’
of speckles, he catcheth them that he may not follow in.
going and in creeping. And the Serpent Enhydris is a-
water-adder, and whoso is smitten of that adder, he swelleth:
into dropsy, and the dirt of an ox is remedy therefor. Also
Natrix 1s an adder, and infecteth with venom each well
that he cometh nigh. And some Serpents and adders lie
in await for them that sleep, and if they find the mouth
open of them or of other beasts, then they creep in, but
against such adders a little beast fighteth as it were a little
eft (and some men mean that it is a lizard), for he leapeth
upon his face that sleepeth, and scratcheth with his feet to
wake him and to warn him of the Serpent. And this little
eft, when he waxeth old, his eyes waxeth blind, and then.
he goeth into an hole of a wall against the East, and
_ openeth his eyes afterward when the sun is risen, and then
his eyes healeth and taketh sight. And some manner
Serpent dwell in the fire as it fareth of the salamander
[g.v.]. Also some Serpents go forth and hold up the body
from the breast upward, as the water-adder doth that hight
Chelydros, and he infecteth the place that he glideth in, and
maketh the sight smoky; and this Serpent beareth up the
head, for if he bendeth while he runneth, he breaketh anon.
And some be so swift and light of moving, that it seemeth
that they fly, as the Serpent that hight Faculus flieth as a
dart, and leapeth into trees, and if he meeteth with any
beast, he throweth himself thereupon, and slayeth it. Also
in Arabia be Serpents called Sirens among many men; and
they run swifter than horses, and therefore it is said that
they fly, and their venom is so strong that death cometh
.tofore [before] biting, and tofore ache also, And the
horned Serpent Cerastes hideth himself in gravel and sand,
and sheweth his horns above to comfort beasts and fowls
to come as it were to meat by shewing of horns; and
hath horns like ram’s horns, and beasts and fowls come

280 SHAKESPEARE’S [SERPENT.

thereto, and ween to find there a ram, and find a venomous
Serpent when they have assayed. Also Boa is a Serpent
full great in quantity, and is in Italy, and followeth flocks
of neat and of bugles [buffaloes], and setteth himself guile-
fully to the udders of the beasts that be full of milk, and
sucketh and slayeth them. The head of a Serpent scapeth
and liveth, if it may scape with two fingers of the body,
and therefore they put forth all the body for defence of the
head. Also all Serpents have dim sight, and look away-
ward, and no wonder, for their eyes be not in the forehead

but in the temples, so that they may rather hear than see.
Also no beast moveth the tongue so swiftly as the Serpent,
for it moveth the tongue so swiftly, that it seemeth that it
hath three tongues, yet it hath but one. Also the bodies
of serpents be moist, so that where they glide and go, they
infect the way, and mark it with a manner glymy [viscous]
humour. Also Serpents live long and without meat. And
they live so long time, that they put away their old skins,
and become young again. The manner of changing of
Serpents’ skins seemeth wonderful enough; for the adder
feeleth himself grieved with evil, or with age, and abstaineth

SERPENT, | NATURAL HISTORY. 281

and fasteth many days, that his skin may so the easilier
be departed from the flesh; and then he tasteth a certain
bitter herb, that maketh him vomit and cast, and so he
casteth out the venomous humour that was cause of his
sickness and his default, and batheth himself at the last, and
moisteneth himself in water to temper and to nesh [soften]
the tender skin. And so he seeketh a strait cliff [cleft] of
a stone, or some strait den or some other thing, and
entereth into a strait chine or den, and passeth through with
a manner violence, and unlooseth himself cleanly of the
old skin, and then he layeth himself in the sun, and drieth
himself, and recovereth a new skin about the flesh, and
taketh might and strength, and seeth more clear, and glideth
and passeth and creepeth more strongly, and eateth more
savourly than he did tofore the changing of the skin. Of
the marrow of the ridge-bone [spine] of a dead man, a
Serpent is gendered. And also it is said that a Serpent
dreadeth a naked man, and dare not touch him, though he
leap on him, when he is unclothed. And a fasting man’s
spittle is venom to Serpents, and Serpents die if they taste
thereof. In winter-time Serpents lurk in darkness and dens,
and their sight dimmeth for long abiding in darkness ; then
when they come out first of their dens in springing-time,
they feel dimness of sight, and seek fennel, or the roots
thereof and eat it, and doth away blindness. And the snail
is not beguiled of remedy, nor the tortoise when they have
eaten a Serpent’s guts, for as they take heed that the venom
creepeth and worketh, they seek wild marjoram, and find
by taste thereof medicine against the venom of the Serpent.
The very Serpent drinketh but little, and hateth the smell
of rue, and fleéth therefore the weasel, when he hath eaten
rue, and may not well flee when he smelleth rue. And a
Serpent hath thirty ribs by the number of the days of a
month. And Serpents fare as swallows’ birds [do], for if
their eyes be put out, yet their sight cometh again; and
the tail of a Serpent groweth again if it be cut off, as the
tail of a newt. Also the weasel fighteth against Serpents,
and armeth himself with eating of rue, and fighteth namely
against Serpents that eat mice, for the weasel hunteth and
eateth mice. Also Serpents love well wine, and be there-
fore hunted with wine. And also a Serpent loveth passing
well milk, and followeth the savour thereof, and therefore

282 . SHAKESPEARE’S [ SERPENT.

if a Serpent be crept into a man’s womb, he may be drawn
out with odour and smell of milk.
Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xviii. § 8.

Ir a water-snake be tied by the tail with a cord,
and hanged up, and a vessel full of water set under the
said snake,—after a certain time he will avoid out of his
mouth a stone, which stone being taken out of the vessel,
he drinks up all the water. Let this stone be tied to the
belly of them that have the dropsy, and the water will be
exhausted or drunk up, and it fully and wholly helps the
party that hath the said dropsy.

Lupton, “ Notable Things,” bk. i. § 11.

Ir any do sprinkle his head with the powder of the skin
that a snake doth cast off, gotten or gathered when the
moon is in the full, being also in the first part of Aries, the
Ram, he shall see terrible and fearful dreams. And if he
shall have it under the plant of his foot, he shall be accept-
able before magistrates and princes. Ibid, bk. iv. § 54.

A CERTAIN country-man did sleep open-mouthed in the
fields, a Serpent crept in at his mouth, and so into his
body ; but after the same man cured himself thereof with
eating of garlic. But he infected his wife with poison,
whereof she died, which was very rare and strange.

Ibid., bk. v. § 95.

A Serpent doth so hate the Ash-tree, that she will not
come nigh the shadow of them, and therefore she goes far
from them both morning and evening, because then they
give the longest shadows, etc. ; Ibid., bk. ix. § 8.

V. Ash-tree.

SERPENTS being within a circle made of Betony, they
cannot go out of the same, but rather will die with beating

themselves. Ibid., bk, ix. § 28.

In Egypt as frogs and mice are engendered by showers
of rain, so also are Serpents; and the longest hairs of
women are easily turned into Serpents; and dung, being

SERPENT. | NATURAL HISTORY. 283

laid in a hollow place, subject to receive moisture en-
gendereth Serpents.
Topsell, “ History of Serpents,” pp. 595-96.

[Topsell gives many other curious facts about Serpents, but

as his treatise covers nearly forty folio pages, this sample must
suffice. ]

You have ate a snake, and are grown young, gamesome
and rampant.
Beaumont and Fletcher, “'TThe Elder Brothers,” iv. 4.

He hath left off o’ late to feed on snakes ;
His beard’s turn’d white again.

Massinger, etc., “The Old Law,” v. 1.

Your viper wine
So much in practice with grey-bearded gallants,
But vappa to the nectar of her lips.

Ibid, “Believe as You List,” iv. 1.

TuHar men may appear to be headless :—Take the slough
of a snake, and auripigment [arsenic] and Greek pitch, and
the wax of young bees, and ass’s blood, and pound them
all, and put them in a rough jar full of water, and make
it boil on a slow fire, and then let it cool, and make a
taper of it, and every man who shall be illuminated by
that taper will seem to be headless.

Albertus Magnus, ‘Of the Wonders of the World.”

Ir you wish to kill a Serpent quickly, take as much as
you please of Aristolochia Rotunda, and pound it well,
and take a frog of the woods or of the fields, and pound
and mix it with the Aristolochia, and put with it something
burnt, and write with it on a paper, or anything that you
prefer, and throw it to the Serpents. Taee

_Tuat a house may seem quite green and full of Serpents

and fearful images, take the skin of a Serpent, and the
blood of another male Serpent, and the fat of another
Serpent, collect all these three things, and put them in a
cere-cloth, and kindle it in a new lamp. Ibid.

284 SHAKESPEARE’S [SHEEP.

Note that if you boil a Serpent or a worm, and give
of the fat of that worm to any man to eat, he will under-
stand when they sing. [He does not explain who are
“they,” but from the previous article “they” may be
mice or Serpents.] This has been proved.

Albertus Magnus, “‘ Of the Wonders of the World.”

In a garden of the suburbs [of Aleppo] I did see a
Serpent of wonderful bigness, and they report that the male
Serpent and young ones being killed by certain boys, this
she-serpent, observing the water where the boys used to
drink, did poison the same, ‘so as many of the boys died
thereof; and that the citizens thereupon came out to kill
her, but seeing her lie with her face upward, as complain-
ing to the heavens that her revenge was just, that they,
touched with a superstitious conceit, let her alone; finally
that this Serpent had lived here many ages, and was of
incredible years, Fynes Moryson, “Itinerary,” part i. p. 246.

Ir a snake did bite a Cappadocian, the man’s blood was
poison to the snake, and killed him.
Purchas’ “Pilgrims,” p. 320 (ed. 1616).

SERPENTS are plentifully engendered of much rain, or
effusion of men’s blood in war. Ibid. p. 560.

THE cucurijuba is a fresh-water snake [in Brazil], toothed
like a dog; it catcheth a man, cow, stag, or other prey,
winding it with the tail, and so swalloweth it whole ; after
which she lies and rots, the ravens and crows eating her all
but the bones, to which after groweth new flesh, by life
derived from the head, which is hidden all this while in the

mire. Ibid, p. 843.

Sheep.

A Seep is a nesh [soft] beast, and beareth wool, and is
unarmed in body, and pleasing in heart. And if Sheep
conceive toward the Northern wind, they conceive males ;
and if they conceive toward the Southern wind, then they
conceive females. And such as the veins be under the
Sheep’s tongue, of such colour is the lamb when he is

SHEEP. ] NATURAL HISTORY. 285

eaned. And cold water of the North is good to them in
summer, and warm water of the South is good to them in
harvest. And herds know which of them may dure
[endure] in winter; for upon some is found ice, and upon
some none ice is found; and some of them be feeble, and
may not shake off the ice; and those that have long tails
may worse away-with winter than those that have broad
tails. And wool of Sheep that a wolf eateth is infected ;
and the cloth that is made thereof is lousy. Also in Sheep
is less wit and understanding than in another four-footed

beast. Also thundering maketh solitary Sheep to cast their
lambs ; the remedy and help thereof is to gather and bring
them together into one flock.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xviii. § 81.

Or Sheep, their wool is a singular benefit in a common-
wealth, especially the Cotswold wool for fineness. And_ in
Bartholomew's time, the staple for wool was not so well
husbanded as it hath been since. The increase of pasture
for Sheep hath so much decreased the tillage of corn, that,
until it be restored again, there will grow a poor common-

286 _ SHAKESPEARE'S [sHELL.

wealth. The more Sheep, the dearer [cheaper?] the wool,
the flesh and the fell; the more Sheep, the dearer corn and
grain, beside beef, butter, eggs and cheese. Pastures
consume tillage ; the want of tillage breeds beggars, decays
villages, hamlets and upland towns. It is better to want
wool than corn, Sheep than men, but excess and. prodigality,
which cannot away-with measure, have brought this England

to great penury. .
Batman's addition to Bartholomew, bk. xviii. § 81.

SHEEP are wont to follow them that stop their ears with
their wool. Lupton, “Notable Things,” bk. v. § 48.

Asour Erythrea, there is such abundance of good pasture
and herbs so grateful to Sheep, that if they be not let blood
once in thirty days, they perish by suffocation, and the milk
of those Sheep yieldeth no whey. The rams of England
have greater horns than any other rams in the world, and
sometimes they have four or six horns on their head, as
hath been often seen. In very cold countries, when snow
and winter covereth the earth, then Sheep have no galls,
but in the summer when they go abroad again to feed in
the fields, they are replenished with galls. Sheep, when
they have eaten Eryngium [sea-holly], all stand still, and
have no power to go out of their pastures till their keeper
come and take it out of their mouths. The Sheep of
Lydia and Macedonia grow fat with eating of fishes. If
there appear upon grass spiders’ webs, or cobwebs which
bear up little drops of water, then they must not be
suffered to feed in those places for fear of poisoning.
Because the head of Sheep is most weak, therefore it ought
to be fed turned from the sun.

Topsell, “ Four-footed Beasts,” pp. 464-69.

Shell.
Kine Lear, i. 5, 26.

Py Iris an usual thing to crush and break both egg- and
fish-shells, so soon as ever the meat is supped and eaten
out of them, or else to bore the same through with a
spoon, steel or bodkin. [Marginal note: Because after-
wards no witches might prick them with a needle in the

SHREW-MousE.| NATURAL HISTORY. 287

name and behalf of those whom they would hurt and mis-
chief, according to the practice of pricking the images of
any person in wax, used in the witchcraft of these days. |
Holland’s Pliny, bk. xxviii, ch. ili, and note.

\

Sherris.
ii. Kinc Hewry IV., iv. 3, 110, etc.

[Wine of Xeres.]
V. Sack.

Shough. :

MacserTH, ili. 1, 94.

[A kind of rough-haired dog.]

2

Shrew[-mouse].

[Szvew is only used by Shakespeare of woman. The word
has the same meaning (v. zz/ra).]

A SHREW-MoUSE quasi shrewd mouse, which by biting
cattle so venometh them that they die, whereof came our
English “I beshrew thee,” when we wish ill.

Minshew’s Dictionary, s.v.

Ir is a ravening beast, feigning itself gentle and tame,
but being touched, it biteth deep, and poisoneth deadly.
They annoy vines, and are seldom taken, except in cold;
thay frequent ox-dung. If they fall into a cart-road, they
die and cannot get forth again, They go very slowly,
they are fraudulent, and take their prey by deceit. Many
times they gnaw the ox’s hoofs in the stable. They love
the rotten flesh of a raven. The Shrew being cut and
applied in the manner of a plaister doth effectually cure
her own bites. The dust of a cart-rut [in which a Shrew
has died] being taken and sprinkled into the wounds made
by her poisonous teeth is a very excellent and present
remedy for the curing of the same. If horses or any
other labouring creature do feed in that pasture or grass
in which a Shrew shall put forth her venom or poison in,

they will presently die.
Topsell, “ Four-footed Beasts,” pp. 415-20,

288 SHAKESPEARE’S [SHRIMP.

To keep beasts safe that the blind mouse called a Shrew
do not bite them: Enclose the same mouse quick in
chalk, which when it is hard, hang the same about the
neck of the beast that you would keep safe from biting ;
and it is most certain, that he shall not be touched nor

bitten. Lupton, “ Notable Things,” bk. vii. § 52.

Ir a Shrew, I take it to be the blind mouse, doth
chance to go over any part of any beast, that part of the
beast will after be lame. This I know to be true.

Ibid., bk. x. § 11.

Shrimp.
i. King Henry VI., i. 3, 23.

[AppREssED to a salmon] one
That for the calmest and fresh time o’ the year
Dost live in shallow rivers, rank’st thyself
With silly smelts and Shrimps.

Webster, ‘Duchess of Malfi,” iii. 5.

You shall eat nothing but Shrimp porridge for a fort-
night. Brome, “ Sparagus Garden,” ii. 3.

Silk.

So often as I consider that some ten thousands of Silk-
worms, labouring continually night and day, can hardly
make three ounces of silk,—so often do I condemn the
excessive profusion and luxuriousness of men in such costly
things, who defile with dirt silks and velvets, that were
formerly the ornaments of kings, and make no more
reckoning of them now than of an old tattered cloak, as
if they were ashamed to esteem better of an honourable
thing than of a base, and were wholly bent upon waste.
Amongst the English a silken habit is so much loved and
valued, that they despise their own wool, which compared
with silk is not contemptible, and is the most profitable
and the greatest merchandise of the kingdom, But time
will make them forego this wantonness, when they shall
observe that their moneys are treasured up in Italy at that
time, when they stand in need of it for their public or
private affairs.

Dr. Thos. Mouffet, ‘Theatre of Insects,” p. 1033.

ym

SIREN.| NATURAL HISTORY. 289

Siren.
Comepy or Errors, iii, 2, 47.

Tue mermaiden hight Siren, and is a sea-beast wonderly
shapen, and draweth shipmen to peril by sweetness of
song. And some men say that they are fishes of the sea
in likeness of women. Sirens be great dragons flying with
crests, as some men trow. And some men feign that there
are three Sirens somedeal maidens, and somedeal fowls with

Fes 3

claws and wings, but the sooth is, that they were strong
whores, that drew men that passed by them to poverty
and to mischief. And in Arabia be serpents with wings,
that be called Sirens, and run more swiftly than horses,
and do fly with wings, and their venom is so strong that
death is felt sooner than ache or sore. And Siren is a
beast of the sea, wonderly shapen as a maid from the navel
upward, and a fish from the navel downward, and this
wonderful beast is glad and merry in tempest, and sad and
heavy in fair weather. With sweetness of song this beast
maketh shipmen to sleep, and when she seeth that they be
asleep, she goeth into the ship, and ravisheth which she
may take with her, and bringeth him into a dry place, and
[the rest is indecent]. Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xviii. § 97.

19

290 SHAKESPEARE'’S - [sLuc.

Irs face is horrible, its hair very long and filthy. And
it appears with its young which it carries in its arms ; and
when sailors see it, they are much afeared, and throw it
an empty bottle, with which it plays, until the ship has
passed by.

Hortus Sanitatis, bk. iv. § 83.

Slug.

Comepy oF Errors, ij. 2, 196.

VY. Snail.

Snail.
As You Like It, iv. 1, 54.

SnaIL is a worm of slime, and breedeth of slime, and is
therefore alway foul and unclean; and is a manner snake,
and is an horned worm. And such worms be gendered
principally in corrupt air and rain.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xviii. § 70.

NerrHeER have IJ
Dress’d Snails or mushrooms curiously before him.
y

Ben Fonson, “ Every Man in his Humour,” ii, 5.

SoME men trow, though it be not be believed, that the
ship goeth slower, if he beareth the right foot of a Snail
[Batman translates “testudo” here by “tortoise” instead of

; “po
‘Snail | Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xviii. § 107.

SnaiLs without their shells, or otherwise with their
shells stamped and mixed sometimes with cheese-lope or
rennet, do draw out thorns, or any other thing out of
the flesh, though never so deep, if they be applied to the

place. Lupton “Notable Things,” bk. 1 § 100.

Tue two horns,of a snail borne upon a man will pluck
away carnal or fleshly lust from the bearer thereof.

Ibid, bk. ix. § 17,

Snake. /, Serpent.

SPANIEL. | NATURAL HISTORY. 291

Sore, Sorel.

Love’s Lasour’s Lost, iv. 2, 59, 60.

Sore, a deer of four years old.

Sorel, a deer of three years. Minshew’s Dictionary, 5.0.

Sow.
Macsets, iv. 1, 64.

A sow rooteth and diggeth the earth to get her meat
and food, and overturneth and rooteth that she may come
with the teeth to mores [roots] and roots, And the young .
sow conceiveth against the evenness of day and night in
springing - time, and farroweth sometime twenty pigs at
once, but she eateth all sometime, out-taken the first, for
he is most kindly to her, and she giveth him alway the
first teat. The Sow is an unclean beast, and a right great
glutton, and coveteth and desireth baths, fens and puddles,
and resteth herself therein, and waxeth fat. And the
seventh part of her meat turneth into hair and blood, and

into other such. Bartholomew (Bertfelet), bk. xviii. § 99.

V. Swine, Boar.

Spaniel.

Mipsummer Nicut’s Dream, ii. I, 203-7.

Tue best sort of these dogs came from Spain.

Minsheu’s Dictionary, s.v.

THE water-spagnel is taught by his master to seek for
things that are lost (by words and tokens), and if he meet
any person that hath taken them up, he ceaseth not to
bay at him, and follow him, till he appear in his master’s
presence. They use to shear their hinder parts, that so
they may be the less annoyed in swimming.

I may here also add the land-spagnel attending a hawk
who are taught by falconers to retrieve and raise part-
ridges. They are for the most part white, or spotted with

red or black. Topsell, “ Four-footed Beasts,” p, 122.

292 SHAKESPEARE’S [SPARROW.

Sparrow.
Troitus anp CressiDa, il. I, 77.
Kine Joun, 1. 1, 231.

Tue Sparrow is an unsteadfast bird with voice and
jangling, and is a full hot bird and lecherous, and the flesh
of them oft taken in meat exciteth to carnal lust. Sparrows
lay many eggs, and are full busy to bring up their birds,
and to feed them. And she keepeth her nest clean with-
out dirt, and therefore she throweth the dirt of her birds
out of the nest, and compelleth her birds to throw their
dirt out of the nest ; and they feed their birds with atter-
cops, worms and flies; and they eat venomous seeds, as of
henbane without hurt; and they have sometime leprosy
and the falling-evil. And the Sparrow dreadeth the weasel,
and hateth her, and crieth and warneth if the weasel
cometh, And waileth, and biteth, and billeth for to have
the nests of swallows. And birds [7.e., young birds], that
other Sparrows leave by some hap, they gather and feed
and nourish, as they were their own. And if it happeth
that one of them is taken in a gin, or in other manner
of wise, she crieth for help—and a multitude of Sparrows
be gathered together to deliver that that is taken, and
speed and haste with all their might.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xii. § 32.

Merchant's Wife: \What’s your cock-sparrows a dozen?

Seller: A penny, mistress.
“‘ Histriomastrix,” ii, I, 77.

[But this was during the reign of Plenty, when corn was.
2s. Od. a quarter.

Sparrows, especially cock-sparrows, as aphrodisiacs were a
constant ingredient of cullises; so were Sparrows’ eggs.]

Ir any will make their hands white, let them mix the
dung of Sparrows in warm water, and wash them there-
with; or let them seethe the roots of nettles in that water,
and therewith wash their hands.

Lupton, “ Notable Things,” bk. ii, § 69.

SPERMACETI. | NATURAL HISTORY. 293

Ir is said that no Sparrows have ever been seen at a
ie called Lindham in the moors below. Hatfield [York-
shire ].

Camden's “Britannia,” col. 850.

Spawn.
Corroanus, il. 2, 82.

Tus is to be noted, that the foresaid engendering - of
[fish] is not sufficient to accomplish generation, unless, when
their eggs be laid or spawn cast, both male and female
take it between them, and keep a-turning of it, thereby
to breathe a lively spirit into it, and, as it were, besprinkle
it with a vital dew, as it floateth upon the water. But
turn they it and toss it, breathe they upon it as much as
they will, yet all those little eggs of their spawn do not
hit and come to proof; for if they did, all seas and lakes,
and all rivers and pools, would be so pestered full with
fishes, that a man would see nothing else.

Holland’s Pliny, bk. ix. ch. 1.
VY. Fish.

Spear-grass.
i, Kinc Henry IV., ii. 4, 340.

Spear-crass is good for the sciatica, or the gout.
Lupton, “ Notable Things,” bk. ii. § 91.

Toucuine the grass, which, by reason of the pricks that
it bears is named Aculeatum, there be three sorts of it;
the first is that which ordinarily hath five such pricks in
the head or top thereof, and thereupon they call it Penta-
dactylon, the Five-finger grass; these pricks, when they be
wound together, they use to put up into the nostrils, and
draw them down again, for to make the nose bleed.

Holland’s Pliny, bk. xxv. ch, xix.

Spermaceti.

Telling me the sovereign’st thing on earth
Was parmaceti for an inward bruise.
i. Kine Henry IV., i. 3. 58.

294 SHAKESPEARE’S [SPICE.

Ticket: 1 bruised my side e’en now against a form’s edge.
Rufflit : Parmaceti; Sir, is very good, or the fresh skin of

a flayed cat. Brome, “The City Wit,” Act. v.

My dear mummia, my balsamum, my Spermaceti!

Ben Fonson, “ Pocetaster,” ii. 1.

Spice.

Mucus Spice is a thief, so is candle and fire,
Sweet sauce is as crafty, as ever was friar.

Tusser, “Five Hundred Points.” Afternoon Works, § 14.

[Spice is a thief, because it was bought, and not home-grown,
and also because it increases appetite. ]

Vv. Cloves, Nutmeg, etc.

Spider.

‘ .
Winter’s Tate, li. I, 39.

THE venomous Spinner is a little creeping beast with
many feet, and hath vi. feet or viii., and hath alway feet
even and not odd; and that is very needful, that his going
and passing be alway even, as the charge is and burthens.
In the end of springing-time, and in the beginning of
summer, and sometime in harvest, and in the beginning of
winter, Spinners be most grievous, and their biting most
venomous. And a manner kind of Spinners hunteth a little
eft, and when they find him, they begin to weave upon
him, and all about, for to bind strongly his mouth, and
leap then upon him, and sting him till he dieth. Wonder
it is, how the matter of threads that come of the womb
of the Spinner may endure so preat a work, and weaving
of so great a web. Also in Spinners be tokens of divina-
tion, and of knowing what weather shali fall,—for oft by
weathers that shall fall, some spin and weave higher or
lower. Also multitude of Spinners is token of much rain,
Also sometime Spinners weave and make webs about
burgeoning and buds of vines, and also about flowers and
blossoms of trees, and by such beclipping [embracing] of
such cobwebs, both trees and vines be lost where they

SPIDER. | NATURAL HISTORY, 295

burgeon and bloom. ‘The biting of the Spinner that hight
sphalangio is venomous and slayeth, but there be remedy
and succour the sooner; but the virtue of plantain slayeth
the venom thereof, if it be laid thereto in due manner,
and therefore other worms, as efts and frogs, that dread the
stinging of Spinners, defend themselves with juice of plan-
tain. And though the Spinner be venomous, yet the web
that cometh out of the guts thereof is not venomous, but
is accounted full good and profitable to the use of medicine.
And a manner Spinner hight spalana, and is like to an
ant, but he is much more of body, and hath a red _ head,
and the other deal of the body is black, sprung [sprinkled |
with white specks; and his smiting is more bitter and more
sore than the biting of the serpent Viper; and this Spinner
liveth most nigh furnaces, ovens and mills; and the remedy
against its biting or smiting is to shew to him that is
bitten or smitten another Spinner of the same kind; and
be therefore kept when they be found dead; the skin
thereof stamped and drunk is medicine against biting of
the weasel. Also another Spinner is rough with a great
head, and the soreness and ache of his stinging is as it
were the ache and soreness of a scorpion, and by his biting
the knees shake and faileth, and also of the biting cometh
blindness and spewing. And another manner Spinner is like
to an ant with a great head, and hath a black body with
white specks. His biting paineth and acheth as stinging of
wasps, and hight formicaleon [ant-lion| for he hunteth ants,
but sparrows and other fowls devour him, as they do ants.
Against all biting. of Spinners, the remedy is the brain of
a capon drunk in sweet wine with a little pepper; also
flies stamped and laid to the biting draweth out the venom,
and abateth the ache and sore. And the same doth ashes
of a ram’s claw [ Bartholomew, ‘‘ lamb’s rennet”] with honey.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xviii. § 11.

Tue Spider is a worm of the air.
Hortus Sanitatis, bk. ti. § 11.

Tue great number of Spiders do foreshow that the
summer following will be pestiferous and plaguy.

Lupton, “Notable Things,” bk. ii, § 82.

296 SHAKESPEARE’S [SPINNER.

Wuen houses are ready to drop down, Spiders with their
cobwebs first of all fall, and get them away packing, alter
their climate to some other surer place and dwelling to rest
in. The Spider beareth a deadly feud and mortal hatred to
serpents; for if so be the serpent at any time lie in the
shadow under any tree to cool himself, where Spiders do
resort, some one of them levelleth directly at him, and
with such a violence striketh and dasheth at his head with
her beak or snout, that her enemy withal making a
whizzing noise, and being driven into a giddiness, turning
round, hisseth, being neither able to break asunder the
thread that cometh from above, nor yet hath force enough
to escape it [and so the snake is killed].

Topsell, ‘‘ History of Serpents,” pp. 782-83.

Tue Spider feedeth of the corruption that she findeth in
the flowers and fruits that are in the gardens, whereas the
bee gathereth her honey out of the best and fairest flower

she can find.
‘“‘History of Hamblet, Prince of Denmark.”

Tue poets’ Arachne doth never weave her entangling web
near the cypress-tree.

Walkington, ‘‘Optic Glass of Humours,” p. 96.

Spinner.
Romeo anp JuLigT, i, 4, 59.

VY, Spider,

Sponge. ;
HaMLerT iv. 2, 22.

WHEN a Sponge is thrown into wine mixed with water,
then taken out and squeezed, the water comes out of it,
and the wine remains, and if it be not mixed, nothing
comes out.

Albertus Magnus, “Of the Wonders of the World.”

STOCKFISH, | NATURAL HISTORY. 297

Sprat.

Aut’s Wet, tHar Enps Weut, ili, 6, 112.

Great lords sometimes
For change leave calver’d salmon, and eat Sprats.
Massinger, ‘‘Guardian,”’ iv. 2

Aut-Saints do lay for pork and souse
For Sprats and spurlings for their house.
Tusser, “The Farmer’s Daily Diet.”

[Sprats were caught at the mouth of the Thames, but young
herrings were frequently substituted for them. The peck of
Sprats or young herrings were sometimes sold at Billingsgate
for two-pence. The best Sprats came from Orfordness, and
Dunwich-bay. From “England’s Way to Win Wealth” (1614)].

Broirep red Sprat.
Middleton, “Blurt, Master Constable,” iii, 3, 205.

Stag. Y. Hart.

Stockfish.

TEMPEST, ili. 2, 79.

Asovur the Isle Ebusus, the Stock-fish is much called for ;
whereas in other places it is counted but a base, muddy
and filthy fish. Holland's Pliny, bk, ix, ch. xviii.

[From this it is clear that the Stockfish was a_ distinct
species, but the word usually means dried fish as distinct from
fresh. ]

Tue Stock -fish-mongers [are seated] in Thames Street ;
wet-fish-mongers in Knightriders Street and Bridge Street.
Stock-fishes, so called for dried fishes of all sorts, as lings,
haberdines, and other. Stow’s “Survey.”

[Stephano, in the passage quoted from the ‘‘ Tempest,”
means that he will beat Trinculo; so Mzddleton, “ Blurt,
Master Constable,” iii. 3, 17: ‘‘I do not love to handle these
dried Stockfishes, that ask so much tawing”; and Webster,
“Westward Ho!” v. 4: ‘‘ Have you Stockfish in hand that
you beat so hard?” and Beaumont and Fletcher, ‘The Captain,”
iii. 3: ‘Beat him soft like Stockfish.”]

298 SHAKESPEARE’S [sToRK.
[Stork. ]

[The word is not actually used by Shakespeare, but the
account of the bird is interesting.]

A Stork is a water-fowl, and purgeth herself with her
own bill; for when she feeleth herself grieved with much
meat, she taketh sea-water in her bill, and putteth it in at
her hinder hole, and so into her guts. Also this bird
eateth eggs of adders and serpents, and beareth them for
best meat to her birds. And they leave not lightly their
first nest, except they be compelled. But ere they go into
other countries against winter, they fill their nests with

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earth, and draw the twigs and thorns of their nests with
fen, that no tempest of wind should break it nor throw it
down in winter. While the female liveth the male keepeth
truly to her in nest. And if the male espy in any wise,
that the female hath broke spousehead, she shall no more
dwell with him, but he beateth and striketh her with his
bill, and slayeth her if he may. Storks fly over the sea
in flocks, and in their passing crows fly with them, and

STRAWBERRY.| NATURAL HISTORY. 299

pass tofore them, as it were leading the Storks, and with-
stand with all their might fowls that hate Storks.
Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xii. § 8.

STORKS nourish their parents when oppressed with age.
Minshew’s Dictionary, 5.7.

Stover.
Tempest, iv. I, 63.

Stover, or Estover—Fodder.
Minsheu’s Dictionary, 5.7.

TuresH barley as yet but as need shall require
Fresh threshed for Stover thy cattle desire.
Tusser, “ November’s Husbandry.”

Straw.

\

Some Straw is kept to fodder of beasts, for it is first meat
that is laid tofore beasts, namely in some countries, as in
Tuscany. And the kind thereof is cold that it suffereth
not snow that falleth to shed [melt], and is so hot that it
compelleth apples for to ripen.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk, xvii. § 65.

Strawberry. f

The strawberry grows underneath the nettle,
And wholesome berries thrive and ripen best

Neighbour’d by fruit of baser quality.
Kine Henry V., i. 1, 6c.

My lord of Ely,
When I was last in Holborn,
I saw good strawberries in your garden there.
Kine Ricwarp III., iti, 4, 34.

STRAWBERRIES do grow upon hills and vallies, likewise
in woods, and other such places that be somewhat shadowy;
they prosper well in gardens. Gerard’s “Herbal,” «v.

[Evelyn (‘‘ Kalendarium Hortense’’) enumerates the follow-
ing kinds: Common Wood, English Garden, American or Vir-
ginian, Polonian, White Coped, Long Red, Green, Scarlet, etc.]

300 SHAKESPEARE’S [SUGAR.

Many have been helped that have had foul and leprous
faces, only with the washing the same with distilled water
of Strawberries ; the Strawberries first put into a close glass,
and so putrified in horse-dung.

Lupton’s “Notable Things,” bk. iii. § 82.

[Strawberries were eaten with cream and sugar, or with claret
and sugar, in the Continental fashion, according to Dr. Hart
(“‘ Diet of the Diseased,” p. 60), where he orders them to be
taken before other food.]

Sugar.
i. Kinc Henry IV. i, 4, 25.
Love’s Lasour’s Lost, v. 2, 231.

[The finest Sugar came from Barbary (Beaumont and Fletcher's
“ Beggars Bush,” iv. 3, “ Webster's ‘‘Northward Ho!” ii. 1,
and Marston’s ‘“‘What You Will,” ii. 2, 83). Parmesan Sugar
was also a costly luxury (Chapman, “The Ball,” Act iii). The
practice of drinking Sugar with wine was exclusively English,
according to Fynes Moryson. There are frequent allusions
to it, e.g.
Fill us of your nippitate, sir,
But hear ye, boy?
Bring Sugar in white paper, not in brown.
“Took about You,” sc. 2.

A pound and a half of sugar cost in 1555 1s. 73d. (Brand's
“Popular Antiquities,” vol. i. p. 425, mote.)
Sugar will make a man kind (Brand, vol. ii. p. 95, zote).]

Sugar-candy.

i, Kino Hewry IV., iii. 3, 180.

He’s a mere stick of Sugar-candy
You may look quite through him.
Webster, “Duchess of Malfi,”’ iti. 1.
Sugar-sop.

[Name of a servant in “Taming of the Shrew,” iv. 1, 95.
A sweetmeat in Beaumont and Fletcher's ‘ Monsieur
Thomas,” ii. 3.]

Sweet Marjoram. VY. Marjoram.

TADPOLE, | NATURAL HISTORY. 301
Swine.

Tue Swine froteth [rubs] and walloweth in dirt and in
fen [mud], and diveth in slime, and bawdieth himself
therewith, and resteth in a stinking place. And some
Swine be tame, and some wild. And among the tame the
males be called Boars and Barrows, and the females be
called Sows; and they dig and root and seek meat under.
earth, A Swine dieth if he loseth an eye. And Swine
have many sicknesses, and hold their heads aside; and lie
more on the right side than on the left; and wax fat in
forty days; and fat sooner, if they suffer hunger three
days in the beginning of the feeding. Swine love each
other, and know each other’s voice, and therefore, if any
cry, they cry all, and labour to help each other with all
their might. Tame Swine grunt in going, and in lying,
and in sleeping, and namely if they be right fat. And
Swine sleep faster in May than in other times of the year,
and that cometh of fumosity’ that stoppeth their brain that
time. The male hath more teeth than the female. And
when Swine be great, it doeth them good to eat berries,
and also bathing in hot water delighteth them. And they
be let blood on the vein under the tongue,

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk, xviii. § 87.

Sycamore.
Romeo anv JULIET, 1. 1, 128.

SycaMoRE is a nice fig-tree, as it were a fool, and
beareth certain sweet fruit that is never ripe at the fall.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvii. § 148,

Ir bringeth forth fruit three or four times in one year,
and oftener if it be scraped with an iron knife, or other
like instrument. We call it in English, Sycamore-tree, and
also mulberry-fig-tree. Cunrd’s Beta” ay

Tadpole.
_ Kine Leak, iii. 4, 135.

V. Frog.

302 SHAKESPEARE’S _ [TASSEL-GENTLE.

Tassel-gentle.

Romeo anp Juuiet, ii. 2, 160.

TasseL, or Tiercel, or the male of a hawk.
Minsheu's Dictionary, 5.7.

Lonc-wincep Hawks, as the falcon gentle, and her
Tiercel. Markham's ‘ Husbandry” (“ Of Hawks”), ch. i.

_Tuen for an evening flight
A Tiercel-gentle. Massinger, “ Guardian,” i. 1.

I sHovtp not be so fond to mistake a Jenny Howlet
for a Tassel-gentle. Brome, “The Northern Lass,” iii. 2.

[Malone quotes from an old treatise on hawking, name not
given: “The names of all manner of hawks, and to whom they
belong :—For a Prince. There is a falcon gentle, and a Tiercel
gentle; and these are for a prince.” ]

Tench.
i. King Henry IV., ii. 1, 17, 18.

[“ Stung like a Tench” may perhaps refer to the small size
of the scales of this fish. Nares quotes Wadlton’s ‘‘ Complete
Angler” (part i. ch. xi.): “‘That the Tench is the physician
of fishes, for the pike especially ; and that the pike, being either
sick or hurt, is cured by the touch of the Trench.”]

I Lone to see this fish. I wonder whether
They will cut up his belly ; they say a Tench
Will make him whole again.

Fasper Mayne, “The City Match,” iii. 2 (1639).

V, Fish.
Thistle.

Mucu Avo Asout Noruina, iii. 4, 76.

THISTLE is a manner herb or a weed with pricks; the
kind thereof is biting and cruel, therefore the juice thereof
cureth the falling of the hair. The root thereof sod in water
giveth appetite to drinkers, and it is no wonder though
women desire it, for it helpeth the conception of male
‘children. Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvii. § 36.

THORN. | NATURAL HISTORY. 303

THE common Thistle, whereof the greatest quantity of
down is gathered for divers purposes, as well by the poor
to stop pillows, cushions, and beds for want of feathers,
as also bought of the rich upholsters to mix with the
feathers and down they do sell, which deceit would be
looked into. The leaves and roots hereof are a remedy
for those that have their bodies drawn backward.

Gerard’s “ Herbal,” bk. ji. ch. cccclxxvi.

Tue tender leaves of our Lady’s Thistle, the prickles
taken off, are sometimes used to be eaten with other
herbs. The seeds being drunk are a remedy for infants
that have their sinews drawn together, and for those that
are bitten of serpents; and it is thought to drive away
serpents, if it be but hanged about the neck.

Ibid, ch. cccclxxvii.

Tue root of carline Thistle is an enemy to all manner
of poisons; it doth not only drive away infections of the
plague, but also cureth the same, if it be drunk in time.
And it is given to those that have been dry-beaten, and.

fallen from some high place. Ibid., ch. cccelxxxi.

VY. Carduus Benedictus.

Thorn.

A THORN is a tree with sharp pricks, and is as it were
armed with pricks against wrongs of them that touch it.
And properly to speak, the thorn is the prick that groweth
out of the thorn or of herbs and trees with pricks, and
the prick springeth out of the stock or of the stalk, and is
great next to the tree and stalk, and sharp outward at the
point. And it is not the intent of kind that trees be shar
with pricks and thorns; but it happeth and cometh of
unfastness and unsadness of the tree, by the which cold
humour is drawn that is but little sodden, and is drawn
and passeth by pores and holes outward, and is harded by
heat of the sun, and made a thorn or a prick, and is
made small and sharp at the end for scarcity of matter,
and sometime is sharp and somedeal bending, as it fareth
in Briers and Roseres [Rose-trees] ; sometime the point is
a-reared upright. Oft growing of thorns is token of

304 SHAKESPEARE'S [ THROSTLE.

barren land and untilled. And it is as it were a general
rule, that all shrubs and trees with many thorns and pricks
be wounden and wreathed together, and be clipped and
succoured and defended each with other, and none of them
hurteth other. And when they be felled or rooted up,
they be bound in faggots and in heaps, and burnt in ovens
and in furnaces, and for thorns be kindly dry, they be
soon kindled in the fire, and give a strong light, and
sparkleth, and cracketh, and maketh much noise, and soon
after they be brought all to nought. Of thorns men make
hedges and pavises [“ large shields,” according to Halliwell
and Minsheu, but here certainly “fences ”—sepes, Bartholo-
mew |, with which men defend and succour themselves and

their own. Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvii. § 149.

Throstle, Thrush.

Mipsummer Nicut’s Dream, iii. I, 130.
Winter's Tae, iv. 3, 10.

P ‘
Thrash, throssel or mavis. Minsheu’s Dictionary, 5.0.

Tue Throstles or mavises all summer be painted about
the neck with sundry colours, but in winter they be all of

one colour. Holland's Pliny, bk. x. ch. xxix.

Thyme.

Mipsummer Nicut’s Dream, ii. 1, 249.

Vv. Cabbage.
Tick.

Troitus ano Cressipa, iii. 2, 315.

Tick—a dog-louse. Minsheu's Dictionary, s.v.
THERE is a creature which hath evermore the head fast
sticking within the skin of a beast, and so by sucking of
blood liveth, and swells withal: the only living creature of
all other that hath no way at all to rid excrements out of
the body ; by reason whereof when it is too full, the skin
doth crack and burst, and so his very food is cause of his

TIGER. | NATURAL HISTORY. 305

death. In kine and oxen they be common, and other-
whiles in dogs, who are pestered with these Ticks. And
in sheep and goats, a man shall find none other but
Ticks. Holland's Pliny, bk. xi, ch. xxxiv.

[Topsell (s.v. “‘ Sheep,” p, 479) distinguishes between lice and
Ticks of sheep.]

?
Tiercel, or Tercel.

Troitus anpD CressiDa, iii. 2, 56.

V. 'Tassel-gentle.

Tiger.

Tue Tiger is the most swiftest beast in flight, as it
were an arrow, and is a beast distingued with divers
specks, and the river Tigris hath the name of this beast,
for it is most swiftest of all floods. And the whelp is all
glimy and sinewy. And the hunter taketh away the
whelps, and fleéth soon away on the most swift horse that
he may have, and when the wild beast cometh and findeth
the den void, and the whelps away; then he riseth head-
long, and followeth him by smell; and when the hunter
heareth the grutching [grumbling, growling] of that beast
that runneth after him, he throweth down one of the
whelps; and the mother taketh the whelp in her mouth,
and beareth him into her den, and layeth him therein, and
cometh again after the hunter; but in the mean time the
‘hunter taketh a ship, and hath with him the other whelps,
and scapeth in that wise; and so her fierceness standeth
in no stead; and the male recketh not of the whelps.
And he that will bear away the whelps leaveth in the way
great mirrors, and the mother followeth and findeth the.
mirrors in the way, and looketh on them, and seéth her
own shadow and image therein, and weeneth that she
seéth her children therein, and is long occupied therefore’
to deliver her children out of the glass, and so the hunter
hath time and space for to escape. And in the more
Hyrcania breedeth many beasts of this kind.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xviii. § 105.
20

306 SHAKESPEARE’S [TIKE.
i

A Ticer is bigger than the greatest horse. It hath been
falsely believed that all Tigers be females, and that they
engender with the wind. The male is seldom taken, be-
cause at the sight of a man he runneth away. When they
hear the sound of bells and timbrels, they grow into such
a rage and madness, that they tear their own flesh from
their backs. The Indians near the River Ganges have a
certain herb growing like Bugloss,. which they take and.
press the juice out of it, and in still, silent, calm nights,
they pour the same down at the mouth of the Tiger’s
den, by virtue whereof the Tigers are continually enclosed,
not daring to come out over it through some secret oppo-
sition in nature, but famish and die, howling in their caves
through intolerable hunger. The manner of this beast is,
when she seeth that her young ones are shipped away, she
maketh so great lamentation upon the sea-shore, howling,
braying and ranking [perhaps “raging”: Spenser uses the
adverb “rank” in this sense], that many times she dieth
in the same place; but if she recover all her young ones
again, she departeth with unspeakable joy, without taking
any revenge for their offered injury.

Topsell, “ Four-footed Beasts,” pp. 548-9.

Tue Tiger as fierce and cruel as lions, making prey of
man and beast, yet rather devouring black men than
white ; whose mustachios are holden for mortal poison, and,
being given in meats, cause men to die mad.

Purchas “Pilgrims,” p. 559 (ed. 1616).

Tike, Tyke.
Kine Lear, iii. 6, 73.
Kine Hewry V., ii. 1, 31.

[Tyke is now so well known a word for “cur,” that Steevens’
and Malone’s notes on the latter passage seem to us ridicu-
lous.]

Toad.

A Toap is a manner venomous frog, and dwelleth both
in water and in land; and he changeth his skin in age;
and eateth alway certain herbs, and keepeth and holdeth

TOAD. | NATURAL HISTORY. 307

alway venom, and fighteth against the common spinner
[spider], and overcometh their venom and biting, by benefit
of plantain; aad his venom is accounted most cold, and
[a|stonieth, therefore each member that he toucheth, it
maketh less feeling, as‘ it were frore [frozen]; and is a
venomous beast, and comforteth therefore himself at each
touching. And the more he is touched, the more he
swelleth ; and as many specks as he hath under the womb,
so many manner wise his venom is accounted grievous.
And he hath eyes, as though they were fire, shining, and
the worse he is, the more burning is his sight, and though
he hath clear eyes, yet he hateth the light of the sun, and
seeketh dark places, and fleéth to dens, when the sun riseth.
This frog loveth sweet herbs, and eateth the roots of them;
but in eating, he infecteth and corrupteth both roots and
herbs; therefore oft in gardens is rue set, that is venom and
enemy to Toads, and to other venomous worms, for by virtue
of rue, they be chased away, and may not come to other
herbs and roots that grow therein. The Toad loveth
stinking places and dirty, and hateth places with good
smell and odour, and so he fleéth out of the vineyard,
when the vines begin to bloom, for he may not suffer
nor sustain their good odour and smell. And these worms
have double liver,—that one is most venomous, and that
other is remedy, and is given instead of treacle against
poison and venom; and for to assay and know which of
these is good and which is evil, the liver is thrown into
an ant-hill,—then the ants flee and [a]void the venomous
part, and desire and choose that other part, and shall be
taken and kept to the use of medicine. And in the right
side of such a frog is a privy bone, that cooleth somedeal
seething water, if it be thrown therein,—and the vessel may
not heat afterward, but if the bone be first taken out ; and
witches use that bone to love and hate. And be that worm
never so venomous, yet by burning he loseth the malice of
venom, and taketh most virtue of medicine, and ashes
thereof help wonderfully to recover flesh and skin that is
haply lost, and to make sadness and sinews, and to healing
and salvation of wounds, if the ashes be used in due

manner. Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xviii. § 17.

Vv. Frog.

308 _ SHAKESPEARE'S [ToaD.

A CERTAIN man, being in a garden with his Love, did
take (as he was walking) a few leaves of sage, who rubbing
his teeth and gums therewith, immediately fell down and
died. Whereupon his said Love was examined how he died.
She said, she knew nothing that he ailed, | but that he
rubbed his teeth with sage; and she went with the Judge
and others into the garden and place where the same thing
happened ; and then she took of the same sage to shew
them how he did, and likewise rubbed her teeth and gums
therewith, and presently she died also, to the great marvel
of all them that stood by. Whereupon the Judge, suspect-
ing the cause of their deaths to be in the sage, caused the
said bed of sage to be plucked and digged up, and to be
burned, lest others might have the like harm thereby.
And at the roots, or under the said sage, there was a
great Toad found, which infected the same sage with his
venomous breath. This may be a warning to such as use
to eat raw and unwashed sage; therefore, it is good to
plant rue round about sage, for Toads by no means will

come nigh unto rue, Lupton, “Notable Things,” bk i. § 1.

Ir you put a Toad in a new earthen pot, and the same
be covered in the ground in the midst of a corn - field,
there will be no hurtful tempests or storms there.

Ibid., bk. v. § 59.

THE wise and learned men in old time did think, that
a Toad put into a new earthen pot, and set it within the
ground, and so covered with earth in the midst of a field,
will drive away crows or birds from corn that is sowed
there. But about harvest time they will that it be digged
up, and so cast forth of the limits of the fields, lest the
corn be bitter thereby. Ibid, bk. vi. § 97.

THERE is a kind, like to the Toad of the water, but
instead of bones it hath only gristles, and is bigger than
‘the Toad of the fen, living in hot places. There is a
little bone growing in their sides, that hath a virtue to
drive away dogs from him that beareth it about him. All
the winter-time they live under: the earth, feeding upon
earth, herbs and worms, and they eat earth by measure,

TOAD. | NATURAL HISTORY. 309

for they eat so much every day as they can grip ‘in their
fore-foot, as it were. sizing themselves, lest the whole earth
should not serve them, till the spring. They also love to
eat sage, and yet the root of. sage is to them deadly
poison, They destroy bees, without all danger to them-
selves, for they will creep to the holes of their hives, and
there blow in upon the bees, by which breath they draw
them out of the hive and so destroy them as they come
out. About their generation, there are many worthy ob-
servations in nature; sometimes they are bred out of the ,
putrefaction and corruption of the earth; it hath also been -
seen, that, out of the ashes of a Toad burnt, not only one,
but many Toads, have been regenerated the year following.
In the New World there is a province called Darien, the
air whereof is wonderful unwholesome, because all the
country standeth upon rotten marshes. It is there observed,
that when the slaves, or servants water the pavements of
the doors, from the drops of water which fall on the right
hand are instantly many Toads engendered, as in other
places such drops of water are turned into gnats. It hath
also been seen that women conceiving with child have like-
wise conceived at the same time a frog, or a Toad, or a
lizard. And for this cause, women, at such time as their
child beginneth to quicken in their womb, do drink the
juice of parsley and leeks, to kill such conceptions if any
be. But in men’s stomachs there are found frogs and
Toads. This evil happeneth unto such men as drink water.
And Toads are bred in the bodies of men, and yet after-
wards these Toads do kill the bodies they are bred in; for
the venom is so tempered, that at last it worketh when it
is come to ripeness. For the casting out of such a Toad
bred in the body, they take a serpent and [disem |bowel
him; then they cut off the head and the tail; the residue
of the body they likewise part into small pieces, which they
seethe in water and take off the fat which swimmeth at
the top, which the sick person drinketh, until by vomiting
he avoid all the Toads in his stomach. Toads sometimes
in anger lift up themselves, for great is their wrath,
obstinacy, and desire to be revenged upon their adversaries,
especially the red Toad; for if she take hold of any thing
in her mouth, she will never let it go till she die, and
many times she sendeth forth poison out of her buttocks *

310 SHAKFESPEARE'S [TOAD.

or backer parts, wherewithal she infecteth the air, for
revenge of them that do annoy her; and she knoweth the
weakness of her teeth, and therefore she gathereth abun-
dance of air into her body, wherewithal she greatly swelleth,
and then, by sighing, uttereth that infected air as near the
person that offendeth her as she can. A Toad useth one
certain herb wherewithal it preserveth the sight, and also
resisteth the poison of spiders, whereof I have heard this
credible history related from the mouth of the good Earl
of Bedford. It fortuned as the said Earl travelled in
Bedfordshire, near unto a market-town called Owbourn
[? Woburn], some of his company espied a Toad fighting
with a spider, under a hedge; and the Earl saw how the
spider still kept her standing, and the Toad divers times
went back from the spider, and did eat a piece of an
herb, which to his judgment was like a plantain; at the
last, the Earl, having seen the Toad do it often, and still
return to the combat against the spider, he commanded
one of his men to go, and with his dagger to cut off
that herb :—presently after the Toad returned to seek it,
and, not finding it, swelled and broke in pieces. [This
story is better told in Lupton’s “Notable Things,” bk. vi.
§ 30, but without the names, and with slight differences. |
There was a monk in England who had in his chamber
divers bundles of green rushes, wherewithal he used to
strew his chamber at his pleasure; it happened on a day
after dinner, that he fell asleep upon one of those bundles
of rushes, with his face upward, and, while he there slept,
a great Toad came and sat upon his lips, bestriding him
in such manner as his whole mouth was covered. Now
when his fellows saw it, they were at their wits’ end, for
to pull away the Toad was an unavoidable death, but to
suffer her to stand still upon his mouth was a thing more
eruel than death; and therefore one of them espying a
spider’s web in the window, wherein was a great spider, he
did advise that the monk should be carried to that window,
and laid with his face upward right underneath the spider’s
web. And as soon as the spider saw her adversary the
Toad, she presently wove her thread, and descended down
upon the Toad,—at the first meeting whereof the spider
. wounded the Toad, so that it swelled, and at the second
meeting it swelled more, but at the third time the spider

TOAD. | NATURAL HISTORY. BIL

killed the Toad, and so became grateful to her host which
did nourish her in his chamber; for at the third time the
Toad leaped off from the man’s mouth, and swelled to
death, The mole also is an enemy to the Toad, for
Albertus saw a Toad crying above the earth very bitterly,
for a mole did: hold her fast by the leg within the earth,
labouring to pull her in again, while the other strove to
get out of her teeth; and so on the other side, the Toads
do eat the moles when they be dead. The cat doth kill
serpents and Toads, but eateth them not, and unless she
presently drink she dieth for it. The Toads of the earth
are more poisonful than the Toads of the water, except
those Toads of the water, which do receive infection or
poison from the water, for some waters are venomous—
but the Toads of the land, which do descend into the
marshes, and so live in both elements, are most venomous;
and the hotter the country is, the more full are they of
poison. When an asp hath eaten a Toad, their biting is
incurable, and bears, being killed by men after that they
have eaten salamanders or Toads, do poison their eaters. A
Toad hath two livers, and although both of them are cor-
rupted, yet the one of them is full of poison, and the
other resists poison. The spittle of Toads is venomous,
for if it fall upon a man, it causeth all the hair to fall off
from his head. Plantain and ‘black hellebore, sea-crabs dried
to powder and drunk, the stalks of dog’s-tongue, the
‘powder of the right horn of a hart, the milt, spleen and
heart of a Toad, also the blood of the sea-tortoise mixed
with wine, cummin and the rennet of a hare, also the blood
of a tortoise of the land mixed with barley-meal, and the
quintessence of treacle, and oil of scorpions,—all these
things are very precious against the poison of serpents and

Toads, Topsell, “ History of Serpents,” pp. 726-30.

THE jaws of a Toad, sweating and foaming out poison,

are not more dangerous than a pen.
Dekker’s “Dead Term.”

Tuovu shalt eat nothing but a poached spider, and drive
it down with syrup of Toads.

“(A Match at Midnight,” i, 1.

312 SHAKESPEARE'’S [TOAD-STONE.

Toad-stone.
The toad, ugly and venomous,
Wears yet a precious jewel in his head.
As You Lixe Ir, ii. 1, 13.

Some toads that breed in Italy and about Naples have
in their heads a stone called a crapo, of bigness like a big
peach, but flat, of colour grey, with a brown spot in the
midst. Batman's additions to Bartholomew, bk. xvili. § 17.

Noszr, that is crapaudine, is a precious stone somedeal
white, or of diverse colours. This stone is taken out of a
toad’s head, and is cleansed in the same head and in strong

wine and water, and sometime the shape of a toad seemeth
therein with sharp feet and broad. This stone helpeth
against biting of serpents and of creeping worms, and
against venom,—for in presence of venom the stone warmeth
and burneth his fingers that toucheth him.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvi. § 17.

A Toap-stong, called crapaudina, touching any part
bevenomed, hurt, or stung with rat, spider, wasps, or any
other venomous beast, ceases the pain or swelling thereof.

Lupton, “Notable Things,” bk. i. § 52.

TOAD-STONE, | NATURAL HISTORY. B13

AA coop way to get the stone called crapaudina out of
the toad: put a great, or overgrown toad (first bruised in
divers places) into an earthen pot, and put the same in an
ants’ hillock, and cover the same with earth, which toad at
length the ants will eat, so that the bones of the toad and
stone will be left in the pot, which Mizaldus and many
others hath oftentimes proved.

Lupton, “Notable Things,” bk. vii. § 18.

You shall know whether the Toad-stone called crapaudina
be the right and perfect stone or not: hold the stone
before a toad, so that he may see it, and if it be a right
and true stone, the toad will leap toward it, and make as
though he would snatch it from you; he envieth so much
that a man should have that stone. This was credibly told
Mizaldus for truth by one of the French King’s Physicians,
which affirmed that he did see the trial thereof.

Tbid., bk. vii. § 79.

THERE is a precious stone in the head of a toad, and
there be many that wear these stones in rings, being verily
persuaded, that they keep them from all manner of gripings,
and pains of the belly. But the art is in taking it out,
for it must be taken out of the head alive, before the toad
be dead, with a piece of cloth of the colour of red ‘scarlet,
wherewithal they are much delighted, so that while they
stretch out themselves as it were in sport upon that cloth,
they cast out the stone of their head, but instantly they
sup it up again, unless it be taken from them through
some secret hole in the said cloth, whereby it falleth into
a cistern or vessel of water, into the which the toad dareth
not enter, by reason of the coldness of the water. Now
stones are engendered in living creatures two manner of
ways, either through heat, or extreme cold, as in the snail,
perch, crab, Indian tortoises and toads; so that by ex-
tremity of cold this stone should be gotten. In the
presence of poison it will change the colour.

Topsell, ‘‘ History of Serpents,” p. 727.
[Topsell is neither for nor against the existence of this

stone, but he cannot believe that it is generated by cold, be-
cause the stone is hard.]

314 SHAKESPEARE’S [ TOADSTOOL.

Toadstool.

Trortus anp Cressipa, ii, I, 22.

Or MusHrooms or TOAD-STOOLS.

Some mushrooms grow forth of the earth; other upon
the bodies of old trees. Many wantons that dwell near
the sea, and have fish at will, are very desirous for change
of diet to feed upon the birds of the mountains; and such
as dwell upon the hills or champaign grounds do long after
sea-fish ; many that have plenty of both do hunger after
the earthy excrescences called mushrooms. The mushrooms
or Toadstools, which grow upon the trunks of old trees,
very much resembling Jew’s-ear, do in continuance of time
grow unto the substance of wood, which the fowlers do call
touchwood. This kind of mushroom is full of poison.
With fuzz-balls, puck-fists and bull-fists in some places of
England they use to kill or smoulder their bees, when they
would drive the hives, and bereave the poor bees of their
meat, houses and lives; these are also used in some places,
where neighbours dwell far asunder, to carry and reserve
fire from place to place. Poisonsome mushrooms groweth
where old rusty iron lieth, or rotten clouts, or near to
serpents’ dens, or roots of trees that bring forth venomous
fruit. Divers come up in April, others grow later about
August. To conclude, few of them are good to be eaten,
and most of them do suffocate and strangle the eater ;
therefore I give my advice unto those that love such
strange and new-fangled meats to beware of licking honey
among thorns, lest the sweetness of the one do not counter-
vail the sharpness and pricking of the other. Fuzz-balls
are noway eaten; the powder of them is fitly applied to
merigalls, kibed heels and such like.

Gerara’s ** Herbal,” sv.

Tobacco.

[Though Shakespeare does not mention Tobacco, allusions
to it are very frequent in the other dramatists of his time.]

Our adulterate Nicotian or Tobacco, so called of the
Knight Sir Nicot that first brought it over, which is the
spirit’s Incubus, that begets many ugly and deformed phan-
tasies in the brain, which being also hot and dry in the

TOBACCO. | NATURAL HISTORY. 21s

second extenuates, and makes meagre the body extra-
ordinarily. Of its own nature not sophisticate, it cannot
be but a sovereign leaf for external maladious ulcers; and
so it is for cacochymical bodies, and for the consumption
of the lungs, and tisic, if it be mixed with colt’s-foot dried.
But as it is intoxicated and tainted with bad admixture, I
must answer as our learned Paracelsus did, of whom
my self did demand, whether a man might take it without
impeachment to his health; who replied, as it is used, it
must needs be very pernicious in regard of the immoderate
and too ordinary whiff; for it will evacuate the stomach
and purge the head for the present of many feculent and
noisome humours, but after by his attractive virtue it
proveth Czcias humorum, leaving two ponds of water (as
he termed them) behind it, which are converted into choler,
one in the ventricle, another in the brain. And seeing
every nasty and base Yigellus use the pipe, as infants their
red corals, ever in their mouths, and many besides of more
note and esteem take it more for wantonness than want,
as Gerard speaks, I could wish that our generous spirits
could pretermit the too usual, not omit the physical drink-.

ing of it. Walkington, “Optic Glass of Humours,” pp. 105-7.

[There were different sorts of Tobacco. ‘Roll Trinidado,

leaf and pudding,” are mentioned in Dekker’s ‘“‘Gull’s Horn-
book.” ]

Tuis is my friend Abel, an honest fellow,
He lets me have good Tobacco, and he does not
Sophisticate it with sack-lees or oil,
Nor washes it in muscadel and grains,
Nor buries it in gravel underground
Wrapp’d up in greasy leather, or piss’d clouts,
But keeps it in fine lily pots, that, opened,
Smell like conserve of roses, or French beans.
He has his maple block, his silver tongs,
Winchester pipes, and fire of juniper.

Ben Fonson, “The Alchemist,” i. 3.

Turee pence a pipe-ful I will ha’ made of all my whole
half pound of Tobacco, and a quarter of a pound of colts-
foot, mixed with it too, to eke it out. .

Ibid., “Bartholomew Fair,” ii. 2.

316 SHAKESPEARE’S [ TOBACCO.

Tue Siconp Britt :—If this city or suburbs of the same
do afford any young gentleman of the first, second or third
head, more or less, whose friends are but lately deceased,
and whose lands are but new come into his hands, that (to
be as exactly qualified as the best of our ordinary gallants
are) is affected to entertain the most gentleman-like use of
Tobacco: as first, to give it the most exquisite perfume :
then, to know all the delicate sweet forms for the assumption
of it: as also the rare corollary and practice of the Cuban
ebullition, Euripus and whiff; which he shall receive, or
take in here at London, and evaporate at Uxbridge, or
farther, if it please him—If there be any such generous
spirit, that is truly enamoured of these good faculties—
may it please him but by a note of his hand to specify
the place or Ordinary, where he uses to eat and lie,—and
most sweet attendance with Tobacco and pipes of the best
sort shall be ministered.

Ben Fonson, “Every Man out of his Humour,” iil. 3.
Cf. “Return from Parnassus,” iv. 1, and “ Lingua,” iv.

In what Tobacco-shop in Fleet Street he takes a pipe
of smoke in the afternoon. i

Dekker, “ Lanthorn and Candle-light.”

Your pipe bears the true form of a woodcock’s head.

“Every Man out of his Humour,” iii. 9.

Here’s a clean gentleman to receive.
“The Puritan,” i. 4.

Scattergood: Please you to impart your smoke?
Longfield: Very willingly, sir.
Scattergood: In good faith, a pipe of excellent vapour.

‘Greene, “Tu Quoque” (by John Cooke).

[See Selton’s ‘‘ Ellinor Rumming.”

Sixty thousand pounds’ worth of tobacco was brought into
England in 1610, according to Harcourt’s “Description of
Guiana,” ] ©

TROUT. | NATURAL HISTORY. 317
Topaz.

[Sir Topas, the curate’s name in “Twelfth Night * (iv. 2)
may be derived from this stone.]

Topaz was first found in an island of Arabia, in which
island when the’ Troglodytes were diseased with hunger and
tempest, they digged up roots of herbs, and they found this
stone therewith. And if thou wipe this stone, thou darkest
it, and if thou leavest him to his own kind,’ he is the more
clear. And in treasury of kings nothing is more clear nor
more precious than this precious stone, for clearness thereof
taketh to himself the clearness of other precious stones that
be about him, and he followeth the course of the moon,
and as the moon is more full or less, so his effect is more
or less, and helpeth against the passion lunatic [perhaps this
is the reason of the curate’s name in Twelfth Night, iv. 2],
and stauncheth blood, and suageth fervent water, and
suffereth it not to boil. It suageth both wrath and sorrow,

and helpeth against evil thoughts and frenzy, and against

sudden death. Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvi. § 96.

Ir you wish that boiling water should overflow as soon
as the hand is dipped into it, take the stone which is called
Topaz ; for it has been proved in our time that if the
stone be placed in boiling water, it makes it flow away, so
that.if the hand be dipped into it, the stone may be
drawn out at once—and this: Parisius one of our brethren

performed. Albertus Magnus, “ Of the Virtues of Stones.”

Ir the whites of many hens’ eggs be taken, after a month
they become glass, and hard as stone; and from this, first
rubbed with saffron or red earth, the false Topaz is made.

Ibid., “Of the Wonders of the World.”

Trout,

TwetrrH Nicut, ii. 5, 25.

Tus fish of nature loveth flattery ; for, being in the
water, it will suffer itself to be rubbed and clawed, and so

318 SHAKESPEARE’S [TURKEY-COCK.

to be taken, whose example I would wish no maids to
follow. Cogan, “Haven of Health” (1595), quoted by Steevens.

[Trout were baked and minced with dates, ginger, cinnamon,
a quantity of sugar and butter, and served in three-cornered
puffs (second part of ‘‘The Good Huswife’s Jewel,” p. 31).]

Turkey-cock.
i, Kinc Henry IV. ii. 1, 28.

Turkey-cock, or cock of India, brought to us from
India, or Arabia, or Africa. It seems to partake of the
nature of the cock and of the peacock.

Minsheu’s Dictionary, s.v.

A Turkey or Guinea hen. Ibid.

First brought to England in Henry VIIL’s reign.

Malone in Steevens’ Shakespeare.

Hews, and especially those of Turkey or the Indies seem
plentifully served in the [Italian] markets.

Fynes Moryson, “Itinerary,” part iii. p. 110.

Tue state of a fat Turkey, the decorum

He marches in with, all the train and circumstance ;
"Tis such a matter, such a glorious matter,—

And then his sauce with oranges and onions,

And he display’d in all parts! For such a dish now
And at my need I would betray my father.

Beaumont and Fletcher, “Woman Pleased,” iii. 1.

TURKEY-PIE.

Ben Fonson, “Bartholomew Fair,” i, 6, and
of “Return from Parnassus,” ii. 6.

Turnip.

Merry Wives or Winpsor, ili. 4, 90.

Tue Turnip groweth in fields and divers vineyards or
hop-gardens in most places of England. The small Turnip

TURQUOISE. | NATURAL HISTORY. 319

groweth by Hackney, and those that are brought to Cheap-
side Market from that village are the best that ever I
tasted. Turnips flower and seed the second year after they
are sown; for those which flower the same year that they
are sown are a degenerate kind, called in Cheshire about
the Namptwitch [i.e., Nantwich] Mad Neeps—of their evil
quality in causing frenzy and giddiness of the brain for a
season. The root is many times eaten raw, especially of
the poor people in Wales, but most commonly boiled or
roasted or baked; the young and tender shoots or springs
of turnips at their first coming forth of the ground boiled
and eaten as a salad. Crrurd’s © Webal® oe.

WirH us the yellow, which comes from Denmark, is
preferred ; by others, the red Bohemian, The stalks of the
common Turnip, when first beginning to bud, being boiled,

eat like asparagus. Evelyn, “ Acetaria,” § 79.

Tue best husbandmen would have the seedsmen [of
Turnips or rapes] to be naked when he sows them, and in
sowing to protest, that this which he doth is for himself
and his neighbours. Mark how many days old the moon
was when the first snow fell the winter next before,—for
if a man do sow rapes or Turnips within the foresaid com-
pass of that time, the moon being so many days old, they
will come to be wondrous great, and increase exceedingly.

Holland’s Pliny, bk. xviii. ch. xiii,

Tue Turnip or navew groweth sometimes to thirty or
forty pound weight. The best way of use is accounted,
first to boil them, and, the water being poured out, then to
boil them again with fat beef, adding to them some pepper.

Hart, “Diet of the Diseased,” bk. i, ch. xiii.

Turquoise.
Mercuanr oF Venice, iii, 1, 126.

Turquoise is a white yellow stone, and hath that name
of the country of Turkey, there it is bred. This stone
keepeth and saveth the sight, and breedeth gladness and

comfort. Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvi. § 97.

320 SHAKESPEARE'S [TURTLE.

Tue Turquoise is formed beyond the farthest parts of
India among the inhabitants of the mountain Caucasus, [and
in] Carmania. They be found in icy cliffs hardly accessible,
where you shall see them bearing out after the manner of
bosses like unto: eyes. Holland’s Pliny, bk. xxxvii. ch. viii.

A TRUE wife should be like a Turquoise stone, clear in
heart in her husband’s health, and cloudy in his sickness.

Alex Nicholas, “Discourse of Marriage and Wiving,”
ch. xiv. § 18.

Awnp true as Turquoise in the dear lord’s ring

Look well or ill with him.
Ben Fonson, “ Sejanus,” i. 1.

Tue Turquoise, which who haps to wear

Is often kept from peril.
' Drayton, “ Muses’ Elysium.”

Tue Turquoise doth move, when there is any peril pre-
pared to him that weareth it.
Edw, Fenton, “Secret Wonders of Nature.”

Tue Turquoise is likewise said to take away all enmity,
and to reconcile man and wife. Thos. Nicols, “ Lapidary.”

[These three quotations are from Steevens’ notes to the
passage in “ Merchant of Venice.”]

Turtle, Turtle-dove.

Winter’s Tate, iv. 4, 154.
Merry Wives or Winnpsor, iii. 3, 44.
i, King Henry VI, ii. 2, 30.

Tue Turtle hath that name of the voice, and is a simple
bird as the culvour, but is chaste, far unlike the culvour
and if he loseth his make [7.e., mate], he seeketh not com
pany of any other, but goeth alone, and hath mind of the
fellowship that is lost, and groaneth alway, and loveth and
chooseth solitary places, and flieth much company of men

UNICORN. | NATURAL HISTORY. 321

[Troilus and Cressida, iii, 2, 185, and Winter's Tale, u
supra|. He cometh in springing time and warneth oi
novelty of time with groaning voice. -And in winter he
loseth his feathers, and then he hideth him in hollow stocks.
And against summer, in springing time, when his feathers
spring again, he cometh out of his hole in the which he
was hid, and seeketh convenable place and stead for to
breed in. The Turtle layeth eggs twice in springing time,
and not the third time, but if the first eggs be corrupt.
Also the blood of her right wing is medicinable, as the
blood of a swallow, and of a culvour or dove.
Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xii. § 34.

AMATIDES is a precious stone; if a cloth be touched
therewith, the cloth withstandeth fire and burneth not,
though it be put therein; but it receiveth brightness and
seemeth the more clear. And withstandeth all evil doing
of witches. Ibid., bk. xvi. § 19.

Ir is supposed that in the maw of the cock Turtle-dove
this stone is to be found, and hath virtue to increase

concord and love.
Batman's addition to Bartholomew, ut supra.

Ir the heart of a Turtle-dove be worn in the skin of a
wolf, the wearer will never thenceforth be wanton. If its
heart be burnt, and put on the eggs of any bird, never will
it be possible that they should be hatched. And if its feet
be hung on a tree, from thenceforth it will not bear fruit.
And if a hairy place be anointed with its blood, and the
water in which a mole has been boiled, the black hairs will
fall off. Albertus Magnus, “Of the Virtues of Animals.”

Unicorn.
A living drollery! Now I will believe
That there are unicorns.
TEMPEST, ili, 2, 22.

Junius Casar, il. 1, 204.

Aw Unicorn is a right cruel beast, and hath that name
for he hath in the middle of the forehead an horn of four
21

322 - SHAKESPEARE'’S [uNICORN.

foot long ;. and that horn is so sharp and so strong, that
he throweth down all, or thirleth [pierceth] all that he
reseth [rageth] on, And this beast fighteth oft with the
elephant. And the Unicorn is so strong, that he is not
taken with might of hunters; but a maid is set there as he
shall come, and she openeth her lap, and the Unicorn layeth
thereon his head, and leaveth all his fierceness, and sleepeth
in that wise, and is taken as a beast without weapon, and
slain with darts of hunters. The Unicorn froteth [rubs] and
fileth his horn against stones, and sharpeth it, and maketh it

ready to fight in that wise. And his colour is bay, There
be many kinds of Unicorns, for some be Rhinoceros [4g.v. ],
and some Monoceron, and Aigloceron. And Monoceron 1s
a wild beast, shaped like to the horse in body, and to
the hart in head, and in the feet to the elephant, and in the
tail to the boar, and hath heavy lowing, and an horn strut-
ting in the middle of the forehead of two cubits long.
And in Ind be some one-horned asses, and such an ass is
called Monoceros, and is less bold and fierce than other
Unicorns. And gloceron is a manner of Unicorn, that is

UNICORN. | NATURAL HISTORY. 323

a little beast like to a kid. Also in Ind be one-horned oxen
with white specks and bones, and with thick hoofs as horses
have. Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xviii. § 90.

Trapes that lay dead and rotten, and were in all men’s
opinion utterly damned, started out of their trance, as
though they had drunk of Aqua Ccelestis, or Unicorn’s horn,
and swore to fall to their old occupations.

Dekker, “The Wonderful Year 1603.”

Some hunt the Unicorn for the treasure on his head,
and they are like covetous men, that care not whom they
kill for riches. Ibid., “Lanthorn and Candlelight,” ch. iii.

In St. Mark’s church they will show you two Unicorns’
horns, of which the red is the male, and the yellow the female.

“A true Description of what is most worthy to be
seen in Italy,” etc. (circa 1590).

[Topsell (“ Four-footed Beasts,” pp. 551, 552) takes those
who do not believe in the Unicorn very seriously to task for
their unbelief, not to say atheism. He inclines to the belief
that the Unicorn is the wild ass of India, but is not sure, be-
cause ‘‘the feet of the wild asses are whole and not cloven
like the Unicorn’s, and their colour white in their body, and
purple on their head; and the horn differeth ‘in colour from
the Unicorn’s, for the middle of it is only black, the root of it
white, and the top of it purple; and the Indians of that horn
do make pots, affirming that whosoever drinketh in one of
those pots shall never take disease that day, and, if they be
wounded, shall feel no pain, or safely pass through the fire
without burning, nor yet be poisoned in their drink, and there-
fore such cups are only in the possession of their kings, neither
is it lawful for any man except the king to hunt that beast.
Now in the kingdom of Basman, which is subject to the great
Cham, there are Unicorns somewhat lesser than Elephants,
having hair like oxen, heads like boars, feet like elephants,
one horn in the middle of their foreheads, and a sharp, thorny
tongue, wherewith they destroy both man and beast, and they
muddle in the dirt like swine. In a certain region of the new-
found world, under the equinoctial, there is a living creature,
with. one horn (which is crooked and not great), having the
head of a dragon, and a beard upon his chin, his neck long and
stretched out like a serpent’s, the residue of his body like to a
hart’s, saving that his feet, colour, and mouth, are like a lion’s.”]

424 SHAKESPEARE’S [ UNICORN.

Tue horn, growing out of the forehead betwixt the eye-
lids is neither light nor hollow, nor yet smooth like other
horns, but hard as iron, rough as any file, revolved into
many plights, sharper than any dart, straight and not
crooked, and everywhere black except at the point. His
horn, being put into the water, driveth away the poison, that
he may drink without harm, if any venomous beast shall
drink therein before him. This cannot be taken from the
beast being alive, forasmuch as he cannot possibly be taken
by any deceit. The horn of this beast being put upon the
table of kings, and set among their junkets and banquets,
doth bewray the venom (if there be any such therein) by a
certain sweat which cometh over it. There are found in
Europe to the number of twenty of these horns pure, and
so many broken.

These beasts are very swift, and their legs have no
articles. [here was nothing more horrible than the voice
or braying of it, for the voice is strained above measure.
He feareth not iron, nor any iron instrument. He is an
enemy to the lions, wherefore as soon as ever a lion seéth
an Unicorn, he runneth to a tree for succour, that so when
the Unicorn maketh force at him, he may not only avoid
his horn, but also destroy him; for the Unicorn in the
swiftness of his course runneth against the tree, wherein his
sharp horn sticketh fast; then when the lion seéth the
Unicorn fastened by the horn, without all danger he falleth
upon him and killeth him. These things are reported by
the King of Ethiopia in an Hebrew epistle unto the Bishop
of Kome. [Topsell describes the way of catching the
Unicorn given in the quotation above from Bartholomew,
and adds: ‘Concerning this opinion we have no elder
authority than Tzetzes, who did not live above five hundred
years ago, and therefore I leave the Reader to the freedom
of his own judgement to believe or refuse this relation.” ]
Rich men do usually cast little pieces of this horn in their
drinking-cups, either for the prevention or curing of some
certain disease. It being cast in wine doth boil. [He
avers that spurious Unicorn’s horn, made of ivory, was sold
by apothecaries and‘ others.] The price of that which is.
true is reported at this day to be of no less value than
gold. For experience of the Unicorn’s horn, to know
whether it be right or not,—put silk upon a burning coal,

VENOM. | NATURAL HISTORY. 325

and upon silk the aforesaid horn, and if so be that it be
true the silk will not be a whit consumed.

Topsell, “ Four-footed Beasts,” pp. 551-9.

We are so far from denying that there is any Unicorn
at all, that we will affirm there are many kinds thereof. In
the number of quadrupeds, we will concede no less than
five; that is, the Indian ox, the Indian ass, the rhinoceros,
the oryx, and that which is more eminently termed Monoceros
or Unicornis.. Some in the list of fishes; and some
Unicorns we will allow even among insects [here follow
two folio pages of argument about the origin and genuine-
ness of the horns].

Sir Thos. Browne, “ Vulgar Errors,” bk. iii. ch. xxiii.

[fynes Moryson, in his “Itinerary,” describes ‘‘two whole
Unicorns’ horns, each more than four foot long, and a third,
shorter,” which were in the Treasury of St Mark at Venice
(part i. bk. ii. ch. i), and ‘great Unicorns’ horns, and the
chief kinds of precious stones” in Naples (zdca@., ch. ii.).]

Tue Unicorn is hunted for his horn,
The rest is left for carrion.

Middleton and Rowley, ** A Fair Quarrel,” iii. 2.

Or the Unicorn none hath been seen these hundred years
last past. Purchas “Pilgrims,” p. 502 (ed. 1616).

[But the ingenious gentlemen who edited the ‘ British
Apollo” would not go so far as to deny (in 1710) the exist-
ence of the Unicorn.]

Urchin.

Tempest, i. 2, 326.

V. Hedgehog.

Venom.

Some [beasts] have slaying tongues and venomous, through
malice and wodeness of the humour that hath mastery there-
in; as the tongues of serpents, adders, dragons, and of a
wode hound, whose biting is most venomous, his tongue

326 SHAKESPEARE'S [VENOM.

droppeth Venom, and corrupteth and infecteth the water in
which it falleth in, and who that drinketh of that water
shall become wode. And the tongues of adders be black,
blue or reddish, speckled, sharp, and in moving most swift,
and that happeneth through the wode and venomous
humour, the which so swiftly moveth the tongue that one
tongue seemeth forked and twisted. And though the tongue
of an adder [asp] is full of deadly Venom, while it liveth
in the body of the adder, yet, when it is taken from the
body of the adder, and dried, it loseth the Venom, and by
it is known when Venom “is present,—therefore in the
presence of Venom, such a tongue useth to sweat,—there-
fore such a tongue is accounted precious among treasures of

kings. Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. v. § 21.

Over and above the foresaid evils and passions, most
perilous death and evils hap and come to mankind by
wicked Venom. And for all kind of Venom is contrary to
the complexion of mankind, it slayeth suddenly, but
[unless] men have the sooner help and remedy. Some
Venom cometh of corruption of meat and drink ; and some
of biting of creeping worms and of adders, and of serpents,
and of other beasts, of whom their humours and teeth be
venomous to man’s body. Also some Venom is hot and
dry, as the Venom of an adder that hight viper, and other
such ; and some Venom is cold and dry, as the Venom of
scorpions; and some Venom is cold and moist, as the Venom
of attercops [spiders]. And the Venom of males is more
sharp and strong than the Venom of females, and yet the
female serpents have more teeth than males, and therefore
they be taken for the worse. Also the Venom of the old
serpents is worse than the Venom of the young; and of
great and long worse than of the short of the same kind.
Also the Venom of them that abide in hills and woods is
worse than of them which be nigh cliffs and banks of
waters. Venom of a cockatrice is so violent that it burneth
all thing, which it nigheth ; and so about his den and his
hole nothing waxeth green. One touched such a worm
with his spear in India, and forthwith fell down dead, and
his horse also. Also the Venom of a dragon is full
malicious, and his Venom! is most in the tail, and in the
gall. Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. vii. § 66.

VINE. | NATURAL HISTORY. 32

WHosokveER is stricken or hurt of any venomous worr
‘or other thing, or else bitten with a mad dog, let ther.
take heed diligently that the same thing that did hurt ther.
see them not until they ‘be perfectly whole. For th
Hebrew Physicians say that the party hurt shall then dic
or else be in peril afresh; yea, though they begin to wa
whole when they see them.

Lupton, “ Notable Things,” bk. v. § 72.

Vine.
Comepy or Errors, ii. 2, 176.

Vines be perched and railed and bound to trees that b
nigh to them. The crooks of the’Vines holdeth things tha
be nigh thereto, for [so that] boughs and branches of th
Vine should not be slacked far for the succour, and shaken
and disparpled [or “disparkled,” 7.e., “scattered ””], and hurlec
with blasts of wind, but they should so come to bear anc
save the fruit without peril. Rain gendereth and breedetl
certain worms and malshrags [caterpillars] and snails, tha
grow and fret burgeoning and leaves of the Vine, anc
leaveth lightly the Vine so spoiled, gnawn and eaten; anc
this evil breedeth in moist time, easy and soft. And o
evil blasts of winds cometh and breedeth as it were cob
webs, and beclippeth [surrounds] and wasteth the fruit, anc
burneth and grieveth it. Also the Vine hateth the radish
and all manner cole, and hateth also hazels, for when suc
be nigh to the Vines, then the Vines be ailing and sick
and nitre—much like to salt—alum and sea-water, and beans
and vetches, and namely [especially] in the last, cutting br
venom to Vines, and destroy them. [artholomew—faba
ac vicie putamina ultima et maxime interimentia vitium sun
venena.| And in some parts and countries be so grea
Vines, that they make images, posts and stocks of Vines
as it fareth in the image and mammet [idol—from Mahomet
Jupiter in the city of Populonia. And men stied [climbec
—Bartholomew| upon a Vine to the top of the temple o
Diana of Ephesus. Also posts and pillars made of suct
Vines dure and last without corruption long time. The
juice [of the Vine] with oil laid to an hairy place in «
plaster-wise doth away the hair. The rind of the Vine
doth away warts. Moreover the ashes of the Vine healett

328 SHAKESPEARE’S [VINEGAR.

with oil stinging of scorpions, and biting of hounds. Ashes
of the rind by itself restoreth and multiplieth hair that 1s
fallen. Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvii. § 177. .

[Evelyn (“Kalendarium Hortense”) mentions the following
sorts: Amboise, Frontignac (Grizzling, excellent, White, excel-
lent, Blue), Burgundian, Early Blue, Muscatel (Black, White,
excellent), Morillon, Chassela, Cluster- grape, Parsley, Raisin,
Bursarobe, Burlet, Corinth, Large Verjuice (excellent for sauces
and salleting).]

Sometimes there hath been tendrils of gold found in the
Vine ; whereof there hath been money coined. And in
Germany, within Danubia, Vines did bear little nails and
leaves of pure gold, which were given as presents to kings
and dukes. Lupton, ‘Notable Things,” bk. iv. § 42.

I muse not a little wherefore the planting of Vines should
be neglected in England.

Holinshed, “Description of Britain,” p. 110.

WititramM or Matmessury writes that Gloucestershire
yielded in his time plenty of Vines, abounding with grapes
of a pleasant taste, so as the wines made thereof were not
sharp, but almost as pleasant as the French wines; which
Camden thinks probable, there being many places still called
Vineyards, and attributes it rather to the inhabitants’ sloth-
fulness, than to the fault of the air or soil, that it yields not

wine at this day. :
Fynes Moryson, “Itinerary,” part i, pp. 138-9.

VY. Grape, Raisin, Wine.

Vinegar.
ii. Kinc Henry IV., ii. 1, 102,

Wine is first sweet and temperate in savour, and is
corrupt by long working of the sun or of the air, and by
long boiling, and turneth into sourness when it hath no
virtue by the which it may be kept and saved. And by
subtlety of the substance thereof, and by feebleness of the
coldness it thirleth [traverses] the body soon, and cometh
to the well worse place. And Vinegar helpeth against
venom and: also against venomous beasts which slayeth.

VINEYARD. | NATURAL HISTORY. 329

And strong Vinegar done upon iron or upon the cold
ground boileth and seetheth anon. Also Vinegar stauncheth
parbreaking [vomiting] and wambling, if the mouth and
the other part of the throat be washed therewith, and
thrown out again; and helpeth deaf ears, and openeth the
hearing and the ways; and sharpeth the sight of eyes.
And drasts [dregs] of Vinegar helpeth against the biting

of a wode hound, and of. the crocodile.
Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. x ii, 9788,

“How to make white of red Vinegar:—Fetch your Vinegar
at St. Katherine, a yroat a gallon”—[add a pottle of elder
flowers to six gallons of Vinegar. Renew every year with
fresh flowers and Vinegar (“Good Huswife’s Treasury,’ bk. vi.)].

Even now I strike his body to wound:
Behold, now his blood springs out on the ground.
(Stage-direction: A “ttle bladder of Vinegar pricked.)

“Lamentable Tragedy of Cambyses”;
so “Return from Parnassus,” i, 2. °

t

I wit sell her
For twopence a quart, Vinegar! Vinegar in a wheelbarrow!
Randolph, ‘Hey for Honesty,” etc., iv. 3.

Is your patent for making Vinegar confirm’d?.
Chapman, ‘‘ The Ball,” ii. 2.

Vineyard.

Measure For Measurg, iv. 1, 29, etc.
Vv. Vine.

A VaneyarD is busily tilled and kept, and oft visited
and overseen of the earth-tillers, and keepers of vines, that
they be not appaired [damaged] neither destroyed with
beasts, and a wait is there set in an high place to keep
the Vineyard, that the fruit be not destroyed, and is left
in winter, without keeper or. waiter. The smell of the
Vineyard that bloometh is contrary to all venomous things,
and therefore adders and serpents flee, and toads also, and
may not sustain and suffer the noble savour thereof.
Foxes lurk and hide themself under vine-leaves, and gnaw

330 SHAKESPEARE’S [VIOLET.

covetously and fret the grapes of the Vineyard, and namely
when the keepers and wardens be negligent and reckless ;
and it profiteth not that some unwise men doth, that close
within the Vineyard hounds, that be adversaries to foxes,
for few hounds so closed waste and destroy more grapes
than many foxes should destroy, that come and eat
thievishly. Therefore wise wardens of Vineyards be full
busy to keep that no swine nor tame hounds nor foxes
come into the Vineyard.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvii. § 180.

[Holinshed (‘‘ Description of Britain,” p. 111) notes that
there were enclosed parcels [2z.2., of land] almost in every
abbey yet called the vineyards, that Smithfield in the reign of
King Stephen was a profitable vineyard, and that the Isle of
Ely was in the first times of the Normans called L’Isle des
Vignes.]

Violet.

Vioter is a little herb in substance, and the flower
thereof smelleth most, and so the smell thereof abateth the
heat of the brain, and refresheth and comforteth the spirits
of feeling, and maketh sleep. And the more virtuous the
flower thereof is, the more it bendeth the head thereof
downward. Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvii, § 191.

Very many by these Violets receive ornament and
comely grace ; for there be made of them garlands for the
head, nosegays and posies; yea gardens themselves receive
by these the greatest ornament of all, chiefest beauty and
most gallant grace; for they admonish and stir up a man
to that which is comely and honest. The seed is good *
against the stinging of scorpions.

Gerard’s “ Herbal,” s.v., where he describes the purple
garden Violet, the white, the double: purple (or

white), the yellow (wild or mountain), and the dog
Violet.

I rHinx of kings’ favours as of a marigold flower, or
like the Violets in America, that in summer yield an
odoriferous smell, and in winter a most infectious savour.

‘“°A Knack to Know a Knave,”

VIPER. | NATURAL HISTORY. 33!

[Onions and Violets were conserved or pickled together in
alternate layers (Dawson, ‘“‘Good Huswife’s Jewel,” 1596).]

Viover is for faithfulness
Which in me shall abide;

Hoping likewise that from your heart
You will not let it slide.

“A Handful of Pleasant Delights” (1584), quoted by Malone,

Viper.
I am no viper, yet I feed
On mother’s flesh which did me breed.
Pericues, i. 1, 64.

VipeR is a manner kind of serpents that is full veno-
mous, and hath that name for he bringeth forth brood
by strength; for when her womb draweth to the time of
whelping, the whelps abideth not convenable time nor kind
passing, but gnaweth and fretteth the sides of their mother,
and they come so into this world with strength and with
the death of the mother. The male doth his mouth into
the mouth of the female, and she waxeth wode in liking,
and biteth off the head of the male, and so both father
and mother are slain. Of this serpent be made pasties
[lozenges], of the which is made treacle, that is remedy
against venom. And this adder Viper sustaineth and may
bear hunger long time in a strong winter ; and cometh to
the den under earth, and casteth first away his venom, and:
doth sleep there until springing-time come again. And
when the pores of the earth open, then by heat of the
sun this serpent Viper awaketh and cometh out of his den,
and for his sight is appaired [impaired] by the long —
abiding under the earth, he seeketh the root of fennel or
the herb of it, and washeth his dim eyes with the juice
thereof to recover his sight which he hath lost. And
Tyrus is a manner serpent that hight Viper also, and
great serpents flee this serpent Tyrus, though he be little ;
and all his body is rough, and when he biteth any thing,
all that is about the thing rotteth anon. And among all
serpents the kind of Viper is worst, and when he would
ender, he wooeth a manner lamprey, and cometh to the
brink of the water, that he troweth that lamprey is in,

332 SHAKESPEARE'’S [ VIPER.

and calleth her to him with hissing, and exciteth and
wooeth her to byclipping [embracing]; and this lamprey
cometh anon; and anon as the Viper seeth that she is
ready, he casteth away all his venom, and goeth then, and
byclippeth the lamprey; and when the deed is done,
then he drinketh and taketh again the venom which he
had cast away, and so turneth again to his den with his
venom. Also this adder Viper swalloweth a certain stone,
and some men [Scythians] knoweth that, and openeth slily
the serpent, and taketh out that stone, and useth it against
venom. Also if the dragon or the adder which hight asp
biteth a man or a beast, the head of the adder Viper
healeth him and saveth him, if it be laid to the wound.
And againward, the flesh of the adder asp ofttimes healeth
and saveth him that the adder viper stingeth, and draweth
out the venom. Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xviii. § 317.

Tue Viper hath no ears. It conceiveth at the mouth.
Vipers sometimes eat scorpions, and in Arabia they not
only delight in the sweet juice of Balsam, but also in the
shadow of the same; but above all kinds of drink they
are most insatiable of wine. It is certain and well known
what great enmity is betwixt mankind and Vipers, for the
one always hateth and feareth the other; wherefore, if a
man take a Viper by the neck, and spit in his mouth, if
the spittle slide down into his belly, it dieth thereof and
rotteth as it were in a consumption. Vipers also are
enemies to oxen, also to hens and geese, likewise to the
dormouse ; when the Viper cometh to the nest of a dor-
mouse, and findeth there her young ones, she putteth out
all their eyes, and afterwards feedeth them very fat, yet
killeth every day one, as occasion of hunger serveth; but
if in the meantime a man or any other creature do chance
to eat of those dormice, whose eyes are so put out by the
Viper, they are poisoned thereby. There is a kind of
harmless serpent called Parea, which is an enemy unto
Vipers and killeth them. A Viper climbed up into a tree
to the nest of a magpie, whereupon the old one was
sitting ; this poor pie did fight with the Viper, until the
Viper took her fast by the thigh, so as she could fight no
more, yet she ceased not to chatter and cry out to her
fellows to come and help her, whereupon the male pie

VIPER. | NATURAL HISTORY. 333

came, and seeing his female so gripped by the Viper, he
ceased not to peck upon his head until the brains came
out, and so the Viper fell down dead. The scorpions and
the Vipers are enemies one to another. The tortoise of
the earth is ‘also an enemy to the Viper, and the Viper to
it, wherefore if it can get origan, or wild savory, or rue,
it eateth thereof, and then is nothing afraid to fight with
the Viper, but if the tortoise can find none of these, then
they die incontinently by the poison of the Viper, and of
this there hath been trial. Garlic is poison to the Viper,
and therefore having tasted thereof she dieth, except she
eat some rue. A Viper being struck with a reed once, it
amazeth her, and maketh her senseless, but being struck
the second time, she recovereth and runneth away; and
the like is reported of the beech-tree, saving that it slayeth
the Viper, and she is not able to go from it. If you lay
fire on the one side, and a piece of yew on the other side,
and then place a Viper in the middle betwixt them both,
she will rather choose to run through the fire, than to go
over the branches of yew. The Viper is also afraid of
mustard-seed, for, it being laid in her path, she flieth from
it, and, if she taste of it, she dieth. If the hands or the
body of a man be anointed with the juice of the root of
Arum, the Viper will never bite him ; the like is reported
of the juice of Dragons, expressed out of the leaves, fruit,
or root. Also if a Viper do behold a good smaragd
[emerald], her eyes will melt and fall out of her head.
But the Viper is most delighted with vetches and the
savine-tree. When the male misseth the female, he seeketh
her out very diligently, and with a pleasing and flattering
noise calleth for her, and when he perceiveth she ap-
proacheth, he casteth up all his venom, as it were in rever-
ence of matrimonial dignity. In Egypt they eat Vipers
and divers other serpents, with no more difficulty than they
would do eels, so do many people both in the Eastern and
Western parts of the New-found-lands. Whose diet of
eating Vipers I do much pity, if the want of other food
constrain them thereunto; but if it arise from the insatiable
and greedy intemperancy of their own appetites, I judge
them eager of dainties, which adventure for it at such a
market of poison. A mountain-viper chased a man so
hardly that he was forcea to take a tree, unto the which

334 SHAKESPEARE’S [ VULTURE.

when the Viper was come, and could not climb up to
utter her malice upon the man, she emptied the same upon
the tree, and by and by after, the man in the tree died,
by the savour and secret operation of the same. If a man
chance to tread upon the reins of a Viper unawares, it
paineth him more than any venom, for it spreadeth itself
over all the body incurably ; and the mushrooms or toad-
stools which grow near the dens and lodgings of Vipers
are also found to be venomous. The eating of Vipers is
an admirable remedy against leprosy. [He narrates several
instances, in one of which a leprous woman was not only
cured of her leprosy, but ‘soon after conceived a man-
child, having been barren before the space of 40 years.”’|
The skin of the Viper beaten to powder and laid upon the
places where the hair is fallen, it doth wonderfully restore
hair again. Tipsell, “History of Serpents,” pp. 800-10.

Ir would infect the genius of the air
With mists contagious (as if compos’d
Of Viper-steam ).
Glapthorne, “The Hollander,” iii. 1.

VY. Serpent.

Vulture.
Merry Wives or Winpsor, i. 3, 94. |

Tue Vulture hath that name of slow flight, for of the
plenteousness of much flesh, he lacketh swiftness of flight.
And some men tell that she conceiveth and is conceived,
and gendereth and is gendered without joining of treading ;
and they tell that they live an hundred years. This bird
is cruel about his own birds, as the kite is; and if she
seeth her birds too fat, she beateth them with her feet and
bill to make them lean. Also in this bird the wit of
smelling is best; and therefore by smelling he savoureth
carrions that be far from him, that is beyond the sea; and
againward [i.e., vice versd]. And the Vulture fighteth with
the gentle falcon, and fleéth about him, and when he hath
overcome him he dieth. And he hunteth from mid-day to
night ; and resteth still from the sun-rising to that time.
And when he ageth, his over bill waxeth long and crooked
over the nether, and dieth at the last for hunger. Also

WALNUT. | NATURAL HISTORY. 335

the Vulture is a much stinking fowl, and unclean. And
the Vulture is contrary to serpents ;—for if his feathers be
burnt, the smell thereof driveth away serpents. And the
heart thereof maketh a man sicher [secure] and safe that
beareth it among serpents and wild beasts. The heart
bound in a lion’s skin, or in a wolf’s skin, driveth away
fiends. His right foot bound to the left foot healeth that
acheth ; the left foot also healeth the right foot. His
tongue plucked out with iron, and hanged about a man’s
neck in new cloth, maketh a man gracious to get of a
man what he desireth. Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xii. § 35.

Wall-newt.
Kine Lear, iii, 4, 135.

V. Lizard.
Walnut.

Merry Wives or Winpsor, iv. 2, 170.

In great French nuts generally the shape of the cross is
printed within, as they know well that take heed thereto.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvii. § 108.

Dry Nuts taken fasting with a fig and a little rue
withstand poison, prevent and preserve the body from the
infection of the plague. The green and tender nuts boiled
in sugar, and eaten as sucket, are a most pleasant and
delectable meat, and expel poison. The oil of Walnuts
made in such manner as oil of almonds maketh smooth
the hands and face, and taketh away scales or scurf, black
and blue marks that come of stripes or bruises. With
onions, salt and honey, they are good against the biting of
a mad dog or man, if they be laid upon the wound.

Gerard’s “ Herbal,” sa.
1

[A recipe for confection of Walnuts is given in the second
part of “The Good Huswife’s Jewel,” p. 40.]

Apverse and contrary Walnuts are to the nature of
onions, and do keep down and repress their strong smell
which riseth from them, after a man hath eaten them.
The shell of a Walnut is good to burn or sear an hollow

336 SHAKESPEARE’S [ WARDEN.

tooth; the same being burnt, pulverised and incorporate -
with oil or wine serveth to anoint the heads of young.
babes for to make the hair grow thick; and in that
manner it is used to bring the hair again of elder folk, »
when through some infirmity it is shed.
Hollana’s Pliny, bk, xxiii. ch. xviii.

Ir an oak be set near unto a Walnut-tree, it will not
live. Ibid, bk. xxiv. ch. 1.

Warden.

Winter's Tae, iv. 3, 20.

Fruits in Prime or yet lasting :—Pears :—Warden (to
bake); white, red and French Wardens (to bake or
roast), etc.

Evelyn's “Kalendarium Hortense,” November and December.

: Lewes Warden (best without compare).
Ibid., “ Catalogue of Pears.”

WaRDEN in mince-pies.
“Good Huswife’s Treasury.”

To conserve Wardens all the year in syrup.
Second part of “ The Good Huswife’s Jewel,” p. 38.

For tart-stuff either Wardens, barberries, or damsons.
“Good Huswife’s Treasury,” p. 7, a.

I woutp have him roasted like a Warden
In brown paper.

Beaumont and Fletcter, “Cupid’s Revenge,” iv. 2.

Wasp.

TAMING OF THE SHREW, ii. I, 210, etc.

He is a political and flocking or gregal creature, subject
to monarchy, of a very quarrelsome disposition, and very
prone to choler. Isidore affirms that Wasps come out of
the putrefied carcase of asses, although he may be mis-

WATER-RUG. | NATURAL HISTORY. 337

taken; for all agree that the scarabees [beetles] are procreated
from them; rather I am of opinion that they are sprung
from the dead bodies of horses,—for the horse is a valiant
and warlike creature. Other sorts of them are produced
out of the putrid corpse of the crocodiles. Wasps come
out of the putrefaction of an old deer’s head, flying some-
times out of the head, sometimes out of. the nostrils. Also
Wasps are begotten of the earth and rottenness of some
kind of fruits. The Wasps called Ichneumons are less than
the rest; they kill spiders, and carry them into their nests,
and daub them over with dirt, and so sitting upon them
do procreate their own species. Of the Wasps as well wild
as tame some have no sting; also very many of them that
have stings lose them upon the approach of winter. They
feed on flesh of serpents and then they sting mortally.
They themselves are a plaister for their own stings, The
distilled water of common Wasps applied to the belly makes
it’ swell as if it had the dropsy, by which trick [the guile-
less man is deceived by the designing woman]. The Wasp
will not come near any man that is anointed with oil and
the juice of mallows.
Thos. Mouffet, “ Theatre of Insects,” pp. 921-6.

Tue Wasp scorns that flower from which she hath fetched
her wax. « Euphues’ Golden Legacy.”

Wasps feeding on serpents make their stings more
venomous. Lilly, “Sappho and Phaon,” iii. 3.

V. Fly.

W ater-rat.

MercuanT OF VENICE, i. 3, 23.

Warter-rar. V, Otter. Minshex’s Dictionary, s.v.

Tue Water-rat hunteth fishes in the winter.
Topsell, “ Four-footed Beasts,” p. 404.

Water-rug.

Macsety, iii. 1, 94.

[Probably a rough-haired water-dog; perhaps a water-spaniel.]
22

338 SHAKESPEARE'S [WATER-SPANIEL.

Water-spaniel.

Two GenTLemen oF Verona, lil. I, 271.

Tuery use to shear their hinder-parts, that so they may
be the less annoyed in swimming.
Topsell, ** Four-footed Beasts,” p. 122.

Wiru these dogs we fetch out of the water such fowl as
be stung to death by any venomous worm.
Ibid., p. 134.

Wax.

Wax is the drasts [dregs] of honey, and within the
substance thereof be gathered the liquors of honey meddled
with the drasts of Wax. ‘Tables be filled and dressed with
Wax, simple or coloured, and therein be letters and divers
figures and shapes written or planed by the office of
pointels [points]. And for divers uses linen cloths be
waxed. And Wax keepeth and saveth books from rain

and from water. Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xix. § 61.

He’s a man of wax.
Romeo anp JULIET, i. 3, 75.

I cannot blame you for loving of Sophos ;
Why, he’s a man as one should picture him in Wax.

“Wily Beguiled.”

O root! O leg! O hand! O body! face!
By Jove, it is a little man of Wax!
Nat. Field, “A Woman is a Weathercock,” i, 2.

WuEen he is in his scarlet clothes, he looks like a man
of Wax, and J had as lief have a dog 0’ Wax; I do not
think but he lies in a case o’ nights.

Ibid, “Amends for Ladies,” iii, 3.

Weasel.
As You Lixe Ir, i. 5, 13,

Tue Weasel is as it were a long mouse. This beast
hath a guileful wit, and nourisheth her kittens, and beareth

WEASEL. | ' NATURAL HISTORY. 339 |

them from place to place, and changeth place and dwelling,
for her nest should not be found. The Weasel pursueth
and eateth serpents, and hateth and eateth mice. And their.
opinion is false that mean that Weasels conceive at mouth,
and kitteneth at the ear. And if the Weasel’s kittens fall
by any hap in chines or in pits, and be hurt or dead, the
Weasel healeth them with a certain herb, and reareth them
from death to life. And eateth rue, and balmeth herself
with the juice thereof, and reseth [rages] then on the
cockatrice, and assaileth, and slayeth him without any dread
boldly. The Weasel knoweth soon of the cockatrice, and

goeth into his den and slayeth him there. And is a beast
that sleepeth much, and waxeth fat with sleep, and hath
gall that helpeth much against adders. And so if a man
fall into lethargy, the sleeping evil, by venom of an adder,
the ashes of a Weasel, tempered with drops of water, dis-
solveth and destroyeth the strength and might of the sleep.
His biting is malicious and venomous.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xviii. § 74.

Ir Weasels come unto dead men they will pull out their
eyes. Hunters hold opinion here in England that, if they
meet with a Weasel in the morning, they shall not speed

340 SHAKESPEARE’S [WETHER.

well that day. They have knowledge like mice and rats
to run out of houses before their downfall. If the powder
of a Weasel be given unto a cock, chickens or pigeons,
they shall never be annoyed by Weasels. Likewise if the
brain of a Weasel be mingled with a rennet in cheeses, it
keepeth them from being touched with mice, or corrupted
with age. The powder thereof mixed with water. driveth
away mice. If one of their tails be cut off, all the residue
do forsake the house. The whelp of a Weasel doth cure
the venomous bitings of the shrew. The biting of a Weasel
is cured by onions and garlic, either applied outward or
taken in drink, so that the party drink sweet wine thereon.
Sometimes the Weasel biteth some cattle, which presently
killeth them, except there be some instant remedy. If they
be rubbed with a Weasel’s skin, they are instantly healed.

Topsell, “ Four-footed Beasts,” pp. 562-8.

Ir the heart of a Weasel be eaten while still palpitating,
it makes a man know future events, and if any man eat
of its heart with the eyes and tongue of a dog, he will
forthwith lose his voice.

Albertus Magnus, “Of the Virtues of Animals.”

Wether.

Winter’s Tate, iv. 3, 33.

V. Sheep.

Whale.

Aut’s We.t TrHat Enps WELL, iv. 3, 249.

Wuew the Whale hungereth sore, he casteth out of his
mouth a vapour, that smelleth as the smell of amber; and
' fish have liking in that smell, and for the odour and smell
of that vapour, they go into the Whale’s mouth, and be
so deceived and eaten. Also in this fish earthy matter hath
more mastery than watery, and therefore he is soon great
and fat; and so in age for greatness of body, on his ridge
[back bone] powder [dust] and earth is gathered, and so
digged together that herbs and small trees and bushes grow
thereon; so that that great fish seemeth an island. And
if shipmen come unwarily thereby, unneath [hardly] they

WHALE. | NATURAL HISTORY. 341

scape without peril,—for he throweth so much water out of
his mouth upon the ship, that he overturneth it sometime or-
drowneth it. And also he is so huge in quantity that when
he is taken, all the country is the better for the taking.
Also he loveth his whelps with a wonder love, and leadeth
them about in the sea long time. And if it happeth that his
whelps be let with heaps of gravel and by default of water, he
taketh much water in his mouth, and ‘throweth upon them,
and delivereth them in that wise out of peril. And he setteth

them alway between himself and the sun on the more sicher
[safe] side. And when strong tempest ariseth, while his
whelps be tender and young, he swalloweth them up into
his own womb; and when the tempest is gone and fair
weather come, then he casteth them up whole and sound.
Also against the Whale fighteth a fish of serpent’s kind,
and is venomous, as a crocodile ; and then other fish come
to the Whale’s tail, and if the Whale be overcome, the
other fish die. And if the venomous fish may not over-
come the Whale, then he throweth out of his jaws into the
water a fumous smell most stinking; and the Whale

342 SHAKESPEARE'S [WHEAT.

throweth out of his mouth a_ sweet-smelling smoke, and
putteth off the stinking smell, and defendeth and saveth
himself and his in that manner wise.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xiii. § 29.

Wheat.

TEMPEST, iv. I, 61,

Wuen Wheat is gathered, some of the straw is burnt to
help and amend the land; and some is kept to fodder of
beasts, for it is first meat that is laid tofore beasts. And
the kind thereof is cold, that it suffereth not snow that
falleth to shed, and is so hot that it compelleth apples for
to ripen. Of corrupt dew, that cleaveth to the leaves,
“cometh corruption in corn, and maketh it as it were red or
rusty. And among all manner corn Wheat beareth the
price, and to mankind nothing is more friendly, nothing
more nourishing. Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvii. § 65.

Or Wheat is double kind,—one manner kind is red
without and sharp at either end, cloven in the side, and
is most white within, and heavy in weight, and that manner
of Wheat is best; the other manner Wheat is yellow
without, and clear and white within, and is light and not

WILLOW. | NATURAL HISTORY. 343

easily broken. Grains of Wheat chewed helpeth against the
biting of a wode hound, for it draweth out the venom.
Also bran of Wheat nourisheth little or else right nought.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvii. § 168.

Whelp.
i, Kinc Henry VIL, iv. 7, 35.

Wuextps be the children of hounds, Hounds’ Whelps
be whelped with sawing teeth though they be full small.
And all beasts that have teeth like a saw and departed be
gluttons and fight, as the hound, the wolf, the lion, the
panther and such other ; and all such beasts gender imper-
fect broods, and the cause is gluttony, for if she should
abide until the Whelps were complete and perfect, they
should slay the mother with strong sucking, and therefore
it needeth that kind be hasty and speedful in such beasts.
And authors command to take sucking Whelps wholesomely
against venomous bitings, for such Whelps opened and laid
hot to the biting of serpents draw out venom. And though
they be melancholy beasts of quality and of complexion,
yet they be quiver and swift by disposition of numbers, and
be glad and merry, and play much, and that is because of

their age. Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xviii. § 28.
Wild-duck.
i. Kinc Henry IV., ii. 2, 103, iv. 2, 20.
V. Duck.
Wild-Goose.

i. Kino Henry IV., ii. 4, 1£2.

V, Goose.
Willow.

OTHELLO, iv. 3, 28, etc.

Wittow is a pliant tree and a nesh [soft], and according
to binding and railing of vines and vine-branches. This
tree hath no fruit but only seed or flower. And the seed
thereof is of this virtue, that if a man drink of it, he shall
get no sons, but only barren daughters. [Query, whether

344 _ SHAKESPEARE’S [WINE.

this theory is the reason why the Willow is the badge of
the forsaken lover?] Of Willows be perches made and
rails for vines. Of the rinds be made bonds and hoops.
And [another kind of] Willows be less and more pliant,
and therewith men bind wine-pipes and tuns. And of the
third kind of Willows be made divers needful things to
household, as stools, seats, paniers and cups. Oft in the
hollowness thereof lieth venomous worms, as adders and
serpents, and therefore it is not sicher [safe] to sleep under
the Willow-tree. Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk, xvii. § 144.

[Gerard has engravings of seven sorts of Willows, including
the osier or water-willow.]

Berne pilled they are excellent good for the more delicate
sort of wicker-ware, and better far than stubborn leather ;
but principally for leaning-chairs, wherein a man or woman
may gently take a nap, sitting at ease, and reposing most
sweetly. Hollana’s Pliny, bk. xvi. ch, xxxvii.

[Evelyn (‘ Silva,’ p. 101) enumerates twenty-two kinds of
“Willow, withy, sallow and osier.” He thinks that the in-
genious house-wife might make of the willow, cotton, cushions,
and pillows of chastity. From the osier Evelyn says are made
“baskets, flaskets, hampers, cages, lattices, cradles, and the
bodies of coaches and waggons, for which ’tis of excellent use,
light, durable and neat, as it may be wrought and covered,—
chairs, hurdles, stays, bands, fish-wives, and for all wicker and
twiggy works.”]

Wine.

Tue worthiness and praising of Wine might not Bacchus
himself describe at the full, though he were alive; for
among all liquors and juice of trees, Wine beareth the price,
for passing all liquors Wine moderately drunken most com-
forteth the body, and gladdeth the heart, and healeth and
saveth wounds and evils. Wine heateth cold bodies, and
cooleth hot bodies, and moisteth dry bodies, and abateth and
drieth moist bodies. And in Wine take heed of these
things :—of the liquor, of colour, of savour and smell. Of
colours of Wine be four manners, white, black, citron
Lyellow], and red. Bartholomew Berthelet), bk. xvii. § 184.

wint,] NATURAL HISTORY. 345

Rep Wine that is full red as blood is most strong, and
maketh strong drunkenness, and needeth therefore to be right
well watered. And such Wine turneth soon to blood because
of likeness that it hath with blood in liquor, savour and
colour. Also Wine turneth the soul out of cruelness into
mildness, out of covetise into largeness,.out of pride into
meekness, and out of dread into boldness. The drunklew
[drunken] man’s face is pale, his cheeks hang, his eyes be
full of whelks and pimples and of blearedness. The drunk-
lew man’s hands tremble and shake, and his tongue is
bounden and knit, and his stomach bolketh and giveth up
in the morrow-tide some foul and abhominable stinking
thing, as it were a pit, wherein some dead carrion lieth, and
feeleth and is grieved with sore pricking and aching in his
head. And the palate or roof of the mouth waxeth bitter
by choler, that is heat; by hot fumosity of kind, the throat
is tormented with dryness, burning and thirst ; and Wine-
drunken men fare as the worms that suck blood, for ever
the more the Wine-drunken man drinketh, the more he is
athirst. And if Wine be oft taken, anon the body abideth
as it were a-ship in the sea without stern [rudder] and
without lodesman, and as chivalry without prince or duke.
Therefore the drunken man favoureth the thing that should
not be favoured, and granteth that should not be granted,
and praiseth that should not be praised, and maketh of wise
men fools, and of good men and well-willed, drunkenness
maketh evil men and wicked.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvii. § 185.

Wine made is made by craft of good spicery and herbs,
and such Wines be wholesome and liking, when wholesome
‘spicery and herbs be incorporate therein in due manner ,
for virtue of spicery keepeth and saveth wines that they be
not soon corrupt. Ibid., § 187,

TuE juice of grapes is called in English Wine. For cer-
tain other juices, as of apples, pomegranates, pears, medlars,
or services, or such as otherwise made (for example’s sake)
of barley and grain, be not at all simply called Wines, but
with the name of the thing added whereof they do consist
—the Wine which is pressed forth of the pomegranate
berries is Wine of pomegranates, out of pears, perry, and

346 . SHAKESPEARE’S [ WOLF.

that which is compounded of barley is called barley-wine
—in English, ale or beer. Wine is a remedy against taking
of hemlock ,or green coriander, the juice of black poppy,
wolf’s-bane and leopard’s-bane, toad-stools, and other cold
poisons, and also against the biting of serpents, and stings
of venomous beasts, that hurt and kill by cooling.

Gerara’s “ Herbal,” s.v, “Vine.”

[Among the Wines mentioned by Elizabethan dramatists
are: Sack, Claret, Charneco, Canary, Palermo, Sherry, Greek,
Spanish, Orleans, French, Vino de Monte, Cyprus, Candy,
Graves, Saragossa, Pedro Ximenes (Peter-see-me), Bordeaux,
De Clare, Corsican, Malmsey, Hypocras (a compound of Wine
and herbs), Lentica, Muscadine, Whippincrust, Rhenish, Lesbian,
Drum-wine, White Muscadel, Merry-go-round (slang for wine?),
Alicant, Aristippus, Cherally, Madeira, Malaga, Nipitato,
Verdea, Fontiniac, Gascon, Nectarella, Deal, Back-rag, Medea,
Tunis, and Bastard (white and brown), etc.

Wine was mixed with sugar (g.v.), amber (Beaumont and
Fletchers “Custom of the Country,” Bex Jonson's ‘ Magnetic
Lady”), with rose-water and sugar, to correct hardness (“ London
Prodigal’’), eggs, carduus (as a cure for obesity, Beaumont and
Fletcher's “Philaster”), and borage (“Trial of Treasure’). It
was also mulled or burnt. From a pint to a gallon was the
allowance for a man.

“The Widow’s Treasure” gives a-test for the purity of Wine,
viz., that ripe mulberries or a pear clean pared swim in pure
Wine, and sink in watered Wine.]

THE vintners sold no other sacks, Muscadels, Malmsies,
Bastards, Alicants, nor any other Wines but white and
claret, till the 33rd year of King Henry VIII. (1543). All
those sweet Wines were sold till that time at the apothe-
caries’ for no other use but for medicines.

Fobn Taylor, “The Old, Old, Very Old Man,”
(Life of Thomas Parr).

Wolf.

Tue Wolf hath virtue in his feet, as the lion hath, and
so what he treadeth with his feet liveth not. Churls speak
of him and say, that a man loseth his voice if the Wolf
seéth him first; and certainly, if he know that he is seen
first, he loseth his boldness, hardiness and fierceness. The
Wolf may not dure with hunger long time, and devoureth
much after long fasting. In Ethiopia be Wolves with hair

WoLr. | NATURAL HISTORY. 347

and manes in the neck, and be so speckled, and have so
many diverse colours, that they lack no manner colour.
Wolves of Africa be nice and little. In Ind is a Wolf
that hath three rows of teeth above, and hath feet like a
lion, and face as a man, and tail as a scorpion, and his
voice is as it were a man’s voice, and dreadful as a
trumpet ; and the beast is swift as an hart, and is right
fierce and cruel, and eateth men. Also Wolves, when they
flee, bear with them their whelps, and eat Origanum, and
chew it when they go out of their dens, and to whet and
sharp their teeth with. Also the Wolf loveth well to play
with a child, if he may take him, and slayeth him after-
ward, and eateth him at the last. If the Wolf be stoned,
he taketh heed of him that throweth the first stone, and if
that stone grieveth him, he will slay him, and if it grieveth
him not, and he may take him that throweth that stone,
he doth him not much harm, but some harm he doth him,
as it were in wrath, and leaveth him at last. And the
entrails of Wolves be right. feeble, and take soon corruption,
when they be wounded, and the other deal of the body
suffereth many strokes, and hath great strength in the neck
and in the head. Also the Wolf desireth kindly to eat
fish, and eateth the filth that fishers throw out of their
nets; and when he findeth nothing to eat that the fishers
leave, then he goeth to their nets, and breaketh and rendeth
them. The virtue and strength of Wolves is in the breast
and in the claws, and in the mouth, and least in the
hinder parts. And the Wolf may not bend his neck back-
ward in no month of the year, but in May alone, when
it thundereth ; and hath a cruel wariness, so that he taketh
no prey of meat nigh to the place where he nourisheth
his whelps, but he hunteth in places that be far thence.
And when he goeth by night for to take his prey, if it
happeth in any wise, that his foot maketh noise treading
upon any thing, then he chastiseth that foot with hard
biting. His eyes shine by night as lanthorns. And he
beareth in his tail a lock of hair that exciteth love,—and
doth it away with his teeth when he dreadeth to be taken.
The Wolf dreadeth greatly stones, so that if a man take
two stones, and smite them together, the Wolf loseth bold-
ness and hardiness, and fleéth away, if the noise of the
stones cometh to his hearing. The Wolf eateth earth when

348 SHAKESPEARE'S [wour.

he findeth none other prey; and deceiveth sheep more with
guile and wrenches [tricks] than with might and strength.
He infecteth the wool of the sheep that hé slayeth, and his
biting maketh the cloth lousy, that is made of that wool.
Also a string made of a Wolf’s gut, put among. harp-
strings made of the guts of sheep, destroyeth and corrupteth
them, as the eagle's feathers put among culver’s pilleth
and gnaweth them, if they be there left together long in
one place. Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xviii. § 71.

A Wo tr doth fear greatly stones; therefore when he is
constrained to go by stony places, he treads very demurely
or softly; for being hurt with a very little stroke of a
stone, it breeds worms, wherof at length he is consumed,

or brought to his death.
Lupton, ‘Notable Things,” bk. v. § 3.

Tue dung of a Wolf, being hidden in a stable or house,
where cattle be, especially sheep, it will not only make
them leave from eating their meat, but also it will cause
them to stir up and down, and to bleat, or to make a
noise, and also to quake and tremble, as though their
devouring enemy the Wolf were there present. Neither
will they cease from doing this, until they feel or perceive
that the said dung is taken away (Mzzaldus).

Ibid, bk. vi. § 80.

A Wotr first seeing a man doth lift up his voice, and
as a victor doth despise him; but if he perceive that the
man hath espied him first, he lays away his fierceness, and
cannot run. Ibid., bk. viii. § 2.

Ir the head of a Wolf be hanged in a. dove-house,
neither cats, weasels, nor any thing that will hurt pigeons
will enter therein. Ibid., bk, ii, § 78.

Betis covered with the skin of a Wolf do drown the
sound of other bells that are covered with the skin of a

lamb. Ibid., § 92.

WHOSOEVER anoints his feet or hands with the grease
of a Wolf, he shall not be hurt with any cold of his
hands or feet so anointed (Mizaldus). Ibid. bk. iii, § 44. :

WOLF, | NATURAL HISTORY. 349

Men in ancient time did fasten upon the gates of their
towns the heads of Wolves,—thereby to put away witchery,
sorcery or enchantment. Which many hunters observes or
do at this day, but to what use they know not.

Lupton, “ Notable Things,” bk. iii. § 5.

Ir the tail of a Wolf be buried or put in the ground
of any town or village, no Wolf will enter in that town
or village. Ibid., § 20.

Ir one make a little rope of the guts of a Wolf, and
then bury the same under the sand or earth, there will
neither horse nor sheep go that way, though you beat
them with a staff. Ibid. bk. ix. § 98.

Tuey say there is antipathy between Wolves, and squill-
roots. Camden's “ Britannia,” col. 907 (ed. 1722).

Tue Wolves of Scanzia, by reason of extremity of cold
in those parts, are blind and lose their eyes. The golden
Wolf is exceeding strong, especially being able with his
mouth and teeth to bite asunder not only stones but brass
and iron. In the Dog-days he hideth himself in some pit
or gaping of the earth, until that sunny heat be abated.
There be some have thought that dogs and Wolves are
one kind: namely that vulgar dogs are tame Wolves, and
ravening Wolves are wild dogs. But Scaliger hath learnedly
confuted this opinion, shewing that they are two distinct
kinds, not joined together in nature, nor in any natural
action. The brains of a Wolf do decrease and increase
with the moon. The neck of a Wolf is short which
argueth a treacherous nature. If the heart of a Wolf be
kept dry, it rendereth a most pleasant or sweet-smelling
savour. They will go into the water two by two, every
one hanging upon another’s tail, which they take in their
mouths, Wolves do also eat a kind of earth called 4rgilla,
which they do not for hunger, but to make their bellies
weigh heavy, to the intent, that when they set upon an
horse, an ox, a hart, an elk, or some such strong beast,
they may hang fast at their throats till they have pulled
them down, for by virtue of that tenacious earth, their teeth
are sharpened, and the weight of their bodies increased ;
but when they have killed the beast before they touch

459 SHAKESPEARE’S [woLr.

any part of his flesh, they empty their bellies of the earth
as unprofitable food. If there be many of them, in hunting
together they equally divide the prey among them ll.
One saw a Wolf in a wood take in his mouth a piece of
timber of some 30 or 40 pound weight, and with that he
did practise to leap over the trunk of a tree that lay upon
the earth; at length when he perceived his own ability and
dexterity in leaping with that weight in his mouth, he did
there make his cave and lodged behind that tree. At last
it fortuned there came a wild sow to seek for meat along
by that tree, with divers of her pigs following her, of
different age, some a year old, some half a year, and some
less) When he saw them near him, he suddenly set upon
one of them, which he conjectured was about the weight
of wood which he carried in his mouth, and when he had
taken him, whilst the old sow came to deliver her pig at
his first crying, he suddenly leaped over the tree with the
pig in his mouth, and the poor sow could not leap after
him, and yet might stand and see the Wolf to eat the pig
which he had taken from her. When they will deceive
goats, they come unto them with the green leaves and
small boughs of osiers in their mouths, wherewithal they
know goats are delighted, that so they may draw them
therewith, as to a bait to devour them. Their manner is
when they fall upon a goat or a hog, not to kill them,
but to lead them by the ear with all the speed they can
drive them to their fellow-Wolves; and if the beast be
stubborn, and will not run with him, then he beateth his
hinder-parts with his tail, holding his ear fast in his mouth. |
But if it be a swine that is so gotten, then they lead him
to the waters, and there kill him, for if they eat him not
out of cold water, their teeth doth burn with an untolerable
heat. If a horse tread upon the footsteps of a Wolf which
is under a horse-man or rider, he breaketh in pieces, or
else standeth amazed, If a Wolf treadeth in the foot-steps
of a horse which draweth a waggon, he cleaveth fast in the
road as if he were frozen. The Wolf is afraid of a sea-
crab or shrimp. If a man anoint himself with the fat or
suet taken out of the reins of a licn, it will drive away
from him all kinds of Wolves. The Ravens are in per-
petual enmity with Wolves, and the antipathy of their
natures is so violent that if a raven eat of the carcase of
a beast which the Wolf hath killed, or formerly tasted of,

woopcock.]| | NATURAL HISTORY. 351

she presently dieth. The sea-onion of all other things is
hateful to a Wolf, and by treading on it his leg falleth
into a cramp; the Wolf is an enemy to the fox and turtle,
and in their absence from their nests, they leave this onion
in the mouth thereof, as a sure guard to keep their young
ones from the Wolf. A she-Wolf the: first year littereth’
one whelp, the second year two, the third year three, and
so observeth the same proportion unto nine, after which
she groweth barren; and when she bringeth her young ones
to the water, if any of them lap water like a dog, him.
she rejecteth as unworthy of her parentage, but those which
suck their water like a swine, or bite at it like a bear,
them she taketh to her, and nourisheth very carefully. Ot
dogs and Wolves cometh the panther, of the hyena and
the Wolf come the Thoes, and the hyena itself seemeth
to be compounded of a Wolf and a fox. The skin of a
Wolf being tasted of those which are bit of a mad or
ravenous dog doth preserve them from the fear or hazard
of falling into water. If any labouring or travelling man
doth wear the skin of a Wolf about his feet, his shoes
shall never pain or trouble him. He which doth eat the
skin of a Wolf well tempered and sodden will keep him
from all evil dreams, and cause him to take his rest quietly.
The teeth of a Wolf being rubbed upon the gums of young
infants doth open them whereby the teeth may the easier
come forth. Topsell, ‘‘Four-footed Beasts,” pp. 568-84.

Ir any man bind the right eye of a Wolf on his right
sleeve, neither men nor dogs can hurt him.
Albertus Magnus, “ Of the Virtues of Animals.”
Woodbine.

Mucu Avo asout Notuina, iii, 1, 30.

‘[Honeysuckle ; but in “ Midsummer Night’s Dream,” iv. 1, 47,
Nares thinks it is used for bindweed or convolvulus.] :

Woodcock.

O this woodcock ! what an ass it is!
TaMING OF THE SHREW, 1. 2.

Tut Woodcock strives to hide his long bill, and then
thinks nobody sees him.
Dean Swift, “Polite Conversation,” dialogue i,

[Jonston, “Natural History of Birds,” ch. iv. (1657), says that
it was popularly supposed to be without gall.

352 SHAKESPEARE’S [WORM

Woodcocks were baked (Dekher’s “‘ Raven’s Almanac”) an
made into pies (Wedster’s ‘‘Westward Ho!”), and served o1
buttered toast (Bex Jonson’s ‘‘ Epicure,” Middleton's ‘Nev

Way to pay Old Debts ”).]

Worm.

A Worm is a beast that oft engendereth of flesh and o
herbs, and gendereth oft of gall, and sometime of corruptior
of humours, and sometime of meddling of male and female.
and sometime of eggs, as it well appeareth of scorpions
and of tortoises and newts. And worms come out of their
dens in springing - time. Of Worms be many manner
diverse kinds, for some be water-worms, and some be land-
worms; and of those some be in herbs and in worts, as
malshrags [caterpillars] and other such; and some be in
trees, as tree-worms; and some in clothes, as moths; and
some in flesh as maggots, that breed of corrupt and rotted
moisture in flesh ; and some in beasts within and without,
as long Worms in children’s wombs, and lice and nits in
heads, and all such Worms breed and gender of corrupt
humours in bodies of beasts within and without. And
‘there be other Worms of the earth, which be long and
round, nesh [soft] and smooth, as angle-twitches, and
moles do hunt them under earth, and with angle-twitches
fish is taken in waters, when fish-hooks be baited with such
Worms instead of bait. And such Worms help against cramp,
and against shrinking of sinews, and also against biting of
serpents and against smiting of scorpions. And among
Worms, some be foot-less, as adders and serpents, and some
nave six feet, and some be full evil and malicious, and
enemies to mankind, as serpents and other venomous
Worms; and some Worms be round of body, and hath
no sinews nor bones, great nor small, neither gristles,
neither blood ;—and all such dieth if they be anointed
with ‘oil, and do quicken again in vinegar. And some
Worms gender and be gendered, and some be gendered
and gender not, as the Salamander.

Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xviii. § 115.

Or earth-worms some are bred only in the earth, and
others among plants, and in the bodies of living creatures,
Worms are found to be very venomous in the kingdom of-
Mogor, and the inhabitants there do stand in so great fear

WORMWOOD. | NATURAL HISTORY. 353

of them, that they be destroyed and slain by them when
they travel any journey; and therefore there they ordi-
narily use to carry besoms with them to sweep the plain
ways for fear of further hurt.

Topsell, “History of Serpents,” pp. 811-13.

__ Ir you stamp earth-worms, and then strain them through
cloth, and then put to the same as much of the oil of
radish-roots, and between the beating or framing of swords,
knives, or daggers, when they be hot, you do quench them
-twice or thrice therein, the same shall cut iron after, as
though it were lead. Lupton, “Notable Things,” bk. ii. § 43.

Ir Worms gnaw upon or hurt the mouth of the stomach,
put honey-combs into the mouth fasting, and hold them
there, and the Worms will draw into the honey, and so

void by the mouth. It hath been proved.
Ibid., bk. iv. § 56.

Worms and other venomous beasts are driven away from
any place with the smoke or fume of other beasts of the
same kind. Ibid., bk. x. § 67.

V. Vermin.

Wormwood.
Hamter, ili, 2, 191.

Wormwoop is a full sharp herb, and is gathered in the
end of springing-time, and dried in shadow. And syrup
made of Wormwood exciteth appetite and withstandeth
drunkenness. Wormwood with powder of cummin and
honey doth away moles and speckles, and ache that cometh
of smiting. And Wormwood keepeth and saveth books
and clothes from fretting of mice and of worms, if it be
laid therewith in chests or coffers. And helpeth against
biting of weasels and of dragons, and healeth it, if it be
drunk. Wormwood exciteth sleep, if it be laid unwittingly
under the head; and maketh black hair, if the hair be
anointed with ointment made of the juice thereof and oil
of rose. Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvii. § 12.

Ler a man or woman use to drink Wormwood, they
shall not be sea-sick. If writing-ink be’ tempered with the
infusion of Wormwood, it preserveth letters and books
written therewith from being gnawn by mice.

Hollana’s Pliny, bk. xxvii. ch. vii.

qa”

354. SHAKESPEARE’S NATURAL HISTORY. [worrs.

Wuite Wormwood hath seed, get a handful or twain,
To save against March, to make flea to refrain,
Where chamber is sweeped, and Wormwood is strown,
No flea for his life dare abide to be known.
What savour is better, if physic be true,
For places infected, than Wormwood and rue?
It is as a comfort for heart, and the brain,
And therefore to have it, it 1s not in vain.

Tusser, “July’s Husbandry,” st. 10 and 11.

Worts.

Merry Wives or Winpsor, i. 1, 124.

How to make long Worts :—Take a good quantity of
coleworts, and seethe them in water whole a good while,
then take the fattest of powdered beef-broth, and put it to
the Worts, and let them seethe a good while after; then
put them in a platter, and lay your powdered beef upon it.

“The Good Huswife’s Handmaid,” p. 8, b.

V. Cabbage.
Wren.

MacseTH, iv. 2, 9.

Ir is much to be marvelled at the little bird called a
Wren, being fastened to a little stick of hazel newly
gathered, doth turn about and roast himself.

Lupton, “Notable Things,” bk. vii. § 57.

Yew.
Macsery, iv. I, 27.

A YEw-TREE is a tree with venom and poison, and is
a strong tree and an high, with great boughs pliant and

long ; such trees are burnt and bows made thereof. The
shadow thereof is grievous, and slayeth such as sleep there-

under. Bartholomew (Berthelet), bk. xvii. § 161.

THE birds that eat the red berries either die or cast
their feathers. Batman's addition to Bartholomew, loc. cit.

_ [Gerard denies that the Yew-berries are poisonous, and that
its shadow is dangerous; but to this day the Yew is held to
be poisonous among country-folk.]

GLOSSARY.

(The figures refer to one or more of the pages on which the word occurs.)

Abhominable, 345. See Love’s Labour's
Lost, v. I, 26

Able, suitable, 272

Abrood, brooding on the nest, 96

Accord, reconcile, 53

According, suitable, 157 :

Againward, on the other hand, vice versd,

332
Alloren-tree, alder, 246
All to, quite, altogether, 75
Almery, cupboard, or recess, 30
Angle-twitch, earth-worm, 352
Aposthumation, imposthume,
211
Appair, impair, injure, 102
Arear, rise, 45
Arred, increased, 108
Attercop, spider, 33
Away with, endure, bear, 19

abscess,

Barnacle, dit, 20

Batable, luxuriant, 136
Batableness, luxuriance, fertility, 134
Bauer, boor, 245

Beclip, embrace, 3, 30
Behindforth, from behind, 178
Bespring, sprinkle, 33

Bill, peck, 292

Bird, young bird, 97 ; young fish, 111
Blazing, bright, 6

Blowing, maggot, 158
Boisterous, coarse, rough, 169
Bolk, belch, 345

Botch, sore, 86

Bray, pound, 115

Brent, burnt, 102

Bugle, buffalo, 45

Burgeon, bud, sprout, 294
Bush, push, butt, 255

Busy, to be busy, strive, 17
But, unless, 130

Calvered, pickled, 297

Cap, a large-sized paper, 106

Castein, chestnut, 62

Casting, vomiting, 87

Cease, make to cease, 87

Ceruse, white lead, 20

Charge, burden, 97 (here ‘extra growth”’)
Chauffe, warm, 222

Cheese-lope, rennet, 290
Cherry-cracker, spotted fly-catcher (?), 37
Chine, crevice, hollow, 20

Chirking, chirping, 7

Citrine, yellow, 191

Cliff, cleft, 281

Coarcting, drawing together, 239

_ Codware, leguminous plant, 28

Colewort, cabbage, and its kinds, 266

Commonty, commonwealth, sometimes
common people, 96

Continual, continuous, 31

Convenable, suitable, convenient, 238

: Cop, crest (?), 216. The cop is the cone

of corn above the rim of a bushel or
other measure

Copped, crested, 173

Corrump, corrupt, 97

Cotiniate, confection, 254

Covetise, covetousness, 11

Cratch, manger, 103

Cross or Gang Week, Rogation Week.
35. (See Brand’s ‘Popular Antiquities,”
vol. i., p. 172)

Culver, dove, 91

Damask, Damascus, 82

Deal, part, 60

Deceivable, deceitful

Defoil, damage, 102

Defy, digest, 150

Disparkled, or Disparpled, dispersed,
scattered, 96, 327

356

Distingue, distinguish, mark, 220, 305
Drasts, dregs, 329

Drunklew, drunken, 345

Dunbird, female pochard, 37

Dure, last, endure, 285

Ean or Yean, bring forth, 285
Ellern, elder-tree, 100

Fail, to be hidden, 270

Farcing, stuffing, 156

Fast, close-grained, 126

Fear, frighten, 20

Fen, mud, 75

Festue (fescue), a puinted piece of straw,
153

Fime, dung, 83

Flasket, bottle, 158

For, because, 17 ; so that, 195

Fordo, hinder, prevent, 169

Fore, trace, going, 183

Forthright, straight ahead, 17

Fresh-lap, dew-lap, 227

Frog-stool, toad-stool, 216

Frore, frozen, 270

Frote, rub, 19

Fumosity, smoke, fume, humour, 301

Garled, variegated, 170

Gin, trap, 121

Glead, kite, hawk, 172

Glimy, or Glymy, viscous, gluey, 215
Glires (Lat.), dormice, 90
Gramuel, crayfish, 275
Graving, engraving, 117
Grede, scream, 77

Gripe, griffin, 136

Grudge, to be grieved, 20, 173
Grutching, growling, 305

Hamborough, horse-collar, 278
Hard, harden, 303
Haught, grown, 235
Haver, oats, 218
. Haver-cake, oat-cake, 218
Hele, close, conceal, 20
Herb-grace, rue, 266
Hobby, a small hawk, 147
Holp, helped, 102
Howlet, owlet, 302
Hull, husk, 218 ©

Imposthume, abscess, 210 |
In-wit, mind, 63

Jack, a hawk, 147 ;
dsr a large loaf of oaten bread, |
21 i
Jump, swindle, 262
Jumper, swindler, 262

Keep, take care, 158
Kind (aa7.), natural, genuine, 7
Kind (szész.), Nature, 9

GLOSSARY.

, Kindly (adv.), by nature, 19

Knot, flower-bed, 126

Lacture, lettuce, 156
Lanner, Lanneret, hawks, 147

' Latten, v. p. 174, a kind of brass

Laund, lawn, 102

Let, hinder, 105, 212, etc.

Ley, meadow, 20

Lodesman, steersman, 345

Looch, lozenge, ‘‘ medicine to be licked,”
200

Make, mate, 17

Malshrag, caterpillar, 48

Mammet, or Maumet, idol,
(derived from ‘‘ Mahomet”’), 218

Manner, kind of, 9

Marais, marsh, 122

Margarite, pearl, 105

Marlion, a merlin (a kind of hawk),

image

147
Mean, think, opine, 50
Meddle, mix, 28
Merigall, gall, chafe, 314
More, root, 291
More, greater, 305
Morrow, morning, 238
Mother, scum, 206
Musket, male sparrow-hawk, 147

Namely, especially, 33
Natheless, nevertheless, 85
Navew, turnip, 319

Ne, nor, 17

Neat, cattle, 227

Neep, turnip, 319

Neeze, sneeze, 266

Nep, mint, cat’s-mint, 115
Nesh, soft, 6

Nesh, to make soft, 130
Neshness, softness, 175
Nich, a bundle, 115

Nigh, to approach, 327
Nippitate, a wine, 300
Nock, notch, 227

Noy, annoy, 3

Noyful, annoying, grievous, 128

Oliet, or Olife, perhaps olive or oyster-
catcher, 37

Out-take, except, 9

Overset, attacked, 11

Paddock, toad, 230
Paigle, oxlip, cowslip, 228

| Parbraking, vomiting, 87

Pass, surpass, 105

Pavis, shield, fence, 304
Pawper, purple heron (?), 37
Peasen, spawn, I11

Pill, peel, 106

Pine-apple, fir-cone, 246
Plant, sole, 282

GLOSSARY.

Plight, twist, 324

Podagre, gout, 159

Pointel, point, style, 338

Pompion, or Pumpion, a pumpkin, melon,
or vegetable-marrow, 251

Posthume, imposthume, abscess, 210

Pounce, claw of a hawk, 107

Powder, dust, 5

Prance, to rebel (?), 173. Minsheu has:
“the prancing of a horse, ¢zmzeltuose
flare et strepere” (ed. 1629). Florio
uses ‘‘prance” in the modern sense
(ed. 1659)

Pregnable, able to take, or penetrate,
131

Prick, prickle, spine, small bone, 139

Pricket, a wax candle of a certain size,
266 ; a buck of the second year, 251

Pule away, pine away, 132

Pullen, poultry, 432

Puttock, a kite, glead, 172

Quiver, quick, nimble, 45

Race, or Raze (of ginger), a root, 126

Rank, rage, 306

Raphazn, radish, 219

Rear, raise, 129

Rebound, make to rebound, 96

Refraining, restraint, 21

Rese (ver4), to rage, rush angrily, 17

Rese (szds¢.), rage, rush, 20

Rib, dressed with a “‘ rib” —ze., an instru-
ment used in dressing flax, 115

Ridge, back-bone, 89

Rivel, wrinkle, 109

Rivelled, wrinkled, divided (as a wasp’s
thorax and abdomen), 8

Rivelly, wrinkled, 241

Rivet, roe, 114

Rob, dried juice of herbs (jam ?), 126

Rosere, a rose-tree, 303

Rothern, cattle, 32

Sad, heavy, 126

Savourly, daintily, with pleasure, 281

Sawing, Sawy, serrated, 31

Seld, seldom, 129

Senvey, mustard, 212

Several, separate, 222

Shed, melt, flow, 299

Shern-birds, hornets, 32

Shingle, ‘‘a cloven board, a plank”
(Cooper’s ‘‘ Thesaurus”), 198

Shittle, inconstant, weak, 193

Sicher, safe, 41

Sicherly, safely, 265

Sizing (themselves), limiting themselves
to an allowance, 309. So King Lear, ii. 4,
178

Slipper, slippery, 4

Smape, crush, 124

Smaragdus, or Smaragd, emerald, 137

Jao

Some-deal, partly, 289

Sort, quantity, 57

Sparhawk, sparrow-hawk, 147

Spouse-breach, adultery, 177

Spouse-head, wedlock, 183

Spring, sprinkle, 4, 16

Springing-time, spring, 30

Sprung, sprinkled, 115

Spurling, or Sparling, smelt, 297

Squinauth, ‘‘camel’s hay,” a kind of
rush, 267

Startle, leap suddenly, 89

Stie, climb, 31 -

Stockfish, dried fish. See 297

Stint, check, stop, cease, stay, 5

Stony, astonish, 199

Stover, fodder, 299

Studdery, stud, stable, 162

Sucket, sweetmeat, 335

Sunstead, solstice, 172

Sweven, dream, 3

Tapping, perhaps misprint for “topping,”
evidently the horn tips to the bow, 227

Tassel, Tiercel, Tassel-gentle, or
Tiercel-gentle, a male hawk, 302 _
Tawing, beating, 297. So “taw” or

** tawes,” a (leather) whip

Tharf-cake, or thard-cake, a thin, round,
unleavened cake of rye or barley, baked
hard, 218

Theriaca, treacle, 100

Thirl, pierce, penetrate, 167

Tiercel, a hawk, 147. V. Tassel

Tiercel-gentle, a hawk, 302. V. Tassel

Timber, timbrel, tabor, drum, 33

Tivit, perhaps a misprint for ‘‘twite,” 37

Tofore, before, 299

Tohaul, drag, 157

Toll, draw, 231

Trace, perhaps should be “tract,” other-
wise the word means ‘‘place where it
may be traced,” 141

Treacle, mithridate, antidote to poison, 9

Troubly, troubled, 175

Underset, support, 77

Unfastness, loose grain (of wood), 303
Union, pearl, 105

Unneath, or Uneath, hardly, scarcely, 20
Unsadness, lightness, 303

Unwitting, without the knowledge of, 44
Urchin, hedgehog, 149

Ventuous, windy, 157

Very, true, genuine, 84

Void, avoid, 100

Wagging, loose, 261

Wallowing feet aside, the uneven move-
ment produced by the difference in the
length of the fox’s legs—‘‘ wallow” being
a wave, 119

‘

358

Wambling, rumbling, borborygmi, 203 |
Want, mole, 204
Wash-tail, wag-tail (?) or dish-washer,

37
Wen, blemish, 271
Wend, turn, 115
Weybread, plantain, 247

GLOSSARY.

Woodgnaw, great: spotted woodpecker (?),

37
Woodness, madness, 3

‘Woodspike, green woodpecker, 37

Worship, make worshipful, 27
Wreak (suést. and verb), revenge, 17
Wreakful, revengeful

Whelk, pustule, pimple, 57. So Azng | Wrench, trick, 348
Henry V., iii. 6, 108 | Writhen, twisted, 32
Whur, whir, 128 | Wroting, rooting, 90
Womb, belly, bowels, 30 |
Wonderly, wonderfully, 8 | Yean, or Ean, bear, bring forth, 129
Wood, or Wode, mad, 86 | Yexing, hiccough, 203
THE END.

Lltiot Stock, 62, Paternoster Row, London, E.C.

PR 3039.S43

TTT