Folk-lore of Shakespeare by Thomas Firminger Thiselton Dyer (year 2 reading books .txt) đ
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Again, there may be a further allusion to the moralities in âKing Learâ (ii. 2), where Kent says to Oswald, âtake Vanity, the puppetâs, part, against the royalty of her father.â
Then, too, there were the âpageantsââshows which were usually performed in the highways of our towns, and assimilated in some degree to the miracle-plays, but were of a more mixed character, being partly drawn from profane history. According to Strutt, they were more frequent in London, being required at stated periods, such as the setting of the Midsummer Watch, and the Lord Mayorâs Show.[665] Among the allusions to these shows given by Shakespeare, we may quote one in âRichard III.â (iv. 4), where Queen Margaret speaks of
âthe pageants displayed on public occasions being generally preceded by a brief account of the order in which the characters were to walk. These indexes were distributed among the spectators, that they might understand the meaning of such allegorical representations as were usually exhibited. In the âMerchant of Veniceâ (i. 1), Salarino calls argosies âthe pageants of the sea,â in allusion, says Douce,[666] âto those enormous machines, in the shapes of castles, dragons, ships, giants, etc., that were drawn about the streets in the ancient shows or pageants, and which often constituted the most important part of them.â Again, in âAs You Like Itâ (iii. 4), Corin says:
Between the pale complexion of true love
And the red glow of scorn and proud disdain,
Go hence a little, and I shall conduct you,
If you will mark it.â
And in âAntony and Cleopatraâ (iv. 14), Antony speaks of âblack vesperâs pageants.â
The nine worthies, originally comprising Joshua, David, Judas MaccabĂŠus, Hector, Alexander, Julius CĂŠsar, Arthur, Charlemagne, and Godfrey of Bouillon, appear from a very early period to have been introduced occasionally in the shows and pageants of our ancestors. Thus, in âLoveâs Labourâs Lostâ (v. 2), the pageant of the nine worthies is introduced. As Shakespeare, however, introduces Hercules and Pompey among his presence of worthies, we may infer that the characters were sometimes varied to suit the circumstances of the period, or the taste of the auditory. A MS. preserved in the library of Trinity College, Dublin, mentions the âSix Worthiesâ having been played before the Lord Deputy Sussex in 1557.[667]
Another feature of the Whitsun merry-makings were the Cotswold games, which were generally on the Thursday in Whitsun week, in the vicinity of Chipping Campden. They were instituted by an attorney of Burton-on-the-Heath, in Warwickshire, named Robert Dover, and, like the Olympic games of the ancients, consisted of most kinds of manly sports, such as wrestling, leaping, pitching the bar, handling the pike, dancing, and hunting. Ben Jonson, Drayton, and other poets of that age wrote verses on this festivity, which, in 1636, were collected into one volume, and published under the name of âAnnalia Dubrensia.â[668] In the âMerry Wives of Windsorâ (i. 1), Slender asks Page, âHow does your fallow greyhound, sir? I heard say, he was outrun on Cotsall.â And in â2 Henry IV.â[669] (iii. 2), Shallow, by distinguishing Will Squele as âa Cotswold man,â meant to imply that he was well versed in manly exercises, and consequently of a daring spirit and athletic constitution. A sheep was jocularly called a âCotsold,â or âCotswold lion,â from the extensive pastures in that part of Gloucestershire.
While speaking of Whitsuntide festivities, we may refer to the âroasted Manningtree ox with the pudding in his belly,â to which Prince Henry alludes in â1 Henry IV.â (ii. 4). It appears that Manningtree, in Essex, formerly enjoyed the privilege of fairs, by the tenure of exhibiting a certain number of Stage Plays yearly. There were, also, great festivities there, and much good eating, at Whitsun ales and other times. Hence, it seems that roasting an ox whole was not uncommon on such occasions. The pudding spoken of by Prince Henry often accompanied the ox, as we find in a ballad written in 1658:[670]
At an ox in the fair
Roasted whole with a pudding in âs belly.â
Sheep-shearing Time commences as soon as the warm weather is so far settled that the sheep may, without danger, lay aside their winter clothing; the following tokens being laid down by Dyer, in his âFleeceâ (bk. i), to mark out the proper time:[671]
Her silver flowers; if humble daisies yield
To yellow crowfoot and luxuriant grass
Gay shearing-time approaches.â
Our ancestors, who took advantage of every natural holiday, to keep it long and gladly, celebrated the time of sheep-shearing by a feast exclusively rural. Drayton,[672] the countryman of Shakespeare, has graphically described this festive scene, the Vale of Evesham being the locality of the sheep-shearing which he has pictured so pleasantly:
Whose flock hath chancâd that year the earliest lamb to bring,
In his gay baldric sits at his low, grassy board,
With flawns, curds, clouted cream, and country dainties stored;
And whilst the bag-pipe plays, each lusty, jocund swain
Quaffs syllabubs in cans, to all upon the plain,
And to their country girls, whose nosegays they do wear;
Some roundelays do sing; the rest the burthen bear.â
In the âWinterâs Tale,â one of the most delicious scenes (iv. 4) is that of the sheep-shearing, in which we have the more poetical âshepherd-queen.â Mr. Furnivall,[673] in his introduction to this play, justly remarks: âHow happily it brings Shakespeare before us, mixing with his Stratford neighbors at their sheep-shearing and country sports, enjoying the vagabond pedlerâs gammon and talk, delighting in the sweet Warwickshire maidens, and buying them âfairings,â telling goblin stories to the boys, âThere was a man dwelt in a churchyard,â opening his heart afresh to all the innocent mirth, and the beauty of nature around him.â The expense attaching to these festivities appears to have afforded matter of complaint. Thus, the clown asks, âWhat am I to buy for our sheep-shearing feast?â and then proceeds to enumerate various things which he will have to purchase. In Tusserâs âFive Hundred Points of Husbandryâ this festival is described under âThe Ploughmanâs Feast-days:â
Make wafers and cakes, for our sheep must be shorne;
At sheepe-shearing, neighbours none other things crave,
But good cheere and welcome like neighbours to have.â
Midsummer Eve appears to have been regarded as a period when the imagination ran riot, and many a curious superstition was associated with this season. Thus, people gathered on this night the rose, St. Johnâs wort, vervain, trefoil, and rue, all of which were supposed to have magical properties. They set the orpine in clay upon pieces of slate or potsherd in their houses, calling it a âMidsummer man.â As the stalk was found next morning to incline to the right or left, the anxious maiden knew whether her lover would prove true to her or not. Young men sought, also, for pieces of coal, but, in reality, certain hard, black, dead roots, often found under the living mugwort, designing to place these under their pillows, that they might dream of themselves.[674] It was also supposed that any person fasting on Midsummer-eve, and sitting in the church-porch, would at midnight see the spirits of those persons of that parish who would die that year come and knock at the church-door, in the order and succession in which they would die. Midsummer was formerly thought to be a season productive of madness. Thus, Malvolioâs strange conduct is described by Olivia in âTwelfth Nightâ (iii. 4) as âA very midsummer madness.â And, hence, âA Midsummer-Nightâs Dreamâ is no inappropriate title for âthe series of wild incongruities of which the play consists.â[675] The Low-Dutch have a proverb that, when men have passed a troublesome night, and could not sleep, âthey have passed St. John Baptistâs nightââthat is, they have not taken any sleep, but watched all night. Heywood seems to allude to a similar notion when he says:
Are not midsummer hares as mad as March hares?â
A proverbial phrase, too, to signify that a person was mad, was, ââTis midsummer moon with youââhot weather being supposed to affect the brain.
Dog-days. A popular superstitionâin all probability derived from the Egyptiansâreferred to the rising and setting of Sirius, or the Dog-star, as infusing madness into the canine race. Consequently, the name of âDog-daysâ was given by the Romans to the period between the 3d of July and 11th of August, to which Shakespeare alludes in âHenry VIII.â (v. 3), âthe dog-days now reign.â It is obvious that the notion is utterly groundless, for not only does the star vary in its rising, but is later and later every year. According to the Roman belief, âat the rising of the Dog-star the seas boil, the wines ferment in the cellars, and standing waters are set in motion; the dogs, also, go mad, and the sturgeon is blasted.â The term Dog-days is still a common phrase, and it is difficult to say whether it is from superstitious adherence to old custom or from a belief of the injurious effect of heat upon the canine race that the magistrates, often unwisely, at this season of the year order them to be muzzled or tied up.
Lammas-day (August 1). According to some antiquarians, Lammas is a corruption of loaf-mass, as our ancestors made an offering of bread from new wheat on this day. Others derive it from lamb-mass, because the tenants who held lands under the Cathedral Church of York were bound by their tenure to bring a live lamb into the church at high mass.[676] It appears to have been a popular day in times past, and is mentioned in the following dialogue in âRomeo and Julietâ (i. 3), where the Nurse inquires:
To Lammas-tide?
Come Lammas-eve at night, shall she be fourteen?â
In Nealeâs âEssays on Liturgiologyâ (2d. ed., p. 526), the Welsh equivalent for Lammas-day is given as âdydd degwm wyn,â lamb-tithing day.
St. Charity (August 1). This saint is found in the Martyrology on the 1st of August: âRomĂŠ passio Sanctaram Virginum Fidei, Spei, et Charitatis, quĂŠ sub Hadriano principe martyriĂŠ coronam adeptĂŠ sunt.â[677] She is alluded to by Ophelia, in her song in âHamletâ (iv. 5):
Alack, and fie for shame!â etc.
In the âFaire Maide of Bristoweâ (1605) we find a similar allusion:
A halter were the least should hamper him.â
St. Bartholomewâs Day (August 24). The anniversary of this festival was formerly signalized by the holding of the great Smithfield Fair, the only real fair held within the city of London. One of the chief attractions of Bartholomew Fair were roasted pigs. They were sold âpiping hot, in booths and on stalls, and ostentatiously displayed to excite the appetite of passengers.â Hence, a âBartholomew pigâ became a popular subject of allusion. Falstaff, in â2 Henry IV.â (ii. 4), in coaxing ridicule of his enormous figure,
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