Folk-lore of Shakespeare by Thomas Firminger Thiselton Dyer (year 2 reading books .txt) 📖
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War-Cry. “God and Saint George!”—the common cry of the English soldier when he charged the enemy. “Richard III.” (v. 3). The author of the “Old Arte of Warre,” printed in the latter end of Queen Elizabeth’s reign, formally enjoins the use of this cry among his military laws (p. 84): “Item. That all souldiers entring into battaile, assaulte, skirmishe, or other faction of armes, shall have for their common cry-word, ‘Saint George, forward, or upon them, Saint George!’ whereby the souldier is much comforted to minde the ancient valour of England, which with that name has been so often victorious; and therefore he who upon any sinister zeale shall maliciously omit so fortunate a name, shall be severely punished for his obstinate, erroneous heart and perverse mind.”
“Havoc!” To cry “havoc” appears to have been a signal for indiscriminate slaughter. The expression occurs in “King John” (ii. 1): “Cry havoc, kings!” In “Coriolanus” Menenius says (iii. 1):
With modest warrant.”
And in “Julius Cæsar” (iii. 1):
“Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill him!” This was the ancient cry of the English troops when they charged the enemy. It occurs where the conspirators kill Coriolanus (v. 6).
Leet-Ale. This was the dinner provided for the jury and customary tenants at the court-leet of a manor, or “view of frank-pledge,” formerly held once or twice a year, before the steward of the leet.[991] To this court Shakespeare alludes in the “Taming of the Shrew” (i. 2), where the servant tells Sly that in his dream he would “rail upon the hostess of the house,” and threaten to “present her at the leet.”
Aubrey, in his MS. History of Wiltshire, 1678, tells us, too, how “in the Easter holidays was the Clerk’s ale for his private benefit, and the solace of the neighbourhood.”
[961] Nares’s “Glossary,” vol. i. p. 68.
[962] See Brand’s “Pop. Antiq.,” 1849, vol. iii. pp. 220-225; also, Harland and Wilkinson’s “Lancashire Folk-Lore,” 1867, p. 44.
[963] Dyce’s “Glossary,” p. 379.
[964] See Douce’s “Illustrations of Shakespeare,” pp. 65, 66.
[965] We may compare, too, what Coriolanus says (ii. 3): “I will, sir, flatter my sworn brother, the people.”
[966] Cf. “Romeo and Juliet,” i. 1; “As You Like It,” v. 2.
[967] See Singer’s “Shakespeare,” vol. viii. p. 204.
[968] See Douce’s “Illustrations of Shakespeare,” p. 133.
[969] See an article by Mr. Black, in Antiquary, 1881, vol. iii.
[970] See Henderson’s “Folk-Lore of the Northern Counties,” pp. 34, 35.
[971] Gifford’s note on “Massinger’s Works,” 1813, vol. i. p. 170; see Dyce’s “Glossary to Shakespeare,” pp. 269, 380.
[972] See Dyce, vol. iv. p. 395.
[973] Staunton’s “Shakespeare,” vol i. p. 257.
[974] “Guide into Tongues,” 1607.
[975] See Dyce’s “Glossary,” p. 343.
[976] Dyce’s “Glossary,” p. 402.
[977] Ibid., vol. vi. p. 45.
[978] Ibid., p. 43.
[979] “Glossary,” p. 497; see Nares’s “Glossary,” vol. ii. p. 952.
[980] “Encyclopædia Britannica,” 1879, vol. ix. p. 366; see Doran’s “History of Court Fools,” 1858.
[981] Nares’s “Glossary,” vol. i. p. 350.
[982] Nares’s “Glossary,” vol. i. p. 371.
[983] The verb “to gage,” or “to pledge,” occurs in “Merchant of Venice,” i. 1:
Is, to come fairly off from the great debts
Wherein my time, something too prodigal,
Hath left me gaged.”
Cf. “1 Henry IV.,” i. 3.
[984] “Pop. Antiq.,” vol. ii. p. 127.
[985] “Glossary,” vol. ii. p. 858; see Dyce’s “Glossary,” p. 431.
[986] A Welsh hook was a sort of bill, hooked at the end, and with a long handle. See Dyce’s “Glossary,” p. 497; and Singer’s “Shakespeare,” vol. ix. p. 168.
[987] Brewer’s “Dictionary of Phrase and Fable,” p. 782.
[988] See Percy’s “Northumberland Household Book,” p. 49.
[989] See Singer’s “Shakespeare,” vol. vii. p. 350.
[990] “Shakespeare,” 1864, vol. i. p. 61.
[991] See page 312.
INDEX. Aconite, its deadly poison, 201. Adonis horti, 469. Agate, applied to a diminutive person, 12, 390. Ague, spider a cure for, 258. Air, drizzling dew, 90. All hid, all hid, children’s game, 395. All-Saints’ Day, 326. All-Souls’ Day, 327. Almanacs, 505. Alms-drink, 527. Alphabet, called Christ-cross-row, 508. Amaimon, name of evil spirit, 60. Amulets, 505. Anemone, legend relating to, 203. Ant, 250. Antic, a dance, 424. Ape, term of contempt or endearment, 161; leading of, in hell, 161. Apostle-spoons, 336, 337. Apple, 203, 204. Apple-John, name of apple, 204. Apple-squire, 204, note. Apricock or apricot, 208. Archery, 394. Ariel, fairy so called, 83, 162. Aroint thee, meaning of, 41. Aspen, supplied wood of Cross, 208; trembling of, 209. Ass, 161. Astrology, 80-82. Audry’s (St.) Day, 324; lace, 325. Baby-in-the-eye, 483. Bachelor’s buttons, 209. Backgammon, 396. Badge of Poverty, 521. Baffle, old punishment, 434. Bagatelle, 422. Bakie bird, name of bat, 163. Balm, curative properties of, 210; as oil of consecration, 211. Bandy, term at tennis, 420. Barbason, evil spirit, 60. Barbers’ forfeits, 533. Barefoot, dancing, 354. Barla-breikis, 396. Barley-break, 396. Barley broth, 211. Barnacle goose, 97. Bartholomew’s (St.) Day, 321. Bartholomew Fair, 321; pigs 321. Base, old game, 397. Basilisk, 174. Basins, burning, held before the eyes, 433. Bat, superstitions relating to, 162. Bat-fowling, 398. Bate, term in falconry, 125, note. Bay-tree, ominous, 211. Bear, folk-lore of, 163; caught by mirrors, 164; baiting, 164. Beard, characteristic of a witch, 29; customs associated with, 486; mutilation of, considered an outrage, 486; stroking of, preparatory to a favor, 486; swearing by, 487; shape of, 487. Beauty, characteristic of fairies, 10. Bedfellow, custom of having, 521. Beef, supposed to impair intellect, 496. Beetle, old name for, 100. Belemnite, 92. Bell, tolling of, at funerals, 381; curfew, 85, 521. Belly-blind, old game, 409. Bergomask, dance, 424. Betrothing customs, 342-350. Bid the base, 398. Bilboes, punishment, 435. Billiards, 399. Bird-batting, 398, note. Birding, term of hawking, 128. Birth and baptism, 332-341. Biting of thumb, as an insult, 492. Bitter-sweeting, apple so called, 205. Blackbird, 100. Black Monday, 302, 303. Bleeding, custom of, in spring, 266; cures for, 264, 265. Blessed thistle, 222. Blindness, 266. Blind-worm, 255. Blister, superstition relating to, 266. Blood, thickened by emotional influences, 477; phrases connected with, 476, 477. Blood-drinking sighs, 289. Blood-sucker, name for leech, 281. Blue-bottle, insect so called, 250. Boar-hunting, 166. Body, trembling of, 475. Boiling to death, old punishment, 433. Bone-ace, old game, 399. Bone-ache, 267. Boots, to give the, harvest custom, 322. Bots, 251. Brain, notions relating to, 478. Brain-pan, name for skull, 479. Brand, old punishment, 436. Brawl, old dance, 425. Breech, term for whipping, 436. Breese, 252. Bridal-bed, blessing of, 355; decorating with flowers, 355. Bridal couple serenaded, 357. Bride-ale, 312. Bride’s veil, 353; hair loose at wedding ceremony, 352. Brine, soaking in, old punishment, 434. Bruise, remedies for, 268. Bubukle, name for pimple, 268. Bull-baiting, 168. Bullfinch, 101, note. Bully-rook, term of reproach, 153. Burn, remedy for, 268. Buzzard, 100. By-drinkings, 527. Cakes and ale at festivals, 331. Camomile, 212. Canary, old dance, 425. Candles of the night, stars so called, 83. Carbuncle, supernatural qualities of, 390. Cards, playing, 401. Carnations, 220. Carp, most cunning of fishes, 497. Carraways, 207. Castor and Pollux, meteors so called, 83. Cat, familiar of witches, 168-171; said to have nine lives, 172; used as a term of contempt, 173. Cataract, 268, 269. Cattle, destroyed by witches, 39. Ceremonies, omens from sacrifices, 506. Chaffinch, 100. Challenge, glove sent as a, 537. Chameleon, said to feed on air, 173; changes color, 174. Changelings, 11, 24, 333, 334. Charity, St., 320. Charles’s wain, 80. Charms, 506. Check, term in hawking, 123. Cherry-pit, old game, 401. Cherry-tree, in connection with cuckoo-rhyme, 111. Chess, 402. Chester mysteries, 311. Chewet, meaning of term, 101. Chilblains, 269. Children of the revels, 297. Christ-cross-row, name for alphabet, 508. Christening day, 338. Christenings, entertainments at, 338. Christmas, customs at, 329; carol, 329; eve, cock-crow on, 103; gambol, 329; wassail-bowl at, 330; candle, 330; mummers, 331; nutmeg, gift at, 233. Christom child, 340. Chrysolite, supernatural virtues of, 391. Cicely, St., 321, note. Cinders of the elements, stars so called, 83. Cinque-pace, old dance, 425. Clacking at Easter, 302. Clare’s (St.) fire, meteor so called, 83. Closing eye of the dead, 372. Clouds, weather-lore of, 96. Cloud-in-the-face, term applied to a horse, 191. Clover-flowers,
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