INSECTS AND REPTILES.
As Dr. Johnson has truly remarked, Shakespeare is "the poet of nature,"
for "his attention was not confined to the actions of men; he was an
exact surveyor of the inanimate world; his descriptions have always some
peculiarity, gathered by contemplating things as they really exist.
Whether life or nature be his subject, Shakespeare shows plainly that he
has seen with his own eyes." So, too, he was in the habit of taking
minute observation of the popular notions relating to natural history,
so many of which he has introduced into his plays, using them to no
small advantage. In numerous cases, also, the peculiarities of certain
natural objects have furnished the poet with many excellent metaphors.
Thus, in "Richard II." (ii. 3), Bolingbroke speaks of "the caterpillars
of the commonwealth;" and in "2 Henry VI." (iii. 1) the Duke of York's
reflection on the destruction of his hopes is,
"Thus are my blossoms blasted in the bud,
And caterpillars eat my leaves away,"
their destructive powers being familiar.
_Ant._ An ancient name for the ant is "pismire," probably a Danish word,
from _paid_ and _myre_, signifying such ants as live in hillocks. In "1
Henry IV." (i. 3) Hotspur says:
"Why, look you, I am whipp'd and scourg'd with rods,
Nettled, and stung with pismires, when I hear
Of this vile politician, Bolingbroke."
_Blue-bottle._ This well-known insect has often been used as a term of
reproach. Thus, in "2 Henry IV." (v. 4), it furnishes an epithet applied
by the abusive tongue of Doll Tearsheet to the beadle who had her in
custody. She reviles him as a "blue-bottle rogue," a term, says Mr.
Patterson,[568] "evidently suggested by the similarity of the colors of
his costume to that of the insect."
[568] "Insects Mentioned by Shakespeare," 1841, p. 181.
_Bots._ Our ancestors imagined that poverty or improper food engendered
these worms, or that they were the offspring of putrefaction. In "1
Henry IV." (ii. 1), one of the carriers says: "Peas and beans are as
dank here as a dog, and that is the next way to give poor jades the
bots." And one of the misfortunes of the miserable nag of Petruchio
("Taming of the Shrew," iii. 2), is that he is so "begnawn with the
bots."
_Cricket._ The presence of crickets in a house has generally been
regarded as a good omen, and said to prognosticate cheerfulness and
plenty. Thus, Poins, in answer to the Prince's question in "1 Henry IV."
(ii. 4), "Shall we be merry?" replies, "As merry as crickets." By many
of our poets the cricket has been connected with cheerfulness and mirth.
Thus, in Milton, "Il Penseroso" desires to be
"Far from all resort of mirth,
Save the cricket on the hearth."
It has not always, however, been regarded in the same light, for Gay, in
his "Pastoral Dirge," among the rural prognostications of death, gives
the following:
"And shrilling crickets in the chimney cry'd."
And in Dryden's "OEdipus" occurs the subjoined:
"Owls, ravens, crickets, seem the watch of death."
Lady Macbeth, also ("Macbeth," ii. 2), in replying to the question of
her husband after the murder of Duncan, says:
"I heard the owl scream, and the crickets cry."
In "Cymbeline" (ii. 2), also, when Iachimo, at midnight, commences his
survey of the chamber where Imogen lies sleeping, his first words refer
to the chirping of crickets, rendered all the more audible by the
repose which at that moment prevailed throughout the palace:
"The crickets sing, and man's o'er-labour'd sense
Repairs itself by rest."
Gilbert White, in his "History of Selborne" (1853, p. 174), remarks that
"it is the housewife's barometer, foretelling her when it will rain; and
is prognostic, sometimes, she thinks, of ill or good luck, of the death
of a near relation, or the approach of an absent lover. By being the
constant companion of her solitary home, it naturally becomes the object
of her superstition."[569]
[569] See Brand's "Pop. Antiq.," 1849, vol. iii. pp. 190, 191.
Its supposed keen sense of hearing is referred to in the "Winter's Tale"
(ii. 1) by Mamillius, who, on being asked by Hermione to tell a tale,
replies:
"I will tell it softly;
Yond crickets shall not hear it."
_Frog._ In the "Two Noble Kinsmen" (iii. 4), the Gaoler's Daughter says:
"Would I could find a fine frog! he would tell me
News from all parts o' the world; then would I make
A carack of a cockle-shell, and sail
By east and north-east to the King of Pigmies,
For he tells fortunes rarely."
In days gone by frogs were extensively used for the purpose of
divination.
_Gad-fly._ A common name for this fly is the "brize" or "breese,"[570]
an allusion to which occurs in "Troilus and Cressida" (i. 3), where
Nestor, speaking of the sufferings which cattle endure from this insect,
says:
"The herd hath more annoyance by the breese
Than by the tiger."
[570] See Patterson's "Insects Mentioned by Shakespeare," 1841,
pp. 104, 105.
And in "Antony and Cleopatra" (iii. 10) Shakespeare makes the excited
Scarus draw a comparison between the effect which this insect produces
on a herd of cattle and the abruptness and sudden frenzy of Cleopatra's
retreat from the naval conflict:
"Yon ribaudred nag of Egypt,
Whom leprosy o'ertake! i' the midst o' the fight,
When vantage like a pair of twins appear'd,
Both as the same, or rather ours the elder,--
The breese upon her, like a cow in June,--
Hoists sails, and flies."
It is said that the terror this insect causes in cattle proceeds solely
from the alarm occasioned by "a peculiar sound it emits while hovering
for the purpose of oviposition."[571]
[571] "Linnæan Transactions," vol. xv. p. 407; cf. Virgil's
"Georgics," iii. l. 148.
_Lady-bird._ This is used in "Romeo and Juliet" (i. 3) as a term of
endearment. Lady Capulet having inquired after her daughter Juliet, the
Nurse replies:
"I bade her come. What, lamb! What, lady-bird!
God forbid! Where's this girl? What, Juliet!"
Mr. Staunton regards this passage as an exquisite touch of nature. "The
old nurse," he says, "in her fond garrulity, uses 'lady-bird' as a term
of endearment; but, recollecting its application to a female of loose
manners, checks herself--'God forbid!' her darling should prove such a
one." Mr. Dyce,[572] however, considers this explanation incorrect, and
gives the subjoined note: "The nurse says that she has already bid
Juliet come; she then calls out, 'What, lamb! What, lady-bird!' and
Juliet not yet making her appearance, she exclaims, 'God forbid! Where's
this girl?' The words 'God forbid' being properly an ellipsis of 'God
forbid that any accident should keep her away,' but used here merely as
an expression of impatience."
[572] "Glossary," 1876, p. 238.
_Lizard._ It was a common superstition in the time of Shakespeare that
lizards were venomous, a notion which probably originated in their
singular form. Hence the lizard's leg was thought a suitable ingredient
for the witches' caldron in "Macbeth" (iv. 1). Suffolk, in "2 Henry VI."
(iii. 2), refers to this idea:
"Their chiefest prospect murdering basilisks!
Their softest touch as smart as lizards' stings."
Again, in "3 Henry VI." (ii. 2), Queen Margaret speaks of
"venom toads, or lizards' dreadful stings."
In "Troilus and Cressida" (v. 1) it is classed with the toad and owl.
_Moth._ This term, as Mr. Patterson remarks in his "Insects Mentioned by
Shakespeare" (1841, p. 164), does not awaken many pleasing associations.
In the minds of most people it stands for an insect either contemptible
from its size and inertness, or positively obnoxious from its attacks on
many articles of clothing. Thus Shakespeare, he says, employs the
expression "moth" to denote something trifling or extremely minute. And
in "King John" (iv. 1) we have the touching appeal of Prince Arthur to
Hubert, in which, for mote, he would substitute moth:
"_Arthur._ Is there no remedy?
_Hubert._ None, but to lose your eyes.
_Arthur._ O heaven!--that there were but a mote in yours,
A grain, a dust, a gnat, a wandering hair,
Any annoyance in that precious sense!
Then, feeling what small things are boisterous there,
Your vile intent must needs seem horrible."
See also "Henry V." (iv. 1). In these two passages, however, the correct
reading is probably "mote."[573]
[573] Nares's "Glossary," vol. ii. p. 973.
_Serpent._ A term used by our old writers to signify a serpent was "a
worm," which is still found in the north of England in the same sense.
It is used several times by Shakespeare; as, for instance, in "Measure
for Measure" (iii. 1), where the Duke, addressing Claudio, says:
"Thou'rt by no means valiant;
For thou dost fear the soft and tender fork
Of a poor worm."
This passage also illustrates an error very prevalent in days gone by,
that the forked tongue of the serpent tribe was their instrument of
offence, without any thought of the teeth or fangs, which are its real
weapons.[574] Again, the "blind-worm" or "slow-worm"--a little snake with
very small eyes, falsely supposed to be venomous--is spoken of in "A
Midsummer-Night's Dream" (ii. 2), in that charming passage where the
fairies are represented as singing to their queen, Titania:
"You spotted snakes, with double tongue,
Thorny hedgehogs, be not seen;
Newts, and blind-worms, do no wrong,
Come not near our fairy queen."
[574] Cf. "Macbeth" (iii. 4):
"There the grown serpent lies: the worm, that's fled,
Hath nature that in time will venom breed."
In "Macbeth" (iv. 1), among the ingredients of the witches' caldron are
"Adder's fork, and blind-worm's sting."
To quote a further allusion, Shakespeare, in "Timon of Athens" (iv. 3),
speaks of
"The gilded newt and eyeless venom'd worm."
Massinger employs the same term in his "Parliament of Love" (iv. 2):
"The sad father
That sees his son stung by a snake to death,
May, with more justice, stay his vengeful hand,
And let the worm escape, than you vouchsafe him
A minute to repent."[575]
[575] Worm is used for serpent or viper, in the Geneva version
of the New Testament, in Acts xxvii. 4, 5.
There was an old notion that the serpent caused death without pain, a
popular fancy which Shakespeare has introduced in his "Antony and
Cleopatra" (v. 2):
"Hast thou the pretty worm of Nilus there,
That kills and pains not?"
The term "worm" was also occasionally used to signify a "poor creature,"
as also was the word "snake." Thus, in the "Taming of the Shrew" (v. 2),
Katharina says:
"Come, come, you froward and unable worms!
My mind hath been as big as one of yours,
My heart as great, my reason, haply, more."
So, in "As You Like It" (iv. 3), Rosalind uses "snake" in the sense of
reproach: "Well, go your way to her, for I see love hath made thee a
tame snake."
The serpent, as the emblem of ingratitude, is alluded to by King Lear
(ii. 4), who, referring to his daughter, says how she
"struck me with her tongue,
Most serpent-like, upon the very heart:--
All the stor'd vengeances of heaven fall
On her ingrateful top!"
According to a popular belief, still credited, a poisonous bite could be
cured by the blood of the viper which darted the poison. Thus, in
"Richard II." (i. 1), Mowbray says:
"I am disgrac'd, impeach'd, and baffled here,
Pierc'd to the soul with slander's venom'd spear,
The which no balm can cure, but his heart-blood
Which breath'd this poison."
In Cornwall it is still believed that the dead body of a serpent,
bruised on the wound it has occasioned, is an infallible remedy for its
bite.[576] Hence has originated the following rhyme:
"The beauteous adder hath a sting,
Yet bears a balsam too."
[576] See Hunt's "Popular Romances of the West of England,"
1871, p. 415; and Brand's "Pop. Antiq.," 1849, vol. iii. p. 270.
The old notion that the snake, in casting off its slough, or skin,
annually, is supposed to regain new vigor and fresh youth, is alluded to
by King Henry ("Henry V.," iv. 1), who speaks of "casted slough and
fresh legerity"--legerity meaning lightness, nimbleness. In "Twelfth
Night" (ii. 5), in the letter which Malvolio finds, there is this
passage: "to inure thyself to what thou art like to be, cast thy humble
slough and appear fresh." One of the most useful miracles which St.
Patrick is reported to have performed was his driving the venomous
reptiles out of Ireland, and forbidding them to return. This tradition
is probably alluded to by King Richard ("Richard II.," ii. 1):
"Now for our Irish wars:
We must supplant those rough rug-headed kerns,
Which live like venom, where no venom else,
But only they, hath privilege to live."
The way, we are told, by which the saint performed this astounding feat
of his supernatural power was by means of a drum. Even spiders, too,
runs the legend, were included in this summary process of
excommunicating the serpent race. One of the customs, therefore,
observed on St. Patrick's day, is visiting Croagh Patrick. This sacred
hill is situated in the county of Mayo, and is said to have been the
spot chosen by St. Patrick for banishing the serpents and other noxious
animals into the sea.
In "Julius Cæsar" (ii. 1), where Brutus says,
"It is the bright day that brings forth the adder;
And that craves wary walking."
we may compare the popular adage,
"March wind
Wakes the ether (_i. e._, adder) and blooms the whin."[577]
[577] Denham's "Weather Proverbs," 1842.
_Spider._ This little creature, which, in daily life, is seldom noticed
except for its cobweb, the presence of which in a house generally
betokens neglect, has, however, an interesting history, being the
subject of many a curious legend and quaint superstition. Thus, it has
not escaped the all-pervading eye of Shakespeare, who has given us many
curious scraps of folk-lore concerning it. In days gone by the web of
the common house-spider was much in request for stopping the effusion of
blood; and hence Bottom, in addressing one of his fairy attendants in "A
Midsummer-Night's Dream" (iii. 1), says: "I shall desire you of more
acquaintance, good Master Cobweb: if I cut my finger, I shall make bold
with you."
Its medicinal virtues, however, do not end here, for, in Sussex[578] it
is used in cases of jaundice, many an old doctress prescribing "a live
spider rolled up in butter." It is stated, too, that the web is
narcotic, and has been administered internally in certain cases of
fever, with success.[579] As a remedy for ague it has been considered
most efficacious. Some years ago a lady in the south of Ireland was
celebrated far and near for her cure of this disorder. Her remedy was a
large house-spider taken alive, enveloped in treacle or preserve. Of
course, the parties were carefully kept in ignorance of what the
wonderful remedy was.[580]
[578] "Folk-Lore Record," 1878, vol. i. p. 45.
[579] See Brand's "Pop. Antiq.," vol. iii. pp. 223, 287, 381.
[580] See article on "Spider-Lore," in _Graphic_, November 13, 1880.
According to a universal belief, spiders were formerly considered highly
venomous, in allusion to which notion King Richard II. (iii. 2), in
saluting the "dear earth" on which he stands, after "late tossing on the
breaking seas," accosts it thus:
"Feed not thy sovereign's foe, my gentle earth,
Nor with thy sweets comfort his ravenous sense;
But let thy spiders, that suck up thy venom,
And heavy-gaited toads, lie in their way,
Doing annoyance to the treacherous feet,
Which with usurping steps do trample thee."
Again, Leontes, in the "Winter's Tale" (ii. 1), remarks:
"There may be in the cup
A spider steep'd."
In "Cymbeline" (iv. 2) and "Richard III." (i. 2) Shakespeare classes it
with adders and toads; and in the latter play (i. 3), when Queen
Margaret is hurling imprecations on her enemies, she is turned from her
encounter with Gloster by a remark made by Queen Elizabeth; and while a
pitying spirit seems for a minute to supplant her rage, she addresses
her successor in these words:
"Poor painted queen, vain flourish of my fortune!
Why strew'st thou sugar on that bottled spider,
Whose deadly web ensnareth thee about?"
In another part of the same play (iv. 4) the epithet "bottled" is again
applied in a similar manner by Queen Elizabeth:
"That bottled spider, that foul bunch-back'd toad!"
Ritson, on these two passages, has the following remarks on the term,
bottled spider: "A large, bloated, glossy spider, supposed to contain
venom proportionate to its size."
The origin of the silvery threads of gossamer which are so frequently
seen extending from bush to bush was formerly unknown. Spenser, for
instance, speaks of them as "scorched dew;" and Thomson, in his
"Autumn," mentions "the filmy threads of dew evaporate;" which probably,
says Mr. Patterson,[581] refers to the same object. The gossamer is now,
however, known to be the production of a minute spider. It is twice
mentioned by Shakespeare, but not in connection with the little being
from which it originates. One of the passages is in "Romeo and Juliet"
(ii. 6):
"A lover may bestride the gossamer
That idles in the wanton summer air,
And yet not fall; so light is vanity."
[581] "Insects Mentioned by Shakespeare," 1841, p. 220.
The other occurs in "King Lear" (iv. 6), where Edgar accosts his father,
after his supposed leap from that
"cliff, whose high and bending head
Looks fearfully in the confined deep."
He says:
"Hadst thou been aught but gossamer, feathers, air,
So many fathom down precipitating,
Thou'dst shiver'd like an egg."
In each case it is expressive of extreme lightness. Nares, in his
"Glossary" (vol. i. p. 378), considers that the term "gossamer"
originally came from the French _gossampine_, the cotton-tree, and is
equivalent to cotton-wool. He says that it also means any light, downy
matter, such as the flying seeds of thistles and other plants, and, in
poetry, is not unfrequently used to denote the long, floating cobwebs
seen in fine weather. In the above passage from "King Lear" he thinks it
has the original sense, and in the one from "Romeo and Juliet" probably
the last. Some are of opinion that the word is derived from _goss_, the
gorse or furze.[582] In Germany the popular belief attributes the
manufacture of the gossamer to the dwarfs and elves. Of King Oberon, it
may be remembered, we are told,
"A rich mantle he did wear,
Made of tinsel gossamer,
Bestarred over with a few
Diamond drops of morning dew."
[582] See Croker's "Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South
of Ireland," edited by T. Wright, 1862, p. 215.
Hogg, too, introduces it as a vehicle fit for the fairy bands, which he
describes as
"sailing 'mid the golden air
In skiffs of yielding gossamer."
_Toad._ Among the vulgar errors of Shakespeare's day was the belief that
the head of the toad contained a stone possessing great medicinal
virtues. In "As You Like It," (ii. 1), the Duke says:
"Sweet are the uses of adversity;
Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous,
Wears yet a precious jewel in his head."
Lupton, in his "One Thousand Notable Things," says that "a toad-stone,
called _Crepaudina_, touching any part envenomed by the bite of a rat,
wasp, spider, or other venomous beast, ceases the pain and swelling
thereof." In the Londesborough Collection is a silver ring of the
fifteenth century, in which one of these stones is set.[583]
[583] See Brand's "Pop. Antiq.," vol. ii. pp. 50-55; Douce's
"Illustrations of Shakespeare," pp. 181-183.
It was also generally believed that the toad was highly venomous--a
notion to which there are constant allusions in Shakespeare's plays; as,
for example, in the above passage, where it is spoken of as "ugly and
venomous." In "Richard III." (i. 2), Lady Anne says to Gloster:
"Never hung poison on a fouler toad."
And, in another scene (i. 3), Queen Margaret speaks of "this pois'nous
bunch-back'd toad."
Once more, in "Titus Andronicus" (iv. 2), the Nurse describes Queen
Tamora's babe as being "as loathsome as a toad." There is doubtless some
truth in this belief, as the following quotation from Mr. Frank
Buckland's "Curiosities of Natural History" seems to show: "Toads are
generally reported to be poisonous; and this is perfectly true to a
certain extent. Like the lizards, they have glands in their skin which
secrete a white, highly acid fluid, and just behind the head are seen
two eminences like split beans; if these be pressed, this acid fluid
will come out--only let the operator mind that it does not get into his
eyes, for it generally comes out with a jet. There are also other glands
dispersed through the skin. A dog will never take a toad in his mouth,
and the reason is that this glandular secretion burns his tongue and
lips. It is also poisonous to the human subject. Mr. Blick, surgeon, of
Islip, Oxfordshire,[584] tells me that a man once made a wager, when
half drunk, in a village public-house, that he would bite a toad's head
off; he did so, but in a few hours his lips, tongue, and throat began to
swell in a most alarming way, and he was dangerously ill for some
time."
[584] See "Notes and Queries," 6th series, vol. v. pp. 32, 173:
also, Gilbert White's "Natural History of Selborne," letter xvii.
Owing to the supposed highly venomous character of the toad,
"superstition," says Pennant,[585] "gave it preternatural powers, and
made it a principal ingredient in the incantations of nocturnal hags."
Thus, in Macbeth (iv. 1), the witch says:
"Toad that under cold stone,
Days and nights has thirty-one
Swelter'd venom sleeping got,
Boil thou first i' the charmed pot."
[585] "Zoology," 1766, vol. iii. p. 15.
Pennant adds that this was intended "for a design of the first
consideration, that of raising and bringing before the eyes of Macbeth a
hateful second-sight of the prosperity of Banquo's line. This shows the
mighty power attributed to this animal by the dealers in the magic art."
The evil spirit, too, has been likened by one of our master bards to the
toad, as a semblance of all that is devilish and disgusting ("Paradise
Lost," iv. 800):
"Him they found,
Squat like a toad, close at the ear of Eve,
Assaying with all his devilish art to reach
The organs of her fancy."
In "Macbeth" (i. 1), the paddock or toad is made the name of a familiar
spirit:
"Paddock[586] calls.--Anon!"
[586] Cf. "Hamlet," iii. 4; here paddock is used for a toad.
_Wasp._ So easily, we are told,[587] is the wrathful temperament of this
insect aroused, that extreme irascibility can scarcely be better
expressed than by the term "waspish." It is in this sense that
Shakespeare has applied the epithet, "her waspish-headed son," in the
"Tempest" (iv. 1), where we are told that Cupid is resolved to be a boy
outright. Again, in "As You Like It" (iv. 3), Silvius says:
"I know not the contents; but, as I guess
By the stern brow and waspish action
Which she did use as she was writing of it,
It bears an angry tenor."
[587] Patterson's "Insects Mentioned by Shakespeare," 1841, p. 137.
Again, in the "Taming of the Shrew" (ii. 1), Petruchio addresses his
intended spouse in language not highly complimentary:
"_Pet._ Come, come, you wasp; i' faith, you are too angry.
_Kath._ If I be waspish, best beware my sting.
_Pet._ My remedy is, then, to pluck it out."
In the celebrated scene in "Julius Cæsar" (iv. 3), in which the
reconciliation between Brutus and Cassius is effected, the word is used
in a similar sense:
"I'll use you for my mirth, yea, for my laughter,
When you are waspish."[588]
[588] Cf. "Titus Andronicus," ii. 3; "Henry VIII.," iii. 3.
_Water-Fly._ This little insect, which, on a sunny day, may be seen
almost on every pool, dimpling the glassy surface of the water, is used
as a term of reproach by Shakespeare. Thus, Hamlet (v. 2), speaking of
Osric, asks Horatio, "Dost know this water-fly?" In "Troilus and
Cressida" (v. 1), Thersites exclaims: "Ah, how the poor world is
pestered with such water-flies, diminutives of nature." Johnson says it
is the proper emblem of a busy trifler, because it skips up and down
upon the surface of the water without any apparent purpose.