MISCELLANEOUS CUSTOMS, ETC.
_Badge of Poverty._ In the reign of William III., those who received
parish relief had to wear a badge. It was the letter P, with the initial
of the parish to which they belonged, in red or blue cloth, on the
shoulder of the right sleeve. In "2 Henry VI." (v. 1) Clifford says:
"Might I but know thee by thy household badge."
_Bedfellow._ A proof of the simplicity of manners in olden times is
evidenced by the fact that it was customary for men, even of the highest
rank, to sleep together. In "Henry V." (ii. 2) Exeter says:
"Nay, but the man that was his bedfellow,
Whom he hath dull'd and cloy'd with gracious favours."
"This unseemly custom," says Malone, "continued common till the middle
of the last century, if not later." Beaumont and Fletcher, in the
"Coxcomb" (i. 1), thus refer to it:
"Must we, that have so long time been as one,
Seen cities, countries, kingdoms, and their wonders,
Been bedfellows, and in our various journey
Mixt all our observations."
In the same way, letters from noblemen to each other often began with
the appellation _bedfellow_.[961]
[961] Nares's "Glossary," vol. i. p. 68.
_Curfew Bell_, which is generally supposed to be of Norman origin, is
still rung in some of our old country villages, although it has long
lost its significance. It seems to have been as important to ghosts as
to living men, it being their signal for walking, a license which
apparently lasted till the first cock. Fairies, too, and other spirits,
were under the same regulations; and hence Prospero, in "The Tempest"
(v. 1), says of his elves that they
"rejoice
To hear the solemn curfew."
In "King Lear" (iii. 4) we find the fiend Flibbertigibbet obeying the
same rule, for Edgar says: "This is the foul fiend Flibbertigibbet; he
begins at curfew, and walks till the first cock."
In "Measure for Measure" (iv. 2) we find another allusion:
"_Duke._ The best and wholesom'st spirits of the night
Envelope you, good provost! Who call'd here of late?
_Provost._ None, since the curfew rung."
And, once more, in "Romeo and Juliet" (iv. 4), Capulet says:
"Come, stir, stir, stir! the second cock hath crow'd,
The curfew bell hath rung, 'tis three o'clock."[962]
[962] See Brand's "Pop. Antiq.," 1849, vol. iii. pp. 220-225;
also, Harland and Wilkinson's "Lancashire Folk-Lore," 1867, p. 44.
_Sacring Bell._ This was a bell which rang for processions and other
holy ceremonies.[963] It is mentioned in "Henry VIII." (iii. 2), by the
Earl of Surrey:
"I'll startle you
Worse than the sacring bell."
[963] Dyce's "Glossary," p. 379.
It is rung in the Romish Church to give notice that the "Host" is
approaching, and is now called "Sanctus bell," from the words "Sanctus,
Sanctus, Sanctus Dominus Deus Sabaoth," pronounced by the priest.
On the graphic passage where Macbeth (ii. 1) says:
"The bell invites me.
Hear it not, Duncan; for it is a knell
That summons thee to heaven or to hell"--
Malone has this note: "Thus Raleigh, speaking of love, in England's
'Helicon' (1600):
"'It is perhaps that sauncing bell
That toules all into heaven or hell.'"
_Sauncing_ being probably a mistake for sacring or saint's bell,
originally, perhaps, written "saintis bell." In "Hudibras" we find:
"The old saintis bell that rings all in."
_Carpet-knights._ These were knights dubbed at court by mere favor, and
not on the field of battle, for their military exploits. In "Twelfth
Night" (iii. 4), Sir Toby defines one of them thus: "He is knight,
dubbed with unhatched rapier, and on carpet consideration."
A "trencher knight" was probably synonymous, as in "Love's Labour's
Lost" (v. 2):
"Some mumble-news, some trencher-knight, some Dick."
These carpet-knights were sometimes called "knights of the green
cloth."[964]
[964] See Douce's "Illustrations of Shakespeare," pp. 65, 66.
_Chair Days._ Days of old age and infirmity. So, in "2 Henry VI." (v.
2), young Clifford, on seeing his dead father, says:
"Wast thou ordain'd, dear father,
To lose thy youth in peace, and to achieve
The silver livery of advised age,
And, in thy reverence, and thy chair-days, thus
To die in ruffian battle?"
_Chivalry._ The expression "sworn brothers," which Shakespeare several
times employs, refers to the "fratres jurati," who, in the days of
chivalry, mutually bound themselves by oath to share each other's
fortune. Thus, Falstaff says of Shallow, in "2 Henry IV." (iii. 2): "He
talks as familiarly of John o' Gaunt as if he had been sworn brother to
him." In "Henry V." (ii. 1), Bardolph says: "we'll be all three sworn
brothers to France." In course of time it was used in a laxer sense, to
denote intimacy, as in "Much Ado About Nothing" (i. 1), where Beatrice
says of Benedick, that "He hath every month a new sworn brother."[965]
[965] We may compare, too, what Coriolanus says (ii. 3): "I
will, sir, flatter my sworn brother, the people."
According to the laws of chivalry, a person of superior birth might not
be challenged by an inferior; or, if challenged, might refuse combat, a
reference to which seems to be made by Cleopatra ("Antony and
Cleopatra," ii. 4):
"I will not hurt him.--
These hands do lack nobility, that they strike
A meaner than myself."
Again, in "Troilus and Cressida" (v. 4), the same practice is alluded to
by Hector, who asks Thersites:
"What art thou, Greek? art thou for Hector's match?
Art thou of blood and honour?"
Singer quotes from "Melville's Memoirs" (1735, p. 165): "The Laird of
Grange offered to fight Bothwell, who answered that he was not his
equal. The like answer made he to Tullibardine. Then my Lord Lindsay
offered to fight him, which he could not well refuse; but his heart
failed him, and he grew cold on the business."
_Clubs._ According to Malone, it was once a common custom, on the
breaking-out of a fray, to call out "Clubs, clubs!" to part the
combatants. Thus, in "1 Henry VI." (i. 3), the Mayor declares:
"I'll call for clubs, if you will not away."
In "Titus Andronicus" (ii. 1), Aaron says:
"Clubs, clubs! these lovers will not keep the peace."
"Clubs," too, "was originally the popular cry to call forth the London
apprentices, who employed their clubs for the preservation of the public
peace. Sometimes, however, they used those weapons to raise a
disturbance, as they are described doing in the following passage in
'Henry VIII.' (v. 4): 'I miss'd the meteor once, and hit that woman; who
cried out 'Clubs!' when I might see from far some forty truncheoners
draw to her succour, which were the hope o' the Strand, where she was
quartered.'"[966]
[966] Cf. "Romeo and Juliet," i. 1; "As You Like It," v. 2.
_Color-Lore._ Green eyes have been praised by poets of nearly every
land,[967] and, according to Armado, in "Love's Labour's Lost" (i. 2),
"Green, indeed, is the colour of lovers."
[967] See Singer's "Shakespeare," vol. viii. p. 204.
In "A Midsummer-Night's Dream" (v. 1), Thisbe laments:
"Lovers, make moan:
His eyes were green as leeks."
The Nurse, in her description of Romeo's rival ("Romeo and Juliet," iii.
5), says:
"An eagle, madam,
Hath not so green, so quick, so fair an eye
As Paris hath."
In the "Two Noble Kinsmen" (v. 1), Emilia, praying to Diana, says:
"O vouchsafe,
With that thy rare green eye--which never yet
Beheld thing maculate--look on thy virgin."
The words of Armado have been variously explained as alluding to green
eyes--Spanish writers being peculiarly enthusiastic in this praise--to the
willow worn by unsuccessful lovers, and to their melancholy.[968] It has
also been suggested[969] that, as green is the color most suggestive of
freshness and spring-time, it may have been considered the most
appropriate lover's badge. At the same time, however, it is curious
that, as green has been regarded as an ominous color, it should be
connected with lovers, for, as an old couplet remarks:
"Those dressed in blue
Have lovers true;
In green and white,
Forsaken quite."[970]
[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.
In "Merchant of Venice" (iii. 2), "green-eyed jealousy," and in
"Othello" (iii. 3), its equivalent, "green-eyed monster," are
expressions used by Shakespeare.
_Yellow_ is an epithet often, too, applied to jealousy, by the old
writers. In the "Merry Wives of Windsor" (i. 3), Nym says he will
possess Ford "with yellowness." In "Much Ado About Nothing" (ii. 1)
Beatrice describes the Count as "civil as an orange, and something of
that jealous complexion." In "Twelfth Night" (ii. 4), Viola tells the
Duke how her father's daughter loved a man, but never told her love:
"She pin'd in thought,
And with a green and yellow melancholy
She sat like patience on a monument."
_Dinner Customs._ In days gone by there was but one salt-cellar on the
table, which was a large piece of plate, generally much ornamented. The
tables being long, the salt was commonly placed about the middle, and
served as a kind of boundary to the different quality of the guests
invited. Those of distinction were ranked above; the space below being
assigned to the dependants, inferior relations of the master of the
house, etc.[971] Shakespeare would seem to allude to this custom in the
"Winter's Tale" (i. 2), where Leontes says:
"lower messes,
Perchance, are to this business purblind?"
[971] Gifford's note on "Massinger's Works," 1813, vol. i. p.
170; see Dyce's "Glossary to Shakespeare," pp. 269, 380.
Upon which passage Steevens adds, "Leontes comprehends inferiority of
understanding in the idea of inferiority of rank." Ben Jonson, speaking
of the characteristics of an insolent coxcomb, remarks: "His fashion is
not to take knowledge of him that is beneath him in clothes. He never
drinks below the salt."
_Ordinary._ This was a public dinner, where each paid his share, an
allusion to which custom is made by Enobarbus, in "Antony and Cleopatra"
(ii. 2), who, speaking of Antony, says:
"Being barber'd ten times o'er, goes to the feast,
And, for his ordinary, pays his heart
For what his eyes eat only."
Again, in "All's Well that Ends Well" (ii. 3), Lafeu says: "I did think
thee, for two ordinaries, to be a pretty wise fellow; thou didst make
tolerable vent of thy travel."
The "ordinary" also denoted the lounging-place of the men of the town,
and the fantastic gallants who herded together. They were, says the
author of "Curiosities of Literature" (vol. iii. p. 82), "the exchange
for news, the echoing-places for all sorts of town talk; there they
might hear of the last new play and poem, and the last fresh widow
sighing for some knight to make her a lady; these resorts were attended
also to save charges of housekeeping."
_Drinking Customs._ Shakespeare has given several allusions to the old
customs associated with drinking, which have always varied in different
countries. At the present day many of the drinking customs still
observed are very curious, especially those kept up at the universities
and inns-of-court.
_Alms-drink_ was a phrase in use, says Warburton, among good fellows, to
signify that liquor of another's share which his companion drank to ease
him. So, in "Antony and Cleopatra" (ii. 7) one of the servants says of
Lepidus: "They have made him drink alms-drink."
_By-drinkings._ This was a phrase for drinkings between meals, and is
used by the Hostess in "1 Henry IV." (iii. 3), who says to Falstaff:
"You owe money here besides, Sir John, for your diet, and by-drinkings."
_Hooped Pots._ In olden times drinking-pots were made with hoops, so
that, when two or more drank from the same tankard, no one should drink
more than his share. There were generally three hoops to the pots:
hence, in "2 Henry VI." (iv. 2), Cade says: "The three-hooped pot shall
have ten hoops." In Nash's "Pierce Pennilesse" we read: "I believe
hoopes on quart pots were invented that every man should take his hoope,
and no more."
The phrases "to do a man right" and "to do him reason" were, in years
gone by, the common expressions in pledging healths; he who drank a
bumper expected that a bumper should be drunk to his toast. To this
practice alludes the scrap of a song which Silence sings in "2 Henry
IV." (v. 3):
"Do me right,
And dub me knight:
Samingo."
He who drank, too, a bumper on his knee to the health of his mistress
was dubbed a knight for the evening. The word Samingo is either a
corruption of, or an intended blunder for, San Domingo, but why this
saint should be the patron of topers is uncertain.
_Rouse._ According to Gifford,[972] a _rouse_ was a large glass in which
a health was given, the drinking of which, by the rest of the company,
formed a carouse. Hamlet (i. 4) says:
"The king doth wake to-night, and takes his rouse."
[972] See Dyce, vol. iv. p. 395.
The word occurs again in the following act (1), where Polonius uses the
phrase "o'ertook in's rouse;" and in the sense of a bumper, or glass of
liquor, in "Othello" (ii. 3), "they have given me a rouse already."
_Sheer Ale._ This term, which is used in the "Taming of the Shrew"
(Induction, sc. 2), by Sly--"Ask Marian Hacket, the fat ale-wife of
Wincot, if she know me not: if she say I am not fourteen pence on the
score for sheer ale"--according to some expositors, means "ale alone,
nothing but ale," rather than "unmixed ale."
_Sneak-cup._ This phrase, which is used by Falstaff in "1 Henry IV."
(iii. 3)--"the prince is a Jack, a sneak-cup"--was used to denote one who
balked his glass.
_Earnest Money._ It was, in olden times, customary to ratify an
agreement by a bent coin. In "Henry VIII." (ii. 3), the old lady
remarks:
"Tis strange: a three-pence bow'd would hire me,
Old as I am, to queen it."
There were, however, no threepences so early as the reign of Henry VIII.
_Exclamations._ "Charity, for the Lord's sake!" was the form of
ejaculatory supplication used by imprisoned debtors to the passers-by.
So, in Davies's "Epigrams" (1611):
"Good, gentle writers, 'for the Lord's sake, for the Lord's sake,'
Like Ludgate prisoner, lo, I, begging, make
My mone."
In "Measure for Measure" (iv. 3), the phrase is alluded to by Pompey:
"all great doers in our trade, and are now 'for the Lord's sake.'"
"Cry Budget." A watchword. Thus Slender says to Shallow, in the "Merry
Wives of Windsor" (v. 2); "We have a nay-word, how to know one another:
I come to her in white, and cry 'mum;' she cries 'budget;' and by that
we know one another."
"God save the mark." "Romeo and Juliet" (iii. 2). This exclamation has
hitherto baffled the research of every commentator. It occurs again in
"1 Henry IV." (i. 3); and in the "Merchant of Venice" (ii. 2) and in
"Othello" (i. 1), we have "God bless the mark." In the quarto, 1597,
instead of "God save the mark" in the first passage quoted, we have "God
save the sample," an expression equally obscure.[973]
[973] Staunton's "Shakespeare," vol i. p. 257.
_Halidom._ This exclamation was used, says Minsheu,[974] by old
countrymen, by manner of swearing. In "Two Gentlemen of Verona" (iv. 2),
the Hostess says: "By my halidom, I was fast asleep;" the probable
derivation being _holy_, with the termination _dome._
[974] "Guide into Tongues," 1607.
_Hall! Hall!_ An exclamation formerly used, to make a clear space in a
crowd, for any particular purpose, was "_A hall, a hall_." So, in "Romeo
and Juliet" (i. 5), Capulet says:
"Come, musicians, play.--
A hall, a hall! give room! and foot it, girls."
_Hay._ This is equivalent to "you have it," an exclamation in fencing,
when a thrust or hit is received by the antagonist. In "Romeo and
Juliet" (ii. 4), Mercutio speaks of "the punto reverso! the hay!"
_Hold._ To cry _hold!_ when persons were fighting, was an authoritative
way of separating them, according to the old military law. So Macbeth,
in his struggle with Macduff, says:
"And damn'd be he that first cries, 'Hold, enough!'"
We may compare Lady Macbeth's words (i. 5):
"Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark,
To cry, 'Hold, hold!'"
"I' the name of me." A vulgar exclamation formerly in use. So in the
"Winter's Tale" (iv. 2) it is used by the Clown.
"_O ho, O ho!_" This savage exclamation was, says Steevens, constantly
appropriated by the writers of our ancient mysteries and moralities to
the devil. In "The Tempest" (i. 2), Caliban, when rebuked by Prospero
for seeking "to violate the honor of my child," replies:
"O ho, O ho! would it had been done!
Thou didst prevent me; I had peopled else
This isle with Calibans."
_Push._ An exclamation equivalent to _pish_.[975] It is used by Leonato
in "Much Ado About Nothing" (v. 1):
"And made a push at chance and sufferance;"
and again, in "Timon of Athens" (iii. 6), where one of the lords says:
"Push! did you see my cap?"
[975] See Dyce's "Glossary," p. 343.
_Rivo_ was an exclamation often used in Bacchanalian revels, but its
origin is uncertain. It occurs in "1 Henry IV." (ii. 4): "'Rivo!' says
the drunkard." Gifford suggests that it is "corrupted, perhaps, from the
Spanish _rio_, which is figuratively used for a large quantity of
liquor," a derivation, however, which Mr. Dyce does not think probable.
_Sneck-up._ This was an exclamation of contempt, equivalent to "go and
hang yourself."[976] It is used by Sir Toby in "Twelfth Night" (ii. 3),
in reply to Malvolio's rebuke: "We did keep time, sir, in our catches.
Sneck up!"
[976] Dyce's "Glossary," p. 402.
_So-ho._ This is the cry of sportsmen when the hare is found in her
seat.
_Spy._ "I spy" is the usual exclamation at a well-known childish game
called "Hie spy, hie!"[977]
[977] Ibid., vol. vi. p. 45.
_Tailor._ Johnson explains the following words of Puck in "A
Midsummer-Night's Dream" (ii. 1) thus:
"The wisest aunt, telling the saddest tale,
Sometime for three-foot stool mistaketh me;
Then slip I from her bum, down topples she,
And 'tailor' cries, and falls into a cough."
"The custom of crying tailor at a sudden fall backwards, I think I
remember to have observed. He that slips beside his chair, falls as a
tailor squats upon his board." Mr. Dyce,[978] however, adds, "it may be
doubted if this explains the text."
[978] Ibid., p. 43.
_Tilly-vally._ An exclamation of contempt, the etymology of which is
uncertain. According to Douce it is a hunting phrase borrowed from the
French. Singer says it is equivalent to _fiddle-faddle_. It occurs in
"Twelfth Night" (ii. 3), being used by Sir Toby: "Am not I
consanguineous? am I not of her blood? Tilly-vally, lady!"
In "2 Henry IV." (ii. 4), the Hostess corrupts it to _tilly-fally_:
"Tilly-fally, Sir John, ne'er tell me: your ancient swaggerer comes not
in my doors."
As a further illustration of the use of this word, Singer quotes a
conversation between Sir Thomas More and his wife, given in Roper's
Life: "Is not this house, quoth he, as nigh heaven as my own? To whom
she, after her accustomed homely fashion, not liking such talk,
answered, Tylle-valle, Tylle-valle."
_Westward, ho._ This was one of the exclamations of the watermen who
plied on the Thames, and is used by Viola in "Twelfth Night" (iii. 1).
Dyce[979] quotes from Peel's "Edward I." to illustrate the use of this
word:
"_Queen Elinor._ Ay, good woman, conduct me to the court,
That there I may bewail my sinful life,
And call to God to save my wretched soul.
[_A cry of 'Westward, ho!'_
Woman, what noise is this I hear?
_Potter's Wife._ An like your grace, it is the watermen that call for
passengers to go westward now."
[979] "Glossary," p. 497; see Nares's "Glossary," vol. ii. p. 952.
Dekker took the exclamation "Westward, ho!" for the title of a comedy;
and Jonson, Chapman, and Marston adopted that of "Eastward, ho!" for one
jointly written by them a few years afterwards.
_Fools._ Mr. Douce, in his essay "On the Clowns and Fools of
Shakespeare," has made a ninefold division of English fools, according
to quality or place of employment, as the domestic fool, the city or
corporation fool, the tavern fool, the fool of the mysteries and
moralities. The last is generally called the "vice," and is the original
of the stage clowns so common among the dramatists of the time of
Elizabeth, and who embody so much of the wit of Shakespeare.
A very palpable distinction is that which distinguishes between such
creatures as were chosen to excite to laughter from some deformity of
mind or body, and such as were chosen for a certain alertness of mind
and power of repartee--or, briefly, butts and wits. The dress of the
regular court fool of the middle ages was not altogether a rigid
uniform, but seems to have changed from time to time. The head was
shaved, the coat was motley, and the breeches tight, with, generally,
one leg different in color from the other. The head was covered with a
garment resembling a monk's cowl, which fell over the breast and
shoulders, and often bore asses' ears, and was crested with a coxcomb,
while bells hung from various parts of the attire. The fool's bauble was
a short staff bearing a ridiculous head, to which was sometimes
attached an inflated bladder, by which sham castigations were inflicted;
a long petticoat was also occasionally worn, but seems to have belonged
rather to the idiots than the wits. The fool's business was to amuse his
master, to excite his laughter by sharp contrast, to prevent the
over-oppression of state affairs, and, in harmony with a well-known
physiological precept, by his liveliness at meals to assist his lord's
digestion.[980]
[980] "Encyclopædia Britannica," 1879, vol. ix. p. 366; see
Doran's "History of Court Fools," 1858.
The custom of shaving and nicking the head of a fool is very old. There
is a penalty of ten shillings, in one of Alfred's Ecclesiastical Laws,
if one opprobriously shave a common man like a fool; and Malone cites a
passage from "The Choice of Change," etc., by S. R. Gent, 4to,
1598--"Three things used by monks, which provoke other men to laugh at
their follies: 1. They are shaven and notched on the head like fooles."
In the "Comedy of Errors" (v. 1), the servant says:
"My master preaches patience to him, and the while
His man with scissors nicks him like a fool."
_Forfeits._ In order to enforce some kind of regularity in barbers'
shops, which were once places of great resort for the idle, certain laws
were usually made, the breaking of which was to be punished by forfeits.
Rules of this kind, however, were as often laughed at as obeyed. So, in
"Measure for Measure" (v. 1):
"laws for all faults,
But faults so countenanc'd, that the strong statutes
Stand like the forfeits in a barber's shop,
As much in mock as mark."
_Gambling._ It was once customary for a person when going abroad "to put
out" a sum of money on condition of receiving good interest for it on
his return home; if he never returned the deposit was forfeited. Hence
such a one was called "a putter-out." It is to this practice that
reference is made in the following passage ("The Tempest," iii. 3):
"or that there were such men
Whose heads stood in their breasts? which now we find
Each putter-out of five for one will bring us
Good warrant of."
Malone quotes from Moryson's "Itinerary" (1617, pt. i. p. 198): "This
custom of giving out money upon these adventures was first used in court
and noblemen;" a practice which "banker-outs, stage-players, and men of
base condition had drawn into contempt," by undertaking journeys merely
for gain upon their return. In Ben Jonson's "Every Man Out of His
Humour" (ii. 3) the custom is thus alluded to: "I do intend, this year
of jubilee coming on, to travel; and because I will not altogether go
upon expence, I am determined to put forth some five thousand pound, to
be paid me _five for one_, upon the return of my wife, myself, and my
dog, from the Turk's court at Constantinople. If all, or either of us,
miscarry in the journey, 'tis gone; if we be successful, why then there
will be five and twenty thousand pound to entertain time with."
_Garters._ It was the regular amorous etiquette in the reign of
Elizabeth,[981] "for a man, professing himself deeply in love, to assume
certain outward marks of negligence in his dress, as if too much
occupied by his passion to attend to such trifles, or driven by
despondency to a forgetfulness of all outward appearance." His "garters,
in particular, were not to be tied up." In "As You Like It" (iii. 2),
this custom is described by Rosalind, who tells Orlando: "There is none
of my uncle's marks upon you: he taught me how to know a man in love;
... your hose should be ungarter'd, your bonnet unbanded, your sleeve
unbuttoned, your shoe untied, and every thing about you demonstrating a
careless desolation." Another fashion which seems to have been common
among the beaux of Queen Elizabeth's reign, was that of wearing garters
across about the knees, an allusion to which we find in "Twelfth Night"
(ii. 5), in the letter which Malvolio reads: "Remember who commended thy
yellow stockings, and wished to see thee ever cross-gartered." Douce
quotes from the old comedy of "The Two Angrie Women of Abingdon" (1599),
where a servingman is thus described:
"Hee's a fine neate fellow,
A spruce slave, I warrant ye, he'ele have
His cruell garters crosse about the knee."
[981] Nares's "Glossary," vol. i. p. 350.
In days gone by, when garters were worn in sight, the upper classes wore
very expensive ones, but the lower orders worsted galloon ones. Prince
Henry calls Poins ("1 Henry IV.," ii. 4) a "caddis garter," meaning a
man of mean rank.
_Gaudy Days._ Feast-days in the colleges of our universities are so
called, as they were formerly at the inns-of-court. In "Antony and
Cleopatra" (iii. 13), Antony says:
"come,
Let's have one other gaudy night: call to me
All my sad captains; fill our bowls once more;
Let's mock the midnight bell."
They were so called, says Blount, "from _gaudium_, because, to say
truth, they are days of joy, as bringing good cheer to the hungry
students."
_Glove._ As an article of dress the glove held a conspicuous place in
many of our old customs and ceremonies. Thus, it was often worn in the
hat as a favor, and as a mark to be challenged by an enemy, as is
illustrated by the following dialogue in "Henry V." (iv. 1):
"_King Henry._ Give me any gage of thine, and I will wear it
in my bonnet: then, if ever thou darest acknowledge it, I will
make it my quarrel.
_Williams._ Here's my glove: give me another of thine.
_King Henry._ There.
_Williams._ This will I also wear in my cap: if ever thou come
to me and say, after to-morrow, 'This is my glove,' by this
hand, I will take thee a box on the ear.
_King Henry._ If ever I live to see it, I will challenge it.
_Williams._ Thou darest as well be hanged."
Again, in "Troilus and Cressida" (v. 2), Diomedes, taking the glove from
Cressida, says:
"To-morrow will I wear it on my helm,
And grieve his spirit that dares not challenge it."
And in "Richard II." (v. 3), Percy narrates how Prince Henry boasted
that--
"he would unto the stews,
And from the common'st creature pluck a glove,
And wear it as a favour; and with that
He would unhorse the lustiest challenger."
The glove was also worn in the hat as the memorial of a friend, and in
the "Merchant of Venice" (iv. 1), Portia, in her assumed character, asks
Bassanio for his gloves, which she says she will wear for his sake:
"Give me your gloves, I'll wear them for your sake."
When the fashion of thus wearing gloves declined, "it fell into the
hands of coxcombical and dissolute servants."[982] Thus Edgar, in "King
Lear" (iii. 4), being asked by Lear what he had been, replies: "A
serving-man, proud in heart and mind; that curled my hair; wore gloves
in my cap."
[982] Nares's "Glossary," vol. i. p. 371.
To throw the glove, as the signal of a challenge, is alluded to by
Troilus (iv. 4), who tells Cressida:
"For I will throw my glove to Death himself,
That's there's no maculation in thy heart"
--the meaning being, says Johnson: "I will challenge Death himself in
defence of thy fidelity."
The glove then thrown down was popularly called "a gage,"[983] from the
French, signifying a pledge, and in "Richard II." (iv. 1), it is so
termed by Aumerle:
"There is my gage, the manual seal of death,
That marks thee out for hell."
[983] The verb "to gage," or "to pledge," occurs in "Merchant
of Venice," i. 1:
"but my chief care
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.
In the same play it is also called "honor's pawn." Thus Bolingbroke (i.
1) says to Mowbray:
"Pale trembling coward, there I throw my gage,
Disclaiming here the kindred of the king;
And lay aside my high blood's royalty,
Which fear, not reverence, makes thee to except.
If guilty dread hath left thee so much strength
As to take up mine honour's pawn, then stoop."
And further on (iv. 1), one of the lords employs the same phrase:
"There is my honour's pawn;
Engage it to the trial, if thou dar'st."
It is difficult to discover why the glove was recognized as the sign of
defiance. Brand[984] suggests that the custom of dropping or sending the
glove, "as the signal of a challenge, may have been derived from the
circumstance of its being the cover of the hand, and therefore put for
the hand itself. The giving of the hand is well known to intimate that
the person who does so will not deceive, but stand to his agreement. _To
shake hands upon it_ would not be very delicate in an agreement to
fight, and, therefore, gloves may possibly have been deputed as
substitutes."
[984] "Pop. Antiq.," vol. ii. p. 127.
Again, the glove was often thrown down as a pledge, as in "Timon of
Athens" (v. 4), where the senator says to Alcibiades:
"Throw thy glove,
Or any token of thine honour else,
That thou wilt use the wars as thy redress,
And not as our confusion."
Whereupon Alcibiades answers: "Then there's my glove." In "King Lear"
(v. 2), Albany thus speaks:
"Thou art arm'd, Gloster:--let the trumpet sound:
If none appear to prove, upon thy person,
Thy heinous, manifest, and many treasons,
There is my pledge; [_Throwing down a glove_] I'll prove it on
thy heart."
In "Troilus and Cressida" (iv. 5), Hector further alludes to this
practice:
"Your quondam wife swears still by Venus' glove:
She's well, but bade me not commend her to you."
Scented gloves were formerly given away as presents. In "Winter's Tale"
the custom is referred to by Mopsa, who says to the Clown (iv. 4):
"Come, you promised me a tawdry lace, and a pair of sweet gloves;" and
Autolycus is introduced singing:
"Gloves as sweet as damask roses."
In "Much Ado About Nothing" (iii. 4), Hero says: "These gloves the count
sent me; they are an excellent perfume." Trinity College, Oxford, not
ungrateful to its founder and his spouse, has many entries, after the
date of 1556, in the Bursar's books, "pro fumigatis chirothecis," for
perfumed gloves.
_Kiss._ In years past, a kiss was the recognized fee of a lady's
partner, and as such is noticed in "Henry VIII." (i. 4):
"I were unmannerly to take you out,
And not to kiss you."
In "The Tempest" (i. 2) it is alluded to in Ariel's song:
"Come unto these yellow sands,
And then take hands:
Court'sied when you have, and kiss'd,
The wild waves whist,
Foot it featly here and there,
And, sweet sprites, the burthen bear."
There is probably a veiled allusion to the same ceremony in "Winter's
Tale" (iv. 4), where, at the dance of shepherds and shepherdesses, the
following dialogue occurs:
"_Clown._ Come on, strike up!
_Dorcas._ Mopsa must be your mistress: marry, garlic,
To mend her kissing with.
_Mopsa._ Now, in good time!
_Clown._ Not a word, a word; we stand upon our manners.
Come, strike up!"
In an old treatise entitled the "Use and Abuse of Dancing and
Minstrelsie" we read:
"But some reply, what fools will daunce,
If that when daunce is doon,
He may not have at ladyes lips,
That which in daunce he doon."
The practice of saluting ladies with a kiss was once very general, and
in the "Merry Wives of Windsor" to kiss the hostess is indirectly spoken
of as a common courtesy of the day.
In "Romeo and Juliet" (i. 5) a further instance occurs, where Romeo
kisses Juliet at Capulet's entertainment; and, in "Henry VIII." (i. 4),
Lord Sands is represented as kissing Anne Bullen, next to whom he sits
at supper.
The celebrated "kissing comfits" were sugar-plums, once extensively used
by fashionable persons to make the breath sweet. Falstaff, in the "Merry
Wives of Windsor" (v. 5), when embracing Mrs. Ford, says: "Let it
thunder to the tune of 'Green Sleeves,' hail kissing comfits, and snow
eringoes."
In "Measure for Measure" (iv. 1, song) kisses are referred to as "seals
of love." A Judas kiss was a kiss of treachery. Thus, in "3 Henry VI."
(v. 7), Gloster says:
"so Judas kiss'd his master,
And cried 'All hail!' when-as he meant all harm."
_Lace Songs._ These were jingling rhymes, sung by young girls while
engaged at their lace-pillows. A practice alluded to by the Duke in
"Twelfth Night" (ii. 4):
"O, fellow, come, the song we had last night.--
Mark it, Cesario; it is old and plain;
The spinsters and the knitters in the sun,
And the free maids that weave their thread with bones
Do use to chant it."
Miss Baker, in her "Northamptonshire Glossary" (1854, vol. i. p. 378).
says, "The movement of the bobbins is timed by the modulation of the
tune, which excites them to regularity and cheerfulness; and it is a
pleasing sight to see them, in warm, sunny weather, seated outside their
cottage doors, or seeking the shade of a neighboring tree; where, in
cheerful groups, they unite in singing their rude and simple rhymes. The
following is a specimen of one of these ditties, most descriptive of the
occupation:
"'Nineteen long lines, bring over my down,
The faster I work it, I'll shorten my score,
But if I do play, it'll stick to a stay,
So heigh ho! little fingers, and twank it away.'"
_Letters._ The word Emmanuel was formerly prefixed, probably from
feelings of piety, to letters and public deeds. So in "2 Henry VI." (iv.
2) there is the following allusion to it:
"_Cade._ What is thy name?
_Clerk._ Emmanuel.
_Dick._ They use to write it on the top of letters."
Staunton says: "We can refer to one MS. alone, in the British Museum
(Ad. MSS. 19, 400), which contains no less than fourteen private
epistles headed 'Emanewell,' or 'Jesus Immanuel.'"
Another superscription of a letter in years gone by was "to the bosom"
of a lady. Thus Hamlet (ii. 2) says in his letter to Ophelia:
"In her excellent white bosom, these."
And in the "Two Gentlemen of Verona" (iii. 1), Proteus says:
"Thy letters may be here, though thou art hence;
Which, being writ to me, shall be deliver'd
Even in the milk-white bosom of thy love."
This custom seems to have originated in the circumstance of women having
a pocket in the forepart of their stays, in which, according to
Steevens, "they carried not only love-letters and love-tokens, but even
their money and materials for needlework."
_Livery._ The phrase "sue my livery," which occurs in the following
speech of Bolingbroke ("Richard II." ii. 3),
"I am denied to sue my livery here,
And yet my letters-patents give me leave;
My father's goods are all distrain'd, and sold,
And these, and all, are all amiss employ'd,"
is thus explained by Malone: "On the death of every person who held by
knight's service, the escheator of the court in which he died summoned a
jury, who inquired what estate he died seized of, and of what age his
next heir was. If he was under age, he became a ward of the king's; but
if he was found to be of full age, he then had a right to sue out a writ
of _ouster le main_, that is, his livery, that the king's hand might be
taken off, and the land delivered to him." York ("Richard II.," ii. 1)
also says:
"If you do wrongfully seize Hereford's rights,
Call in the letters-patents that he hath
By his attorneys-general to sue
His livery."
_Love-Day._ This denoted a day of amity or reconciliation; an expression
which is used by Saturninus in "Titus Andronicus" (i. 1):
"You are my guest, Lavinia, and your friends.--
This day shall be a love-day, Tamora."
MILITARY LORE. _Fleshment._ This is a military term; a young soldier
being said to _flesh_ his sword the first time he draws blood with it.
In "King Lear" (ii. 2), Oswald relates how Kent
"in the fleshment of this dread exploit,
Drew on me here again,"
upon which passage Singer (vol. ix. p. 377) has this note: "Fleshment,
therefore, is here metaphorically applied to the first act which Kent,
in his new capacity, had performed for his master; and, at the same
time, in a sarcastic sense, as though he had esteemed it an heroic
exploit to trip a man behind, who was actually falling." The phrase
occurs again in "1 Henry IV." (v. 4), where Prince Henry tells his
brother:
"Come, brother John, full bravely hast thou flesh'd
Thy maiden sword."
_Swearing by the Sword._ According to Nares,[985] "the singular mixture
of religious and military fanaticism which arose from the Crusades gave
rise to the custom of taking a solemn oath upon a sword. In a plain,
unenriched sword, the separation between the blade and the hilt was
usually a straight transverse bar, which, suggesting the idea of a
cross, added to the devotion which every true knight felt for his
favorite weapon, and evidently led to this practice." Hamlet makes
Horatio swear that he will never divulge having seen the Ghost (i. 5):
"Never to speak of this that you have seen,
Swear by my sword."
[985] "Glossary," vol. ii. p. 858; see Dyce's "Glossary," p. 431.
In the "Winter's Tale" (ii. 3), Leonato says:
"Swear by this sword
Thou wilt perform my bidding."
The cross of the sword is also mentioned to illustrate the true bearing
of the oath. Hence, in "1 Henry IV." (ii. 4), Falstaff says jestingly of
Glendower, that he "swore the devil his true liegeman upon the cross of
a Welsh hook."[986] On account of the practice of swearing by a sword,
or, rather, by the cross or upper end of it, the name of _Jesus_ was
sometimes inscribed on the handle or some other part.
[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.
_Mining Terms._ According to Mr. Collier, the phrase "truepenny" is a
mining term current in the north of England, signifying a particular
indication in the soil, of the direction in which ore is to be found.
Thus Hamlet (i. 5) says
"Ah, ha, boy! say'st thou so? art thou there, truepenny?"
when making Horatio and Marcellus again swear that they will not divulge
having seen the ghost.
_Patrons._ The custom of clergymen praying for their patrons, in what is
called the bidding prayer, seems alluded to by Kent in "King Lear" (i.
1):
"Royal Lear,
Whom I have ever honour'd as my king,
Lov'd as my father, as my master follow'd,
As my great patron thought on in my prayers."
_Sagittary._ This was a monster, half man, half beast, described as a
terrible archer; neighing like a horse, and with its eyes of fire
striking men dead as if with lightning. In "Troilus and Cressida" (v.
5), Agamemnon says:
"The dreadful Sagittary
Appals our numbers."
Hence any deadly shot was called a sagittary. In "Othello" (i. I) the
barrack is so named from the figure of an archer over the door.
_Salad Days._ Days of green youth and inexperience. Cleopatra says (i.
5):
"My salad days,
When I was green in judgment:--cold in blood."
_Salt._ The salt of youth is that vigor and strong passion which then
predominates. The term is several times used by Shakespeare for strong
amorous passion. Iago, in "Othello" (iii. 3), refers to it as "hot as
monkeys, as salt as wolves in pride." In "Measure for Measure" (v. I),
the Duke calls Angelo's base passion his "salt imagination," because he
supposed his victim to be Isabella, and not his betrothed wife, whom he
was forced by the Duke to marry.[987]
[987] Brewer's "Dictionary of Phrase and Fable," p. 782.
_Salutations._ God-den was used by our forefathers as soon as noon was
past, after which time "good-morrow" or "good-day" was esteemed
improper; the phrase "God ye good den" being a contraction of "God give
you a good evening." This fully appears from the following passage in
"Romeo and Juliet" (ii. 4):
"_Nurse._ God ye good morrow, gentlemen.
_Mercutio._ God ye good den, fair gentlewoman."
Upon being thus corrected, the Nurse asks, "Is it good den?" to which
Mercutio replies, "'Tis no less, I tell you, for the bawdy hand of the
dial is now upon the prick of noon."
A further corruption of the same phrase was "God dig-you-den," as used
by Costard in "Love's Labour's Lost" (iv. 1): "God dig-you-den all!"
Shakespeare uses it several times, as in "Titus Andronicus" (iv. 4),
where the Clown says: "God and Saint Stephen give you good den;" and in
"King John" (i. 1) we have "Good-den, Sir Richard!"
Another old popular salutation was "good even and twenty" ("Merry Wives
of Windsor," ii. 1), equivalent to "twenty good-evenings." Mr.
Halliwell-Phillipps quotes a similar phrase from Elliot's "Fruits of the
French" (1593), "God night, and a thousand to everybody."
We may also compare the phrase "good deed" in "Winter's Tale" (i. 2)--a
species of asseveration, as "in very deed."
_Servants Customs._ The old custom of the servants of great families
taking an oath of fidelity on their entrance into office--as is still the
case with those of the sovereign--is alluded to by Posthumus in
"Cymbeline" (ii. 4), where, speaking of Imogen's servants, he says:
"Her attendants are
All sworn and honourable."[988]
[988] See Percy's "Northumberland Household Book," p. 49.
Gold chains were formerly worn by persons of rank and dignity, and by
rich merchants--a fashion which descended to upper servants in great
houses--and by stewards as badges of office. These chains were usually
cleaned by being rubbed with crumbs. Hence, in "Twelfth Night" (ii. 3),
Sir Toby says to the Clown:
"Go, sir, rub your chain with crumbs."
In days gone by, too, it was customary for the servants of the nobility,
particularly the gentleman-usher, to attend bare-headed. In the
procession to the trial in "Henry VIII." (ii. 4), one of the persons
enumerated is a gentleman-usher "bare-headed." On grand occasions,
coachmen, also, drove bare-headed, a practice alluded to in Beaumont and
Fletcher's "Woman-Hater" (iii. 2):
"Or a pleated lock, or a bareheaded coachman,
This sits like a sign where great ladies are
To be sold within."
_Sheriffs' Post._ At the doors of sheriffs were usually set up
ornamental posts, on which royal and civic proclamations were fixed. So,
in "Twelfth Night" (i. 5), Malvolio says: "He'll stand at your door like
a sheriff's post." "A pair of mayors' posts," says Staunton, "are still
standing in Norwich, which, from the initials T. P., and the date 159,
are conjectured to have belonged to Thomas Pettys, who was mayor of that
city in 1592."
_Shoeing-Horn._ This, from its convenient use in drawing on a tight
shoe, was applied in a jocular metaphor to other subservient and
tractable assistants. Thus Thersites, in "Troilus and Cressida" (v. 1),
in his railing mood gives this name to Menelaus, whom he calls "a
thrifty shoeing-horn in a chain, hanging at his brother's [Agamemnon]
leg."
It was also employed as a contemptuous name for danglers on young women.
In the same way "shoe-tye" became a characteristic name for a traveller,
a term used by Shakespeare in "Measure for Measure" (iv. 3), "Master
Forthright the tilter, and brave Master Shoe-tie, the great traveller."
_A Solemn Supper._ In Shakespeare's day this was a phrase for a feast or
banquet given on any important occasion, such as a birth, marriage, etc.
Macbeth says (iii. 1):
"To-night we hold a solemn supper, sir,
And I'll request your presence."
Howel, in a letter to Sir T. Hawke, 1636, says: "I was invited
yesternight to a _solemne supper_ by B. J. [Ben Jonson], where you were
deeply remembered."
So, in "Romeo and Juliet" (i. 5), Tybalt says:
"What! dares the slave
Come hither, cover'd with an antic face,
To fleer and scorn at our solemnity?"
And in "All's Well that Ends Well" (ii. 3), the King, on the conclusion
of the contract between Helena and Bertram, says:
"The solemn feast
Shall more attend upon the coming space,
Expecting absent friends."
_Statute Caps._ These were woollen caps enforced by Statute 13
Elizabeth, which, says Strype, in his "Annals" (vol. ii. p. 74), was
"for continuance of making and wearing woollen caps in behalf of the
trade of cappers; providing that all above the age of six years
(excepting the nobility and some others) should on Sabbath-days and
holy-days wear caps of wool, knit thicked, and drest in England, upon
penalty of ten groats." Thus, in "Love's Labour's Lost" (v. 2), Rosaline
says:
"Well, better wits have worn plain statute-caps."
Jonson considered that the statute caps alluded to were those worn by
the members of the universities.
_Theatrical Lore._ At the conclusion of a play, or of the epilogue, it
was formerly customary for the actors to kneel down on the stage, and
pray for the sovereign, nobility, clergy, and sometimes for the commons.
So, in the epilogue to "2 Henry IV.," the dancer says: "My tongue is
weary; when my legs are too, I will bid you good night; and so kneel
down before you:--but, indeed, to pray for the queen." Collier, in his
"History of English Dramatic Poetry" (vol. iii. p. 445), tells us that
this practice continued in the commencement of the 17th century.
_Tournaments._ In "Coriolanus" (ii. 1) Shakespeare attributes some of
the customs of his own times to a people who were wholly unacquainted
with them. In the following passage we have an exact description of what
occurred at tiltings and tournaments when a combatant had distinguished
himself:
"Matrons flung gloves,
Ladies and maids their scarfs and handkerchers,
Upon him as he pass'd: the nobles bended,
As to Jove's statue; and the commons made
A shower and thunder with their caps and shouts:
never saw the like."[989]
[989] See Singer's "Shakespeare," vol. vii. p. 350.
An allusion to the mock tournaments, in which the combatants were armed
with rushes in place of spears, is used in "Othello" (v. 2):
"Man but a rush against Othello's breast."
_Trumpet._ In olden times it was the fashion for persons of distinction,
when visiting, to be accompanied by a trumpeter, who announced their
approach by a flourish of his trumpet. It is to this custom,
Staunton[990] thinks, that Lorenzo refers in the "Merchant of Venice"
(v. 1), where he tells Portia:
"Your husband is at hand; I hear his trumpet."
[990] "Shakespeare," 1864, vol. i. p. 61.
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):
"Do not cry havoc, where you should but hunt
With modest warrant."
And in "Julius Cæsar" (iii. 1):
"Cry 'Havoc!' and let slip the dogs of war."
"_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."
[991] See page 312.
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."
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, 212.
Cobwebs, used for stanching blood, 265.
Cock, crows on Christmas Eve, 103;
spirits disappear at cock-crow, 48.
Cock-a-hoop, applied to a reckless person, 107.
Cockatrice, superstitions relating to, 174, 175;
applied to a loose woman, 175.
Cock-boat, 108, note.
Cock-chafer, old name for, 100.
Cock-fighting, 105.
Cockle, badge of pilgrims, 498.
Cock-light, 160.
Cock's-body, 106.
Cock-shut time, name for twilight, 159.
Cock's-passion, 106.
Coddling, apple so called, 206.
Cold palsies, 284.
Colt, its metaphorical use, 175;
pixey, 6.
Columbine, a thankless flower, 212.
Comets, considered ominous, 89.
Cony-catch, term for cheating, 196.
Cooling-card, 415.
Coranto, old dance, 426.
Cormorant, 108.
Corpse, unlucky to keep on board, 370.
Cotswold games, 316.
Couch-glass, 243.
"Coventry Mysteries," 313.
Crab, name of apple, 205.
Crants, name for garlands, 374.
Cricket, a good omen; 251;
unlucky, 516.
Crispin's (St.) Day, 325.
Crocodile, tears of, 176;
said to be deceitful, 176.
Cross, wood of, 208.
Cross-bow, shooting with, 178.
Cross-road, ghosts of suicides haunt, 382.
Crow, bird of ill-omen, 108.
Crow-flowers, 212.
Crowfoot, 213.
Crow-keeper, 109.
Crown, burning, placed on criminals, 436, 437.
Cry, applied to pack of hounds, 179.
Cry Budget, a watchword, 529.
Crystal, old term for the eye, 483.
Cuckold, 113.
Cuckoo, superstitions connected with, 110-113.
Cuckoo-buds, 213.
Cuckoo-flowers, 213.
Cuerpo-Santo, meteor so called, 84.
Curfew-bell, 85.
Curtal dog, 183.
Cut, name for a horse, 192.
Cuttle, a foul-mouthed person so called, 498.
Cypress, 213, 214.
Daffodil, weather-lore of, 214.
Dances, 424-432.
Dancing, ascribed to fairies, 18.
Dark-house, term for a mad-house, 50, 278.
Darnel, 215.
Date, 215.
David's (St.) Day, 226, 303.
Dead, burying of, in their ordinary dress, 375, 376;
feasts of the, 378;
tombs of, ornamented, 377;
cannot die on pigeons' feathers, 367;
closing eyes of, 372;
decorated with flowers, 373.
Dead men's fingers, orchis so called, 227.
Death and burial customs, 362-385.
Death, prophecy at point of, 362;
high spirits presage impending, 363;
warnings at time of, 364, 365;
watch, 516;
delayed until ebb of tide, 370;
devil seizes soul at, 365.
Death's-head rings, 388.
Deer, hunting customs relating to, 177-181;
shooting with cross-bow, 178;
tears of, 180.
Deformed children, 78.
Deformity, superstitions connected with, 269, 270.
Demoniacal possession, 475.
Demonology, 52-61.
Dennis, St., patron saint of France, 326.
Devil, cloven foot of, 57.
Devil's Dyke, myth of, 189.
Dew, its supposed virtues, 90;
curious notions respecting, 63.
Dice, 402.
Disedge, term in falconry, 127.
Divine right of kings, 512.
Dog, its howl ominous, 181, 516;
rides with ghosts, 49;
days, 183, 319;
killer, 183.
Domestic fowl, 113.
Dove, customs associated with, 113-115;
Mahomet's, 115;
of Venus, 115.
Dragon, type of evil, 184;
draws chariot of night, 184;
folk-lore of, 185.
Dreams, prognostics of good and evil, 508;
malicious spirits torment their victims in, 509.
Dribble, term in archery, 411.
Drowning, dangerous to save a person from, 271.
Duck, to swim like a, 116.
Duck-hunting, 115.
Duels, 509.
Dun is in the mire, Christmas game, 403.
Dwarf elder, superstition connected with, 216.
Eagle, gazes on the sun, 116;
its great age, 117;
bird of good omen, 118;
selected for Roman standard, 118.
Ear, tingling of, 480;
biting of, expression of endearment, 481;
want of, for music, 481.
Earnest-money, 528.
Earthquakes, cause of, 93;
ominous, 93, 516.
Easter morning, dancing of sun on, 63;
clacking at, 302;
new clothes worn on, 302;
Monday, 302, 303.
Ebb of tide, death delayed until, 370.
Ebony, emblem of darkness, 215.
Eclipses, savage notions respecting, 71;
unlucky, 72, 516;
a bad omen, 65.
Eels, roused by thunder, 93.
Eggs in moonshine, 78;
witches sail in, 35.
Eisel, name for vinegar, 292.
Elberich, 14.
Elbow, itching of, 481.
Elder, tree on which Judas hanged himself, 216;
plant of bad omen, 216.
Elements, the four, 475.
Elephant, said to have no joints, 186;
capture of, 186.
Elf-fire, 87, note;
elf-locks, 190.
Elfin-grey, 17.
Elmo's (St.) stars, 84.
Elves, 9.
Embossed, applied to deer, 179.
Emmew, a term in falconry, 128.
Engine, name for the rack, 439.
Epilepsy, 271, 283.
Equinox, weather-lore of, 93.
Eringoes, 217.
Etheldreda's (St.) Day, 324.
Evil spirits, assume various forms, 53;
a dead friend, 55.
Exclamations, 529-531.
Exorcism of spirits, 44.
Eyas-musket, name for a young sparrow-hawk, 154.
Eye, closing of, at death, 372;
bitten, 335;
blueness of, 482;
the evil, 335, 482.
Face, to play the hypocrite, 484.
Fading, a dance, 426.
Fairies, assume various forms, 12;
attentive to youthful dead, 22;
beauty of, 10;
fond of cleanliness, 18;
diminutiveness of, 12;
dislike irreligious people, 18;
dress of, 17;
enrich their favorites, 21;
exchange children, 24;
expeditious in their actions, 21;
fatal to speak to, 21;
fond of dancing and music, 17, 18;
haunts of, 15;
immortality of, 11;
kind to mortals, 20;
malignant, 22;
mischievous, 23;
perpetual youth of, 11;
vanish at will, 12.
Fairy revels, 18.
Fairy-rings, 15, 16, 232.
Falcon-gentle, species of hawk, 158.
Falling-sickness, 271.
Fast and loose, a cheating game, 403.
Feet, stumbling of, unlucky, 454.
Fencing, 404.
Fennel, an inflammatory herb, 217.
Fern-seed, renders invisible, 217, 218.
_Feux follets_, name for will-o'-the-wisp, 88.
Fever, spider a cure for, 258.
Fiery dragon, 85.
Fiery Trigon, 79.
Fig, phrases connected with, 218, 219.
Filliping the toad, game of boys, 406.
Finch-egg, 101.
Finger, itching of, 482.
Finger-stone, 92.
Fire-drake, 84, 85.
Fistula, 271, 272.
Fit, 272, 273.
Fitchew, 196.
Flagellation, treatment for persons possessed, 56.
Flap-dragon, 406.
Flap-jacks, name for pancakes, 299.
Flaws, sudden gusts of wind, 95.
Fleas, loach said to breed, 499.
Fleshment, military term, 541.
Fleur-de-lys, 219.
Flibbertigibbet, a fiend, name also for _ignis fatuus_, 6, 61, 85, 269.
Flitter-mouse, term for the bat, 163.
Flower-de-luce, 219.
Flowers, carried on a maiden's coffin, 374;
for decorating corpses, 374;
on graves, 373;
at weddings, 355.
Flowering Sunday, 374.
Fly, form of an evil spirit, 54.
Folk-medicine, 264-295.
Fools, 532.
Football, 407.
Forelooked, term for evil eye, 335.
Forfeits, 533.
Fortune-tellers, 510.
Fox, hunting of, 187;
a weapon so called, 186.
Frateretto, fiend so called, 61.
Friar's lantern, name for _ignis fatuus_, 87, note.
Frogs used for divination, 252.
Fullams, false dice, 403.
Funeral rites, supposed necessity for, 46, 382.
Gad-fly, 252.
Gage, a glove so called, 536, note.
Gall of goat, used by witches, 187.
Galliard, dance, 425, note.
Gambling, 533.
Game laws, 180.
Garters, 534.
Gaudy days, 535.
George (St.) and dragon, myth of, 184.
George's (St.) Day, 304.
Giants, belief in, 512.
Gib cat, 173.
Gillyflower, 221.
Gimmal-ring, 347.
Gleek, old game, 408.
Glove, worn as a favor, 536;
memorial of a friend, 536;
signal of a challenge, 536;
a pledge, 537;
scented, 538.
Glow-worm, superstition relating to, 138.
Goat, superstition relating to, 187.
"God save the mark," exclamation, 529.
God's tokens, plague-spots, 285.
Gold, melted, poured down the throat, 369;
chains, worn by persons of rank, 544;
medicinal virtues of, 273.
Golden-russeting, name of an apple, 206.
Goldfinch, 119.
Good Friday, 301.
Good Lubber, name of a spirit, 8.
Good year, corruption of _goujère_, 274.
Goose, emblem of cowardice, 119;
terms connected with, 118, 119.
Gossamer, notions relating to, 259.
Gossip's bowl, 205.
Gourds, false dice, 402.
Gout, 288.
Grand liquor, the _aurum potabile_ of alchemists, 274.
Grave, position of, 382;
yards, haunted by spectres, 381, 382.
Gudgeon, 498.
Guinea-hen, 113.
Gull, term for a fool, 120;
used for a trick or imposition, 120.
Gull-catcher, applied to sharpers, 120;
groper, 120.
Gurnet, term of reproach, 499.
Habundia, Mab, perhaps, a contraction of, 4.
Hack, punishment of knight, 434.
Hag-seed, 40.
Haggard, term in hawking, 122.
Hair, antipathy to red and yellow, 485;
much, denotes want of intellect, 462, 488;
stands on end through fear, 488;
turns white through sorrow and fear, 489;
used metaphorically, 490;
bride's, dishevelled at wedding, ceremony, 352, 353.
Halcyon days, 131.
Halidom, meaning of, 529.
Hallowmas, 326.
Hand, palmistry of, 490;
worms bred in fingers of idle servants, 491;
terms associated with, 491, 492.
Hare, a melancholy animal, 187;
proverb relating to, 462.
Harebell, 221.
Hare-lip, supposed to be work of fairy, 492.
Hairie-racket, old game, 396.
Hart royal, 178.
Havoc, to cry, 514.
Hawk, catching game with, 121-126;
to seel a, 127;
training of, 126;
to imp a, 128.
Hay, old dance, 427;
exclamation, 529.
Head, shape of, 493.
Heart, seat of understanding, 493, 494;
courage, 494;
death from broken, 493.
Heart's-ease, nickname of, 227;
used for love-philtres, 227.
Hecate, 35.
Hedgehog, said to suck udders of cows, 188;
familiar of witches, 189;
legends connected with, 188, 189;
a term of reproach, 189.
Helen's (St.) fire, meteor so called, 83.
Helme's (St.) the, 83.
Hemlock, its poisonous character, 221;
supposed to be death-drink of Greeks, 221;
nickname for, 223.
Henbane, 223.
Herb of Grace, 221, 222.
Herm's (St.) the, meteor, 83.
Herne's oak, 233, 234.
Heron, used in hawking, 129.
Hid, or hide fox, game so called, 408.
High spirits a bad omen, 363.
Hippopotamus, 504.
Hob-and-his-lanthorn, 87, note.
Hobany's lanthorn, 87, note.
Hobbididance, evil spirit so called, 61.
Hobgoblin, 7.
Hobby-horse, character in morris-dance, 309;
applied to a loose woman, 310.
Hock cart, at harvest-home, 323.
Hold, term in fighting, 530.
Holy-Cross Day, 324.
Holyrood Day, 324.
Holy thistle, 222.
Honey-dew, 91.
Honey-stalks, name for clover-flowers, 212.
Hoodman-blind, 408, 409.
Horn-mad, 278.
Horses, fairies play pranks with, 190;
witches harass, 190;
terms connected with, 191;
forehorse of a team decorated, 192;
hair, notion respecting, 190;
racing, 409.
Hum-buz, name for cockchafer, 100.
Hunting customs, 178, 179.
Hunt's-up, morning song to a newly-married couple, 179, 357.
Hysteria, 275.
Idiots, said to be fairies' children, 334.
Imp, to, term in falconry, 128.
Incubi, class of devils, 78.
Infection, notions respecting, 276.
Iniquity, character in old miracle-plays, 314.
Insane root, 223.
Insanity, influenced by moon, 73, 277.
Irreligious persons, fairies dislike, 18.
Ivy, hung at door of a vintner, 223.
Jack-a-lantern, 87.
Jack-a-Lent, 299.
Jackdaw, 102.
Jacket-a-wad, 87, note.
Jane Shore, 27, 37.
Jaundice, spider a cure for, 258.
Jay, applied to loose woman, 130.
Jesses, trappings of hawks, 126.
Jesus, inscribed on letters, 540.
Jews, torturing of, 474.
Jew's eye, 473.
Jig, an old dance, 427.
Joan of Arc, 26.
Joan in-the wad, 87, note.
John (St.) Baptist's night, 319.
John's (St.) wort, divination by, 318.
Judas, hanged himself on an elder, 216;
kiss, 539.
Justice Jarvis, old pastime, 418.
Kecksies, stalks of hemlock, 224.
Kestrel, applied to hawk, 130.
Key cold, meaning of, 265.
Kid fox, game, 408.
Kingfisher, weather lore of, 131;
hung up in cottages, 131.
Kings, supernatural authority of, 517.
King's evil, 279.
Kiss, at betrothal, 346;
at marriage ceremony, 351;
fee of lady's partner, 538;
saluting ladies with, 539.
Kissing comfits, 539.
Kit-with-the-candle-stick, 87.
Kite, bird of ill-omen, 131;
curious notion respecting, 132.
Knotgrass, hinders growth, 225.
Lace songs, 539.
Lachrymatory vials, 379.
Lady-bird, term of endearment, 253.
Lady-smocks, 225.
Lamb ale, 312.
Lamb-mass, 320.
Lambert's (St.) Day, 324.
Lamb's-wool, 205.
Lammas Day, 320.
Lamps, perpetual, 383.
Lapwing, an eccentric bird, 132;
symbol of insincerity, 133;
draws pursuers from its nest, 133.
Lark, changes eyes with toad, 134;
song of, 135;
mode of capturing, 134.
Laudatory verses, affixed to tomb, 377.
Laugh-and-lie-down, game at cards, 410.
Laurel, symbol of victory, 225.
Lavolta, French dance, 428.
Leap-frog, 409.
Leather-coat, name of apple, 206.
Leech, 281.
Leek, on St. David's Day, 226, 303.
Leet ale, 312, 548.
Lent, Jack-a-lent made at, 299;
fleshmeat not sold during, 300.
Leprosy, 280.
Lethargy, confounded with apoplexy, 280.
Letters, Emmanuel prefixed to, 540.
Light-o'-love, tune of dance, 429.
Lightning, persons struck by, accounted holy, 92.
Lily, 226.
Lion, supposed generosity of, 193;
will not injure a royal prince, 194;
kept without food, 194.
Liver, seat of love, 494;
absence of blood in, 478.
Livery, to sue one's, 541
Lizard, said to be venomous, 253;
used by witches, 254.
Loach breeds fleas, 499.
Loaf mass, 320.
Lob of spirit, 1, 5, 8.
Lob's pound, 8.
Loggat, game so called, 410.
Long purples, name of orchis, 226.
Loose, term in archery, 395.
Lord Mayor's Day, 327;
show, 315;
fool, 327.
Love charms 359.
Love-day, 541.
Love-in-idleness, 227.
Love-lock, 480.
Love philtres, 227, 264, 359.
Lovers, eccentricities of, 361, 406, 478, note, 534.
Lucky days, 512.
Mab, fairy queen, 4, 5, 24.
Magpie, regarded as mysterious bird, 135;
claims for averting ill-luck of seeing, 136;
nicknamed magot-pie, 135.
Magic, system of, 482;
verses, 508.
Mahu, prince of darkness, 61.
Mahomet's dove, 115.
Man in the moon, 68, 244.
Mandrake, resemblance of, to human figure, 228;
watched over by Satan, 230;
its groans, 228;
superstitions relating to, 229-231.
Manningtree ox, 317.
Marbles, 411.
Marigold, opens its flowers at sun's bidding, 230.
Marriage, 342-361;
ceremony mostly on Sunday, 358, 359.
Martin, unlucky to molest a, 136;
builds near human habitations, 136.
Martin's (St.) Day, 328;
summer, 131.
Martlemas, 328.
Mary-bud, name for marigold, 231.
Mankin, used for hare, 168, note.
May-day observances, 305.
Maying, going a, 307.
May-pole, 307.
Meadow cress, 213.
Measles, 281.
Medlar, applied to woman of loose character, 231.
Merlin, 511;
prophecies of, 515.
Mermaid, 500-503.
Meteors, regarded as ominous, 88, 516;
names for, 83.
Metrical charms, 508.
Michaelmas, 324.
Midsummer Eve, 218, 318;
man, 318;
watch, 315.
Military lore, 541.
Mill, name for nine-men's-morris, 413.
Mines, guarded by evil spirits, 59;
truepenny, mining term, 542.
Minnow, term of contempt, 503.
Miracle-plays, 313.
Mirror, bears surprised by, 164.
Mistletoe, notions respecting, 231, 232.
Mock-water, 295.
Moist star, name for moon, 74.
Moldwarp, term for mole, 195.
Mole said to be blind, 194.
Moles on body ominous, 495.
Moon, adoration of, 69;
eclipse of, 71;
man in the, 68, 69, 244;
sanguine color of, 73, 516;
paleness of, 73;
weather-lore of, 76-78;
insane persons affected by, 73;
swearing by, 70;
enchantment of, 71;
invocation of, 70;
inconstancy of, 70;
horns of, 77;
moisture of, 74;
influence over agricultural affairs, 75;
waxing and waning of, 76;
affected by witchcraft, 71.
Moon-calf, 77.
Moralities, 314.
Morris-dance, 186, note, 308, 311, 431.
Moth, a fairy, 9;
insect, 254.
Mother, name for hysteria, 275.
Mother of all humors, the moon, 74.
Mouse, term of endearment, 195.
Mouse-hunt, 195.
Mummy, 282.
Murdered persons bleed at approach of murderer, 486.
Mushroom, superstitions relating to, 232.
Music, ascribed to fairies, 17;
as a medical agency, 278;
cure for madness, 277;
at funerals, 381;
weddings, 352;
of the spheres, 80.
Muss, a scramble, 411.
Mustard, 232;
mustard-seed, a fairy, 9.
Narcissus, legend concerning, 233.
Negro, form of evil spirit, 53.
Nicholas's (St.) Day, 328;
patron of children, 328;
clerks, cant term for highwaymen, 329.
Night crow, 150;
heron, 150;
raven, 150.
Nightingale, sings with breast on thorn, 137;
evil spirits assume form of, 54;
story of, and glow-worm, 138.
Nightmare, charms for, 283.
Nine-holes, old game, 411.
Nine-men's-morris, rustic game, 411.
Nine Worthies, the, 316.
Noddy, game at cards, 413.
Nose, bleeding of, unlucky, 266, 516.
_Novem quinque_, game of dice, 413.
Numbers, odd, 40.
Nuptial kiss, 351.
Nutmeg, gift at Christmas, 233.
O ho! exclamation, 530.
Oak, crown of, a mark of honor, 233;
Herne's, 233.
Oberon, king of fairyland, 2, 3.
Obidicut, evil spirit, 61.
Odd numbers, 40.
Olive, emblem of peace, 234.
One-and-thirty, old game, 399.
Osprey, fascinating influence of, 138.
Ostrich, extraordinary digestion of, 138, 139.
Otnit, German story of, 3, 14.
Ouphe, name for fairy, 9, 17.
Our Lady's smock, 225.
Ousel, name for blackbird, 100.
Owl, bird of ill-omen, 139;
legend concerning, 142.
Owlet's wing used by witches, 141.
Oysters, proverb relating to, 468.
Paddock, term for toad, 144, 262.
Pageants, 315.
Palm, symbol of victory, 234.
Palmers, name for pilgrims, 235.
Palmistry, 475, 490.
Paralysis, 284.
Parish-top, 413.
Parrot, restless before rain, 143;
taught unlucky words, 143.
Partridge, 133.
Passing-bell, 366.
Patrick (St.) drives reptiles from Ireland, 257;
his festival, 304;
purgatory, 304, 368.
Patrons, praying for, 543.
Pavan, a dance, 429.
Peacock, its proverbial use, 143.
Peajock, peacock so called, 144.
Pear, 235.
Pearls, swallowing of, 392;
powdered, thrown over sovereigns, 391;
medicinal properties of, 392;
legendary origin of, 392.
Peas-blossom, name of fairy, 9.
Peascod wooing, 235.
Peg-a-lantern, 87, note.
Peg-morris, game so called, 412.
Pelican, feeds young ones with her blood, 144;
hatched dead, 145.
Periapts, 506.
Pheasant, 145.
Philip, name for sparrow, 154.
Philomel, term for nightingale, 138.
Philosopher's stone, 284.
Phoenix, rises from its own ashes, 145.
Pigeon, feathers of, unlucky, 367;
used as carrier, 146;
constancy of, 147.
Pike, old name for, 503.
Pilgrims, 235.
Pillory, mode of punishment, 437.
Piskey, Devonshire name for fairy, 6.
Pismire, name for ant, 250.
Pixy, name for fairy, 6.
Pixy-led, misled by fairies, 8.
Planets, 78;
influence of, 79;
irregular motion of, 78.
Plantain, its medicinal use, 76, 236;
water, 268.
Pleurisy, 281.
Plica Polonica, 190.
Pluck a crow, 110.
Plucking geese, a boy's sport, 119.
Poake-ledden, 8.
Poison, vulgar error relating to, 286.
Polecat, 196.
Pomander, 287.
Pomewater, name of apple, 207.
Pooka, 6.
Poor man's parmacetti, 267.
Poperin, name for pear, 235.
Popinjay, name for parrot, 143.
Poppy, deadly qualities of, 237.
Porcupine darts his quills, 196.
Porpoise, weather-lore of, 503.
Portents, belief in, 516.
Posy rings, 388, 389.
Potato, 237.
Poverty, badge of, 521.
Prayers, of Church, morbific influence of, 372;
witches say backwards, 40, 41.
Press, old torture, 438.
Primavista, game at cards, 414.
Primero, 414.
Primrose, 237.
Priser, term for a wrestler, 423.
Prison bars or base, rustic game, 397.
Prophecy, at death, 362.
Proud tailor, name for goldfinch, 119.
Proverbs, 444-474.
Puck, name of fairy, 5-8, 11, 87.
Punishments, 433-443.
Push, exclamation, 498;
pin, game, 415.
Puttock, name for kite, 132.
Quails, 148;
fighting, 148.
Quarry, term in falconry, 124.
Quintam, 415.
Quoits, 416.
Rabbit, 196;
suckers, 196.
Race of horses, term for a stud, 193.
Rack, torture of, 438.
Racking clouds, 96.
Ragged-robin, 213.
Rainbow, 91.
Rapture, name for trance, 272, 273.
Rat, rhymed to death, 197;
leaving a ship, ominous, 198.
Raven, bird of ill-omen, 149;
supposed longevity of, 149;
deserts its young, 151;
feathers, used by witches, 151.
Red blood, sign of courage, 477.
Red pestilence, 285.
Reed, for shepherds' pipes, 238.
Rere-mouse, name for bat, 162.
Rheumatism, 288.
Rhyne toll, old manorial custom, 167.
Rings, symbolical use, 386;
exchange in marriage contracts, 346;
death's-head, 388;
running for the, 417;
rush, 242;
posy, 388;
token, 387;
thumb, 389.
Rivo, an exclamation, 530.
Robin Goodfellow, 5-7, 86.
Robin Hood, 310.
Robin Redbreast covers dead bodies with leaves, 152.
Rook, weather-lore of, 153;
bird of good omen, 153;
deserting a rookery, 153.
Rose, associated with "Wars of Roses," 239, 240;
divination by, 318;
symbolical use, 238;
customs connected with, 238;
cakes, 239;
water, 239.
Rosemary, strengthens memory, 240;
symbol of remembrance, 240;
at weddings and funerals, 240;
for garnishing dishes at Christmas, 241.
Roundel, a dance, 429.
Rouse, 528.
Ruddock, name for redbreast, 153.
Rue, divination by, 318.
Running, for the ring, 417;
the figure of eight, 417;
counter, hunting term, 178.
Rush-bearings, 242.
Rush candle, 242.
Rush-ring, 242.
Sabbath of witches, 30.
Saffron, its uses, 242, 243.
Sagittary, 543.
Salad-days, 543.
Saliva, medical notion respecting, 289.
Salt, used metaphorically, 543;
sitting below the, 526.
Salutations, 544.
Sampson, Agnes, reputed witch, 33.
Satyrs' dance, 430.
Scale of dragon, used by witches, 185.
Scambling days, 301.
Scammell or scamel, 121.
Scare-crow, 109.
Scrofula, cure for, 279.
Sea, source of dew, 90;
persons drowned in, 382;
eagle, name for osprey, 138;
gull, 121;
mell or mew, 121;
monster, 504.
Secondary rainbow, 91.
See-saw, game, 417.
Seel, term in falconry, 127.
Serpent, called a worm, 254;
its forked tongue supposed to injure, 255;
said to cause death without pain, 255, 256;
used by witches, 255;
emblem of ingratitude, 256;
cures for bite of, 256;
driven out of Ireland by St. Patrick, 257;
casting of its slough, 257.
Serpigo, name for skin disease, 288.
Servants, taking oath of fidelity, 544;
gold chains worn by, 544;
attend bare-headed, 545.
Sheep-shearing customs, 317.
Sheer ale, 528.
Shepherd's, mill, 413;
purse, 268.
Shepherd-queen, 318.
Sheriffs' post, 545.
Shoe-tye, name for a traveller, 545.
Shoeing-horn, 545.
Shooting stars, 516.
Shore, Jane, 27, 37.
Shove-groat, 417;
shove-halfpenny, 418.
Shrouding-sheet, 380.
Shrove Tuesday, 299.
Sickness, 288.
Sieve, used by witches, 34;
toss in a, punishment so called, 441.
Sigh, notions respecting, 289.
Signatures, doctrine of, 218.
Silence before thunder, 93.
"Six Worthies," 316.
Skimmington, old ceremony of, 443.
Slide, board, or groat, 418, note;
thrift, 418, note.
Slip-thrift, 418, note.
Slough of snake, 257.
Slow-worm, 255.
Smulkin, evil spirit, 61.
Smithfield fair, 321.
Snails, charming of, 198;
omens of fine weather, 199.
Sneak-cup, 528.
Sneck-up, exclamation, 531.
Snipe, applied to foolish man, 154.
Snowballs, 418.
Solemn supper, 545.
Sop o' the moonshine, 78.
Souls, transmigration of, 50.
Soul-bell, 367;
mass cakes, 379.
Souling, going a, 326.
Span-counter, old game, 418.
Sparrow, called Philip, 154;
hawk, 154.
Spear-grass, 243.
Spectre huntsman, 49.
Spider, considered venomous, 258;
cure for jaundice and ague, 258;
web used for stopping blood, 258;
bottled, 259;
gossamer, notion respecting, 259.
Spirits, various kinds of, 60;
unlucky to cross their path, 48;
disappear at cock-crow, 104;
impatient at being interrogated, 45;
their appearance, 45;
walking of, by way of penance, 46;
reason for appearing, 46;
allotted time for work, 47;
signs of their approach, 47;
of revenge, 58.
Spleen, supposed cause of laughter, 496.
Spy, I, exclamation, 531.
Squalls, weather-lore of, 95.
Stalking horse, 191.
Starling, 155.
Stars, influence on mundane events, 80;
heroes reckoned among, 82.
Statute-cap, 546.
Stephen's (St.) Day, hunting wren on, 501.
Sterility, 289.
Stigmatic, deformed person so called, 270.
Stocks, old punishment, 440.
Stool-ball, old game, 419.
Stoop, or swoop, term in falconry, 124.
Stover, fodder for cattle, 243.
Strappado, military punishment, 440.
Strawberry, 243.
Succubi, class of devils, 78.
Suicide, 290.
Sun, weather-lore of, 63-65;
dancing of, 63;
cloudy rising, ominous, 64;
red sunrise, 64;
watery sunset, 65;
supposed to be a planet, 62.
Sunday, fashionable day for weddings, 358.
Sunshine in March, 68.
Swallow, harbinger of spring, 155;
bird of good omen, 156.
Swan, sings before death, 156.
Sword, swearing by, 542;
dance, 430.
Sympathetic indications, 518.
Tailor, exclamation, 531.
Tailor's goose, name for pressing-iron, 118.
Tassel-gentle, name of hawk, 157.
Tavy's (St.) Day, 226, 304.
Tawdry lace, 325.
Tears, of the deer, 180;
crocodile, 176.
Teeth, superstitions relating to, 332, 333.
Telme's (St.) fire, meteor so called, 83.
Ten bones, name for fingers, 491.
Ten commandments, 491.
Tennis, 419.
Termagant, tyrant of miracle-plays, 313.
Tewksbury mustard, 232.
Theatrical lore, 546.
Thorns, legend relating to, 244.
Threshold, bride must not cross, 358.
Thumb, biting of, an insult, 492;
rings, 389.
Thunder, notions relating to, 91;
bolt, 91;
stone, 91.
Tick-tack, old game, 421.
Tiger, roars in stormy weather, 199.
Tire, term in falconry, 127.
Titania, fairy queen, 2, 3, 14.
Tilly-vally, exclamation, 531.
Toad, evil spirit likened to, 262;
changes eyes with lark, 134;
said to be venomous, 261;
stone, 260.
Tokens plague-spots, 285.
Tomb, ornamenting, 377.
Tongue, blister on, 266.
Toothache, 507;
caused by a worm, 290.
Torches at weddings, 357.
Toss in a sieve, punishment so called, 441.
Touching for king's evil, 279.
Tournaments, 547.
Tower, term in falconry, 123.
Transmigration of souls, 50.
Tread a measure, dance, 431.
Trefoil, divination by, 318.
Trial by the stool, for detecting witches, 31.
Trip and go, a morris-dance, 431.
Troll-my-dame, or Troll-madam, game so called, 422.
Truepenny, mining term, 542.
Trump, old game, 422.
Trumpet, for announcing visitors, 547.
Tub-fast, 292.
Turkey, 158.
Turquoise, supposed virtues of, 393.
Tutelary guardians, 57.
Twelfth Day, 297.
Tybert or Tybalt, cat so called, 172.
Unicorn, mode of betraying, 199.
Up-spring, German dance, 431, 432.
Urchin, name for fairy, 9, 17.
Urchins' dance, 9.
Valentine's (St.) Day, 298;
birds choose their mates on, 298;
selecting valentines on, 298;
customs in France on, 298.
Vervain, divination by, 318.
Vice, character in old miracle-plays, 314.
Violet, associated with early death, 244;
superstition relating to, 244.
_Virus lunare_, 75.
Vitalis (St.) invoked in case of nightmare, 283.
Vulture, 158.
Wagtail, used in opprobrious sense, 158.
Wakes, 331.
Walking fire, name for _ignis fatuus_, 86.
Wandering, knight, name of sun, 63;
stars, 78, 79.
War-cry, 547.
Warden, name of pear, 235.
Wasp, 262.
Wassail, bowl, 205;
candle, 330.
Wat, name for hare, 188.
Water, casting, 293;
galls, name for rainbow, 91.
Waxen images, used by witches, 37.
Weasel, considered ominous, 200;
kept in houses, 200;
said to be quarrelsome, 200.
Weathercocks, 108.
Web-and-pin, name for cataract, 269.
Wedding-torch, 357.
Were-wolf, mark of, 31.
Westward, ho, exclamation, 531.
Whale, 504.
Wheel, punishment of, 441.
Whipping, 442.
Whistling of swan, 157.
White dog-rose, 240.
Whitsun, ale, 312;
mysteries, 311.
Whitsuntide, 310.
Wild-goose chase, 118.
Will-o'-the-wisp, 8, 85.
Will-with-a-wisp, 87.
Willow, symbol of sadness, 245;
garlands made of, 245.
Winchester, college, custom at, 387;
goose, 119.
Wind, weather-lore of, 94;
sale of, 34.
Winding-sheet, 380, 516.
Wisp, punishment for a scold, 442.
Witches, in "Macbeth," 27;
create storms, 32;
drawing blood from, 32;
propitiation of, 32;
powers limited, 31;
harass horses, 190;
offspring of, 40;
say their prayers backwards, 40;
sell or give winds, 34;
ointment, 36;
intercourse between, and demons, 40;
protection from, 32;
vanish at will, 35;
destroy cattle, 39;
look into futurity, 36;
beard, characteristic of, 29;
trials, 36.
Witch of Brentford, 27.
Wits, the five, 496.
Woodcock, applied to a foolish person, 159.
Worm, a poor creature, 256;
name for serpent, 254;
toothache, said to be caused by, 290.
Wormwood used in weaning, 246.
Wren, its diminutiveness, 160.
Wrestling, 422.
Yew, planted in churchyards, 247;
stuck in shroud, 274, 380;
poisonous qualities, 248.
THE END.
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TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES
Obvious punctuation and printer's errors have been corrected. See below
for the detailed list.
page 6--typo fixed: changed 'feeche' to 'fecche'
page 47--spelling normalized: changed 'wide-spread' to 'widespread'
page 54--typo fixed: changed 'London' to 'Loudun'
page 92--spelling normalized: changed 'thunderbolt' to 'thunder-bolt'
page 129--spelling normalized: 'sparrowhawk' changed to 'sparrow-hawk'
page 138--spelling normalized: changed 'glowworm' to 'glow-worm'
page 182--typo fixed: changed 'Georgic' to 'Georgics'
page 189--spelling normalized: changed 'hedgepig' to 'hedge-pig'
page 201--typo fixed: changed 'Biesly' to 'Beisly'
page 202--typo fixed: changed 'Georgic' to 'Georgics'
page 213--typo fixed: changed 'Biesly' to 'Beisly'
page 316--spelling normalized: changed 'merrymakings' to 'merry-makings'
page 327--spelling normalized: changed 'Lord-Mayor's Day' to 'Lord
Mayor's Day'
page 353--typo fixed: changed 'Jeafferson' to 'Jeaffreson'
page 394--typo fixed: changed 'Skakespeare' to 'Shakespeare'
page 399--spelling normalized: changed 'One-and Thirty' to
'One-and-Thirty'
page 486--typo fixed: changed 'Ceila' to 'Celia'
page 542--typo fixed: changed 'Shakepeare' to 'Shakespeare'
page 548--spelling normalized: changed 'Leet-Ale' to 'Leet Ale'
page 549--typo fixed: changed 'Belemite' to 'Belemnite'
page 549--spelling normalized: changed 'Blindworm' to 'Blind-worm'
page 552--spelling normalized: changed 'Foot-ball' to 'Football'
page 552--spelling normalized: changed 'Gadfly' to 'Gad-fly'
page 554--spelling normalized: changed 'Maypole' to 'May-pole'