_Source_.--Contributed by Blakeway to Malone's Variorum Shakespeare, to
illustrate Benedick's remark in _Much Ado about Nothing_ (I. i. 146):
“Like the old tale, my Lord, 'It is not so, nor 'twas not so, but,
indeed, God forbid it should be so;'” which clearly refers to the tale
of Mr. Fox. “The Forbidden Chamber” has been studied by Mr. Hartland,
_Folk-Lore Journal_, iii. 193, _seq._
_Parallels_.--Halliwell, p. 166, gives a similar tale of “An Oxford
Student,” whose sweetheart saw him digging her grave. “Mr. Fox” is
clearly a variant of the theme of “The Robber Bridegroom” (Grimm, No.
40, Mrs. Hunt's translation, i. 389, 395; and Cosquin, i. 180-1).