Folk-lore of Shakespeare: Chapter XI. Customs Connected with the Calendar

Amongst the scattered allusions to the characters of this dance may be noticed that in "1 Henry IV." (iii. 3):—"And for woman-hood, Maid Marian may be the deputy's wife of the ward to thee,"—the allusion being to "the degraded Maid Marian of the later morris dance, more male than female." 1

The "hobby-horse," another personage of the morris dance on May-day, was occasionally omitted, and appears to have given rise to a popular ballad, a line of which is given by Hamlet (iii. 2):—

This is quoted again in "Love's Labour's Lost" (iii. 1). The hobby horse was formed by a pasteboard horse's head, and a light frame made of wicker-work to join the hinder parts. This was fastened round the body of a man, and covered with a foot-cloth which nearly reached the ground and concealed the

legs of the performer, who displayed his antic equestrian skill, and performed various juggling tricks to the amusement of the bystanders. In Sir Walter Scott's "Monastery" there is a spirited description of the "hobby horse."

The term "hobby horse" was applied to a loose woman, and in the "Winter's Tale" (i. 2) it is so used by Leontes, who says to Camillo:—

In "Othello" (iv. 1), Bianca, speaking of Desdemona's handkerchief, says to Cassio:—"This is some minx's token, and I must take out the work? There; give it your hobbyhorse."

It seems also to have denoted a silly fellow, as in "Much Ado about Nothing" (iii. 2), where it is so used by Benedick.

Another character was Friar Tuck, the chaplain of Robin Hood, and as such is noticed in the "Two Gentlemen of Verona" (iv. 1), where one of the outlaws swears—

He is also represented by Tollet as a Franciscan friar in the full clerical tonsure, for, as he adds, "When the parish priests were inhibited by the diocesan to assist in the May games, the Franciscans might give attendance, as being exempted from Episcopal jurisdiction." 1

It was no uncommon occurrence, for metrical interludes of a comic species, and founded on the achievements of the outlaw Robin Hood, to be performed after the Morris, on the Maypole green. Mr Drake thinks that these interludes are alluded to in "Twelfth Night" (iii. 4), where Fabian exclaims on the approach of Sir Andrew Aguecheek with his challenge, "More matter for May morning."

Whitsuntide.—Apart from its observance as a religious festival, Whitsuntide was, in times past, celebrated with much ceremony. In the Catholic times of England, it was usual to dramatise the descent of the Holy Ghost, which this

festival commemorates. A custom which we find alluded to in Barnaby Googe's translation of Naogeorgus;—

This custom appears to have been carried to an extravagant height in Spain, for Mr Fosbroke 1 tells us that the gift of the Holy Ghost was represented by "thunder from engines which did much damage." Water, oak leaves, burning torches, wafers, and cakes, were thrown down from the church roof; pigeons and small birds with cakes tied to their legs were let loose; and a long censor was swung up and down. In our own country, many costly pageants were exhibited at this season. Thus, at Chester, the Whitsun Mysteries were acted during the Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday in Whitsun week. The performers were carried from one place to another by means of a scaffold—a huge and ponderous machine mounted on wheels, gaily decorated with flags, and divided into two compartments—the upper of which formed the stage, and the lower, defended from vulgar curiosity by coarse canvas draperies, answered the purposes of a green room. To each craft in the city, a separate mystery was allotted. Thus, the drapers exhibited the "Creation," the tanners took the Fall of Lucifer, the water-carriers of the Dee acted the Deluge, etc. The production, too, of these pageants was extremely costly; indeed, each one has been set down at fifteen or twenty pounds sterling. An allusion to this custom is made in the "Two Gentlemen of Verona" (iv. 4), where Julia says:—

The Morris dance, too, was formerly a common accompaniment to the Whitsun ales, a practice which is still kept

up in many parts of the country. In "Henry V." (ii. 4), the Dauphin thus alludes to it:—

And once more in the "Winter's Tale" (iv. 4), Perdita says to Florizel:—

A custom formerly kept up in connection with Whitsuntide was the "Whitsun ale." Ale was so prevalent a drink amongst us in olden times as to become a part of the name of various festal meetings, as Leet ale, Lamb ale, Bride ale (bridal), and, as we see, Whitsun ale. Thus our ancestors were in the habit of holding parochial meetings every Whitsuntide, usually in some barn near the church, consisting of a kind of pic-nic, as each parishioner brought what victuals he could spare. The ale, which had been brewed pretty strong for the occasion, was sold by the churchwardens, and from its profits a fund arose for the repair of the church. 1 These meetings are referred to by Shakespeare in "Pericles" (i. 1)—

In "Two Gentlemen of Verona" (ii. 5), when Launce tells Speed, "Thou hast not so much charity in thee as to go to the ale with a Christian," these words have been explained to mean the rural festival so named, though, as Mr Dyce remarks ("Glossary," p. 10), the previous words of Launce, "go with me to the ale-house," shows this explanation to be wrong.

In the old miracle-plays performed at this and other seasons Herod was a favourite personage, and was generally represented as a tyrant of a very overbearing, violent character. Thus Hamlet says (iii. 2)—

On this account Alexas mentions him as the most daring character when he tells Cleopatra (iii. 3)—

In the "Merry Wives of Windsor" (ii. 1), Mrs Page speaks of him in the same signification—

Mr Dyce in his "Glossary" (p. 207) has this note:—"If the reader wishes to know what a swaggering, uproarious tyrant Herod was represented to be in those old dramatic performances let him turn to 'Magnus Herodes' in 'The Towneley Mysteries,' p. 140, ed. Surtees Society; to 'King Herod' in the 'Coventry Mysteries,' p. 188, ed. Shakespeare Society; and to 'The Slaughter of the Innocents' in 'The Chester Plays,' vol. i., p. 172, ed. Shakespeare Society.'"

Like Herod, Termagant 1 was a hectoring tyrant of the miracle plays, and as such is mentioned by Hamlet in the passage quoted above. Hence in course of time the word was used as an adjective, in the sense of violent, as in "1 Henry IV." (v. 4), "this hot Termagant Scot." Hall mentions him in his first satire—

Whilst speaking of the old mysteries or miracle-plays we may also here refer to the moralities, a class of religious plays in which allegorical personifications of the virtues, and vices were introduced as dramatis personæ. These personages at first only took part in the play along with the Scriptural or legendary characters, but afterwards entirely superseded them. They continued in fashion till the time of Queen Elizabeth. Several allusions are given by Shakespeare to

these moral plays. Thus, in "Twelfth Night" (iv. 1), the Clown sings—

Again, in "1 Henry IV." (ii. 4), Prince Henry speaks of that "reverend vice, that grey iniquity;" and ill "2 Henry IV." (iii. 2), Falstaff says, "Now is this vice's dagger become a squire."

Again, further allusions occur in "King Richard III.," (iii. 1). Gloucester says,—

And once more, Hamlet (iii. 4), speaks of "a Vice of kings," "a king of shreds and patches."

According to Nares, "vice" had the name sometimes of one vice, sometimes of another, but most commonly of Iniquity, or Vice itself. He was grotesquely dressed in a cap with ass's ears, a long coat, and a dagger of lath. One of his chief employments was to make sport with the devil, leaping on his back, and belabouring him with his dagger of lath, till he made him roar. The devil, however, always carried him off in the end. He was, in short, the buffoon of the morality, and was succeeded in his office by the clown, whom we see in Shakespeare and others. 1

Again, there may be a further allusion to the "moralities in "King Lear," (ii. 2), where Kent says to Oswald, "Take vanity, the puppet's part against the royalty of her father."

Then, too, there were the "pageants,"—shows which were usually performed in the highways of our towns, and assimilated in some degree to the miracle plays, but were of a more

mixed character, being partly drawn from profane history. According to Strutt they were more frequent in London, being required at stated periods, such as the setting of the Midsummer Watch, and the Lord Mayor's show. 1 Among the allusions to these shows given by Shakespeare, we may quote one in "Richard III.," (iv. 4), where Queen Margaret speaks of—

—the pageants displayed on public occasions being generally preceded by a brief account of the order in which the characters were to walk. These indexes were distributed among the spectators, that they might understand the meaning of such allegorical representations as were usually exhibited. In the "Merchant of Venice," (i. 1), Salarino calls argosies "the pageants of the sea," in allusion, says Douce, 2 "to those enormous machines, in the shapes of castles, dragons, ships, giants, etc., that were drawn about the streets in the ancient shows or pageants, and which often constituted the most important part of them." Again, in "As You Like It," (iii. 4), Corin says:—

And in "Antony and Cleopatra," (iv. 14), Antony speaks of "black vesper's pageants."

The nine worthies, originally comprising Joshua, David, Judas Maccabeus, Hector, Alexander, Julius Cæsar, Arthur, Charlemagne, and Godfrey of Bulloigne, appear from a very, early period to have been introduced occasionally in the shows and pageants of our ancestors. Thus, in "Love's Labour's Lost," (v. 2), the "pageant of the nine worthies" is introduced. As Shakespeare, however, introduces Hercules

and Pompey among his presence of worthies, we may infer that the characters were sometimes varied to suit the circumstances of the period, or the taste of the auditory. A MS. preserved in the library of Trinity College, Dublin, mentions the "Six Worthies" having been played before the Lord Deputy Sussex in 1557. 1

Another feature of the Whitsun merrymakings were the Cotswold games, which were generally on the Thursday in Whitsun week, in the vicinity of Chipping Campden. They were instituted by an attorney of Burton-on-the-Heath, in Warwickshire, named Robert Dover, and like the Olympic games of the ancients, consisted of most kinds of manly sports, such as wrestling, leaping, pitching the bar, handling the pike, dancing, and hunting. Ben Jonson, Drayton, and other poets of that age wrote verses on this festivity, which in 1636 were collected into one volume, and published under the name of "Annalia Dubrensia." 2 In the "Merry Wives of Windsor" (i. 1), Slender asks Page, "How does your fallow greyhound, sir? I heard say he was outrun on Cotsall?" And in "2 Henry IV." 3 (iii. 1), Shallow, by distinguishing Will Squele as "a Cotswold man," meant to imply that he was well versed in manly exercises, and consequently of a daring spirit and athletic constitution. A sheep was jocularly called a "Cotsold," or "Cotswold lion," from the extensive pastures in that part of Gloucestershire.

Whilst speaking of Whitsuntide festivities, we may refer to the "roasted Manningtree ox with the pudding in his belly," to which Prince Henry alludes in "1 Henry IV." (ii. 4). 4* It appears that Manningtree, in Essex, formerly enjoyed the privilege of fairs, by the tenure of exhibiting a certain number of Stage Plays yearly. There were, also, great festivities there, and much good eating, at Whitsun ales and other times. Hence, it seems that roasting an ox whole was not uncommon on such occasions. The pudding spoken of

by Prince Henry often accompanied the ox, as we find in a ballad written in 1658 1—

Sheep-shearing Time commences as soon as the warm weather is so far settled that the sheep may, without danger, lay aside their winter clothing; the following tokens being laid down by Dyer in his "Fleece" (book i.), to mark out the proper time 2—

Our ancestors, who took advantage of every natural holiday, to keep it long and gladly, celebrated the time of sheep-shearing by a feast exclusively rural. Drayton,' the countryman of Shakespeare, has graphically described this festive scene, the Vale of Evesham being the locality of the sheep-shearing which he has pictured so pleasantly—

In the "Winter's Tale," one of the most delicious scenes (iv. 4), is that of the sheep-shearing, in which we have the more poetical "shepherd-queen." Mr Furnivall, 4 in his introduction to this play justly remarks: "How happily it brings Shakespeare before us, mixing with his Stratford neighbours at their sheep-shearing and country sports,

enjoying the vagabond pedlar's gammon and talk, delighting in the sweet Warwickshire maidens, and buying them 'fairings,' telling goblin stories to the boys, 'There was a man dwelt in a churchyard,' opening his heart afresh to all the innocent mirth, and the beauty of nature around him." The expense attaching to these festivities appears to have afforded matter of complaint. Thus the Clown asks, "What am I to buy for our sheep-shearing feast?" and then proceeds to enumerate various things which he will have to purchase. In Tusser's "Five Hundred Points of Husbandry," this festival is described under "The Ploughman's Feast-days."

Midsummer Eve appears to have been regarded as a period when the imagination ran riot, and many a curious superstition was associated with this season. Thus people gathered on this night the rose, St John's wort, vervain, trefoil and rue, all of which were supposed to have magical properties. They set the orpine in clay upon pieces of slate or potsherd in their houses, calling it a "Midsummer man." As the stalk was found next morning to incline to the right or left, the anxious maiden knew whether her lover would prove true to her or not. Young men sought also for pieces of coal, but in reality certain hard, black, dead roots, often found under the living mug-wort, designing to place these under their pillows, that they might dream of themselves. 1 It was also supposed that any person fasting on Mid-summer eve, and sitting in the church porch, would at midnight see the spirits of those persons of that parish who would die that year, come and knock at the church door, in the order and succession in which they would die. Midsummer was formerly thought to be a season productive of

madness. Thus Malvolio's strange conduct is described by Olivia in "Twelfth Night" (iii. 4) as "a very midsummer madness." And hence, "A Midsummer Night's Dream" is no inappropriate title for "the series of wild incongruities of which the play consists." 1 The Low Dutch have a proverb that when men have passed a troublesome night's rest, and could not sleep, "they have passed St John Baptist's night"—that is, they have not taken any sleep, but watched all night. Heywood seems to allude to a similar notion when he says—

A proverbial phrase, too, to signify that a person was mad was, "’Tis midsummer moon with you"—hot weather being supposed to affect the brain.

Dog-days.—A popular superstition—in all probability derived from the Egyptians—referred to the rising and setting of Sirius, or the Dog-star, as infusing madness into the canine race. Consequently the name of "Dog-days" was given by the Romans to the period between the 3d July and nth August, to which Shakespeare alludes in "Henry VIII." (v. 4), "the dog-days now reign." It is obvious that the notion is utterly groundless, for not only does the star vary in its rising, but is later and later every year. According to the Roman belief, "at the rising of the dog-star, the seas boil, the wines ferment in the cellars, and standing waters are set in motion; the dogs also go mad, and the sturgeon is blasted." The term dog-days is still a common phrase, and it is difficult to say whether it is from superstitious adherence to old custom, or from a belief of the injurious effect of heat upon the canine race that the magistrates often unwisely at this season of the year, order them to be muzzled or tied up.

Lammas Day (August 1).—According to some antiquarians, Lammas is a corruption of loaf-mass, as our ancestors made an offering of bread from new wheat on this day. Others derive it from lamb-masse, because the tenants who held lands under the Cathedral Church of York, were bound by

their tenure to bring a live lamb into the church at high mass. 1 It appears to have been a popular day in times past; and is mentioned in the following dialogue in "Romeo and Juliet" (i. 3), where the Nurse enquires—

In Neale's "Essays on Liturgiology" (2nd ed., p. 526), the Welsh equivalent for Lammas Day is given as "dydd degwm wyn," lamb-tithing day.

St Charity (August 1).—This saint is found in the Martyrology on the first of August—"Romæ passio Sanctarum Virginum Fidei, Spei, et Charitatis, quæ sub Hadriano principe martyriæ coronam adeptæ sunt." 2 She is alluded to by Ophelia in her song in "Hamlet" (iv. 5)—

In the "Faire Maide of Bristowe," 1605, we find a similar allusion—

St Bartholomew's Day (August 24).—The anniversary of this festival was formerly signalized by the holding of the great Smithfield Fair—the only real fair held within the city of London. One of the chief attractions of Bartholomew Fair were roasted pigs. They were sold "piping hot, in booths and on stalls, and ostentatiously displayed to excite the appetite of passengers." Hence a "Bartholomew pig," became a popular subject of allusion. Falstaff, in "2 Henry IV." (ii. 4), in coaxing ridicule of his enormous figure, is playfully called by his favourite Doll—

Dr Johnson, however, thought that paste pigs were meant in this passage, but this is improbable, as the true Bartholomew pigs were real roasted pigs, as may be seen from Ben Jonson's play of "Bartholomew Fair," (i. 6), where Ursula, the pigwoman, is an important personage. 1 Gay, too, speaks of the pig-dressers:—"Like Bartholomew fair pig-dressers, who look like the dams, as well as the cooks of what they roasted." A further allusion to this season is found in "Henry V.," (v. 2), where Burgundy tells how "maids, well-summered, and warm kept, are like flies at Bartholomew-tide, blind, though they have eyes; and then they will endure handling, which before would not abide looking on."

Harvest Home.—The ceremonies which graced the in-gathering of the harvest in byegone times have gradually disappeared, and at the present day only remnants of the old usages which once prevailed are still preserved. Shakespeare, who has chronicled so many of our old customs, and seems to have had a special delight in illustrating his writings with these characteristics of our social life, has given several interesting allusions to the observances which in his day graced the harvest field. Thus, in Warwickshire, the labourers at their harvest home appointed a judge to try misdemeanours committed during harvest, and those who were sentenced to punishment were placed on a bench and beaten with a pair of boots. Hence the ceremony was called "giving them the boots." It has been suggested that this custom is alluded to in the "Two Gentlemen of Verona," (i. 1), where he makes Proteus, parrying Valentine's raillery, say, "Nay, give me not the boots."

In Northamptonshire, when anyone misconducted himself in the field during harvest, he was subjected to a mock trial at the harvest-home feast, and condemned to be booted, a description of which we find in the introduction to Clare's "Village Minstrel":—"A long form is placed in the kitchen, upon which the boys who have worked well sit, as a terror and disgrace to the rest, in a bent posture, with their hands laid on each other's backs, forming a bridge for the

1 in the presence of King James on one Dr Fian, a supposed wizard, who was charged with raising the storms that the king encountered in his return from Denmark. The unfortunate man was afterwards burned. This horrible torture, we are told, 2 consisted in the leg and knee of the criminal being enclosed within a tight iron boot or case, wedges of iron being then driven in with a mallet between the knee and the iron boot. Sir Walter Scott, in "Old Mortality," has given a description of Macbriar undergoing this punishment. At a later period "the boot" signified, according to Nares, 3 an instrument for tightening the leg or hand, and was used as a cure for the gout, and called a "bootikins." The phrase "to give the boots" seems to have been a proverbial expression, signifying "don't make a laughing stock of me; don't play upon me."

Again, in the "Merchant of Venice" (v. 1), where Lorenzo says—

we have, doubtless, an allusion to the "Hock Cart" of the old harvest-home. This was the cart which carried the last corn away from the harvest field; 4 and was generally profusely decorated and accompanied by music, old and young

shouting at the top of their voices a doggerel after the following fashion—

In "Poor Robin's Almanack" for August 1676, we read—

Holyrood-Day (September 14).—This festival, 2 called also Holy-Cross-day, was instituted by the Romish Church on account of the recovery of a large piece of the supposed cross by the Emperor Heraclius, after it had been taken away, on the plundering of Jerusalem, by Chosroes, king of Persia. Among the customs associated with this day was one of going-a-nutting, alluded to in the old play of "Grim the Collier of Croydon" (ii. 1)—

Shakespeare mentions this festival in "1 Henry IV." (i. 1), where he represents the Earl of Westmoreland relating how—

St Lambert's-Day (September 17).—This saint, whose original name was Landebert, but contracted into Lambert, was a native of Maestricht, in the seventh century, and was assassinated early in the eighth. 3 His festival is alluded to in "Richard II." (i. 1), where the king says—

Michaelmas.—In the "Merry Wives of Windsor" (i. 1), this festival is alluded to by Simple, who, in answer to Slender, whether he had "The Book of Riddles" about him, replies—"Why, did you not lend it to Alice Shortcake upon All-hallowmas last, a fortnight afore Michaelmas." This doubtless being an intended blunder.

In "1 Henry IV." (ii. 4), Francis says—"Let me see—about Michaelmas I shall be—"

St Etheldredra, or Audry, commemorated in the Romish Calendar on the 23d of June, but in the English Calendar on the 17th of October, was daughter of Annas, king of the East Angles. She founded the convent and Church of Ely on the spot where the cathedral was subsequently erected. Formerly, at Ely, a fair was annually held, called in her memory St Audry's Fair, at which much cheap lace was sold to the poorer classes, which at first went by the name of St Audry's lace, but in time was corrupted into "tawdry lace." Shakespeare makes an allusion to this lace in the "Winter's Tale," (iv. 4), where Mopsa says,—

although in his time the expression rather meant a rustic necklace. 1 An old English historian makes St Audry die of a swelling in her throat, which she considered as a particular judgment for having been in her youth addicted to wearing fine necklaces. 2

St Crispin's Day (October 25th), has for centuries been a red-letter day in the calendar of the shoemakers, being the festival of their patron saint. According to tradition, the brothers Crispin and Crispinian, natives of Rome, having become converted to Christianity, travelled to Soissons, in France, in order to preach the Gospel. Being desirous, however, of rendering themselves independent, they earned their daily bread by making shoes, with which, it is said, they furnished the poor at an extremely low price. When the governor of the town discovered that they maintained the Christian faith, and also tried to make proselytes of the inhabitants, he ordered them to be beheaded. From this time

the shoemakers have chosen them for their tutelary saints. Shakespeare has perpetuated the memory of this festival by the speech which he has given to Henry V., before the battle of Agincourt (iv. 3),—

St Dennis has been adopted as the patron saint of France (October 9th), in the same manner as the English have chosen St George. The guardianship of the two countries is thus expressed in the chorus to the old ballad,—

King Henry ("Henry V.," v. 2), says to Kate, "Shall not thou and I, between St Dennis and St George, compound a boy, half French, half English," etc. In "1 Henry VI.," (iii. 2), Charles says,—

Hallowmas (November i) is one of the names for the feast of All-hallows, that is All Saints. Shakespeare alludes to a custom relative to this day, some traces of which are still to be found in Staffordshire, Cheshire, and other counties. The poor people go from parish to parish a-souling, as they term it, that is, begging, in a certain lamentable tone, for soul-cakes, at the same time singing a song which they call the souler's song. This practice is no doubt a remnant of the Popish ceremony of praying for departed souls, especially those of friends, on the ensuing day, November 2nd, the feast of All Souls. 1 The following is a specimen of the doggerel sung on these occasions—