Folk-lore of Shakespeare Part 64

"Methinks I play as I have seen them do In Whitsun pastorals."

A custom formerly kept up in connection with Whitsuntide was the "Whitsun ale." Ale was so prevalent a drink among 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 picnic, 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.[662] These meetings are referred to by Shakespeare in "Pericles" (i. 1):

"It hath been sung at festivals, On ember-eves and holy-ales."

[662] See "British Popular Customs," p. 278; Brand's "Pop.

Antiq.," 1849, vol. i. p. 276.

In the "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," show this explanation to be wrong.

In the old miracle-plays performed at this and other seasons Herod was a favorite personage, and was generally represented as a tyrant of a very overbearing, violent character. Thus Hamlet says (iii. 2): "O, it offends me to the soul, to hear a robustious periwig-pated fellow tear a pa.s.sion to tatters, to very rags, to split the ears of the groundlings; who, for the most part, are capable of nothing but inexplicable dumb-shows and noise: I would have such a fellow whipped for o'er-doing Termagant; it out-herods Herod." On this account Alexas mentions him as the most daring character when he tells Cleopatra ("Antony and Cleopatra," iii. 3):

"Good majesty, Herod of Jewry dare not look upon you But when you are well pleas'd."

In the "Merry Wives of Windsor" (ii. 1), Mrs. Page speaks of him in the same signification: "What a Herod of Jewry is this!"

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[663] was a hectoring tyrant of the miracle-plays, and as such is mentioned by Hamlet in the pa.s.sage 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), "that hot termagant Scot." Hall mentions him in his first satire:

"Nor fright the reader with the Pagan vaunt Of mighty Mahound and great Termagaunt."

[663] According to the crusaders and the old romance writers a Saracen deity. See Singer's "Shakespeare," vol. ix. p. 214.

While speaking of the old mysteries or miracle-plays we may also here refer to the "moralities," a cla.s.s of religious plays in which allegorical personifications of the virtues and vices were introduced as _dramatis personae_. 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:

"I am gone, sir, And anon, sir, I'll be with you again In a trice, Like to the old Vice, Your need to sustain;

Who, with dagger of lath, In his rage and his wrath, Cries, Ah, ha! to the devil," etc.

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

Again, further allusions occur in "Richard III." (iii. 1). Gloster says:

"Thus, like the formal Vice, Iniquity, I moralize two meanings in one word."

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 a.s.s'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 belaboring 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.[664]

[664] See Dyce's "Glossary," p. 482.

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 a.s.similated 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.[665] Among the allusions to these shows given by Shakespeare, we may quote one in "Richard III."

(iv. 4), where Queen Margaret speaks of

"The flattering index of a direful pageant"

-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,[666] "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 const.i.tuted the most important part of them."

Again, in "As You Like It" (iii. 4), Corin says:

"If you will see a pageant truly play'd, Between the pale complexion of true love And the red glow of scorn and proud disdain, Go hence a little, and I shall conduct you, If you will mark it."

[665] "Sports and Pastimes," 1876, pp. 25-28; see Warton's "History of English Poetry," vol. ii. p. 202.

[666] "Ill.u.s.trations of Shakespeare," p. 154.

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

The nine worthies, originally comprising Joshua, David, Judas Maccabaeus, Hector, Alexander, Julius Caesar, Arthur, Charlemagne, and G.o.dfrey of Bouillon, 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 circ.u.mstances 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 Suss.e.x in 1557.[667]

[667] Staunton's "Shakespeare," 1864, vol. i. pp. 147, 148.

Another feature of the Whitsun merry-makings were the Cotswold games, which were generally on the Thursday in Whitsun week, in the vicinity of Chipping Campden. They were inst.i.tuted 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."[668] 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."[669] (iii. 2), 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 const.i.tution. A sheep was jocularly called a "Cotsold," or "Cotswold lion," from the extensive pastures in that part of Gloucestershire.

[668] See "Book of Days," vol. i. p. 712.

[669] See Singer's "Shakespeare," vol. v. p. 206.

While 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). It appears that Manningtree, in Ess.e.x, 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:[670]

"Just so the people stare At an ox in the fair Roasted whole with a pudding in 's belly."

[670] See Nichol's "Collection of Poems," 1780, vol. iii. p. 204.

_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"

(bk. i), to mark out the proper time:[671]

"If verdant elder spreads Her silver flowers; if humble daisies yield To yellow crowfoot and luxuriant gra.s.s Gay shearing-time approaches."

[671] See Knight's "Life of Shakespeare," 1845, p. 71; Howitt's "Pictorial Calendar of the Seasons," 1854, pp. 254-267.

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,[672] 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:

"The shepherd king, Whose flock hath chanc'd that year the earliest lamb to bring, In his gay baldric sits at his low, gra.s.sy board, With flawns, curds, clouted cream, and country dainties stored; And whilst the bag-pipe plays, each l.u.s.ty, jocund swain Quaffs syllabubs in cans, to all upon the plain, And to their country girls, whose nosegays they do wear; Some roundelays do sing; the rest the burthen bear."

[672] "Polyolbion," song 14; see Brand's "Pop. Antiq.," 1849, vol. ii. p. 34; Timbs's "A Garland for the Year," pp. 74, 75.

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,[673] in his introduction to this play, justly remarks: "How happily it brings Shakespeare before us, mixing with his Stratford neighbors at their sheep-shearing and country sports, enjoying the vagabond pedler'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:"

"Wife, make us a dinner, spare flesh neither corne, Make wafers and cakes, for our sheep must be shorne; At sheepe-shearing, neighbours none other things crave, But good cheere and welcome like neighbours to have."

[673] Introduction to the "Leopold Shakespeare," p. xci.