Chapter I: Preface

Of no other author, perhaps, has more been written than of Shakespeare. Yet whatever other knowledge his commentators professed, few of them appear to have been naturalists, and none, so far as I am aware, have examined his knowledge of Ornithology.

An inquiry upon this subject, undertaken in the first instance for my own amusement, has resulted in the bringing together of so much that is curious and entertaining, that to the long list of books already published about Shakespeare, I have been bold enough to add yet another. In so doing, I venture to hope that the reader may so far appreciate the result of my labour as not to consider it superfluous.

As regards the treatment of the subject, a word or two of explanation seems necessary. In 1866, from the notes I had then collected, I contributed a series of articles on the birds of Shakespeare to _The Zoologist_. In these articles, I referred only to such birds as have a claim to be considered British, and omitted all notice of domesticated species. I had not then considered any special arrangement or grouping, but noticed each species _seriatim_ in the order adopted by Mr. Yarrell in his excellent “History of British Birds.” Since that date, I have collected so much additional information on the subject, that, instead of eighty pages (the extent of my first publication), three hundred have now passed through the printers’ hands. With this large accession of material, it was found absolutely necessary to re-arrange and re-write the whole. The birds therefore have been now divided into certain natural groups, including the foreign and domesticated species, to each of which groups a chapter has been devoted; and I have thought it desirable to give, by way of introduction, a sketch of Shakespeare’s general knowledge of natural history and acquaintance with field-sports, as bearing more or less directly on his special knowledge of Ornithology, which I propose chiefly to consider.

After I had published the last of the series of articles referred to, I received an intimation for the first time, that, twenty years previously, a notice of the birds of Shakespeare had appeared in the pages of _The Zoologist_. I lost no time in procuring the particular number which contained the article, and found that, in December, 1846, Mr. T. W. Barlow, of Holmes Chapel, Cheshire, had, to a certain extent, directed attention to Shakespeare’s knowledge as an Ornithologist. His communication, however, did not exceed half a dozen pages, in which space he has mentioned barely one-fourth of the species to which Shakespeare has referred. From the cursory nature of his remarks, moreover, I failed to discover a reference to any point which I had not already investigated. It would be unnecessary for me, therefore, to allude to this article, except for the purpose of acknowledging that Mr. Barlow was the first to enter upon what, as regards Shakespeare, may be termed this new field of research.

The labour of collecting and arranging Shakespeare’s numerous allusions to birds, has been much greater than many would suppose, for not only have I derived little or no benefit from the various editions of his works which I have consulted, but reference to a glossarial index, or concordance, has, in nine cases out of ten, resulted in disappointment. It is due to Mr. Staunton, however, to state that I have found some of the foot-notes to his library edition of the Plays very useful.

Although oft-times difficult, it has been my endeavour, as far as practicable, to connect one with another the various passages quoted or referred to, so as to render the whole as readable and as entertaining as possible. With this view, many allusions have been passed over as being too trivial to deserve separate notice, but a reference to them will be found in the Appendix at the end of the volume,[1] where all the words quoted are arranged, for convenience, in the order in which they occur in the plays and poems.

In spelling Shakespeare’s name, I have adopted the orthography of his friends Ben Jonson and the editors of the first folio.[2]

As regards the illustrations, it seems desirable also to say a few words.

In selecting for my frontispiece a portrait of Shakespeare as a falconer (a character which I am confident could not have been foreign to him), I have experienced considerable difficulty in making choice of a likeness.

Those who have made special inquiries into the authenticity of the various portraits of Shakespeare, are not agreed in the results at which they have arrived. This is to be attributed to the fact that, with the exception of the Droeshout etching, to which I shall presently state my objection, no likeness really exists of which a reliable history can be given without one or more missing links in the chain of evidence.

There are four portraits which have all more or less claim to be considered authentic. These are “the Jansen portrait,” 1610; “the Stratford bust,” prior to 1623; “the Droeshout etching,” 1623; and “the Chandos portrait,” of which the precise date is uncertain, but which must have been painted some years prior to 1616, the year of Shakespeare’s death.

It would be impossible, within the compass of this preface, to review all that has been said for and against these four portraits. Neither will space permit me to give the history of each in detail. I can only briefly allude to the chief facts in connection with each, and state the reasons which have influenced me in selecting the Chandos portrait.

Mr. Boaden, who was the first to examine into the authenticity of reputed Shakespeare portraits,[3] has evinced a preference for the so-called “Jansen portrait,” in the collection of the Duke of Somerset, considering it to have been painted by Cornelius Jansen, in 1610, for Lord Southampton, the great patron, at that date, of art and the drama.

The picture, indeed, bears upon the face of it an inscription--

Æ^te 46
1610

--which gives much weight to the views expressed by Mr. Boaden.

It is certain that, in the year mentioned, Jansen was in England, and that he painted several pictures for Lord Southampton; it is equally true, that at that date Shakespeare was in his forty-sixth year. But Mr. Boaden fails to prove that this particular picture was painted by Jansen, and that it was ever in the possession of Lord Southampton, or painted by his order.

As a fine head, and a work of art, it is the one of all others that I should like to think resembled Shakespeare, could its history be more satisfactorily detailed.

Many regard as a genuine portrait, the Bust at Stratford-on-Avon, which is stated to have been executed by Gerard Johnson, and “probably” under the superintendence of Dr. John Hall. The precise date of its erection is not known, but we gather that it was previous to 1623, from the fact that Leonard Digges has referred to it in his Lines to the Memory of Shakespeare, prefixed to the first folio edition of the Plays published in that year. Mr. Wivell relies very strongly on the circumstance of its having been originally coloured to nature.[4] Hence tradition informs us that the eyes were hazel, the hair and beard auburn. It must be admitted, however, that a portrait after death can never be so faithful as a picture from the life, while no sculptor who examines this bust can maintain that it was executed from a cast.[5]

Those who approve of the Droeshout etching, published in 1623, as a frontispiece to the first folio, find a strong argument in favour of its being a likeness in the commendatory lines by Ben Jonson, which accompany it. Jonson knew Shakespeare well, and he says of this picture:--

“This figure that thou here seest put,
It was for gentle Shakespeare cut;
Wherein the graver had a strife
With Nature to outdoo the life.
O, could he but have drawne his wit
As well in brasse as he hath hit
His face, the print would then surpasse
All that was ever writ in brasse;
But since he cannot, reader, looke
Not on his picture, but his booke.”

As a work of art it is by no means skilful, and is confessedly inferior not only to other engravings of that day, but also to other portraits by Martin Droeshout.

That it bore some likeness to Shakespeare _as an actor_, I do not doubt, but that it resembled him as a private individual when off the stage, I cannot bring myself to believe. The straight hair and shaven chin which are not found in other portraits having good claims to be considered authentic, and the unnaturally high forehead, which would be caused by the actor’s wearing the wig of an old man partially bald, suggest at once that when the original portrait was taken, from which Droeshout engraved, Shakespeare was dressed as if about to sustain a part in which he was thought to excel as an actor.

Boaden has conjectured that this portrait represents Shakespeare in the character of old Knowell, in Ben Jonson’s _Every Man in his Humour_, a part which he is known to have played in 1598, and this would easily account for Ben Jonson’s commendation.[6] This conjecture is so extremely probable, that I have no hesitation in endorsing it.

We come, then, now to “the Chandos portrait.” With the longest pedigree of any, it possesses at least as much collateral evidence of probability, and is, moreover, important as belonging to the nation.[7] It has been traced back to the possession of Shakespeare’s godson, William, afterwards Sir William, Davenant, and all that seems to be wanting materially, is the artist’s name. The general opinion is, that it was painted either by Burbage or Taylor, both of whom were fellow-players of Shakespeare. It is styled the Chandos portrait from having come to the trustees of the National Portrait Gallery from the collection of the Duke of Chandos and Buckingham, through the Earl of Ellesmere, by whom it was purchased and presented. The history of the picture, so far as it can be ascertained, is as follows:--

It was originally the property of Taylor, the player (our poet’s Hamlet), by whom, or by Richard Burbage, it was painted.[8]

Taylor dying about the year 1653, at the advanced age of seventy,[9] left this picture by will to Davenant.[10] At the death of Davenant, who died intestate in 1663, it was bought, probably at a sale of his effects, by Betterton, the actor.

While in Betterton’s possession, it was engraved by Van der Gucht, for Rowe’s edition of Shakespeare, in 1709. Betterton dying without a will and in needy circumstances, his pictures were sold. Some were bought by Bullfinch, the printseller, who sold them again to a Mr. Sykes. The portrait of Shakespeare was purchased by Mrs. Barry, the actress, who afterwards sold it for forty guineas to Mr. Robert Keck, of the Inner Temple.

While in his possession, an engraving was made from it, in 1719, by Vertue, and it then passed to Mr. Nicholls, of Southgate, Middlesex, who acquired it on marrying the heiress of the Keck family.

The Marquis of Caernarvon, afterwards Duke of Chandos, marrying the daughter of Mr. Nicholls, it then became his Grace’s property. When his pictures were sold at Stowe, in September, 1848, this portrait was purchased for three hundred and fifty-five guineas by the Earl of Ellesmere, who, in March, 1856, presented it to the Trustees of the National Portrait Gallery, in whose hands it still remains.

Notwithstanding this pedigree, the picture has been objected to on the ground that the dark hair and foreign complexion could never have belonged to our essentially English Shakespeare. Those who make this objection, seem to forget entirely the age of the portrait, and the fact that it is painted in oil and on canvas, a circumstance which of itself is quite sufficient, after the lapse of two centuries and a half, to account for the dark tone which now pervades it, to say nothing of the numerous touches and retouches to which it has been subjected at the hands of its various owners.

Notwithstanding the missing links of evidence, it seems to me that, having traced the picture back to the possession of Shakespeare’s godson, we have gone far enough to justify us in accepting it as an authentic portrait in preference to many others. For we cannot suppose that Sir William Davenant would retain in his possession until his death a picture of one with whom he was personally acquainted, unless he considered that it was sufficiently faithful as a likeness to remind him of the original.

On the score of pedigree, then, and because I believe that the only well-authenticated portrait (_i.e._, the Droeshout) represents Shakespeare as an actor, and not as a private individual, I have selected the Chandos portrait for my frontispiece.

By obtaining a reduced photograph of this _upon wood_, from the best engraving, and “vignetting” it, I have been enabled to place upon the left hand a hooded falcon, drawn by the unrivalled pencil of Mr. Wolf, and thus to entrust to the engraver, Mr. Pearson, a faithful likeness of man and bird.

As regards the other illustrations, my acknowledgments are due to Mr. J. G. Keulemans for the artistic manner in which he has executed my designs, and to Mr. Pearson for the careful way in which he has engraved them.

With these observations, I conclude an undertaking which has occupied my leisure hours for six years, but which indeed has been, in every sense of the word, “a labour of love.”

Should the reader, on closing this volume, consider its design but imperfectly executed, it is hoped that he will still have gleaned from it enough curious information to compensate him for the disappointment.

CONTENTS.

INTRODUCTION. PAGE

SHAKESPEARE’S GENERAL KNOWLEDGE OF NATURAL HISTORY.

His Love of Sport.--Hawking.--Fishing.--Hunting.--Fowling.--
Deer-Shooting.--Deer-Stealing.--“The Subtle Fox” and “Timorous
Hare.”--Coursing.--Coney-Catching.--Wild Animals mentioned by
Shakespeare.--His Knowledge of their Habits.--Insects referred to
in the Plays.--Shakespeare’s Powers of Observation.--Practical
Knowledge of Falconry.--Love of Birds. 1

CHAPTER I.

THE EAGLE AND LARGER BIRDS OF PREY.

An “Eagle Eye.”--Power of Flight.--A good Omen.--“The Bird of
Jove.”--The Roman Eagle.--The “Ensign” of the Eagle.--Habits and
Attitudes.--Eagles’ Eggs.--Longevity of the Eagle: its Age
computed.--The Eagle trained for Hawking.--The Vulture: its
Repulsive Habits.--The Osprey: its Power over Fish.--The Kite.--
The Kite’s Nest.--The Buzzard. 23

CHAPTER II.

HAWKS AND HAWKING.

Explanation of Hawking Terms.--The Falcon and Tiercel.--The
Qualities of a good Falconer.--The “Lure” and its Use.--The
“Quarry”--The Hawk’s “Trappings.”--Jesses, Bells, and Hood.--An
Unmann’d Hawk.--The Cadge--The Hawks Mew.--The Royal Mews.--Origin
of the word “Mews.”--Imping.--How to “Seel” a Hawk.--A Hawk for
the Bush.--Going “a-birding.”--The “Stanniel” or Kestrel.--Origin
of the Two Names.--The “Musket” or Sparrow-Hawk.--Hawk and
Hernshaw.--Prices of Hawks.--Hawk’s Furniture.--Hawk’s
Meat.--Falconer’s Wages.--Sundries. 49

CHAPTER III.

THE OWL AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS.

“The Bird of Juno.”--“The Favourite of Minerva.”--“The Bird of
Wisdom.”--Sacred to Proserpine.--Use in Medicine.--The Bird of
Ill-Omen.--Its Appearance by Day.--Its Habits misunderstood.--Its
Utility to the Farmer.--A Curious Tradition.--Its Note or Cry.--An
Owl Robbing Nests.--Evidence not conclusive.--Its Retiring
Habits.--Its “Five Wits.”--Its Fame in Song.--The Owl’s Good Night. 83

CHAPTER IV.

THE CROWS AND THEIR RELATIONS.

The Raven: a Bird of Ill Omen.--Its Supposed Prophetic Power.--Its
Deep and Solemn Voice.--The Raven’s Croak foreboding Death.--The
“Night-Raven” and “Night-Crow.”--The Raven’s Presence on
Battlefields.--Its alleged Desertion of its Young.--The Rook and
Crow.--The Crow-Keeper, and “Scare-Crow.”--The Chough.--Russet-pated
Choughs.--The Daw, Magpie, and Jay. 99

CHAPTER V.

THE BIRDS OF SONG.

The Nightingale.--“Lamenting Philomel.”--Singing against a
Thorn.--Erroneously supposed to Sing only by Night.--
“Recording.”--The Lark.--“The Herald of the Morn.”--Singing at
Heaven’s Gate.--Song of the Lark.--Soaring and Singing.--Changing
Eyes with Toad.--Lark-Catching.--The Common Bunting.--“The Throstle,
with his Note so True.”--Imitation of his Song.--The Ouzel-Cock.
--The Robin-Redbreast, or Ruddock.--Covering the Dead with Leaves.
--“Redbreast Teacher.”--“The Wren with Little Quill.”--Its Loud
Song.--The Sparrow.--“Philip Sparrow.”--Providence in the Fall of
a Sparrow.--The Hedge-Sparrow and Cuckoo.--“The Cuckoo’s Bird.”
--“Ungentle Gull.”--“The Plain Song Cuckoo Gray.”--The Song of
the Cuckoo.--Cuckoo Songs.--The Wagtail, or Dishwasher.--
Bird-catching.--Springes.--Gins.--Bat-fowling.--Its Two
Significations.--Bird-Lime, Bird-Bolts, and Birding-Pieces. 123

CHAPTER VI.

THE BIRDS UNDER DOMESTICATION.

Cock.--“Cock-Crow.”--“Cock-shut-time.”--“Cock-a-Hoop.”--“Cock and
Pye.”--Cock-Fighting.--Ancestry of the Domestic Cock.--The
Peacock.--Its Introduction into Europe, and Ancient Value.--In
Request for the Table.--The Turkey.--Date of Introduction into
England.--Shakespeare’s Anachronism.--Pigeons.--First used as
Letter-Carriers.--A Present of Pigeons.--Meaning of
“Pigeon-Liver’d.”--Pigeon-Post.--Mode of Feeding the Young.--The
Barbary Pigeon.--The Rock-Dove.--Doves and Dovecotes.--The “Doves
of Venus.”--“The Dove of Paphos.”--“As True as Turtle to her Mate:”
“as Plantage to the Moon.”--Mahomet’s Dove.--A Dish of Doves.--The
Goose.--“Green-Geese,” and “Stubble-Geese.”--“Cackling home to
Camelot.”--“The Wild-Goose Chase.”--The Swan.--“The Bird of
Apollo.”--Song of the Swan.--Habits of the Swan.--The Swan’s
Nest.--As Soft as Swan’s-down.--“Juno’s Swans.”--Cygnets. 167

CHAPTER VII.

THE GAME-BIRDS AND “QUARRY” FLOWN AT BY FALCONERS.

Sporting in Shakespeare’s Day.--The Pheasant.--Date of its
Introduction into Britain.--Ancient Value of Game.
--Game-Preserving.--Game-Laws.--Partridge-Hawking.--Anecdote
of Charles I.--Quails.--Quail-Fighting.--The Lapwing.--Feigning to
be Wounded.--Running as soon as Hatched.--The Heron, or
Hernshaw.--Heron-Hawking.--Hawk and Hernshaw--Heron at Table.--The
Woodcock.--Springes for Woodcocks.--How to Make a Springe.--A
Gin.--“The Woodcock’s Head.”--The Snipe. 209

CHAPTER VIII.

WILD-FOWL AND SEA-FOWL.

“A Flight of Fowl.”--Habit of Wounded
Birds.--“Duck-Hunting.”--Swimming “like a Duck.”--Wild-fowling in
Shakespeare’s Day.--“The Stalking-Horse.”--“The Caliver.”--“The
Stale.”--Wild-Geese.--Sign of Hard Weather.--The Barnacle
Goose.--Barnacles.--Wild Fowl.--Divers and Grebes.--The
“Loon.”--The “Di-dapper.”--The Cormorant.--Its Voracity.--Fishing
with Cormorants.--The King’s Cormorants.--Their “Keep” at
Westminster.--Fishing at Thetford.--The Master of the
Cormorants.--Entries in State Papers.--The Home of the
Cormorant.--The Sea-side.--Shakespeare’s Sea-cliffs and
“Sea-mells.”--Gulls and Gull-Catchers. 235