Folk-lore of Shakespeare Part 54

"It is the bright day that brings forth the adder; And that craves wary walking."

we may compare the popular adage,

"March wind Wakes the ether (_i. e._, adder) and blooms the whin."[577]

[577] Denham's "Weather Proverbs," 1842.

_Spider._ This little creature, which, in daily life, is seldom noticed except for its cobweb, the presence of which in a house generally betokens neglect, has, however, an interesting history, being the subject of many a curious legend and quaint superst.i.tion. Thus, it has not escaped the all-pervading eye of Shakespeare, who has given us many curious sc.r.a.ps of folk-lore concerning it. In days gone by the web of the common house-spider was much in request for stopping the effusion of blood; and hence Bottom, in addressing one of his fairy attendants in "A Midsummer-Night's Dream" (iii. 1), says: "I shall desire you of more acquaintance, good Master Cobweb: if I cut my finger, I shall make bold with you."

Its medicinal virtues, however, do not end here, for, in Suss.e.x[578] it is used in cases of jaundice, many an old doctress prescribing "a live spider rolled up in b.u.t.ter." It is stated, too, that the web is narcotic, and has been administered internally in certain cases of fever, with success.[579] As a remedy for ague it has been considered most efficacious. Some years ago a lady in the south of Ireland was celebrated far and near for her cure of this disorder. Her remedy was a large house-spider taken alive, enveloped in treacle or preserve. Of course, the parties were carefully kept in ignorance of what the wonderful remedy was.[580]

[578] "Folk-Lore Record," 1878, vol. i. p. 45.

[579] See Brand's "Pop. Antiq.," vol. iii. pp. 223, 287, 381.

[580] See article on "Spider-Lore," in _Graphic_, November 13, 1880.

According to a universal belief, spiders were formerly considered highly venomous, in allusion to which notion King Richard II. (iii. 2), in saluting the "dear earth" on which he stands, after "late tossing on the breaking seas," accosts it thus:

"Feed not thy sovereign's foe, my gentle earth, Nor with thy sweets comfort his ravenous sense; But let thy spiders, that suck up thy venom, And heavy-gaited toads, lie in their way, Doing annoyance to the treacherous feet, Which with usurping steps do trample thee."

Again, Leontes, in the "Winter's Tale" (ii. 1), remarks:

"There may be in the cup A spider steep'd."

In "Cymbeline" (iv. 2) and "Richard III." (i. 2) Shakespeare cla.s.ses it with adders and toads; and in the latter play (i. 3), when Queen Margaret is hurling imprecations on her enemies, she is turned from her encounter with Gloster by a remark made by Queen Elizabeth; and while a pitying spirit seems for a minute to supplant her rage, she addresses her successor in these words:

"Poor painted queen, vain flourish of my fortune!

Why strew'st thou sugar on that bottled spider, Whose deadly web ensnareth thee about?"

In another part of the same play (iv. 4) the epithet "bottled" is again applied in a similar manner by Queen Elizabeth:

"That bottled spider, that foul bunch-back'd toad!"

Ritson, on these two pa.s.sages, has the following remarks on the term, bottled spider: "A large, bloated, glossy spider, supposed to contain venom proportionate to its size."

The origin of the silvery threads of gossamer which are so frequently seen extending from bush to bush was formerly unknown. Spenser, for instance, speaks of them as "scorched dew;" and Thomson, in his "Autumn," mentions "the filmy threads of dew evaporate;" which probably, says Mr. Patterson,[581] refers to the same object. The gossamer is now, however, known to be the production of a minute spider. It is twice mentioned by Shakespeare, but not in connection with the little being from which it originates. One of the pa.s.sages is in "Romeo and Juliet"

(ii. 6):

"A lover may bestride the gossamer That idles in the wanton summer air, And yet not fall; so light is vanity."

[581] "Insects Mentioned by Shakespeare," 1841, p. 220.

The other occurs in "King Lear" (iv. 6), where Edgar accosts his father, after his supposed leap from that

"cliff, whose high and bending head Looks fearfully in the confined deep."

He says:

"Hadst thou been aught but gossamer, feathers, air, So many fathom down precipitating, Thou'dst s.h.i.+ver'd like an egg."

In each case it is expressive of extreme lightness. Nares, in his "Glossary" (vol. i. p. 378), considers that the term "gossamer"

originally came from the French _gossampine_, the cotton-tree, and is equivalent to cotton-wool. He says that it also means any light, downy matter, such as the flying seeds of thistles and other plants, and, in poetry, is not unfrequently used to denote the long, floating cobwebs seen in fine weather. In the above pa.s.sage from "King Lear" he thinks it has the original sense, and in the one from "Romeo and Juliet" probably the last. Some are of opinion that the word is derived from _goss_, the gorse or furze.[582] In Germany the popular belief attributes the manufacture of the gossamer to the dwarfs and elves. Of King Oberon, it may be remembered, we are told,

"A rich mantle he did wear, Made of tinsel gossamer, Bestarred over with a few Diamond drops of morning dew."

[582] See Croker's "Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland," edited by T. Wright, 1862, p. 215.

Hogg, too, introduces it as a vehicle fit for the fairy bands, which he describes as

"sailing 'mid the golden air In skiffs of yielding gossamer."

_Toad._ Among the vulgar errors of Shakespeare's day was the belief that the head of the toad contained a stone possessing great medicinal virtues. In "As You Like It," (ii. 1), the Duke says:

"Sweet are the uses of adversity; Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous, Wears yet a precious jewel in his head."

Lupton, in his "One Thousand Notable Things," says that "a toad-stone, called _Crepaudina_, touching any part envenomed by the bite of a rat, wasp, spider, or other venomous beast, ceases the pain and swelling thereof." In the Londesborough Collection is a silver ring of the fifteenth century, in which one of these stones is set.[583]

[583] See Brand's "Pop. Antiq.," vol. ii. pp. 50-55; Douce's "Ill.u.s.trations of Shakespeare," pp. 181-183.

It was also generally believed that the toad was highly venomous-a notion to which there are constant allusions in Shakespeare's plays; as, for example, in the above pa.s.sage, where it is spoken of as "ugly and venomous." In "Richard III." (i. 2), Lady Anne says to Gloster:

"Never hung poison on a fouler toad."

And, in another scene (i. 3), Queen Margaret speaks of "this pois'nous bunch-back'd toad."

Once more, in "t.i.tus Andronicus" (iv. 2), the Nurse describes Queen Tamora's babe as being "as loathsome as a toad." There is doubtless some truth in this belief, as the following quotation from Mr. Frank Buckland's "Curiosities of Natural History" seems to show: "Toads are generally reported to be poisonous; and this is perfectly true to a certain extent. Like the lizards, they have glands in their skin which secrete a white, highly acid fluid, and just behind the head are seen two eminences like split beans; if these be pressed, this acid fluid will come out-only let the operator mind that it does not get into his eyes, for it generally comes out with a jet. There are also other glands dispersed through the skin. A dog will never take a toad in his mouth, and the reason is that this glandular secretion burns his tongue and lips. It is also poisonous to the human subject. Mr. Blick, surgeon, of Islip, Oxfords.h.i.+re,[584] tells me that a man once made a wager, when half drunk, in a village public-house, that he would bite a toad's head off; he did so, but in a few hours his lips, tongue, and throat began to swell in a most alarming way, and he was dangerously ill for some time."

[584] See "Notes and Queries," 6th series, vol. v. pp. 32, 173: also, Gilbert White's "Natural History of Selborne," letter xvii.

Owing to the supposed highly venomous character of the toad, "superst.i.tion," says Pennant,[585] "gave it preternatural powers, and made it a princ.i.p.al ingredient in the incantations of nocturnal hags."

Thus, in Macbeth (iv. 1), the witch says:

"Toad that under cold stone, Days and nights has thirty-one Swelter'd venom sleeping got, Boil thou first i' the charmed pot."

[585] "Zoology," 1766, vol. iii. p. 15.

Pennant adds that this was intended "for a design of the first consideration, that of raising and bringing before the eyes of Macbeth a hateful second-sight of the prosperity of Banquo's line. This shows the mighty power attributed to this animal by the dealers in the magic art."

The evil spirit, too, has been likened by one of our master bards to the toad, as a semblance of all that is devilish and disgusting ("Paradise Lost," iv. 800):

"Him they found, Squat like a toad, close at the ear of Eve, a.s.saying with all his devilish art to reach The organs of her fancy."

In "Macbeth" (i. 1), the paddock or toad is made the name of a familiar spirit:

"Paddock[586] calls.-Anon!"

[586] Cf. "Hamlet," iii. 4; here paddock is used for a toad.