will recognize in it an excellent illustration to the fol lowing passage: "I' the world's volume Our Britain seems as of it, but not in 't ; In a great pool, a swan's nest." Cymbeline, Act iii. Sc. 4. For the purpose of comparison, Shakespeare has found the swan very useful in metaphor. Benvolio, referring to Rosaline, says,— "Compare her face with some that I shall show, Troilus, descanting on the charms of Cressida, speaks of "Her hand to whose soft seizure The cygnet's down is harsh." Troilus and Cressida, Act i. Sc. 1. Amongst the numerous classical allusions to be found throughout the Plays, we are reminded in the present chapter of Juno's chariot drawn by swans :- "And wheresoe'er we went, like Juno's swans, Still we went coupled and inseparable." As You Like It, Act i. Sc. 3. Falstaff, too, with some humour, thus alludes to the loves of Leda : "O powerful love! that, in some respects, makes a beast a man; in some other, a man a beast. You were also, Jupiter, a swan, for the love of Leda; O, omnipotent love! how near the god drew to the complexion of a goose!" -Merry Wives of Windsor, Act v. Sc. 5. The swan, in Shakespeare's day, was in much request for the table, and, for those who could afford it, was served up at all the principal feasts. In "The Northumberland Household Book," such items as the following constantly Occur: "ITEM. It is thoughte goode that my Lordis SWANNES be taken and fedde to serve my Lordis house and to be paide fore as they may be boughte in the countrey, seeing that my Lorde hath Swannes enoughe of his owne. "ITEM a Warraunte to be servide oute yerely at Michaelmas for xx SWANNES for th' expencez of my Lordis house as too say for Cristynmas Day v-Saynt Stephyns Day ij --Saynt John Day ij-Childremas Day ij-Saint Thomas Day ij-New Yere Day iij-ande for the xijth Day of Cristynmas iiij Swannys." These were not to be old birds, however. The "Warraunt" referred to expressly provides that they should be "signetts." In the case of the swan, as with many other species, were we to call attention to every passage throughout the works of Shakespeare wherein it is mentioned or referred to, we fear the reader's patience might become exhausted. Where such allusions, therefore, are trifling, we have thought it well to pass them by. In the present chapter, enough has probably been said to show that while more attractive species have claimed a larger share of the poet's attention, the birds under domestication have been by no means neglected. G AME-PRESERVING, as we now understand the term, was probably unknown in Shakespeare's days, for sportsmen at that time had not the means of making such large bags, and consequently the necessity for breeding and rearing game artificially did not exist. Nature's liberal supply sufficed to satisfy the moderate demand, and the sportsman always returned home well pleased. We take it, however, that this satisfaction resulted more from an appreciation of sport than from the possession of a heavy bag. What more enjoyable than the pursuit of partridges, "with grey gos-hawk in hand," as Chaucer hath it, or a flight at heron with a falcon ? The skill, too, which was required to kill a bird or rabbit with a single bolt from a cross-bow was far greater than that which is needed to achieve the same result with an ounce of shot from a breech-loader. Not that E E guns were unknown in Shakespeare's day, for the oldfashioned “birding-piece" was then in use, as we have already noticed. But, partly in consequence of its inferiority and cost, and partly because its use was so little understood, the majority of folks preferred to carry a weapon with which they were more skilled, and on which they could consequently place more reliance. Gradually, as the fowling-piece became more and more perfect, the long-bow and cross-bow were laid aside, and hawking became almost forgotten. Notwithstanding that the Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) must have been well-known in Shakespeare's day, the poet has only once made mention of this bird. The passage occurs in The Winter's Tale, Act iv. Sc. 3, and runs thus : 66 Shepherd. My business, sir, is to the king. Autolycus. What advocate hast thou to him? Shepherd. I know not, an 't like you. Clown (jokingly aside to Shepherd). Advocate's the court-word for a pheasant: say you have none. Shepherd. None, sir; I have no pheasant, cock nor hen. Autolycus. How blessed are we that are not simple men!" The precise date of the introduction of the pheasant into Great Britain is uncertain, but there is evidence to show that it was prior to the invasion of the Normans, * See end of Chapter V. |