[851] It is reprinted in Hawkins’s “English Drama,” 1773.
[852] “Illustrations of Shakespeare,” pp. 263. 264; see Dyce’s “Glossary,” p. 423.
[853] See “Book of Days,” vol. i. pp. 598, 599.
[854] Nares’s “Glossary,” vol. ii. p. 965.
[855] “Callat,” an immodest woman, also applied to a scold. Cf. “Winter’s Tale,” ii. 3:
“A callat
Of boundless tongue, who late hath beat her husband,
And now baits me.”
[856] Skimmington was a burlesque ceremony in ridicule of a man beaten by his wife. See Brand’s “Pop. Antiq.,” vol. ii. pp. 191, 192.
CHAPTER XIX.
PROVERBS.
In the present chapter are collected together the chief proverbs either quoted or alluded to by Shakespeare. Many of these are familiar to most readers, but have gained an additional interest by reason of their connection with the poet’s writings. At the same time, it may be noted that very many of Shakespeare’s pithy sayings have, since his day, passed into proverbs, and have taken their place in this class of literature. It is curious to notice, as Mrs. Cowden-Clarke remarks,[857] how “Shakespeare has paraphrased some of our commonest proverbs in his own choice and elegant diction.” Thus, “Make hay while the sun shines” becomes