BEAGLE
31st January 2024
BEAGLE (Breed of Dog, Canis familiaris)
In Twelfth Night Toby calls Maria, the servant he will later marry, a Beagle. Here it is a form of compliment but in Timon of Athens it is more insulting. Timon tells Alcibiades and a group of women to leave him alone, ‘get thee away, and take thy beagles with thee.
Beagles were a breed used to hunt Hares, a pursuit called Beagling. There is debate about the origins and antiquity of the breed but the term ‘Beagle’ seems to be used in the 1500s.
More Information
Airedale Beagles: What is Beagling?
Beagle Society: History of the Breed
Folger Shakespeare: Search Shakespeare’s Works