Seona Anderson 30/09/2024 Seona Anderson 30/09/2024

SHREW

SHREW: did pretty Jessica, like a little shrew, slander her love, and he forgave her. Shrew is used as an insult to women perceived to be nagging or scolding in several works including 'Taming of the Shrew'.

Seona Anderson 20/08/2024 Seona Anderson 20/08/2024

BEAR

Shakespeare Species Bear: foolish curs, that run winking into the mouth of a Russian bear. Bears were familiar in Shakespeare's world through the widespread, brutal practice of Bear-baiting.

Seona Anderson 17/07/2024 Seona Anderson 17/07/2024

BARBARY HORSE

Shakespeare Species Barbary Horses: The King, sir, hath wagered him six Barbary horses. The Barbary Horse had the highest status of all horses at the time. Barb Horses are still associated with the North African region & are related to Arab Horses.

Seona Anderson 04/05/2024 Seona Anderson 04/05/2024

MARMOSET

Shakespeare Species Quote of the Day, MARMOSET: and instruct thee how to snare the nimble marmoset. Marmosets are South American mammals which were exotic pets in the Tudor period. Many species are currently threatened or declining in the wild.

Seona Anderson 21/04/2024 Seona Anderson 21/04/2024

WEASEL

Shakespeare Species Quote of the Day, WEASEL: I can suck melancholy out of a song as a weasel suck eggs. Weasel’s the smallest carnivore in the UK gets a bad press in Shakespeare.

Seona Anderson 16/04/2024 Seona Anderson 16/04/2024

FOX

Shakespeare Species Quote of the Day, FOX: for treason is trusted like a fox, never so tame, so cherished and locked up, will have a wild trick of his ancestors. Foxes epitomise cunning and deceit for Shakespeare.

Seona Anderson 24/02/2024 Seona Anderson 24/02/2024

WILD BOAR

Shakespeare Species Quote of the Day, WILD BOAR: A gallant curtal-ax upon my thigh, a boar-spear in my hand. Wild Boar became extinct in Britain but have now re-established through escapes and releases.

Seona Anderson 23/02/2024 Seona Anderson 23/02/2024

POLECAT/FITCHEW

Shakespeare Species Quote of the Day, POLECAT or FITCHEW: ‘Tis such another fitchew - marry, a perfumed one! Polecat was used as an insult in Elizabethan England and the Polecat was almost exterminated in Britain by the early 20th Century.