Seona Anderson 14/01/2024 Seona Anderson 14/01/2024

Cattle & Milch-Kine

Shakespeare Species Quote of the Day, CATTLE: and there he blasts the tree, and takes the cattle, and make milch-kine yield blood. Cattle were a fundamental part of Shakespeare’s world. Organisations like the Rare Breeds Survival Trust works to conserve native livestock.

Seona Anderson 13/01/2024 Seona Anderson 13/01/2024

SPARROW

Shakespeare Species Quote of the Day, SPARROW: There is a special providence in the fall of a sparrow. Perhaps there is a warning for us all about the decline of a species which used to be a byword for abundance…

Seona Anderson 12/01/2024 Seona Anderson 12/01/2024

LEECH

Shakespeare Species Quote of the Day, LEECH: let us to France, like horse-leeches, my boys, to suck, to suck, the very blood to suck. Read about the fascinating lifecycle and medical history of Leeches.

Seona Anderson 11/01/2024 Seona Anderson 11/01/2024

BADGER (BROCK)

Shakespeare Species Quote of the Day, BROCK (Badger): Marry, hang thee, brock! Badgers are nocturnal omnivores which are protected under UK law.

Seona Anderson 10/01/2024 Seona Anderson 10/01/2024

FLEA

Shakespeare Species Quote of the Day, FLEA: You may as well say that’s a valiant flea that dare eat his breakfast on the lip of a lion. Fleas have long been companions and irritants to human societies & Shakespeare does not exclude them from his poetry.

Seona Anderson 09/01/2024 Seona Anderson 09/01/2024

Crocodile

Shakespeare Species Quote of the Day, CROCODILES: If that the earth could teem with women’s tears, each drop she falls would prove a crocodile. Crocodile, or false, tears was a popular metaphor from the ancient world onwards and Shakespeare uses it several times.

Seona Anderson 08/01/2024 Seona Anderson 08/01/2024

RHINOCEROS

Shakespeare Species Quote of the Day, RHINOCEROS: Approach thou like the rugged Russian bear, the armed rhinoceros, or th’ Hyrcan tiger. The 5 Rhino species in the world are under great threat but have long held great fascination for human societies.

Seona Anderson 07/01/2024 Seona Anderson 07/01/2024

SCORPION

Shakespeare Species Quote of the Day, SCORPION: Seek not a scorpion’s nest, nor set no footing on this unkind shore. Scorpions are ancient creatures which have suffered from a bad press to become associated primarily with pain and danger.

Seona Anderson 06/01/2024 Seona Anderson 06/01/2024

CARAWAY

Shakespeare Species Quote of the Day, CARAWAY: we will eat a last year’s pippin of my own graffing with a dish of caraways. Caraways seeds add a delicate taste to recipes and as a snack to cure wind.

Seona Anderson 05/01/2024 Seona Anderson 05/01/2024

PEPPER

Shakespeare Species Quote of the Day, PEPPER: He cannot ‘scape me… He cannot creep into a half-penny purse, nor into a pepper-box. Pepper is used as a food and metaphor and is part of our long association with this fundamental spice.

Seona Anderson 04/01/2024 Seona Anderson 04/01/2024

CLOVE

Shakespeare Species Quote of the day, CLOVES: A lemon. Stuck with cloves. The aromatic and valuable Clove makes only one appearance in the whole of Shakespeare. Read more about this spices and all its uses in food and medicine.

Seona Anderson 03/01/2024 Seona Anderson 03/01/2024

GINGER

Shakespeare Species Quote of the Day, GINGER: Yes, by Saint Anne, and ginger shall be hot i’ th’ mouth, too. Read more about the versatile rhizome and its history in England.

Seona Anderson 02/01/2024 Seona Anderson 02/01/2024

NUTMEG & MACE

Shakespeare Species Quote of the Day, Nutmeg: I will not change my horse with any…he’s of the colour of the nutmeg. Read more about the Nutmeg tree and control of this valuable spice.

Seona Anderson 01/01/2024 Seona Anderson 01/01/2024

SUGAR

Shakespeare Species Quote of the Day, SUGAR: if sack and sugar be a fault, God help the wicked. Sugar was an important luxury and a useful metaphor.

Seona Anderson 31/12/2023 Seona Anderson 31/12/2023

SWANS

Shakespeare Species Quote of the Day, SWAN: like Juno’s swans still we went coupled and inseparable. Read more about Swans, their dying song and their symbolic significance.

Seona Anderson 30/12/2023 Seona Anderson 30/12/2023

Geese

Shakespeare Species Quote of the Day, GEESE: Souls of geese that bear the shapes of men. Read more about the domesticated Goose and its role in Shakespeare

Seona Anderson 29/12/2023 Seona Anderson 29/12/2023

Eagle

Shakespeare Species Quote of the Day, EAGLE: A lover’s eye will gaze an eagle blind. Find out more about this majestic bird and its history.

Seona Anderson 28/12/2023 Seona Anderson 28/12/2023

BLACKBIRD

Shakespeare Species Quote of the Day, BLACKBIRD/Black Ouzel: the ouzel cock so black of hue, with orange-tawny bill. Read more about this widespread, tuneful bird.

Seona Anderson 27/12/2023 Seona Anderson 27/12/2023

CHICKEN

Shakespeare Species Quote of the Day, CHICKEN: an empty eagle were set to guard the chicken from a hungry kite. Read more about one of the most important domesticated birds in the world.

Seona Anderson 26/12/2023 Seona Anderson 26/12/2023

TURTLE DOVE

Shakespeare Species Quote of the Day, TURTLE DOVES: as true as steel, as plantage to the moon, as sun to day, as turtle to her mate. The iconic Turtle Dove is associated with loyal love but it declining rapidly.