Seona Anderson 29/01/2024 Seona Anderson 29/01/2024

SLUG

Shakespeare Species Quote of the Day, SLUG: Fie, what a slug is Hastings, that he comes not to tell us whether they come or no! Slugs are often associated with slowness and Shakespeare also uses this metaphor.

Seona Anderson 28/01/2024 Seona Anderson 28/01/2024

MANDRAKE

Shakespeare Species Quote of the Day, MANDRAKE: could curses kill, as doth the mandrake’s groan. The Mandrake or Mandragora was a powerful medicine and poison of the ancient and early modern world and attracted many fabulous legends.

Seona Anderson 27/01/2024 Seona Anderson 27/01/2024

Samphire

Shakespeare Species Quote of the Day, SAMPHIRE: halfway down hangs one that gathers samphire - dreadful trade. ‘Death by Samphire collection’ was an occupational hazard in Tudor England in the harvesting of this tasty & healthy food.

Seona Anderson 26/01/2024 Seona Anderson 26/01/2024

EEL

Shakespeare Species Quote of the Day, Eel: as the cockney did to the eels when she put ‘em i’ th’ paste alive. The magnificent, mysterious Eel is now critically endangered but you can help - join ZSL Eel efforts

Seona Anderson 25/01/2024 Seona Anderson 25/01/2024

WREN

Shakespeare Species Quote of the Day, WREN: but if there be yet left in heaven as small a drop of pity as a wren’s eye, feared gods, a part of it! Wrens, tiny and tuneful are valued in many cultures.

Seona Anderson 24/01/2024 Seona Anderson 24/01/2024

WORMWOOD

Shakespeare Species Quote of the Day, WORMWOOD: To weed this wormwood from your fruitful brain and therewithal to win me. Wormwood is a herb, medicine, poison and signal of the end of days. Read more about this remarkable plant.

Seona Anderson 23/01/2024 Seona Anderson 23/01/2024

COD

Shakespeare Species Quote of the Day, COD: She that in wisdom never was so frail to change the cod’s head for the salmon’s tail. Cod have been an important food for millennia but numbers have declined greatly in recent years.

Seona Anderson 22/01/2024 Seona Anderson 22/01/2024

CYPRESS

Shakespeare Species Quote of the Day, CYPRESS: Their sweetest shade, a grove of cypress trees. Cypress trees are associated with death, but also with sweet smelling wood.

Seona Anderson 21/01/2024 Seona Anderson 21/01/2024

OSPREY

Shakespeare Species Quote of the Day, OSPREY: I think he’ll be to Rome as is the osprey to the fish, who takes it by sovereignty of nature. The majestic fisher of the skies appears only once in Shakespeare.

Seona Anderson 20/01/2024 Seona Anderson 20/01/2024

SPERM WHALE

Shakespeare Species Quote of the Day: Sperm Whale (Parmacety): And telling me the most sovereignest thing on Earth, was parmacety for an inward bruise. Sperm Whales were almost hunted to extinction for the spermaceti in their heads, they are still endangered today.

Seona Anderson 19/01/2024 Seona Anderson 19/01/2024

COCKLE

Shakespeare Species Quote of the Day, COCKLE: How should I your true love know from another one? From his cockle hat and staff and his sandal shoon. Cockles were and are an important food stuff and their shells symbolised pilgrimage particularly to Santiago de Compostela

Seona Anderson 18/01/2024 Seona Anderson 18/01/2024

FROG

Shakespeare Species Quote of the Day, FROG: Would I could find a fine frog, he would tell me news from all parts o’ th’ world. Frogs are an integral part of our ecosystems as both prey and predator.

Seona Anderson 17/01/2024 Seona Anderson 17/01/2024

PEACOCK

Shakespeare Species Quote of the Day, PEACOCK: let frantic Talbot triumph for a while, and like a peacock sweep along his tail. The magnificent Peacock is stunning but also a symbol of vanity and pride.

Seona Anderson 16/01/2024 Seona Anderson 16/01/2024

PIG

Shakespeare Species Quote of the Day, PIG: this foul swine.. from Tamworth thither is but one day’s march. Pigs are remarkable animals despite their often bad press. Find out more about Tamworth Pigs & Richard III.

Seona Anderson 15/01/2024 Seona Anderson 15/01/2024

GOAT

Shakespeare Species Quote of the Day, GOAT: at my birth the front of heaven was full of fiery shapes, the goats ran from the mountains. Goats have been domesticated for 1000 of years and they are regular characters in Shakespeare.

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.