Seona Anderson 28/07/2024 Seona Anderson 28/07/2024

HEMP

Shakespeare Species Hemp: play upon your fancies and in them behold, upon the hempen tackle shipboys climbing. Hemp was an important fibre plant for textiles and ropes and well as for the hangman’s noose. It was also called Gallows Grass.

Seona Anderson 28/07/2024 Seona Anderson 28/07/2024

BEAN

Shakespeare Species Bean: peas and beans here are as dank as a dog. Beans were a major foodstuff for many people in Shakespeare’s world.

Seona Anderson 26/07/2024 Seona Anderson 26/07/2024

PLUM

Shakespeare Species Plum: the mellow plum doth fall, the green sticks fast. Shakespeare includes several references to Plums and Prunes, as food as also as metaphors.

Seona Anderson 26/07/2024 Seona Anderson 26/07/2024

WILD DUCK

Shakespeare Species Wild Duck: There is no more valour in that Poins than in a wild duck. Another one of Falstaff’s nature based insults toward his companions. There are several species of wild Duck in the UK some resident & some migratory.

Seona Anderson 24/07/2024 Seona Anderson 24/07/2024

PEACH

Shakespeare Species Peach: how many pair of silk stockings thou hast - with these, and those that were peach-coloured. Shakespeare twice uses Peach as a colour of silk cloth.

Seona Anderson 23/07/2024 Seona Anderson 23/07/2024

SHRIMP

Shakespeare Species Shrimp: it cannot be this weak and writhled shrimp shuold strike such terror to his enemies. Shakespeare uses shrimp as a metaphor for weakness and smallness.

Seona Anderson 22/07/2024 Seona Anderson 22/07/2024

FALCON

Shakespeare Species Falcon: so doves do peck the falcon’s piercing talons. Falconry with high status birds including the Peregrine Falcon was a popular sport for the wealthy in Shakespeare’s world.

Seona Anderson 21/07/2024 Seona Anderson 21/07/2024

ASP

Shakespeare Species Asp: Stage Directions, She (Cleopatra) places an asp on her breast. There is still discussion about which particular venomous snake was intended by Asp but the European Asp is a possibility.

Seona Anderson 20/07/2024 Seona Anderson 20/07/2024

CHAMOMILE

Shakespeare Species Chamomile: for the chamomile, the more it is trodden on, the faster it grows. Falstaff uses the knowledge of Chamomile growth to give advice to the young Prince Hal.

Seona Anderson 20/07/2024 Seona Anderson 20/07/2024

FLAX (LINEN)

Shakespeare Species Flax (Linen): His richness and costliness of spirit looked through him; it could no more be hid than fire in flax. Flax, the plant that produces linen, clothed people in Shakespeare’s world from birth to death, but is rarely grown in Britain today.

Seona Anderson 20/07/2024 Seona Anderson 20/07/2024

RHUBARB

Shakespeare Species Rhubarb: What rhubarb, senna or what purgative drug would scour these English hence? Macbeth considered Rhubarb a powerful medicinal purgative rather than a delicious pudding. Some people might still agree with this assessment.

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

BAY

Shakespeare Species Bay: Stage Directions Vision; six personages clad in white robes, wearing on their heads garlands of bays. The Bay or Laurel has been a symbol of victory or celebration for millennia as well as being an important food and medicine.

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

OWL

Shakespeare Species Owl: It was the owl that shrieked, the fatal bellman, which gives the stern’st good-night. The Barn Owl is sometimes called the Screech Owl for its piercing call.

Seona Anderson 14/07/2024 Seona Anderson 14/07/2024

MALLOW

Shakespeare Species Mallow: Had I plantation of this isle…He’d sow ‘t with nettle seed…Or docks, or mallow. Gonzalo is mocked by his companions when he tries to talk about a new form of land management. Mallow, docks and nettles being weeds.

Seona Anderson 13/07/2024 Seona Anderson 13/07/2024

CROW

Shakespeare Species Crow: the crow doth sing as sweetly as the lark when neither is attended. The Carrion Crow and Hooded Crow are 2 UK species, intelligent, noisy and highly adaptable.

Seona Anderson 12/07/2024 Seona Anderson 12/07/2024

MARJORAM

Shakespeare Species Marjoram: Indeed, sir, she was the sweet marjoram of the salad. The Fool uses the sweetness and scent of Majoram to describe Helen. As well as wild Marjoram there were several cultivated variety known at the time.

Seona Anderson 11/07/2024 Seona Anderson 11/07/2024

CURRANT

Shakespeare Species Currant: I stamp this kiss upon thy currant lip. Currants, red, white and black, were well known garden plants in Shakespeare’s England.

Seona Anderson 10/07/2024 Seona Anderson 10/07/2024

RUSHES

Shakespeare Species Rushes: He that depends on your favour, swims with fins of lead, and hews down oaks with rushes. Rushes were used for lighting, baskets, flooring and also a metaphor for weaknesses or insignificance.

Seona Anderson 10/07/2024 Seona Anderson 10/07/2024

DIVEDAPPER

Shakespeare Species Divedapper: Upon this promise did he raise his chin like a divedapper peering through a wave. The divedapper is probably the Little Grebe, a water bird which regularly dives through the water.