Folk-lore of Shakespeare Part 99

"He hears no music Seldom he smiles."

There is, too, the well-known pa.s.sage in the "Merchant of Venice" (v.

1):

"The man that hath no music in himself, Nor is not mov'd with concord of sweet sounds, Is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils."

According to the Italian proverb: "Whom G.o.d loves not, that man loves not music."[907]

[907] See Douce's "Ill.u.s.trations of Shakespeare," pp. 165, 166.

_Elbow._ According to a popular belief, the itching of the elbow denoted an approaching change of some kind or other.[908] Thus, in "1 Henry IV."

(v. 1), the king speaks of

"Fickle changelings, and poor discontents, Which gape, and rub the elbow, at the news Of hurlyburly innovation."

[908] Ibid. p. 273.

With this idea we may compare similar ones connected with other parts of the body. Thus, in "Macbeth" (iv. 1), one of the witches exclaims:

"By the p.r.i.c.king of my thumbs, Something wicked this way comes."

Again, in "Troilus and Cressida" (ii. 1), Ajax says: "My fingers itch,"[909] and an itching palm was said to be an indication that the person would shortly receive money. Hence, it denoted a hand ready to receive bribes. Thus, in "Julius Caesar" (iv. 3), Brutus says to Ca.s.sius:

"Let me tell you, Ca.s.sius, you yourself Are much condemn'd to have an itching palm; To sell and mart your offices for gold To undeservers."

[909] See "Romeo and Juliet" (iii. 5), where Capulet says, "My fingers itch," denoting anxiety.

So, in "Merry Wives of Windsor" (ii. 3), Shallow says: "If I see a sword out, my finger itches to make one."

Again, in "Oth.e.l.lo" (iv. 3), poor Desdemona says to Emilia:

"Mine eyes do itch; Doth that bode weeping?"

Grose alludes to this superst.i.tion, and says: "When the right eye itches, the party affected will shortly cry; if the left, they will laugh." The itching of the eye, as an omen, is spoken of by Theocritus, who says:

"My right eye itches now, and I will see my love."

_Eyes._ A good deal of curious folk-lore has, at one time or another, cl.u.s.tered round the eye; and the well-known superst.i.tion known as the "evil eye" has already been described in the chapter on Birth and Baptism. Blueness above the eye was, in days gone by, considered a sign of love, and as such is alluded to by Rosalind in "As You Like It"

(iii. 2), where she enumerates the marks of love to Orlando: "A lean cheek, which you have not; a blue eye, and sunken, which you have not."

The term "baby in the eye" was sportively applied by our forefathers to the miniature reflection of himself which a person may see in the pupil of another's eye. In "Timon of Athens" (i. 2), one of the lords says:

"Joy had the like conception in our eyes, And, at that instant, like a babe sprung up,"

an allusion probably being made to this whimsical notion. It is often referred to by old writers, as, for instance, by Drayton, in his "Ideas:"

"But O, see, see! we need enquire no further, Upon your lips the scarlet drops are found, And, in your eye, the boy that did the murder."[910]

[910] See Nares's "Glossary," vol. i. p. 44.

We may compare the expression, "to look babies in the eyes," a common amus.e.m.e.nt of lovers in days gone by. In Beaumont and Fletcher's "Loyal Subject" (iii. 2), Theodore asks:

"Can ye look babies, sisters, In the young gallants' eyes, and twirl their band-strings?"

And once more, to quote from Ma.s.singer's "Renegado" (ii. 4), where Donusa says:

"When a young lady wrings you by the hand, thus, Or with an amorous touch presses your foot; Looks babies in your eyes, plays with your locks," etc.

Another old term for the eyes was "crystal," which is used by Pistol to his wife, Mrs. Quickly, in "Henry V." (ii. 3):

"Therefore, _caveto_ be thy counsellor.

Go, clear thy crystals;"

that is, dry thine eyes.

In "Romeo and Juliet" (i. 2), the phrase is employed by Benvolio:

"Tut! you saw her fair, none else being by, Herself pois'd with herself in either eye: But in that crystal scales let there be weigh'd Your lady's love against some other maid."

It also occurs in Beaumont and Fletcher's "Double Marriage" (v. 3), where Juliana exclaims:

"Sleep you, sweet gla.s.ses!

An everlasting slumber crown those crystals."

The expression "wall-eyed" denotes, says Dyce ("Glossary," p. 486), "eyes with a white or pale-gray iris-glaring-eyed." It is used by Lucius in "t.i.tus Andronicus" (v. 1):

"Say, wall-ey'd slave, whither wouldst thou convey This growing image of thy fiend-like face?"

In "King John" (iv. 3), Salisbury speaks of "wall-eyed wrath."

Brockett, in his "Glossary of North Country Words," says: "In those parts of the north with which I am best acquainted, persons are said to be _wall-eyed_ when the white of the eye is very large and to one side; on the borders 'sic folks' are considered lucky. The term is also occasionally applied to horses with similar eyes, though its wider general acceptation seems to be when the iris of the eye is white, or of a very pale color. A _wall-eyed_ horse sees perfectly well."

_Face._ A common expression "to play the hypocrite," or feign, was "to face." So, in "1 Henry VI." (v. 3), Suffolk declares how:

"Fair Margaret knows That Suffolk doth not flatter, face, or feign."

Hence the name of one of the characters in Ben Jonson's "Alchemist." So, in the "Taming of the Shrew" (ii. 1):

"Yet I have faced it with a card of ten."

The phrase, also, "to face me down," implied insisting upon anything in opposition. So, in the "Comedy of Errors" (iii. 1), Antipholus of Ephesus says:

"But here's a villain that would face me down He met me on the mart."

_Feet._ Stumbling has from the earliest period been considered ominous.[911] Thus, Cicero mentions it among the superst.i.tions of his day; and numerous instances of this unlucky act have been handed down from bygone times. We are told by Ovid how Myrrha, on her way to Cinyra's chamber, stumbled thrice, but was not deterred by the omen from an unnatural and fatal crime; and Tibullus (lib. I., eleg. iii. 20), refers to it:

"O! quoties ingressus iter, mihi tristia dixi, Offensum in porta signa dedisse pedem."

[911] See Brand's "Pop. Antiq.," 1849, vol. iii. p. 249; Jones's "Credulities Past and Present," pp. 529-531; "Notes and Queries," 5th series, vol. viii. p. 201.