The Project Gutenberg EBook of Folk-lore of Shakespeare, by
Thomas Firminger Thiselton-Dyer

This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net

Title: Folk-lore of Shakespeare

Author: Thomas Firminger Thiselton-Dyer

Release Date: April 29, 2010 [EBook #32183]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FOLK-LORE OF SHAKESPEARE ***

Produced by Irma Spehar and the Online Distributed
Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was
produced from images generously made available by The
Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries)

FOLK-LORE OF SHAKESPEARE

BY THE

REV. T. F. THISELTON DYER, M.A. OXON.
AUTHOR OF "BRITISH POPULAR CUSTOMS, PAST AND PRESENT," ETC.

NEW YORK
HARPER & BROTHERS, FRANKLIN SQUARE
1884

PREFACE.

It would be difficult to overestimate the value which must be attached
to the plays of Shakespeare in connection with the social life of the
Elizabethan age. Possessed of a rich treasury of knowledge of a most
varied kind, much of which he may be said to have picked up almost
intuitively, he embellished his writings with a choice store of
illustrations descriptive of the period in which he lived. Apart, too,
from his copious references to the manners and customs of the time, he
seems to have had not only a wide knowledge of many technical subjects,
but also an intimate acquaintance with the folk-lore of bygone days. How
far this was the case may be gathered from the following pages, in which
are collected and grouped together, as far as arrangement would permit,
the various subjects relating to this interesting and popular branch of
our domestic history. It only remains for me to add that the edition of
the poet's plays made use of is the "Globe," published by Messrs.
Macmillan.

T. F. THISELTON DYER.

CONTENTS.

CHAP. PAGE.

I. FAIRIES 1

II. WITCHES 25

III. GHOSTS