ed me;
One half of me is yours, the other half yours;"

and in "Titus Andronicus" (ii. 1), Aaron speaks of Tamora as:

"faster bound to Aaron's charming eyes
Than is Prometheus tied to Caucasus."

[702] See Douce's "Illustrations of Shakespeare," p. 383;
Brand's "Pop. Antiq.," 1849, vol. iii. pp. 44-46, 326.

This superstition, however, is not yet obsolete, but lingers on in many
country places.

We may also compare a similar phrase made use of by Cleopatra ("Antony
and Cleopatra," iii. 7), in answer to Enobarbus:

"Thou hast forspoke my being in these wars,"

the word _forespeak_ having anciently had the meaning of charm or
bewitch, like _forbid_ in "Macbeth" (i. 3):

"He shall live a man forbid."[703]

[703] See Napier's "Folk-Lore of West of Scotland," 1879, pp.
34-40; Keightley's "Fairy Mythology;" Brand's "Pop. Antiq.,"
1849, vol. iii. pp. 73, 74.

Among the numerous customs associated with the birth of a child may be
mentioned the practice of giving presents at the announcement of this
important event. In "Henry VIII." (v. 1), on the old lady's making known
to the king the happy tidings of the birth of a princess, he says to
Lovell:

"Give her an hundred marks. I'll to the queen."

The old lady, however, resents what she considers a paltry sum:

"An hundred marks! By this light, I'll ha' more.
An ordinary groom is for such payment.
I will have more, or scold it out of him."

It was an ancient custom--one which is not quite out of use--for the
sponsors at christenings to offer silver or gilt spoons as a present to
the child. These were called "apostle spoons," because the extremity of
the handle was formed into the figure of one or other of the apostles.
Such as were opulent and generous gave the whole twelve; those who were
moderately rich or liberal escaped at the expense of the four
evangelists, or even sometimes contented themselves with presenting one
spoon only, which exhibited the figure of any saint, in honor of whom
the child received its name. In "Henry VIII." (v. 2) it is in allusion
to this custom that, when Cranmer professes to be unworthy of being a
sponsor to the young princess, Shakespeare makes the king reply:

"Come, come, my lord, you'd spare your spoons."

A story is related of Shakespeare promising spoons to one of Ben
Jonson's children, in a collection of anecdotes entitled "Merry Passages
and Jests," compile