2n<« S. VII. Jan. 15. '69.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



41 



LONDON, SATURDAY, JANUARY 15. 1859. 



shakspeabe's stbange nsH. 



To call a person, distinguished by odd ways or 

 quaint conceits, a " strange fish," is not uncommon 

 in our own days ; but it took its origin in times 

 long since past, when strange monsters in fish and 

 flesh were among the daily amusements of the 

 sight-seeing gazers of the old metropolis. 



Quaint old Henry Peacham, the " compleat 

 gentleman," has recorded the wondrous sights of 

 London in his time, each to be seen " for a penny." 

 Amongst them we have : 



" The Fleet-streete Mandrakes, that heavenly Motion of 



Eltham, 

 Westminster monuments, and Guild-hall huge Cori- 



naeus, 

 That liorne of Windsor (of an Unicorne very likely), 

 The cave of Merlin, the skirts of old Tom a Lincolne ; 

 King John's sword at Linne, ■with the cup the Frater- 



nitj' drinke in. 

 The Tombe of Beauchampe, and sword of Sir Guy a 



Warwicke : 

 Jhe great long Dutchman, and roaring Marget a Bar- 



■wicke, 

 The Mummied Princes, and Caesars wine yet i' Dover, 

 Saint James his Ginney Hens, the Cassawarway more- 

 over, 

 The Beaver i* the Parke (strange beast as er'e any man 



saw), 

 Downe-shearing willowes with teeth as sharpe as a 



hand-saw. 

 The Lance of John a Gaunt, and Brandons still i' the 



Tower : 

 The fall of Ninive, with Norwich built in an hower. 

 King Henries slip-shoes, the sword of valiant Edward; 

 The Coventry Boares-shield, and fire-workes seen but 



to bedward. 

 Drakes ship at Detford, King Richards bed-sted i' 



Lej'ster, 

 The White Hall whale-bones, the silver Bason i' 



Chester; 

 The live-caught Dog-fish, the Wolfe and Harry the 



Lyon, 

 Hunks of the Beare-garden, to be feared, if he be nigh 



on." 



Jasper Mayne, the author of that excellent old 

 comedy, The City Match, first acted before King 

 Charles I. at Whitehall, and printed in 1639, de- 

 votes an entire scene in allusion to the custom of 

 exhibiting fishes either real or imaginary. In 

 Act III. Sc. 1., Bright, Newcut, Plotwell, and 

 Roseclap, four of the characters, enter, " hanging 

 out the picture of a strange fish," when the follow- 

 ing conversation takes place: — 



" Bright. 'Fore Jove, the captain fix'd him rarely. 



" Roseclap. O Sir, 

 He is used to it : this is the fifth fish now 

 That he hath shewn thus. One got him twenty pound. 



" Newcut. How, Roseclap ? 



" Roseclap. Why, the captain kept him, Sir, 

 A whole week drunk, and shew'd him twice a-day ! 



" Newcut. It could not be like this. 



" Roseclap. Faith, I do grant 

 This is the strangest fish. Yon I have hung 

 His other picture in the fields, where some 

 Say 'tis an o'ergrown porpoise ; others say, 

 'Tis the fish caught in Cheshire ; one, to whom 

 The rest agree, said 'twas a mermaid. 



" Plotwell. 'Slight, 

 Roseclap shall have a patent of him. The birds 

 Brought from Peru, the hairy wench, the camel, 

 The elephant, dromedaries, or Windsor Castle, 

 The woman with dead flesh, or she that washes, 

 Threads needles, writes, dresses her children, plays 

 0' th virginals with her feet, could never draw 

 People like this. 



" Newcut. 0, that his father were 

 At home to see him ! 



" Plotwell. Or his mother come, 

 Who follows strange sights out of town, and went 

 To Brentford to a motion. 



" Bright. Bid the captain hasten, 

 Or he'll recover, and spoil all. 



" Roseclap. They're here ! " 



A great deal of fun then ensues upon the ex- 

 hibition of the strange fish, which is a man dressed 

 for the nonce, somewhat resembling the incident 

 in the Vida de Lazurillo de Tormes ; where a man 

 is shown for a fish against his will, and thrust 

 under water whenever he attempts to speak. 



The exhibition of strange fishes appears to have 

 been at its height in the age of Elizabeth. Shak- 

 speare,' it will be remembered, twice alludes to 

 the practice, once in The Winter's Tale (Act IV. 

 Sc. 3.), where Autolycus says : — 



" Here's another ballad of a fish, that appeared upon 

 the coast on Wednesday the fourscore of April, forty 

 thousand fathom above water, and sung this ballad 

 against the hard hearts of maids : it was thought she was 

 a woman, and was turned into a cold fish, for she would 

 not exchange flesh with one that loved her. The ballad 

 is very pitiful, and as true." 



And again, in The Tempest (Act II. Sc. 2.), 

 where Trinculo exclaims : — 



"What have we here, — a man or a fish? Dead or 

 alive? A fish ; he smells like a fish ; a very ancient and 

 fish-like smell ; a kind of (not of the newest) Poor -John ; 

 a strange fish ! Were I in England now (as once I was), 

 and had but this fish painted, not a holiday fool there but 

 would give a piece of silver: there would this monster 

 make a man; any strange beast there makes a man: 

 when they will not give a doit to relieve a lame beggar, 

 they will lay out ten to see a dead Indian." 



The commentators have endeavoured to find 

 the ballads to which Shakspeare alludes in these 

 quotations, but have entirely failed. This might 

 have been expected ; and I agree with Mr. Collier, 

 that the poet did not refer to any particular pro- 

 duction of the kind, but intended to ridicule the 

 whole class. 



The earliest broadside with which I am ac- 

 quainted upon this subject was " Imprinted by 

 Thomas Purforte, 1566." It has for its title : 

 " The description of a rare or rather most mon- 

 strous fishe taken on the East coast of Holland 

 the 17 of November, Anno 1566." (Then a wood- 



