INTRODUCTION 



tentionally, overlooked, and all the bad points are brought 

 into play. Newts, or Wet Efts, as they are frequently 

 called, are often accused (and of course wrongly) of being 

 poisonous, and of stinging. With the welcome dawn of 

 a new era in Nature Study we may reasonably expect to 

 find these misleading statements gradually subsiding, 

 but it is difficult to stamp them out when they have 

 become so firmly rooted, and for so long a time. 

 Personal observation and experience are the prime tests. 



That fear of Newts has existed for more years than 

 one cares to recount is proved by Shakespeare's passage 

 in " A Midsummer Night's Dream," thus : — 



" Newts and Blind worms do no wrong. 

 Come not near our fairy Queen." 



They certainly would not do any wrong because they 

 cannot ! The Fairy Queen seems doomed to close 

 association with these " dreadful creatures," for Edmund 

 Spenser has more than a sly dig at them when he says : 



" These marishes and myrie bogs 

 In which the fearfuU Ewftes do build their bowres." 



Needless to add, Newts need not be regarded as " fear- 

 full," and they do not build " bowres." Spencer's use 

 of the word " Ewftes " serves, however, a useful purpose 



as it shows how our modern word " Newt " has become 



37 



