COCK-CROW. 169 



The nights are wholesome ; then no planets strike, 

 No fairy takes, nor witch hath power to charm, 

 So hallow'd and so gracious is the time." 



Hamlet, Act i. Sc. i. 



" Hark ! hark ! I hear the strain of strutting chanticleer 

 cry cockadidle-dowe. Tempest, Act i. Sc. 2. 



Just as " cock-crow " denotes the early morning, so is 

 " cock-shut-time " or " cock-close," expressive of the even- 

 ing ; although some consider that the latter phrase owes its 

 origin to the practice of netting woodcocks at twilight, 

 that is, shutting or enclosing them in a net. 



The origin of the phrase " cock-a-hoop," which occurs 

 in Romeo and Juliet, Act i. Sc. 5, is very doubtful : the 

 passage is 



" You'll make a mutiny among my guests ! 

 You will set cock-a-hoop ! you '11 be the man !" 



Some commentators consider that this refers in some 

 way to the boastful crowing of the cock, but we do- not 

 think that Shakespeare intended any allusion here to the 

 game-fowl. We take it that the reference is to a cask of 

 ale or wine, and that the phrase "to set cock-a-hoop" means 

 to take the cock, or tap, out of the cask and set it on the 

 hoop, thus letting all the contents escape. The man who 

 would do such a reckless act, would be just the sort of 

 man to whom Shakespeare refers. 



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