ITS FIVE WITS. 95 
“Parsone’s Tale,” says :—‘‘Certes delites been after the 
, 
appetites of the ‘five wittes ;’ as sight, hereing, smelling, 
savouring, and touching.” But it is not clear how this 
proverbial phrase became connected with the owl, nor 
what is the origin of “warming” the wits. 
“ Petruchio. Am I not wzse? 
Katharine. Yes, keep you warm.” 
Taming of the Shrew, Act ii. Sc. 1. 
“If he have zwzt enough to keep himself zwarm.” 
Much Ado, Act i. Se. I. 
“Bless thy five wits.” 
King Lear, Act iii. Se. 4, and Act iii. Sc. 6. 
The allusion above made to Tennyson’s well-known 
poem, reminds us of the quaint and characteristic song in 
the last scene of Love's Labour's Lost :-— 
IIT. 
“When icicles hang by the wall, 
And Dick the shepherd blows his nail, 
And Tom bears logs into the hall, 
And milk comes frozen home in pail ; 
When blood is nipp’d, and ways be foul, 
Then nightly sings the staring owl, 
To-who ; 
Tu-whit, to-who, a merry note, 
While greasy Joan doth keel the pot. 
