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. 1. 



" 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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