68 
THE COCK. 
noticed by Shakespeare. In the prologue to the fourth 
act of King Henry V.— 
“ The country cocks do crow, the clocks do toll, 
And the third hour of drowsy morning name.” 
Steevens has shown that the popular notion of a phantom 
disappearing at cock-crow is of very ancient date. The 
conversation of Bernardo, Horatio, and Marcellus, on the 
subject of Hamlet’s ghost, affords a good illustration of 
this :— 
“Bern. It was about to speak, when the cock crew ! 
Hot. And then it started like a guilty thing 
Upon a fearful summons. I have heard, 
The cock, that is the trumpet to the morn, 
Doth with his lofty and shrill-sounding throat 
Awake the god of day ; and, at his warning, 
Whether in sea or fire, in earth or air, 
The extravagant * and erring spirit hies 
To his confine : and of the truth herein, 
This present object made probation. 
Mar. It faded on the crowing of the cock. 
Some say that ever ’gainst that season comes 
Wherein our Saviour’s birth is celebrated, , 
The bird of dawning singeth all night long : 
And then, they say, no spirit dare stir abroad ; 
* Note here the use of the word “extravagant ’ in its primary signification, 
implying, of the ghost, its wandering beyond its proper sphere. 
