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. 
J u st 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 ’ll 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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