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Folk-lore of Shakespeare, by T.F. Thiselton Dyer, [1883], at sacred-texts.com
From a very early period, rings and precious stones have held a prominent place in the traditionary lore, customs, and superstitions of most nations. Thus rings have been supposed "to protect from evil fascinations of every kind, against the evil eye, the influence of demons, and dangers of every possible character; though it was not simply in the rings themselves that the supposed virtues existed, but in the materials of which they were composed,—in some particular precious stone that was set in them as charms or talismans, in some device or inscription on the stone, or some magical letters engraved on the circumference of the ring." 1 Rings, too, in days gone by, had a symbolical importance. Thus, it was anciently the custom for every monarch to have a ring, the temporary possession of which invested the holder with the same authority as the owner himself could exercise. Thus, in "Henry VIII.," (v. 1), we have the king's ring given to Cranmer, and presented by him (sc. 2), as a security against the machinations of Gardiner and others of the Council, who were plotting to destroy him. Thus the King says,—
This custom, too, was not confined to royalty, for in "King Richard II.," (ii. 2), the Duke of York gives this order to his servant,—
There is an interesting relic of the same custom still kept up at Winchester College. 1 When the captain of the school petitions the head-master for a holiday, and obtains it, he receives from him a ring, in token of the indulgence granted, which he wears during the holiday, and returns to the headmaster when it is over. The inscription upon the ring was formerly "Potentiam fero, geroque." It is now "Commendat rarior usus," (Juvenal, Sat. xi. 208).
Token Rings date from very early times. Edward the First in 1297 presented Margaret, his fourth daughter, with a golden pyx, in which he deposited a ring, as a token of his unfailing love.
When Richard III. (i. 2), brings his hasty wooing to a conclusion, he gives the Lady Anne a ring, saying,—
In "Cymbeline," (i. 1), Imogen gives Posthumus a ring when they part, and he presents her with a bracelet in exchange,—
Yet he afterwards gives it up to Iachimo (ii. 4)—upon a false representation—to test his wife's honour,—
The exchange of rings, a solemn mode of private contract between lovers, we have already referred to in the chapter on Marriage,—a practice alluded to in the "Two Gentlemen of Verona" (ii. 2) where Julia gives Proteus a ring, saying—"Keep this remembrance for thy Julia's sake"; and he replies, "Why, then we'll make exchange: here, take you this."
Death's-head rings.—Rings engraved with skulls and skeletons were not necessarily mourning rings, but were also worn by persons who affected gravity; and, curious to say, by the procuresses of Elizabeth's time. Biron, in "Love's Labour's Lost" (v. 2), refers to "a death's face in a ring;" and we may quote Falstaff's words in "2 Henry IV." (ii. 4)—"Peace, good Doll! do not speak like a death's head; do not bid me remember mine end." We may compare the following, "The Chances" (i. 5), by Beaumont and Fletcher:—
According to Mr Fairholt, "the skull and skeleton decorations for rings first came into favour and fashion at the obsequious Court of France, when Diana, of Poictiers, became the mistress of Henry the Second. At that time she was a widow, and in mourning, so black and white became fashionable colours; jewels were formed like funeral memorials; golden ornaments shaped like coffins, holding enamelled skeletons, hung from the neck; watches, made to fit in little silver skulls were attached to the waists of the denizens of a court that alternately indulged in profanity or piety, but who mourned show." 1
Posy-rings were formerly much used—it having been customary to inscribe a motto or "posy" within the hoop of the betrothal ring. 2* Thus in the "Merchant of Venice" (v. 1), Gratiano, when asked by Portia the reason of his quarrel with Nerissa, answers—
In "As You Like It" (iii. 2), Jaques tells Orlando "you are full of pretty answers. Have you not been acquainted with goldsmiths’ wives, and conned them out of rings?"
Again, Hamlet (iii. 2), asks
[paragraph continues] Many of our old writers allude to the "posy-rings." Thus Herrick in his "Hesperides," says:—
Henry VIII. gave Anne of Cleves a ring with the following posy—"God send me well to kepe," a most unpropitious alliance, as the king expressed his dislike to her soon after the marriage.
Thumb-rings.—These were generally broad gold rings worn on the thumb by important personages. Thus Falstaff ("1 Henry IV." ii. 4), bragged that in his earlier years he had been so slender in figure as to "creep into an alderman's thumb-ring;" and a ring thus worn—probably as more conspicuous—appears to have been considered as appropriate to the customary attire of a civic dignitary at a much later period. A character in the Lord Mayor Show in 1664 is described as 'habited like a grave citizen—gold girdle and gloves hung thereon, rings on his fingers, and a seal ring on his thumb.'" 1 Chaucer in his "Squire's Tale," says of the rider of the brazen horse who advanced into the hall, Cambuscan, that "upon his thumb he had of gold a ring." In "Romeo and Juliet" (i. 4), Mercutio speaks of the—
It has been suggested that Shakespeare in the following passage alludes to the annual celebration at Venice of the wedding of the Doge with the Adriatic, when he makes Othello say (i. 2):—
This custom, it is said, was instituted by Pope Alexander III., who gave the doge a gold ring from his own finger in token of the victory by the Venetian fleet at Istria over Frederick Barbarossa, in defence of the Pope's quarrel. When his holiness gave the ring, he desired the doge to throw a similar
ring into the sea every year on Ascension Day, in commemoration of the event.
Agate.—This stone was frequently cut to represent the human form, and was occasionally worn in the hat by gallants. In "2 Henry IV." (i. 2), Falstaff says, "I was never manned with an agate till now," meaning, according to Johnson, "had an agate for my man;" was waited on by an agate.
Carbuncle.—The supernatural lustre of this gem 1 is supposed to be described in "Titus Andronicus" (ii. 3), where, speaking of the ring on the finger of Bassianus, Martius says—
In Drayton's "Muses’ Elysium" ("Nymphal," ix.), it is thus eulogised—
Milton, speaking of the cobra, says—
John Norton, 2 an alchemist in the reign of Edward IV., wrote a poem entitled the "Ordinal," or a manual of the chemical art. One of his projects, we are told, was a bridge of gold over the Thames, crowned with pinnacles of gold, which, being studded with carbuncles, would diffuse a blaze of light in the dark. Amongst the other references to it given by Shakespeare may be mentioned one in "Henry VIII." (ii. 3), where the Princess Elizabeth is spoken of as—
And Hamlet (ii. 2) uses the phrase, "With eyes like carbuncles."
Chrysolite.—This stone was supposed to possess peculiar virtues, and, according to Simon Maiolus, in his "Dierum Caniculares" (1615–19), Thetel the Jew, who wrote a book, "De Sculpturiis," mentions one naturally in the form of a woman, which was potent against fascination of all kinds. Othello (v. 2) thus alludes to this stone in reference to his wife—
Pearls.—The eastern custom of powdering sovereigns at their coronation with gold dust and seed pearl is alluded to in "Antony and Cleopatra" 1 (ii. 5)—
So Milton ("Paradise Lost," ii. 4):—
Again, to swallow a pearl in a draught seems to have been common to royal and mercantile prodigality. In "Hamlet" (v. 2), the King says—
Further on Hamlet himself asks, tauntingly—
Malone, as an illustration of this custom, quotes from the second part of Heywood's "If You Know Not Me You Know Nobody"—
In former times, powdered pearls were considered invaluable for stomach complaints; and Rondeletius tells us that they were supposed to possess an exhilarating quality—"Uniones quæ a conchis, et valde cordiales sunt."
Much mystery was in bygone days thought to hang over the origin of pearls, and according to the poetic Orientals, 1 "Every year, on the sixteenth day of the month Nisan, the pearl oysters rise to the sea and open their shells, in order to receive the rain which falls at that time, and the drops thus caught become pearls." Thus, in "Richard III." (iv. 4), the king says:—
Moore, in one of his melodies, notices this pretty notion—
Turquoise.—This stone was probably more esteemed for its secret virtues than from any commercial value; the turquoise, turkise, or turkey-stone, having from a remote period, been supposed to possess talismanic properties. Thus, in the "Merchant of Venice" (iii. 1), Shylock says:—"It was my turquoise; I had it of Leah when I was a bachelor: I would not have given it for a wilderness of monkeys." Mr Dyce 2 says that Shylock valued his torquoise, "not only as being the gift of Leah, but on account of the imaginary virtues ascribed to it; which was supposed to become pale or to brighten according as the health of the wearer was bad or good." Thus, Ben Jonson in "Sejanus" (i. 1), alludes to its wonderful properties—
Fenton, in his "Certain Secret Wonders of Nature" (1569), thus describes it:—"The turkeys doth move when there is any
evil prepared to him that weareth it." There were numerous other magical properties ascribed to the turquoise. Thus, it was supposed to lose its colour entirely at the death of its owner, but to recover it when placed upon the finger of a new and healthy possessor. It was also said that whoever wore a turquoise, so that either it or its setting touched the skin, might fall from any height; the stone attracting to itself the whole force of the blow. With the Germans, the turquoise is still the gem appropriated to the ring, the "gage d’amour," presented by the lover on the acceptance of his suit, the permanence of its colour being believed to depend upon the constancy of his affection. 1
362:1 Jones's "Finger-Ring Lore," 1877, p. 91.
363:1 Wordsworth's "Shakespeare and the Bible," 1880, p. 283.
364:1 See Jones's "Finger Ring Lore," 1877, p. 372.
364:2 Ibid, pp. 390–418; see "Notes and Queries."
365:1 See Jones's "Finger Ring Lore," 1877, p. 88.
366:1 See Sir Thomas Browne's "Vulgar Errors."
366:2 Jones’ "Precious Stones," 1880, p. 62.
367:1 See Singer's "Shakespeare," x. p. 213.
367:2 An union is a precious pearl, remarkable for its size.
368:1 See Jones's "History and Mystery of Precious Stones," p. 116.
368:2 "Glossary," p. 465.
369:1 See C. W. King on "Precious Stones." 1867, p. 267.