"You demi-puppets that By moonshine do the green sour ringlets make Whereof the ewe not bites." Dr. Grey, in his _Notes on Shakespeare_, says that they are "higher, sourer, and of a deeper green than the grass which grows round them." They were long a mystery even to scientific men, but are now known to be due to the spreading of a kind of _agaricum_, or fungus, which enriches the ground by its decay. _Who tasted the honey-bag of the bee, etc._ All these allusions to the fairies are suggested by passages in _A Midsummer-Night's Dream_. The _cankers_ are canker-worms, as often in Shakespeare. =Page 79.=--_A laund._ An open space in a forest. See _3 Henry VI._ iii. 1. 2: "For through this laund anon the deer will come," etc. _Lawn_ is a corruption of _laund_. =Page 80.=--_Who had command over the spirits, etc._ Like Prospero in _The Tempest_. _Vervain and dill._ These were among the plants supposed to be used by witches in their charms; but many such plants were also believed to be efficacious as counter-charms, or means of protection against witchcraft. _Vervain_ was called "the enchanter's plant," on account of its magic potency; but Aubrey says that it "hinders witches from their wills," and Drayton refers to it as "'gainst witchcraft much availing." =Page 81.=--The ancient font represented in the cut was in use in the Stratford Church until about the middle of the 17th century. Shakespeare was doubtless baptized at it. =Page 82.=--_John Stow._ A noted English antiquarian and historian (1525-1604). His _Survey of London_ (1598) is the standard authority on old London. =Page 83.=--_The calendars of their nativity._ Referring to the twin Dromios, who were born at the same time with the twin children of the Abbess, who is really Emilia, the long-lost wife of Egeus. By a similar figure Antipholus of Syracuse (i. 2. 41) says of Dromio, "Here comes the almanac of my true date." _Caraways._ See on page 62 above. _Marmalet_ is an obsolete form of _marmalade_. _Marchpane_ was a kind of almond-cake, much esteemed in the time of Shakespeare. Compare _Romeo and Juliet_, i. 5. 9: "Good thou, save me a piece of marchpane." _Sweet-suckers_ are dried sweetmeats or sugar-plums, also called _suckets_, _succades_, etc. =Page 85.=--_Wote._ Know; more commonly written _wot_. It is the first and third persons singular, indicative present, of the obsolete verb _wit_. _Unweeting_ (_unwitting_), unknowing or unconscious, is from the same verb. =Page 86.=--_Thomas Lupton._ He wrote several books besides his _Thousand Notable Things_, which was a collection of medical recipes, stories, etc. Little is known of his personal history. _Robert Heron._ He was a Scotchman (1764-1807), who wrote books of travel, geography, history, etc. _Warlocks._ Persons supposed to be in league with the devil; sorcerers or wizards.