=Page 191.=--_An age of music._ Such was the Elizabethan age. Shakespeare himself had a hearty love of music, and evidently a good knowledge of the science, as the many allusions to it in his works abundantly prove. No less than thirty-two of the plays contain interesting references to music and musical matters in the text; and there are also over three hundred stage-directions of a musical nature scattered through thirty-six of the plays. Mr. Edward W. Naylor, in his _Shakespeare and Music_ (London, 1896), says: "We find that in the 16th and 17th centuries a practical acquaintance with music was a regular part of the education of the sovereign, gentlemen of rank, and the higher middle class.... There is plenty of evidence that the lower classes were as enthusiastic about music as the higher. A large number of passages in contemporary authors show clearly that singing in parts (especially of 'catches') was a common amusement with blacksmiths, colliers, cloth-workers, cobblers, tinkers, watchmen, country-parsons, and soldiers.... If ever a country deserved to be called musical, that country was England in the 16th and 17th centuries. King and courtier, peasant and ploughman, each could 'take his part,' with each music was a part of his daily life.... In this respect, at any rate, the 'good old days' were indeed better than those we now see. Even a _public-house song_ in Elizabeth's day was a canon in three parts, a thing which could only be managed 'first time through' nowadays by the very first rank of professional singers." =Page 204.=--_Sweet hearts._ This must not be supposed to be a misprint for _Sweethearts_, which was originally two words and often used as a tender or affectionate address. _Sweetheart_ occurs in Shakespeare only in _The Winters Tale_, iv. 4. 664: "take your sweetheart's hat," etc. FOOTNOTES: [6] Richard Burbage (1567?-1619) was a noted English actor. He made his fame at the Blackfriars and the Globe, of which he was a proprietor. He excelled in tragedy, and is said to have been the original Hamlet, Lear, and Othello. He was a painter as well as an actor. When this fire occurred at the Globe Theatre, he narrowly escaped with his life. INDEX A-B-C book, 101. abracadabra, 88. absey, 102. Adam Bell, 203, 241. Adonai, 245. a-good, 236. ale-tasters, 40. Alveston, 28, 31. Ambrose, Earl of Warwick, 75, 171. amulets, 87. amusements, indoor, 67. Anne, Lady, 8. apricocks, 208, 244. archery, 142. Arden, Forest of, 222. Arden, Richard, 53. articles (in grammar), 226. Ascham, Roger, 96, 115, 143, 224. ash-tree (in charms), 89. Aubrey, John, 184, 236. Avon, the, 24. backgammon, 70. bait (in hawking), 157. ball-games, 123. Bancroft, the, 45. Barclay, Alexander, 126, 230. barley-break, 124. base-ball, 123. bat-fowling, 153. bay-leaf (as charm), 90. Baynes, Professor, 145, 231. Bear (of Warwick), 4. bear-baiting, 132.