2784 good dild you] Gildon (1710, p.lxx): “God-eyl’us] God defend or do us good.”

2786 table] Thirlby (1723-): “fsql chapel.”

2784 good dild you] Theobald (ed. 1733) substitutes God dil’d you! and explains: “i.e. Heaven reward you. We meet with this Expression a little otherwise writ in Mac. .[1.6.12-14 (447-449)] ‘—Herein I teach you How you should bid God-eyld us for our Pains, And thank us for your Trouble.’

“But, in Ant. [4.2.33 (2452), we have the phrase in plain and genuine English. ‘Tend me to night two hour’s, I ask no more, And the Gods yield you for’t!’

“So, Sir John Grey in a Letter, in Ashmole’s Appendix to his Account of the Garter, Numb. 46. The King of his gracious Lordshipe, God yeld him, hafs chosen me to be owne of his Brethrene of the Knyghts of the Gartier.”

2784 good dild you] Thirlby (1733-) [comments on Theobald’s n. 59]: “in my Quotation at v. 404.12 (where I suppose he had this [owne]) it is onne.”

2784 good dild you] Hanmer (ed. 1745, glossary): “Godild you! God shield you!”

2784-5 the Owle . . . daughter] Warburton (ed. 1747): “This was a metamorphosis of the common people, arising from the mealy appearance of the owl’s feathers, and her guarding the bread from mice.”

2784-5 the Owle . . . daughter] Grey (1752, pp. 29-30): “Upon which you [W. Warburton] observe,‘That this was a Metamorphosis of the common People, arising from the mealy Appearance of the Owls Feathers, and her guarding the Bread from Mice.’ You mean guarding the Corn in the barns, Owls being of great Use in such Places, but not in Baker’s Shops, as every Farmer and Baker in the Kingdom could have informed you.’ This is confirmed by Ben Johnson, Every Man in his Humour. 2.2. p.20. ‘—S’deines, I’ll fit in a Barn with Madge Howlet, and catch Mice first—’

“If these few Remarks may be of Use to you in a future Impression, you may command many more of the like kind.”

2784-5 the Owle . . . daughter] Capell (1774, 1:1:143): “The last editor has a comment that is not much amiss: ‘This, says he, was a metamorphosis of the common people; arising from the mealy appearance of the owl’s feathers, and her guarding the bread from mice.’”

2784 good dild you] Capell (1774, 1:1: glossary, God ild you): “God yield you, i.e. reward you, yield Reward to you.”

2784-5 the Owle . . . daughter] Steevens (ed. 1778): “To guard the bread from mice, is rather the office of a cat than an owl. In barns and granaries, indeed, the services of the owl are still acknowledged. This was, however, no metamorphosis of the common people, but a legendary story, which both Dr. Johnson and myself have read, yet in what book at least I cannot recollect.—Our saviour being refused by the daughter of a baker, is described as punishing her by turning her into an owl. Steevens.”

2784-5 Owle . . . daughter] Ayscouth (ed. 1784): “This alludes to a legendary story, where our Saviour being refused bread by the daughter of a baker, is described as punishing her by turning her into an owl.”

2784 good dild] Theobald (apud Malone in ed. 1790): “i.e. Heaven reward you! So, in Ant. [2.2.33. (2452)]: ‘Tend me to-night two hours, I ask no more, And the Gods yield you for’t!’

“So Sir John Grey, in a letter in Ashmole’s Appendix to his Account of the Garter, Numb. 46: ‘The king of his gracious lordship, God yeld him, hase chosen me to be owne of his brethrene of the knyghts of the garter.’ Theobald.”

2784 good dild] Malone (ed. 1790): “See Vol. IV. p. 302, n. 9. Malone.”

2784 dild you] Rann (ed. 1791-): “yield, reward you; shield, preserve you.”

2784-5 the Owle . . . daughter] Rann (ed. 1791-): “from its mealy look—A baker’s daughter is somewhere said to have suffered this change for refusing bread to our Saviour.”

2784-5 the Owle . . . daughter] Douce (apud Steevens in ed. 1793): “This is a common story among the vulgar in Gloucestershire, and is thus related: ‘Our Saviour went into a baker’s shop where they were baking, and asked for some bread to eat. The mistress of the shop immediately put a piece of dough into the oven to bake for him; but was reprimanded by her daughter, who insisting that the piece of dough was too large, reduced it to a very small size. The dough, however, immediately afterwards began to swell, and presently became of a most enormous size. Whereupon, the baker’s daughter cried out ‘Heugh, heugh, heugh,’ which owl-like noise probably induced our Saviour for her wickedness to transform her into that bird.’ This story is often related to children, in order to deter them from such illiberal behaviour to poor people. Douce.”

2784 good dild you] Caldecott (ed. 1819): “Requite; yield you recompense. See AYL [3.3.74-5 (1681-2)] Touchst.” and Conceit . . . father [2787]: “Fancies respecting. See [3.4.114 (2494)]. Ghost. ‘Conceit in weakest minds.’”

2784-5 the Owle . . . daughter] Douce (apud ed. 1819): “There can be little doubt but that the proverb used was founded upon some legendary tale, or popular story; but to point it, or give it any aim here, is not very practicable. The plumage of this melancholy bird, and the colour of the baker, in correspondence with that of her father’s ‘white shroud,’ and probably her own habit, are coincidences, which, shooting across, and huddled together in the quick transitions of a bewildered and feeling mind, might have suggested this singular allusion, the effect of which, though we know not how or why, is piteous and interesting; while it produces ‘nothing sure,’ but a sad memorial of an ‘unhappy’ daughter.”

2784-5 the Owle . . . daughter] Nares (1822: glossary, The Owl was a Baker’s daughter): “A legendary tale respecting a baker’s daughter transformed into an owl, is alluded to in the following passage [Hamlet lines cited]. The tale which Steevens and Johnson imperfectly recollected, has been recovered by Mr. Douce; and the substance of it is, that a baker’s daughter, who refused bread to our Saviour, was by him transformed into an owl, as a punishment for her impiety.”

2784 good dild you] Knight (ed. [1839] nd): “God requite you.”

2784 good dild you] Collier (ed. 1843): “i.e. God yield or reward you. See Vol. iii. pp. 62 and 94.”

2784 good dild you] Verplanck (ed. 1847): “for God yield you, reward you.”

2784-5 they . . . daughter] Verplanck (ed. 1847): “This transformation is said to be a common tradition in Gloucestershire. It is thus related by Mr. Douce: ‘Our Saviour went into a baker’s shop where they were baking, and asked for some bread to eat: the mistress of the shop immediately put a piece of dough in the oven to bake for him; but was reprimanded by her daughter, who, insisting that the piece of dough was too large, reduced it to a very small size: the dough, however, immediately began to swell, and presently became of a most enormous size; whereupon the baker’s daughter cried out, ‘Heugh, heugh, heugh,’ which owl-like noise probably induced our Saviour to transform her into that bird, for her wickedness.’ The story is related to deter children from illiberal behaviour to the poor.”

2784-6 they say . . . be] Hunter (1845, 2:258): “The owl is also said to have been a king’s daughter, a transformation which would give higher effect to the little scrap of moralizing which follows. She was changed as the consequence and punishment of pride. ‘I, a King’s daughter, see what Pride may do, In fatal yew take up my forlorn seat; The cause whereof was this if you would know, I would have better bread than grew on wheat: Though now a mouse be all the food I eat, And glad I am when I can feed of it.’ Thus the owl goes on complaining through seven stanzas written by Richard Braithwaite, the author of Drunken Barnaby’s Journey, and of many other tracts, printed in his Nature’s Embassy; or the Wild Man’s Measure, 1621.”

2784 good dild] Delius (ed. 1854): “God ‘ield] d. h. God yield you = Gott lohn’s Euch.” [“God yield you” means may God reward you for it.”]

2784-5 Owle . . . daughter] Delius (ed. 1854): “Ihr schwebt die Legende vor, dass die Tochter eines Bäckers, welche dem Heilande ein Brod missgönnt hatte, zur Strafe ihrer Hartherzigkeit in eine Eule verwandelt wurde. Die Ideenverbindung mit dem Folgenden wird durch die Betrachtung solches Wechsels vermittelt.” [She is thinking of the legend of the baker’s daughter who begrudged the savior a loaf of bread and for punishment of her hardheartedness was changed into an owl. The association of ideas with what follows is made possible by considering such a transformation.]

2784 good dild] Hudson (ed. 1851-6): “God ‘ield] That is, God yield, or reward you.”

2784-5 Owle . . . daughter Hudson(ed. 1851-6): “This is said to be a common tradition in Gloucestershire. Mr. Douce relates it thus: ‘Our Saviour went into a baker’s shop where they were baking, and asked for some bread to eat. The mistress of the shop immediately put a piece of dough in the oven to bake for him; but was reprimanded by her daughter, who, insisting that the piece of dough was too large, reduced it to a very small size. The dough, however, immediately began to swell, and presently became of a most enormous size. Whereupon the baker’s daughter cried out, ‘Heugh, heugh, heugh’, which owl-like noise probably induced our Saviour to transform her into that bird for her wickedness.’ The story is told to deter children from illiberal behaviour to the poor.”

2784 good dild you] Fiebig (ed. 1857): “God ‘ield you, i.e. God yield you: Heaven reward you. So, in Ant. [2.2.33. (2452)] ‘Tend me to-night two hours, Jack, no more,/And the gods yield you for’t.’”

2784-5 Owle . . . daughter] Fiebig (ed. 1857): “This is a legendary story common among the vulgar in Gloucestershire, and thus related by Douce: our Saviour went into a baker’s shop where they were baking, and asked for some bread to eat. The mistress of the shop immediately put a piece of dough into the oven to bake for him; but was reprimanded by her daughter, who insisting that the piece of dough was too large, reduced it to a very small size. The dough, however, immediately afterwards began to swell, and presently became of a most enormous size. Whereupon, the baker’s daughter cried out ‘Heugh, heugh, heugh,’ which owl-like noise probably induced our Saviour for her wickedness to transform her into that bird.’ This story is often related to children, in order to deter them from such illiberal behaviour to poor people.”

2784 good dild you] Collier (ed. 1858): “i.e. God yield or reward you. See Vol. iii. pp. 400 and 428, and this Vol. p. 399.”

2784-5 Owle . . . daughter] Staunton (ed. 1860): “This alludes to a tradition still current in some parts of England,: ‘Our Saviour went into a baker’s shop where they were baking, and asked for some bread to eat. The mistress of the shop immediately put a piece of dough into the oven to bake for him; but was reprimanded by her daughter, who, insisting that the piece of dough was too large, reduced it to a very small size. Whereupon the baker’s daughter cried out, ‘Heugh, heugh, heugh,’ which owl-like noise probably induced our Saviour, for her wickedness, to transform her into that bird.’”

2784-5 Owle . . . daughter] White (ed. 1861): “There is a story told in Gloucester, according to Douce, that Christ, being churlishly treated by the daughter of a baker of whom he asked bread, turned her into an owl.”

2784-6 Kellogg (1864, p. 13): “Nothing could be more natural than the complete incoherence of [Ophelia’s] reply to the greeting of the king: [quotes passage].

“How perfectly natural is the above incoherence to such as are afflicted with this form of disease, those best acquainted with insanity, can bear ample testimony.*

<n><p.13> “*This day, the following words were noted down, verbatim et literatim, by the writer, as they fell from the lips of one whose case has many points of resemblance to that of Ophelia: Phy.—Good morning; how do you? Patient.—Very well, thank you. My cow has jumped into the Lord’s pasture. I am driven about from pillar to post. They mean to kill me; wonder how my brians will taste. In reply to the salutation of another person, and inquiry as to her welfare, she said: ‘I’ve a pain in my side; some one must have kill a cat; isn’t there one dead in the garret?’” </p.13></n>

2784-5 Owle . . . daughter] Halliwell (ed. 1865): “There is an allusion to a popular legend, which has been preserved by tradition. A version of it formerly current in Herfordshire is thus related in a periodical of the year 1804,—A certain fairy, disguised as an old distressed woman, went to a baker’s shop, and begged some dough of his daughter, of whom she obtained a very small piece. This she farther requested leave to bake in the oven; where it swelling to the size of a large loaf, the baker’s daughter refused to let her have it. She, however, gave the pretended beggar another piece of dough, but still smaller than the first: this swelled in the oven even more than the other, and was in like manner retained. A third and still smaller piece of dough came out of the oven the largest of all, and shared the same fate. The disguised fairy, convinced of the woman’s covetousness by this repeated experiment, no longer restrained her indignation; she resumed her proper form, and struck the culprit with her wand, who immediately flew out of the window in the shape of an owl.’

“Another version is told by Douce as current in Gloucestershire,—’Our Savour went into a baker’s shop where they were baking, and asked some bread to eat. The mistress of the shop immediately put a piece of dough into the oven to bake for him; but was reprimanded by her daughter, who, insisting that the piece of dough was too large, reduced it to a very small size. The dough, however, immediately afterwards began to swell, and presently became of a most enormous size. Whereupon the baker’s daugher cried out, ‘Heugh, heugh, heugh!’—which owl-like noise probably induced Our Saviour for her wickedness to tranform her into that bird. This story is often related to children to deter them from such illiberal behaviour to poor people.’ The same story appears to be alluded to in Fletcher’s Nice Valour, iii. 3, ed. Dyce, p. 334,—‘Fair mischiefs! give me a nest of owls, and take ‘em! Happy is he, say I, whose window opens To a brown baker’s chimney! he shall be sure there To hear the bird sometimes after twilight.

“In the inventory of the goods at Kenilworth Castle, taken in 1588, mention is made of ‘the picture of the Baker’s Daughter.’ I have very little doubt but that a story of the baker’s daughter was a popular one in Warwickshire in the time of Shakespeare. I am told that there is in existence an old ballad entitled, ‘A Ballad of a Dolefull White Owlett that was begotton of a merrie Baker of Olde Coventrie,’ but I have not succeeded in obtaining a sight of it, or proofs of its genuineness.”

2784 good dild you] Keightley (ed. 1866, glossary): “God’ild you] God yield you, or reward you.”

2784-5 Owle . . . daughter] Keightley (1867, Index): “Douce says this is a common tradition in Gloucestershire. ‘Our Saviour went into a baker’s shop, where they were baking, and asked for some bread to eat. The mistress of the shop immedately put a piece of dough in the oven, to bake for him; but was reprimanded by her daughter, who, insisting that the piece of dough was too large, reduced it to a very small size. The dough, however, immediately began to swell, and presently became of a most enormous size; whereupon the baker’s daughter cried out, Heugh, heugh, heugh! which owl-like noise probably induced our Saviour to transform her into that bird for her wickedness.’”

2784-5 they . . . daughter] Tschischwitz (ed. 1869): “Deutsche und englische Sage berühren sich hier. Mannhardt berichtet vom Schwarzspecht, was hier von der Eule gilt. Als unser Herrgott mit Petrus auf der Erde wandelte, kamen sie zu einer Frau, welche sass und buk; sie hiess Gertrud, und trug eine grosse Haube auf dem Kopfe. Müde und hungrig von dem langen Wege, bat sie unser Hergott um ein Stück Kuchen. Ja, das sollte er haben, sagte sie, und knetete es aus; aber da ward es so gross, dass es den ganzen Backtrog ausfüllte. Nein, das war allzugross, das konnte er nicht bekommen. Sie nahm nun ein kleineres Stück; aber auch diesmal ward es wieder so gross. “Ja, so kann ich euch nichts geben,” sagte Gertrud, “es wird ja immer zu gross. Ihr müsst ohne Mundschmack wieder fortgehn.” Da ereiferte sich der Herr Christus und sprach: “Weil du ein schlechtes Herz hast und mir nicht einmal ein Stückchen Brod gönnst, so sollst du dafür in einen Vogel verwandelt werden, und deine Nahrung zwischen Holz und Rinde suchen, und nicht öfter zu trinken sollst du haben, als wenn es regnet.” Das norwegische Märchen vom Gertrudsvogel findet sich auf den Kuckuk übertragen, und Douce berichtet von einer Legende ähnlichen Inhalts, die sich bis heut in Gloucestershire erhalten hat. Der Heiland bat einst eine Bäckerfrau um Brod. Die bäckerfrau schob bereitwillig ein Stück Teig in den Ofen, um es für ihn zu backen. Ihre missgünstige Tochter fand es jedoch zu gross und nahm das meiste davon ab. Der Teig aber fing plötzlich an zu schwellen, und wuchs zu einer riesigen Grösse an, worüber die Tochter in laute Verwunderung ausbrach, und so eulenähnlich: heugh, heugh, heugh rief, dass sie der Heiland wirklich in eine E u l e verwandelte. S. m. Shaksp.-Forsch. II. p. 30 u. 31. S. Drake I. 326.” [German and English sagas connect here. Mannhardt tells of a woodpecker what is here told of an owl. As our Lord God walked with Peter on the earth, they came to a woman who was sitting and baking. Her name was Gertrud and she wore a great hood on her head. Tired and hungry from the long journey, the Lord asked her for a piece of cake. Yes, he could have it, she said, and kneaded is out; but then it became so large that it filled the whole kneading-trough. No, that was much too big, he couldn’t have that. So she took now a smaller piece, but again this time it became that big again. Well, this way I can’t give you anything, said Gertrud, it always gets too big. You will have to continue on your way without a taste. Then the Lord Christ became angry and said: Because you have a bad heart and grudge me even a morsel of bread, you will be changed into a bird and look for your food between wood and bark, and you will not have anything to drink oftener than when it rains. The Norwegian story of the Gertrud bird is carried over to the cuckoo, and Douce tells of a legend of similar content that has been preserved till today in Gloucestershire. The Savior once asked a baker woman for bread. The woman willingly put a piece of dough in the oven, but her jealous daughter found it too big and took most of it away. The dough, however, began to swell and grew to a gigantic size, causing the daughter to break out in loud amazement and cry like an owl, whoo, whoo, whoo! So the Savior turned her actually into an owl. See my Shaks.-Forsch. II. p. 30 and 31. See Drake I. 326.]

2784 good dild you] Moberly (ed. 1870): God ’ild ye] “Yield, reward you.”

2784-5 Owle . . . daughter] Moberly (ed. 1870): “She means that some terrible change has come upon her, she knows not what; as it did upon the baker’s daughter who was turned by our Saviour to an owl, for grudging the dough that her mother was baking for him.”

2784-5 Owle . . . daughter] Hudson (ed. 1872): “There was a tradition that the Saviour went into a baker’s shop and asked for some bread. The baker put some dough in the oven to bake for Him, and was rebuked by his daughter for doing so. For this wickedness the daughter was transformed into an owl. See page 92, note 8.”

2784 good dild you] Clark and Wright (ed. 1872): “God yield you, God reward you. . . . See AYL [3.3.74-5 (1681-2)]: ‘God ‘ild you for your last company.’ And Ant. [2.2.33. (2452)]: ‘the god yield you for ‘t.’”

2784-5 Owle . . . daughter] Clark and Wright (ed. 1872): “Douce relates a story told by the common people in Gloucestershire, how that our Saviour, asking for bread, was churlishly received by a baker’s daughter, whom in punishment he transformed into an owl. The words of Ophelia which follow are also suggested by her recollection of this story.”

2784 good dild you] Furness (ed. 1877): “‘God reward you.’ See Mac. [1.6.13 (448)].”

2784-5 Owle . . . daughter] (ed. 1877): “Douce: This is a common story among the vulgar in Gloucestershire, and is thus related: ‘Our Saviour went into a baker’s shop where they were baking, and asked for some bread to eat. The mistress of the shop immediately put a piece of dough into the oven to bake for him; but was reprimanded by her daughter, who, insisting that the piece of dough was too large, reduced it to a very small size. The dough, however, immediately afterwards began to swell, and presently became of a most enormous size. Whereupon, the baker’s daughter cried out ‘Heugh, heugh, heugh,’ which owl-like noise probably induced our Saviour for her wickedness to transform her into that bird.’ This story is often related to children, in order to deter them from such illiberal behaviour to poor people. Caldecott: The plumage of this melancholy bird, and the colour of the baker, in correspondence with that of her father’s ‘white shroud,’ and probably her own habit, may have suggested, to a bewildered mind, this singular allusion, Elze: As little did the baker’s daughter expect to be turned into an owl as it occurred to my father and myself to anticipate the kind of death we should die. Doering (p. 79): Oph. feels that she has acted towards Ham. in an equally heartless manner.”

2784 they say the Owle] Neil (ed. 1877): “In Miss C. M. Yonge’s History of Christian Names, Gertrude, the Queen’s name, is rendered ‘the spear maiden;’ and while illustrating this etymology, the authoress furnishes us with the following Norwegian legend, to which in all likelihood Ophelia, led by the cross association of madness, refers. In Norway the woodpecker is called the jartrudfugle, or Gertrude-bird. A maiden of this name, Gertrude, ‘was baking when our Lord passed by, and asked her for a morsel. On her promising it, the dough began to grow beneath her hands, but an access of covetousness made her repent and refuse her gift, whereupon she was transformed into this bird and condemned to seek her living between the bark and the wood’ – vol. II, p. 325. The lurid flash of suggestion issues from the Queen’s name, the owl is probably only an ideal metamorphosis arising from Ophelia’s madness, though the story may have been altered in the course of transmission from Scandinavia to England.”

2784 good dild you,] Rolfe (ed. 1878): “God yield or reward you. See Mac. [1.6.13 (448)], or AYL [3.3.86-7 (1692-3)].”

2784 the Owle] Rolfe (ed. 1878): “According to Douce, there is a story current in Gloucestershire that our Saviour went into a baker’s shop to ask for bread. The mistress of the shop would have given him all he wanted, but was reprimanded by her daughter, who for her lack of clarity was transformed into an owl.”

2784-5 Owle . . . daughter] Elze (ed. 1882): “J. Grimm, Deutsche Rechtsalterthümer (Göttingen, 1828), Vorrede, p XIV, says: ‘Der indische rechtsglaube kannte mythische strafen durch seelenwanderung, hauptsächlich für bestimmte arten des diebstals; der thäter wurde in ein gewisses thier verwandelt, dessen namen, gestalt oder stimme meistentheils auf den gestolnen gegenstand anspielt. Nach dem Manu wird zur eidechse (godhâ) verdammt wer eine kuh (go), zum vogel (vaka) were feuer (pavaka) entwendet. Merkwürdig ist nun, dass auch das deutsche volk solche sagen fortgepflanzt hat, der kukuk soll ein verwünschter beckersknecht sein, der den armen leuten teig stal; ähnliche verwandlungen erzählt man von kibiz, eule, wiedegopf; they say, the owl was a baker’s daughter, Haml. IV, 4. Dies crinnert an die griech. mythen von Tereus, Philomela und Procne, auch an die s. 546 berührte strafe der verwandlung in irwische für grenzsteinfrevler.’ According to Charles G. Leland (The English Gipsies and their Language, 2d Ed., London, 1874, p.16) even the Gipsies, ‘are all familiar with the monkish legend which declares that Jesus, in a baker’s shop, once asked for bread. The mistress was about to give him a large cake, when her daughter declared it was too much, and diminished the gift by one half. It is really curious that the Gipsy term for an owlet is the Maromengro’s Chavi, or Baker’s Daughter.’ Compare Thoms, Three Notelets on Shakespeare (London, 1865) p. 108-112 and Neil ad loc.”

2784-5 a Bakers daughter] White (ed. 1883): “referring to an old legend that a baker’s daughter grudged Christ some bread, and cried Heugh! heugh! at him, and he in revenge turned her into an owl.”

2784 good dild you] MacDonald (ed. 1885): “Q1 ‘God yeeld you,’ that is, reward you. Here we have a blunder for the contraction, ‘God ‘ild you’—perhaps a common blunder.”

2784-5 the Owle . . .daughter] MacDonald (ed. 1885): “For the silly legend, see Douce’s note in Johnson and Steevens.”

2784 good dild you] Mackay (1887, glossary, “God ild” or “God dild” you): “Of all these variations in the spellings, the word, as it appears in the old quarto, dild, points to the right meaing in the Gaelic diol, requite, reward, recompense, and also avenge. The union of the two d’s in the pronunciation of ‘God’ and ‘dild’ led to the heterography of ‘God ild,’ God yield,’ God shield,’ and ultimately to the total misconception of its meaning. The paraphrase and extension which Nares makes in ‘God yield you “some advantage,”’ seemed necesary to him to make any sense whatever of the word; but is wholly unnecessary to the Gaelic root. Shakspeare’s dild was apparently derived from the substantive dioladth, requital, reward, rather than from the verb diol, to requite. In all the passages quoted from Chaucer, Shakespeare, and other writers, the substitution of the modern English words ‘reward’ or ‘requite’ from the antiquated and obsolete Keltic would clearly express the meaning.”

2784 dild] Barnett (1889, p. 56): “ ‘ild] yield.”

2784-5 Owle . . . daughter] Barnett (1889, p. 56): “Ophelia’s mad recollection of the popular story of our Lord turning a baker’s daughter into an owl, because she refused him bread.”

2784 good dild you] Symons (Irving & Marshall, ed. 1890): “god yield you (i.e. God bless you).

2784 good dild you] Symons (Irving & Marshall, ed. 1890): “This is a corruption of God yield you (used in Ant. [4.2.33 (2452)], a phrase used in returning thanks, and meaning ‘God reward you,’ or ‘God bless you.’ Compare AYL [3.3.74-5 (1681-2)]: ‘God ‘ild you for your last company.’ The phrase is used again in the same play, 5.4.56 [2631], and in Mac. [1.6.13 (448)]. The Clarendon Press edd. quote Tennyson, Gareth and Lynette, line 18: ‘Heaven yield her for it.’”

2784-5 Owle . . . daughter] Symons (Irving & Marshall, ed. 1890): “‘A legendary story ,’ says steevens, ‘which both Dr. Johnson and myself have read, yet in what book at least I cannot recollect.—Our saviour being refused by the daughter of a baker, is described as punishing her by turning her into an owl.’ Douce, in a note contribed to reed’s edition, and reprinted in the subsequent Variorum eiditons, remarks on this:—“This is a common story among the vulgar in Gloucestershire, and is thus related: ‘Our Saviour went into a baker’s shop where they were baking, and asked for some bread to eat. The mistress of the shop immediately put a piece of dough into the oven to bake for him; but was reprimanded by her daughter, who insisting that the piece of dough was too large, reduced it to a very small size. The dough, however, immediately afterwards began to swell, and presently became of a most enormous size. Whereupon, the baker’s daughter cried out ‘Heugh, heugh, heugh,’ which owl-like noise probably induced our Saviour for her wickedness to transform her into that bird.’ This story is often related to children, in order to deter them from such illiberal behaviour to poor people.’ I believe no one has been fortunate enough to discover the book in which Steevens read the story, nor does Docue himself make any mention of it in his subsequent well-know Illustrations of Shakespeare, 1807 and 1839. Mr. C.G. Leland, The English Gipsies and their Language, p. 16, says: ‘It is, however, really curious that the Gipsy term for an owl is the Maromengro’s Chavi, or Baker’s Daughter, and that they are all familiar with the monkish legend which declares that Jesus ina baker’s shop once asked for bread. The mistress was about to give him a large cake, when her daughter declared it was too much, and diminished the gift by one half. ‘He nothing said, But by the fire laid down the bread. When lo, as when a blossom blows—In angry wonder, standing by, The girl sent forth a wild, rude cry, And, feathering fast into a fowl, Flew to the woods a wailing owl!’”

2784 dild] Deighton (ed. 1891): “‘ild] yield, in the sense of reward.”

2784-5 they say . . . daughter] Deighton (ed. 1891): “an allusion to a story, told by Douce, of Christ paying a visit to aa baker’s shop and asking for a piece of bread, when the daughter rebuked her mother for giving Him too large a piece, and as a punishment for her niggard behaviour was transformed into an owl.”

2786 Deighton (ed. 1891): “be present with you when you eat.”

2784 dild] Dowden (ed. 1899): “yield, reward, as in AYL 3.3.74-5 (1681-2)].”

2784-5 Owle . . . daughter] Dowden (ed. 1899): “Douce records a story ‘among the vulgar in Gloucestershire’: Jesus asked for bread at a baker’s shop; the mistress put dough in the over, was reprimanded by her daughter, who reduced its size; the dough miraculously grew huge; the daughter cried out ‘Heugh, heugh, heugh,’ like an owl, whereupon Jesus transformed her to an owl. In Fletcher, The Nice Valour, III. iii. we find: ‘Give me a nest of owls and tak ‘em: Happy is he, say I, whose window opens To a brown baker’s chimney! he shall be sure there To hear the bird sometimes after twilight.’ The idea of Ophelia’s own transformation, suggested by that of the baker’s daughter, is touched on in the words ‘Lord, etc.’”

2787 Conceit] Dowden (ed. 1899): “imagination, as frequently.”

2784-85 Owle . . . daughter] Porter & clarke (ed. 1903): “A popular story told of a certain fairy (and, in another version, of the Saviour) who went to a baker’s shop, disguised as a poor woman, and begged some dough of the baker’s daughter, asking leave to bake it in the oven. In baking, it swelled to the size of so large a loaf that the baker’s daughter refused to give it to her, and let her have instead a smaller bit of dough. That swelled even more in the oven and was again withheld, and a third and still smaller piece came out of the oven the largest of all. And when this was held back, the fairy in indignation touched her with her wand and turned her for her covetousness into an owl. Halliwell thinks it was a favorite Warwickshire story. In the ‘Inventory’ of goods at Kenilworth, taken in 1588, was ‘the picture of the Baker’s Daughter,’ and an old ballad still extant is said to be entitled ‘A ballad of the Dolefull White Owlett that was begotten of a merrie baker of Olde Coventrie’.”

2784 they say the Owle] Verity (ed. 1904): “This is a common story among the vulgar in Gloucestershire, and is thus related: ‘Our Saviour went into a baker’s shop where they were baking, and asked for some bread to eat. The mistress of the shop immediately put a piece of dough into the oven to bake for him, but was reprimanded by her daughter, who, insisting that the piece of dough was too large, reduced it to a very small size. The dough, however, immediately afterwards began to swell, and presently became of an enormous size. Whereupon the baker’s daughter cried out, “Heugh, heugh, heugh,” which owl-like noise probably induced our Saviour for her wickedness to transform her into that bird.’ This story is often related to children, in order to deter them from such illiberal behaviour to poor people” —Douce. (F.)

“Like Ophelia’s hearers, we may try to “collect” (9) the drift and connection of her thoughts. Here we may perhaps infer from what follows that the idea present to her is: ‘As little did the baker’s daughter expect to be turned into an owl as it occurred to my father and myself to anticipate the kind of death we should die’ – Elze; or simply, ‘to anticipate the sudden change in our lives.’ (F.).”

2786 God be at your table] Verity (ed. 1904): “The general connection of ideas is that the baker’s daughter had refused hospitality to the Lord. Perhaps what Ophelia particularly means is ‘May God bless your table with his presence,’ or ‘See that you do not deny hospitality to the Lord’.”

2784 dild] Chambers (ed. 1905): ’ild] “a corruption of shield.”

2786 we . . . be] Travers (ed. 1929): “i.e. become, of course. But may not some dim sense of her disordered state of mind account, partly at least, for the remark, as an unconscious corrective to the ‘Well’ of [2784]?”

2784 god dild] Craig (ed. 1931): “God yield or reward.”

2784 Owle] Craig (ed. 1931): “reference to a monkish legend that a baker’s daughter was turned into an owl for refusing bread to the Savior; quoted by Douce.”

2784 dild] Ridley (ed. 1934): “’ild] yield (i.e. reward).”

2784-5 Well...a Bakers daughter] Wilson (ed. 1934): “i.e. Well, thank you; I am transformed, but not into an owl like the baker’s daughter. The allusion is to a folk-tale, acc. to Douce current in Gloucestershire, in which Jesus asks for bread at a shop, and is given short weight by the baker’s daughter, for which she is changed into an owl. For a recent treatment of the story in verse, v. The Fleeting by Walter de la Mare.”

2786 God be at your table] Wilson (ed. 1934): “Prob. a form of salutation by a guest before partaking of hospitality; but connected, as Verity notes, in Oph.’s. distraught mind with the inhospitality of the baker’s daughter to God.”

2786 Boas (ed. 1935): “Her imagination runs upon her father.”

2784-5 Owle . . . daughter] Harrison (ed. 1937): “according to the legend Christ went into a baker’s shop and asked for bread. The baker’s wife gave him a piece but was rebuked by her daughter for giving him too much. The daughter was thereupon turned into an owl.”

2784 good dild you] Kittredge (ed. 1939): “God dild you] God yield (i.e., repay) you!”

2784 the Owle] Kittredge (ed. 1939): “Douce tells the following story as popular in Gloucestershire: ‘Our Saviour went into a baker’s shop where they were baking, and asked for some bread to eat. The mistress of the shop immediately put a piece of dough into the oven to bake for him; but was reprimanded by her daughter, who insisting that the piece of dough was too large, reduced it to a very small size. The dough, however, immediately afterwards began to swell, and presently became of a most enormous size. Whereupon, the baker’s daughter cried out, ‘Heugh, heugh, heugh,’ which owl-like noise probably induced our Saviour for her wickedness to transform her into that bird. This story is often related to children, in order to deter them from such illiberal behaviour to poor people.1”

<n1> “For versions of this folk-tale see Halliwell’s Folio Shakespeaare; Journal of the Gypsy Lore Society, 2d Series, I (1907), 90; Leland, The English Gipsies, 1873, p. 16. Cf. Fletcher, The Nice Valour, iii, 3, 9-11 (and Dyce’s note).” </n>

2786 God . . . table] Kittredge (ed. 1939): “In her madness Ophelia uses a form of blessing that might be spoken by one who enters and finds a company at dinner.”

2784 Owle] Neilson & Hill (ed. 1942): “Legend tells of a baker’s daughter whom Jesus turned into an owl when she complied stingily with his request for bread.”

2784-5 They . . . be] Rylands (ed. 1947): “Ophelia’s next sentence comments on the tale and refers at the same time to her father’s fate and her own.”

2784 dild] Farnham (ed. 1957): “yield, repay.”

2784 the owl] Farnham (ed. 1957): “an owl into which according to folktale, a baker’s daughter was transformed because of her failure to show wholehearted generosity when Christ asked for bread in the baker’s shop.”

2784 dild] Evans (ed. 1974): “yield, reward.”

2784 Owle] Evans (ed. 1974): “Alluding to the legend of a baker’s daughter whom Jesus turned into an owl because she did not respond generously to his request for bread.”

2784-6 Tobin (1978, p. 36): Tobin believes a speech of Ophelia’s is a “verbal echo” of The Golden Asse: “I suggest that the idea of desertion -- the central theme of Ophelia’s Saint Valentine’s day song which follows immediately upon her ’baker’s daughter’ reference -- coupled with enchantresses’ turning bakers into dead men and lovers into owls, led to the legend of the owl who was a baker’s daughter” (36) [TLN 2784-6, IV.v.42-44]

2784 good dild] Spencer (ed. 1980): “may God reward (‘yield’).”

2784-5 they say . . . daughter] Spencer (ed. 1980): “This may refer to a folk-tale in which Christ begged for a loaf of bread and punished the baker’s daughter, who insisted on his being given only a small one, by transforming her into an owl. Perhaps Ophelia is trying to say that she knows she is changed from what she was but is not so badly done by as that other wicked daughter.”

2785-6 we know . . . may be] Spencer (ed. 1980): “Presumably this is a comment on the transformation of the baker’s daughter.”

2786 God . . . table] Spencer (ed. 1980): “Perhaps the emphasis is on your: ‘The benediction before eating may save you from such a fate as that of the inhospitable baker’s daughter.’”

2784-6 The Owl . . . daughter] Jenkins (ed. 1982): “The relevance of this legend to the context is obscure, but it possibly alludes to the loss of virginity. A folk-tale of which there are several versions tells how, when Christ asked for bread, the baker’s daughter took care that he should not be given too much and was thereupon turned into an owl. A variant in which Christ requested and she refused him water was current among the gypsies, and in their language an owl is called a baker’s daughter (Journal of the Gypsy Lore Soc., n.s.i, 1907, 90). A story which identifies the two is not to be dismissed as irrelevant because it lacks obvious connection with Ophelia’s case. The metamorphosis may acquire significance in the light of other emblematic usages (see R. Tracy, SQ, xvii, 83-6). Lines 2752ff. of this scene have invited us to make what sense we can of Ophelia’s ‘unshaped’ speech—though we must also heed their warning against fitting it to fanciful explanations in which commentators too readily indulge. What we may certainly perceive is that the associations of the mournful bird are appropriate for Ophelia. A widespread belief is that the owl sings only in winter (e.g. Owl and Nightingale, ll. 411-6); and hence, contrasting with the cuckoo (cf. LLL [5.2.886-7 (2849-50)] and notoriously with the nightingale, birds of the mating season, it is readily regarded as mourning the death of love, as Ophelia’s songs do now. Another belief is that the owl’s cry, traditional signal of disaster, may betoken the loss of a maidenhead. This is said to be a common superstition in Wales (M. Trevelyan, Folk-Lore and Folk-Stories of Wales, pp.83-4). Baker’s daughters were traditionally women of ill repute: the Marian martyr John Bradford said of Philip of Spain that ‘he must have three or four in one night. . .not of ladies and gentlewomen, but of baker’s daughters, and such poor whores’ (Strype, Eccles. Memorials, 1822, iii. (pt.2), 352). Hence the identification of the owl as having been a baker’s daughter may connect the end of love with the loss of chastity, recalling what Hamlet has said about the transformation of honesty (1766-7) and leading on to Ophelia’s next song.”

2785-6 we know . . . may be] Jenkins (ed. 1982): “An ironic echo of i John iii.2, ‘Now are we the sons of God, and it death not yet appear what we shall be.”

2786 God be at your table.] Jenkins (ed. 1982): “A sentiment contrasting with that of the baker’s daughter (who grudged Christ bread)?”

2784-5 good dild you] Wilkes (ed. 1984): “i.e. God yield (reward) you.”

2784-5 the Owle] Wilkes (ed. 1984): “the owl according to the folk tale, when Christ asked for a loaf of bread the baker’s daughter gave him the smallest one, and was turned into an owl. Owls are traditionally mournful, and baker’s daughters are associated with promiscuity.”

2785-6 Lord . . .table] Wilkes (ed. 1984): “cf. John 3:2 ‘Now are we the sons of God, but yet it doth not appear what we shall be’ (Geneva).”

2784-5 Owle . . . Bakers daughter] Edwards (ed. 1985): “This was recognized in the eighteenth century as a reference to a folktale in which a baker’s daughter was parsimonious with the dough when a beggar asked her for bread. The beggar was Jesus, and he turned her into an owl. K.M. Briggs gives two English versions (Dictionary of British Folk Tales, 1970, 1, 124, 443). It is indexed as A 1958.0.1 in Stith Thompson, Motif Index of Folk Literature, rev. edn 1955, 1, 258. The tale is in Ophelia’s mind as a story of transformation.”

2786 God . . . table] Edwards (ed. 1985): “and bless you in your transformation”

2784 good dild] Hibbard (ed. 1987): “may God yield (= reward) you. The phrase was a common form for rendering thanks (OED yield v. 7).”

2784-5 the Owle . . . daughter] Hibbard (ed. 1987): “The main reference is to a folk-tale in which Christ goes into a baker’s shop and asks for food. The baker’s daughter reprimands her mother for giving him too much. Thereupon Christ turns her into an owl. For other possible meanings see Dent B54.I.”

2784-5 good dild] Bevington (ed. 1988): “God yield or reward.”

2784-5 Owle] Bevington (ed. 1988): “(Refers to a legend about a baker’s daughter who was turned into an owl for refusing Jesus bread).”

2784-2785 they . . . daughter] Andrews (ed. 1993): “Ophelia is probably quoting some version of a folk-tale in which a baker’s daughter, having been stingy when asked for bread by a beggar who was actually Christ in disguise (see Matthew 25:31-46), was transformed into an owl. Bakers’ daughters appear to have been held in low esteem generally, and in many ballads and tales they are depicted as lascivious.”

2784 good dild] OED (Sept. 15, 1998): “8. In phrases expressive of a strong wish, chiefly for the benefit or injury of some person, as God bless, damn, help, preserve, save, shield, speed, yield (you, him, etc.); also God forbid, grant (that); God give (something): for these see the various verbs. Hence occasionally used in participial expressions.

“Some of these phrases assumed abbreviated or corrupted forms through frequent use, as God eyld (ild, dild) you, goddilge yee = God yield you (see YIELD); God b’wy (buy) ye = God be with you (see GOOD-BYE); God (Godge) you good even = God give you, etc. (also God dig-you-den, God(g)igoden: see GOOD-EVEN). In such phrases as have remained current, God is often omitted, as bless you, damn you, preserve us.”

2784 good dild you] Thompson & Taylor (ed. 2006): “i.e. thank you; a corruption of ’God yield [i.e. require] you’.”

2784-5 owl. . . daughter] Thompson & Taylor (ed. 2006): “apparently a reference to a folk-tale in which a baker’s daughter refused bread to the begging Jesus, who turned her into an owl. It is not clear why Ophelia should allude to this, though Edwards points out that it is a story of transformation; Jenkins suggests an allusion to the loss of virginity, and Hibbard cites Dent, who provides a 1555 reference to ’bakers daughters and such other poore whores (B54.1). Mary Cowden Clarke helpfully has Ophelia’s friend Jutha tell her a relevant story in ’Ophelia: the Rose of Elsinore’.”

2785-6 Lord. . . may be] Thompson & Taylor (ed. 2006): “either a general maxim or a comment on the baker’s daughter.”

2786 God. . . table] Thompson & Taylor (ed. 2006): “In the parodic version of Ophelia’s song in Eastward Ho (1605), 3.2.85-90, Gertrude sings, ’God be at your labour.’”