"Alas, poor Proteus ! thou hast entertain'd
A fox to be the shepherd of thy lambs."
Two Gentlemen of Verona. Act iv., Scene 4.
Amongst the Mustelidæ, Shakspeare alludes to the sable, fitchew (polecat), ferret, weasel, otter, and badger or "brock."
The Sable, Martes zibellina.
Hamlet, speaking ironically, though bitterly, of the short time that had elapsed since the death of his father, says—
The Polecat, Putorius fœtidus.
Shakspeare mentions the "fitchew" or polecat sometimes as an epithet, but never to denote anything very nice or enviable. In Troilus and Cressida, Act v., Scene 1, Thersites, to show his detestation of Menelaus, exclaims:—
"To be a dog, a mule, a cat, a fitchew, a toad, a lizard, an owl, a puttock, or a herring without a roe, I would not care; but to be Menelaus — I would conspire against destiny."
The Ferret, Putorius furo.
The word "ferret" we find applied as a verb adjective, and adjective ; it is probable that ferrets were introduced into the country before the poet's day ; in fact, the second quotation given below tends to prove that the animal was well known to him : —
Pistol. Master Fer ! I'll fer him, and firk him, &nd ferret him : discuss the same in French unto him.
Boy. I do not know the French for fer, and ferret, and firk."
"Brutus.***And Cicero
Looks with such ferret and such fiery eyes,
As I have seen him in the Capitol,
Being cross'd in conference by some senators."
Julius Caesar. Act i., Scene 2.
