Dear Peter
Are we sure it's performing? The Icelandic story of Authun and the bear, of
course, has a polar bear being taken to Iceland, Sweden and Denmark but it
didn't need to do anything; just be white. Oh, those were the days.
John
----- Original Message -----
From: "Peter Greenfield" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, February 12, 2005 12:05 AM
Subject: 13th century performing bears?
> Dear REED-Lers:
> I've just come across a reference to an entry in the Winchester
Pipe Rolls
> from 1265-6 that mentions 12d spent "pro urso passand' ad comitissam."
The
> historian who mentions this suspects that scribal error is involved, but
> perhaps some countess the bishop of Winchester knew actually did want a
> bear? I haven't found any reference to bears or bearwards earlier than
the
> 15th century in a quick trawl through the REED volumes I have on my
> shelf. Does anyone else know of such an early bear record? What do you
> think of this?
> Peter Greenfield
> University of Puget Sound
>
|