My first inclination was to assume these were costumes for devils (paired in the
inventory with angel costumes), but I'd forgotten about the proverb. I'm more
and more inclined to think that Norwich had furry devils. Looking forward to
hearing from Ms. Dutka. Thanks for forwarding the query.
Alan Baragona
-----Original Message-----
From: Abigail Ann Young [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Tuesday, February 15, 2000 12:02 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: "Apis skinns"?
I forwarded the original message from Alan to JoAnna Dutka, who
is the
Norwich pre-1540 editor for REED, but there hasn't been time for
a
reply from her yet.
Meantime, I wonder if there is any possibility that these 'ape
skins'
could be costuming for demons/devils? I looked up 'ape' in the
OED and
discovered a proverbial expression about the Devil being God's
ape.
Could be widespread enough that it might cause devils to be
costumed
so as to suggest apes?
Just a thought....
Abigail Ann Young (Dr), Associate Editor/ Records of Early
English Drama/
Victoria College/ 150 Charles Street W/ Toronto Ontario Canada
Phone (416) 585-4504/ FAX (416) 585-4594/ [log in to unmask]
List-owner of REED-L
<http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~reed/reed-l.html>
http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~reed/reed.html => REED's home page
http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~reed/stage.html => our theatre
resource page
http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~young => my home page
