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Dear Peter, Re. performing bears real and human, see Masks and Masking pages 48--51. The Bear (human version) seems to be a continental creature -- as I remember, if it comes out of its lair on St Blaise's Day and farts, then Spring has officially come. (May not have been St Blaise's day.) See van Gennep. There is a synodical decree against priests enjoying spectacles such as bears (see p. 51) which goes back to Hincmar of Rheims (852), but I can't remember whether Hincmar mentions bears; you'll have to look it up. Certainly in Burchard and therefore Europe-wide. Question: would humans have been called Bears if there weren't real ones? Elizabeth Baldwin is the bear supremo of Britain: all the Bears she mentions in METh 20 are 16th-century ones, but she may well know of earlier ones. Meg ________________________________ From: REED-L: Records of Early English Drama Discussion on behalf of Jane Cowling Sent: Tue 15/02/2005 12:21 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: 13th century performing bears? Dear Peter, There was a polar bear in Henry III's menagerie (founded in 1235) at the Tower of London. It used to be taken swimming in the Thames. Interesting but probably not relevant! More details sent to you separately. Jane ----- Original Message ----- From: "John McGavin" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Monday, February 14, 2005 3:06 PM Subject: Re: 13th century performing bears? > 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 >> >