Sir Nicholas L’Estrange recalls two astonishing eyewitness accounts of the resourcefulness the fox.
The following two tales are given to us as eyewitness accounts of the astonishing resourcefulness of the fox, using careful planning and employing tools to get what he wants. Author Sir Nicholas L’Estrange found such tales of foxy ingenuity difficult to believe, but King James I (r. 1603-1625) was altogether less suspicious.
When William Shakespeare agreed to be godfather to Ben Jonson’s baby boy, he forgot that he would have to think of a gift for his christening.
The Englishman of the sixteenth century enjoyed a good pun (and many a bad one). This particular example doesn’t work unless you know beforehand that ‘lattin’ or ‘latten’ is an alloy of copper and zinc resembling brass, used to make affordable tableware; and also that it was customary to give babies at Baptism twelve silver spoons, with handles in the shape of the Twelve Apostles.