Elizabethan Popular Culture

Front Cover
Popular Press, 1988 - History - 316 pages

Leonard R. N. Ashley delights readers with a collection of facts and folklore of the people of Queen Elizabeth I's era. He describes sports and pastimes, religion and superstition, cooking, life in town and country, and the rising bourgeois class. In chapters titled as "Cakes and Ale," "The Playhouse and the Bearbaiting Pit," and "Hey nonny nonny," Ashley paints an enlightening portrait of a time made memorable by Shakespeare and his contemporaries.

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Contents

City People and Country People
12
Cakes and Ale
50
Popular Reading
72
Hey nonny nonny
116
An Age of Song
144
The Playhouse and the Bearbaiting Pit
160
Festivals and Celebrations
178
Love and Marriage
190
Popular Belief and Reform in Religion
200
Superstition
228
Education
240
Sports and Games
274
Wise Sayings
282
Jests and Merry Tales
290
Elizabeth and Her Court
306
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About the author (1988)

Leonard R. N. Ashley is professor of English at Brooklyn College of the City University of New York and author of many books, including The Wonderful World of Superstition, Prophecy, and Luck.