_ Our
Dotterel
then is caught?
Ben Jonson - The Devil's Association
_Bonduca_ and _Sea Voyage_.
Many examples are given in Nares and the _NED. _, to which may be added
_Damon and Pithias_, _O. Pl. _ 4. 68; Nash, _Wks. _ 3. 171; and Butler's
_Character of a Fantastic_ (ed. Morley, p. 401): 'He alters his gait
with the times, and has not a motion of his body that (like a dottrel)
he does not borrow from somebody else. ' Nares quotes _Old Couple_ (_O.
Pl. _, 4th ed. , 12. 41):
_E.
_ Our Dotterel then is caught?
_B. _ He is and just
As Dotterels use to be: the lady first
Advanc'd toward him, stretch'd forth her wing, and he
Met her with all expressions.
It is uncertain whether the sense of 'bird' or 'simpleton' is
the original. _Dottrel_ seems to be connected with _dote_ and
_dotard_. The bird is a species of plover, and Cunningham says
that 'Selby ridicules the notion of its being more stupid than
other birds. ' In _Bart. Fair_ (_Wks. _ 4. 445) we hear of the
'sport call'd Dorring the Dotterel. '
=2. 2. 51 Nor faire one. = The dramatists were fond of
punning on _foul_ and _fair_. Cf. _Bart.
Many examples are given in Nares and the _NED. _, to which may be added
_Damon and Pithias_, _O. Pl. _ 4. 68; Nash, _Wks. _ 3. 171; and Butler's
_Character of a Fantastic_ (ed. Morley, p. 401): 'He alters his gait
with the times, and has not a motion of his body that (like a dottrel)
he does not borrow from somebody else. ' Nares quotes _Old Couple_ (_O.
Pl. _, 4th ed. , 12. 41):
_E.
_ Our Dotterel then is caught?
_B. _ He is and just
As Dotterels use to be: the lady first
Advanc'd toward him, stretch'd forth her wing, and he
Met her with all expressions.
It is uncertain whether the sense of 'bird' or 'simpleton' is
the original. _Dottrel_ seems to be connected with _dote_ and
_dotard_. The bird is a species of plover, and Cunningham says
that 'Selby ridicules the notion of its being more stupid than
other birds. ' In _Bart. Fair_ (_Wks. _ 4. 445) we hear of the
'sport call'd Dorring the Dotterel. '
=2. 2. 51 Nor faire one. = The dramatists were fond of
punning on _foul_ and _fair_. Cf. _Bart.
