which was got up in honour of the marriage of Theseus with Hippolyta.
The Tiger, Felis tigris.
The Tiger is mentioned a score of times throughout the plays, but a couple of references, perhaps, will here suffice:—
***"The mild hind
Makes speed to catch the Tiger: bootless speed,
When cowardice pursues, and valour flies."
Midsummer Night's Dream. Act ii., Scene 2.
Menenius, in recounting the evil qualities of Marcius, says:—
"I paint him in the character. Mark what mercy his mother shall bring from him: there is no more mercy in him than in a male Tiger."
Coriolanus. Act v., Scene 4.
The Leopard, Felis leopardus.
The Leopard, sometimes called "Pard," is mentioned about half-a-dozen times. See Richard II., Act i., Scene 1; Henry II., First Part, Act i., Scene 5; Timon of Athens, Act iv., Scene 3; Midsummer Night's Dream, Act ii., Scene 2; Love's Labour Lost, Act v., Scene 2; and The Tempest, Act iv., Scene 1.
"Lubbar" is probably a corruption of "Libbard," an old name for Leopard. We find Falstaff "indited to dinner to the Lubbar's Head, in Lumbert Street, to Master Smooth's, the silkman" (Henry IV., 2nd Part, Act ii., Scene 1). The arms of the Weaver's Company being a chevron between three leopards' heads would account for "Master Smooth, the silkman," adopting a leopard's head as a "sign."
Under the name of "Panther," the Leopard is mentioned three times in the play of Titus Andronicus. See Act i., Scene 2, Act ii., Scene 2; and again
"Come on, my lords, the better foot before
Straight will I bring you to the loathsome pit,
Where I espied the Panther fast asleep."
Id. Act ii., Scene 4.
