ALLIGATOR

30th April 2024

QUOTATION

I do remember an apothecary,

and hereabouts he dwells which late I noticed

In tattered weeds with overwhelming brows,

Culling of simples. Meagre were his looks.

Sharp misery had worn him to the bones.

And in his needy shop a tortoise hung,

An alligator stuffed, and other skins

of ill-shaped fishes.

ROMEO: Romeo & Juliet, Act 5, Scene 1

ALLIGATOR (American Alligator: Alligator mississippiensis)

The sole reference to Alligators in Shakespeare’s works is in the down at heel apothecary shop in Mantua. There is some debate when the word ‘Alligator’ in its various spellings was first used in English, but there is a reference to killing ‘Aligartas’ in Walter Biggs 1589 description of the voyage of Sir Walter Raleigh to the West Indies.

There are 2 living species of Alligator in the world today. The American Alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) which is increasing in numbers and the critically endangered Chinese Alligator (Alligator sinensis).

More Information

Folger Shakespeare: Search Shakespeare’s Works

IUCN Red List: American Alligator, Chinese Alligator

University of Michigan, Early English Books Online: Walter Biggs 1589 A Summarie and True Discourse of Sir Frances Drakes West Indian Voyage.

HAWTHORN

LARK