BABOON

17th February 2024

Photo Credit: MattiATH (Getty Images), CANVA: Olive Baboon (Papio anubis)

QUOTATION

All: double, double toil and trouble;

fire burn and cauldron bubble.

Second Witch: Cool it with a baboon’s blood

then the charm is firm and good.

ALL & SECOND WITCH: Macbeth, Act 4, Scene 1

BABOON (Papio species)

The Baboon in this excerpt is used an exotic ingredient in the witches’ brew along with several other species. Shakespeare mention’s Baboons in several plays.

There are 6 living species of Baboon all belonging to the Genus Papio.

More Information

Folger Shakespeare Library: Search Shakespeare’s Works

IUCN Red List: Baboons

UCL Research Blogs (2013), Gemma Angle: Baboons