e;" and its innocence in "2 Henry VI." (iii. 1) is mentioned,
where King Henry says:

"Our kinsman Gloster is as innocent
From meaning treason to our royal person
As is the sucking lamb or harmless dove:
The duke is virtuous, mild and too well given
To dream on evil, or to work my downfall."

The custom of giving a pair of doves or pigeons as a present or
peace-offering is alluded to in "Titus Andronicus" (iv. 4), where the
clown says, "God and Saint Stephen give you good den: I have brought you
a letter and a couple of pigeons here;" and when Gobbo tried to find
favor with Bassanio, in "Merchant of Venice" (ii. 2), he began by
saying, "I have here a dish of doves, that I would bestow upon your
worship." Shakespeare alludes in several places to the "doves of Venus,"
as in "Venus and Adonis:"

"Thus weary of the world, away she [Venus] hies,
And yokes her silver doves; by whose swift aid
Their mistress, mounted, through the empty skies
In her light chariot quickly is conveyed;
Holding their course to Paphos, where their queen
Means to immure herself and not be seen;"

and in "A Midsummer-Night's Dream" (i. 1), where Hermia speaks of "the
simplicity of Venus' doves." This will also explain, says Mr.
Harting,[201] the reference to "the dove of Paphos," in "Pericles" (iv.
Introd.). The towns of Old and New Paphos are situated on the southwest
extremity of the coast of Cyprus. Old Paphos is the one generally
referred to by the poets, being the peculiar seat of the worship of
Venus, who was fabled to have been wafted thither after her birth amid
the waves. The "dove of Paphos" may therefore be considered as
synonymous with the "dove of Venus."

[201] "Ornithology of Shakespeare," pp. 190, 191.

Mahomet, we are told, had a dove, which he used to feed with wheat out
of his ear; when hungry, the dove lighted on his shoulder, and thrust
its bill in to find its breakfast, Mahomet persuading the rude and
simple Arabians that it was the Holy Ghost, that gave him advice.[202]
Hence, in "1 Henry VI." (i. 2), the question is asked:

"Was Mahomet inspired with a dove?"

[202] Sir W. Raleigh's "History of the World," bk. i. pt. i.
ch. 6.

_Duck._ A barbarous pastime in Shakespeare's time was hunting a tame
duck in the water with spaniels. For the performance of this
amusement[203] it was necessary to have recourse to a pond of water
sufficiently extensive to give t