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Owl was a Baker’s Daughter (The)

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According to legend, our Saviour went into a baker’s shop to ask for something to eat. The mistress of the shop instantly put a cake into the oven for Him, but the daughter said it was too large, and reduced it half. The dough, however, swelled to an enormous size, and the daughter cried out, “Heugh! heugh! heugh!” and was transformed into an owl. Ophelia alludes to this tradition in the line

“Well, God ʹield you! They say the owl was a baker’s daughter.”—Shakespeare: Hamlet. iv. 5.

 

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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.

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Overreach (Sir Giles)
Overture
Overy
Ovid
Owain (Sir)
Owen Meredith
Owl
Owl
Owl-light
Owl in an Ivy Bush (Like an)
Owl was a Baker’s Daughter (The)
Owlery
Owlglass (German, Eulenspiegel)
Ox
Ox-eye
Ox of the Deluge
Oxford
Oxford Blues
Oxford Boat Crew
Oxford Movement
Oxford Stroke (in rowing)