shakespeare says
Preserved but no longer current.
It was an hereditary cog- nizance of the House of York, and had been borne by them ever since the title was first created. It was adopted by the Jacobites as an emblem of the Pretender, because his ad- herents were obliged to abet him sub rosa (in secret). Cecily Nevill, wife of Richard, Duke of York, and mother of Edward IV and Richard III, was known as The White Rose of Raby.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “shakespeare says” mean?
It was an hereditary cog- nizance of the House of York, and had been borne by them ever since the title was first created. It was adopted by the Jacobites as an emblem of the Pretender, because his ad- herents were obliged to abet him sub rosa (in secret). Cecily Nevill, wife of Richard, Duke of York, and mother of Edward IV and Richard III, was known as The White Rose of Raby.
Is “shakespeare says” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.