There's nothing pertinent in the two editions of Lear I have to hand, the
Arden2 and an Oxford one (except that the names are probably of female
dogs), and nothing specific in the OED.
My guess would be that it's a (nick)name coined from "trey" -- three on a
suit of cards or on a die.
Apologies if this has been said, as I haven't checked the thread. In a rush
as I have to spend the day housesitting for my daughter who is having a
couch delivered.
R.
(Joanna -- I could push this a bit further and check the EMDD and a corpus
of medieval texts. Want me to, when I get back? Robin.)
----- Original Message -----
From: "Joanna Boulter" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, October 10, 2006 8:54 PM
Subject: The little dogs and all
>" ... Tray, Blanch, and Sweet-heart, see, they bark at me." (Lear, Act III
>Scene 6)
>
> Do any of you know how common a name Tray was for dogs in Shakespeare's
> time? Or at any other time, come to that. I don't think I've come across
> it anywhere else but attached to the dog of a friend of mine, and that was
> quite definitely because of the Shakespearean reference.
>
> A derivation of the orginal would be nice too, if anybody can hazard one.
>
> joanna
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