Leonard R. N. Ashley delights readers with a collection of facts and folklore of the people of Queen Elizabeth I's era. He describes sports and pastimes, religion and superstition, cooking, life in town and country, and the rising bourgeois class. In chapters titled ""Cakes and Ale,"" ""The Playhouse and the Bearbaiting Pit,"" and ""Hey nonny nonny,"" Ashley paints an enlightening portrait of a time made memorable by Shakespeare and his contemporaries.