what did the groundlings do during the play
Groundling A groundling was a person who visited the Globe Theatre in the early 17th century. They were too poor to pay to be able to sit on one of the three levels of the theatre. If they paid one penny, they could stand in "the pit", also called "the yard", just below the stage, to watch the play. Standing in the pit was uncomfortable, and people were usually packed in tightly. The groundlings were commoners who were also referred to as stinkards or penny-stinkers. The name 'groundlings' came about after Hamlet referenced them as such when the play was first performed around 1600. At the time, the word had entered the English language to mean a small type of fish with a gaping mouth - from the vantage point of the actor playing Hamlet, set on a stage raised around 5 feet from the ground, the sea of upturned faces may have looked like wide-mouthed fish.[1] They were known to misbehave and are commonly believed to have thrown food such as fruit and nuts at characters they did not like, although there is no evidence of this.[citation needed] They would watch the plays from the cramped pits with sometimes over 500 people standing there.
Ring a Ring o' Roses The origins and meanings of the game have long been unknown and subject to speculation. In 1898, A Dictionary of British Folklore contained the belief that an explanation of the game was of pagan origin, based on the Sheffield Glossary comparison of Jacob Grimm's Deutsche Mythologie. The theory states that it is in reference to Pagan myths and cited a passage which states, "Gifted children of fortune have the power to laugh roses, as Treyja wept gold." Believing the first instance to be indicative of Pagan beings of light. Another suggestion is more literal, that it was making a "ring" around the roses and bowing with the all "fall down" as a curtsy.[22] In 1892, the American writer, Eugene Field wrote a poem titled Teeny-Weeny that specifically referred to fey folk playing ring-a-rosie.[23] According to Games and Songs of American Children, published in 1883, the "rosie" was a reference to the French word for rose tree and the children would dance and stoop to the person in the center.[3] Variations, especially more literal ones, were identified and noted with the literal falling down that would sever the connections to the game-rhyme. Addy's interpretation failed to account for the sneezing, which had not carried over to the United States and was losing ground in Britain, as another instance of the Pagan influence. Again in 1898, sneezing was then noted to be indicative of many superstitious and supernatural beliefs across differing cultures.[22]