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Julius Caesar,
Act 4, Scene 1, lines 48-49

Note to JULIUS CAESAR, 4.1.48-49, 'we are at the stake, / And bay'd about with many enemies'

When Octavius says this, he is using a metaphor derived from a blood sport of Shakespeare's time: bear-baiting. In bear-baiting a bear was tied to a stake and dogs were set upon it. The bear was "bay'd about" in two senses: 1) It was surrounded, like a ship trapped in a bay; 2) The encircling dogs snarled, growled, and bayed.


tethered bear being attacked by dogs