A Hobbididance, or Hoberdidance, was a malevolent sprite mentioned in the traditional English morris dance and in William Shakespeare's theatrical play King Lear (c.âÂÂ1606). It was borrowed from Samuel Harsnett's Declaration of Egregious Popish Impostures (1603). It helped scholars to set the earliest composition date for the play.
1. https://shakespeare-navigators.ewu.edu/king_lear/King_Lear_Note_3_4_144.html 2. "Hobbididance". Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. 2nd ed. 1989.