The ability of pitch to contaminate those in contact with it is mentioned by Dogberry, a character in Shakespeares Much Ado About Nothing', and the same point is made in a speech by Falstaff in Henry IV, Part 1, who refers to "ancient writers" who have made this observation. The Jewish deuterocanonical Book of Sirach states that "whoever touches pitch gets dirty, and whoever associates with a proud person becomes like him".