m B ■^^^ 3l^>^- > " ■ > ■^:>> ■ :> ,> 1 ■*.^'ft^%-'% ■ -^ -Si • ^- -*S^ # LIBRARY OF Co: If _^^ )?f? , ,J UNITED STATES UF AMERlCA.f >i->"3'J^ >3> -' , ^^^K ^^^ m^: ^Wfe W^rn^ s>^^:3s: ^30>a2^ ^^ Tf^f^t-^^^^f^f^l THE TOMB or SHAKSPERE. A.A^,A^ ff't^-tf-rt-t^t^r^^f-^*'** , t'f^-^^-tt't^-t'*^*-*^' .ft^^ THE HOME OF SHAKSPERE Jllttstrate^ anJr Btstvibti, BY F. W. FAIRHOLT, F. S. A. AUTHOR OF "costume IN ENGLAND," ETC. THIRTY-THREE ENGRAVINGS. New-York: WILLIAMS BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS, NASSAU-STREET. MDCCCSLVIII. ^vIVVA/J THE HOME OF SHAKSPERE. All that is known with any degree of certainty concerning Shakspere is — that he was born at Stratford-upon-Avon — married and had children there — went to London, where he commenced actor, and wrote poems and plays — returned to Stratford, made his will, died, and was buried. Such is the concise biography of our \ greatest poet, as given by Steevens ; and although volumes have been written, more or less conjectural, on his life and times, they scarcely add a single fact to the meagre list of ordinary events he has enumerated. Slight, however, as these notices are, they invest the humble town of Stratford-upon-Avon with an interest which it would not otherwise possess. It was peculiarly the home of Shaks- pere : here he was born ; here he passed his early youth ; here he courted and won Anne Hathaway ; here he sought that retirement which the avocations of his London career would occasionally allow him to indulge in ; and here, when in riper age he had won honours and fortune in the great capital, he chose to return, and pass the latter days of a life where he had first seen the light : at Stratford he died and was buried. " From the birthplace of Shakspere," says Washington Irving, " a few paces brought me to his grave." All that connects itself with the personal history of " the world's poet" at Stratford is thus almost as closely condensed as are the I., ^hvv/^-^^^'^rfVV^'AAV^.Ar.A/SA^.A^V-./Sr.AAyvA^vAArfSrs^^vA/VA^V-ysr^.AAVVsA/"^ I 6 THE HOME OF SHAKSPERE. \ few words quoted above, which form his biography. A day at Strat- l ford affords ample time to visit all these places ; they lie so close, I that a few minutes' walk only separates them. In these days of ^ change, when the birthplace of the Poet is scarcely safe, and Strat- \ ford is threatened with the spoliation of what little remains to it, it ^ must be a work of interest to record and picture the few relics con- l nected with the Bard of Avon, the more particularly as alterations I are continually taking place there ; which, if they do not destroy, ? do at least change the aspect of much that is interesting to all lovers \ of the poet, and " their name is legion." We will therefore con- ^ duct the reader over Stratford and its neighborhood, minutely des- I cribing all that at present exists, and enumeratmg what has passed i away, commencing our journey at s I SHAKSPERE'S BIRTHPLACE. \ The house in Henley Street, as it at present exists, is but a frag- \ 5 ment of the original building as purchased by John Shakspere, the ? I Poet's father, in 1574, ten years exactly after the birth of his son ^ ^ William, the entry of whose baptism is dated in the parish register, \ ^ April 26, 1564. John Shakspere had purchased in 1555 a copyhold I \ house in Henley Street, but this Avas not the house now shown as ; I the Poet's birthplace ; he had also another copyhold residence in \ \ Greenhill Street, and some property at Ingon, a mile and a quarter s ^ from Stratford, on the road to Warwick. From these circumstances ^ ^ a modern doubt has been cast on the truthfulness of the tradition S I which assigns the house in Henley Street to be the Poet's birthplace. \ i Mr. Knight says : " William Shakspere, then, might have been born \ \ at either of his father's copyhold houses in Greenhill Street or in $ i Henley Street ; he might have been born at Ingon, or his father J z might have occupied one of the two freehold houses in Henley I ,4 ? THE HOME OF SHAKSPERE. 9 ^ Street at the time of the birth of his eldest son. Tradition says I that William Shakspere was born in one of these houses ; tradition ^ points out the very room in which he was born. Let us not disturb | the belief.''^ A wise conclusion ! Antiquarian credulity has given $ place to an extreme degree of scepticism ; and from believing too ^ I much, we are now too much given to believe too little; add to j this the anxiety which many evince to write about Shakspere, al- though little else but conjecture in its vaguest form be the result ; and the value of the modern conjecture as opposed to the ancient tradition may very readily be estimated. Let Stratford ever sacred- ly preserve the venerable structure with which she is entrusted ; pilgrims from all climes have felt a glow of enthusiasm beneath the humble roof in Henley Street, Let no rude pen destroy such heart- homage, or seek to deprive us of the little we possess connected with our immortal countryman ! When John Shakspere purchased this house from Edmund Hall for forty pounds, it was described in the legal documents as two messuages, two gardens, and two orchards, with their appurtenances. It passed at his death to his son William, and from him to his sister Joan Hart, who was residing there in 1639, and probably until her f death in 1646. Throughout the Poet's life the house is thus inti- | mately connected with him. Its original features may be seen in I our first view, which was taken in 1769. It was a large building, ^ the timbers of substantial oak, the walls filled in with plaster. The > dormer windows and gable, the deep porch, the projecting parlour, ^ and bay window, all contribute to render it exceedingly picturesque. ^ The division of the house into two tenements is here very visible. ^ The changes it has undergone since this view was taken, and which > has reduced the original building to a mere fragment, will be best ^ understood by a glance at our next two views. In 1792, when Ire- I land visited the house, it exhibited the appearance given in the | < 10 THE HOME OF SHAKSPERE. I upper portion of our third plate. The dormer windows and gable I had been removed ; the bay window beneath the gable had given I place to an ordinary flat lattice-window of four lights ; the porch in \ front of that portion of the building in which Shakspere was born 5 was removed, and a butcher's shop-front constructed. At this time ^ there lived here a descendant of Joan Hart, sister to the Poet, who I pursued the humble occupation of a butcher. The other half of the $ house was at this time converted into an inn, and ultimately sunk 5 into a low public-house. It had been known as the Maidenhead > Inn in 1642 ; and when, in 1806, the house was disposed of to Mr. ^ ^ Thomas Court, who became "mine host" thereof, he combined that | ^ name with the one it then held of the Swan. About 1820, excited | I by a desire for " improvement," he destroyed the original appear- I s ance of this portion of the building by constructing a new red-brick ^ ^ front, exactly of the approved fashion in which rows of houses are I X built in small towns, and which consists generally of an alternate \ \ door and window, repeated at regular intervals below, while a mon- I i otonous range of windows above eifectually repulses attention. ? ^ This brings us to its present aspect, delineated in the lower cut of > \ Plate 3. The house is now divided into three tenements ; the cen- > I tral one is the portion set apart for exhibition, in the back rooms of | t which live the proprietors ; the shop, the room above, and the kitch- \ \ en, are sacred to visitors. When the lower part of the central ten- ^ \ ement was made to serve for a butcher's shop, its window was re- ^ $ moved, and has not been replaced ; and when the butcher's trade I \ ceased, a few years since, no attempt at restoration was made, and I i the shop still retains the signs of its late occupation. The old win- ^ N dow in the upper story, originally a lattice of three lights, had been ^ ^ altered into one of four ; and modern squares of glass usurped the I \ place of the old leaded diamond-panes. A board for flower-pots | \ was erected in front of the window ; but more recently a large, ob- i \ THE HOME OF SHAKSPERE. 11 I trusive, rudely -painted sign-board projects from the front to tell us ^ "the immortal Shakspere was born in this house." Such is its present external aspect : " it is a small, mean-looking edifice," says Irving ; it was not so in Shakspere's time. I Ascending the step, we pass into tlie shop. The door is di- l vided into a hatch, and we look back into the street above the J lower half, and through the open window of the shop, with its pro- jecting stall for meat, and its wooden roof above. The walls of I s this room are of plaster, and the solid oak beams rest on the stone I foundation. On entering, the visitor looks towards the kitchen, i through the open door communicating with the shop. On tlie right s is a roomy fire-place, the sides built of brick, and having the chim- ^ ney-piece above cut with a lov/-pointed arch out of a massive beam 5 of oak. To the left of the door is a projection in the wall, which ^ forms a recess or " bacon cupboard," the door of which opens in ^ tlie side of the kitchen chimney of the adjoining room. The floor (i>**:f^*^**ft-f^ **■**■** '•^f.f:ff*^.fftfff.f^fj^,ff~t^r.f^rtf.tf.rf^s^*fff-t»^f-f^-f^'t**^'f^'* is covered with flag-stones, broken into fifty varied shapes ; the roof displays the bare timbers upon which the upper story rests. A raised step leads from the shop to the kitchen ; it is a small square room, with a stone floor and a roof of massive timbers. A ^ door opposite the shop leads to an inner room, inhabited by the ^ person who shews the house. The fireplace here is large and roomy, the mantel-tree a solid beam of oak. Within the fireplace, on one side, is a hatch, opening to the " bacon cupboard" already spoken of; on the opposite side, is a small arched recess for a chair: here often sat John Shakspere ; and here his young son William passed his earliest days. Ireland compares the kitchen to the sub- | jects which " so frequently employed the rare talents of Ostade." | In the comer of the chimney stood an old oak chair, which had for \ a number of years received nearly as many adorers as the celebrated > shrine of the Lady of Loretto. This relic was purchased in July I 1790 by the Princess Czartoryska, who made a journey to this place, \ in order to obtain intelligence relative to Shakspere ; and being told I s he had often sat in this chair, she placed herself in it, and expressed ^ an ardent wish to become the purchaser; but being informed that it I was not to be sold at any price, she left a handsome gratuity to old I Mrs. Harte, and left the place with apparent regret. About four | s months after, the anxiety of the princess could no longer be with- \ \ held, and her secretary was despatched express, as the fit agent, to ^ I purchase this treasure at any rate ; the sum of twenty guineas was t i the price fixed on, and the secretary and chair, with a proper certi- i X ficate of its authenticity on stamped paper, set off" in a chaise for J London. < With that anxiety to supply relic-hunters who visit Stratford, and I who sometimes feel disappointed with the little which remains there I connected with the Poet, the absence of tl:ie genuine chair was not I i long felt. A very old chair is still in the place ; and Washington \ r.#i/v^/v>/^*'rfv^^./*~/'^v>^ys^^^y\^^y^^^x^^^^^^w^^.^^,/vs^^A/s^Arys^^vr/'irrfsr^^ PLAT E III shakspere's birthplace, 1792. shakspere's birthplace, 1847. 13 'tt***'t^ PLATE IV shakspere's birthplace— interior of the shop. SHAKSPERE S BIRTHPLACE — THE KITCHEN. ^{^■^^f^^^rf^**'^-*'*^^-^**- f^**-f^r4*f»r.r*j^ff , 15 \ I THE HOME OF SHAKSPERE. 17 | '\ Irving thus speaks of a chair he saw in 1820: " The most favorite I i; object of curiosity, however, is Shakspere's chair. It stands in the i i; chimney-nook of a small gloomy chamber, just behind what was his > :; father's shop. Here he may many a time have sat when a boy, i ; watching the slowly -revolving spit with all the longing of an urchin ; ;| or of an evening, listening to the crones and gossips of Stratford, dealing forth churchyard tales and legendary anecdotes of the troublesome times of England. In this chair it is the custom for every one that visits the house to sit ; Avhether this is done with the hope of imbibing any of the inspiration of the bard I am at a loss to say ; I merely mention the fact ; and mine hostess privately as- sured me, that though built of solid oak, such was the present zeal of devotees, that the chair had to be new-bottomed at least once in three years. It is worthy of notice also, in the history of this ex- traordinary chair, that it partakes something of the volatile nature of the Santa Casa of Loretto, or the flying chair of the Arabian enchanter ; for though sold some years since to a northern princess, yet, strange to tell, it has found its way back again to the old chim- ney-corner." Of the sort of Shaksperian relics exhibited in the house at this time he gives an amusing list. " There was the shattered stock of the very matchlock with which Shakspere shot the deer, on his poaching exploit ; there, too, was his tobacco-box, which proves that he was a rival smoker of Sir Walter Raleigh ; the sword also with which he played Hamlet ; and the identical lanthorn with which Friar Laurence discovered Romeo and Juliet. There was an am- ple supply also of Shakspere's mulberry-tree, which seems to have as extraordinary powers of self-multiplication as the wood of the true cross, of which there is enough extant to build a ship of the line." Opposite the fire-place in the kitchen is a window, and beside r#/'>r/>^ I 18 THE HOME OF SHAKSPERE. X this is the stair which leads into the room in which the Poet was < \ born. It is a low-roofed apartment, receiving its only light from the \ large window in front. The same huge beams project from the ^ plastered walls, one of considerable solidity crossing the ceiling. ^ The fire-place projects close to the door which leads into the room; I an immense beam of oak forms the mantel tree ; a large piece is cut ^ out of one corner, the work of an enthusiastic young lady — so said ^ the late proprietress, who declares that she was kept in conversation ^ below by the lady's female friend while the act was done. She I told many similar stories of Shaksperian enthusiasm, and never left > the room or lost sight of any one after this daring trick. To be ^ permitted to sleep in the room, she stated, was a very ordinary re- | quest made to her which she occasionally gratified ; while such fits | of enthusiasm as bursting into tears, or falling down and kissing the ^ floor, were ordinary matters, scarcely worth her noticing. ^ Of the old furniture in this room, and that throughout the house, I it may be hardly necessary to remark, that it has no absolute con- s nexion with Shakspere. A portrait of Shakspere, on panel, a poor » ? performance, was brought from the White Lion Inn, a few doors | ^ from this house. \ z In this room the visitor, if he pleases, may sign his name in the ^ \ book kept for that purpose. About 1815, the conductors of the ^ I public library at Stratford gave to Mrs. Hornby, the then proprie- ^ 5 tress of the house, a book for that purpose, the walls and windows ^ \ having been covered before. Among many hundreds of names of ^ X persons of all grades and countries, occur those of Byron, Scott, X \ and Washington Irving, the latter three times. Many are accom- ^ \ panied by expressions of feeling, others by stanzas and attempts at i I poetry, which have been thus commented upon by one among the s \ number :- " Ah Shakspeare, when we read the votive scrawls With which well-meaning folks deface these walls ; ^■f^-rf'-t't-*f4 r ff'.r^.t^j^ tr-f^>f*'r*^f**^-f* I r./\r)(V./\^yvr/v^w»^./rfs/i^, 19 I ■t^-t^-r-f^f*-**-^*-* THE HOME OF SHAKSPERE. 21 And while we seek in vain some lucky hit, Amidst the lines whose nonsense nonsense smothers,— We find, unlike thy Falstaff in his wit, Thou art not here the cause of wit in others." The most curious feature of the room is the myriad of pencilled and inked autographs which cover walls, windows, and ceiling, and which cross and recross each other occasionally, so closely wdtten, \ and so continuous, that it gives the walls the appearance of being I covered with fine spider-web. Irving, speaking of the house, says : I " The walls of its squalid chambers are covered with names and i inscriptions in every language, by pilgrims of all nations, ranks, and | conditions, from the prince to the peasant, and present a simple but 2 striking instance of the spontaneous and universal homage of man- \ kind to the great Poet of Nature." Books for the entry of names > are now kept. i In the adjoining public-house, when Ireland visited it in 1792, I was a square of glass upon which was painted the arms of the mer- ] chants of the Wool Staple, which he considered to be conclusive ^ evidence of the trade of Shakspere's father, who by some author was said to have been a dealer in wool. Aubrey assures us he was a butcher. Mr. Knight has clearly pointed out the likely origin of both stories, in the custom of landed proprietors, like John Shaks- pere, selling their own cattle and wool. The glass was brought here from the Guild Chapel. It therefore has no connexion with Shakspere. In a lower room of the public-house, Ireland also saw " a curious ancient monument over the chimney, relieved in plaster, which from the date, 1606, that was originally marked on it, was probably put up at the time, and possibly by the Poet himself. In 1759 it was repaired and painted in a variety of colors by the old Mr. Thomas Harte before-mentioned." Upon the scroll over the figures was in- >.AA.A*^AAA«^AAAJ^ ■ \ 22 THE HOME OF SHAKSPERE. f.r^w<^ scribed, 'Samuel xvii. a. d. 1606;' and round tlie border, in a " continuous line, was this stanza in black letter : — "©cl':ii) comes toitl) stoccti miti spear, SnU 23a'i;i)3 toitt) a slinn; Bltljoufll) (So!it!) ra3': anti stocnrr, ISoiDu 23abit( ^otl) t)im tiring."' We copy Ireland's engraving of this solitary fragment of the in- ternal decoration of Shakspere's house ; although we much question the propriety of imagining the possibility of Shakspere pla^cing such ludicrous doggrel there. The house was at that time in the occu- pation of his sister ; and she most probably resided in the other half of this then large tenement. So that neither may have been guilty of it. The bas-relief was carried away some years ago by the pro- prietor of the inn. \ The font in which the Poet was christened is here engraved. It \ PLATE VI. EXTERIOR OF THE GRAMMAR-SCHOOL. INTERIOR — THE MATHEMATICAL-SCHOOL. 24 ►A^Jl^.A^"^*'^^*' ^■ff*f-^^J^*^.r^^-t.t-*^^J'f-t-^J:t^i t J THE HOME OF SHAKSPERE. 25 5 \ . \ \ is but a fragment, the upper portion only. The same style was % > adopted with singular good taste for the new font in the church, \ l Avhich may therefore be considered as a restoration of it. Mr* \ X Knight has thus given its history : " The parochial accounts of ^ I Stratford sIj^w that about the middle of the seventeenth century a $ ^ new font was set up. The beautiful relic of an older time, from s i which William Shakspere had received the baptismal water, was, \ X after many years, found in the old charnel-house. When that was 5 ^ pulled down it was kicked into the churchyard, and half a century % \ ago was removed by the parish-clerk to form the trough of a pump \ I at his cottage. Of the parish-clerk it was bought by the late Cap- ^ s tain Saunders ; and from his possession came into that of the pres- \ \ ent owner. Mr. Heritage, a builder at Stratford." It is still in his \ \ possession. The font shewn at the Shakspere Arms is reported to \ \ have been brought from the neighboring church of Bidford. | \ From the house where Shakspere was born to the place where he i \ obtained his " small Latin and less Greek," is but a short distance. % \ THE GRAMMAR SCHOOL \ \ is situated in the High Street, beside the Chapel of the Guild, or \ \ of the Holy Cross, a good specimen of the ecclesiastical architecture \ \ of the reign of Henry VH. ; and the interior of which was origin- \ X ally decorated with a series of remarkable paintings ; the principal \ \ being the legendary history of the Holy Cross. In this chapel, at X X one ume, the school was held ; and an order in the corporation \ \ books, dated February, 1594, directs " that there shall be no school \ ? kept in the chapel from this time following.'' The occupation of | \ the chapel as a school may have been but a temporary tiling ; but \ \ Shakspere may have imbibed some portion of his learning within \ \ its walls. The foundation of the Grammar School took place in | 5 the reign of Edward IV. In 1482, Thomas JolyfTe gave certain \ 26 THE HOME OF SHAKSPERE. lands and tenements to the Guild of the Holy Cross, to maintain " a priest fit and able in knowledge to teach grammar freely to all scholars coming to the school in the said town to him, taking noth- ing of the scholars for their teaching." On the dissolution of the guild, Edward VI., in the seventh year of his reign, ordered that " the free grammar school for the instruction and education of boys and youth there, should be thereafter kept up and maintained as here- tofore it used to be." \ The Latin schoolroom is situated over the old Guildhall, and is t that portion of the building nearest the chapel. It is a perfectly I plain room, with a low plaster ceiling ; but from the massive beams X at the sides of the room, and those above the modern plaster, to ^ which the struts from the side beams form a support, as well as from \ the external appearance of the deeply-pitched roof, there can be : little doubt that an open timber roof originally decorated this apart- | '■-f^J^^f^J^^ff^t^f^-t r ,^V>Ar,A/'>Ar*r^y V^>^ Ar>r>^>^ ^^y> ./>^ A/ >^ y 28 r,A*,/^.Ar*^**'^'<*'''^^ THE HOME OF SHAKSPERE. 29 ment. The Mathematical schoolroom beside it has a flat roof, crossed by two beams of the Tudor era ; and in the centre of the roof, where they meet each other, is a circular ornament or boss. The school has been recently repaired, and it has entirely lost its look of an- tiquity. A few years ago there were many very old desks and form, there ; and one among them was termed Shakspere's desk. It is now kept below. We engrave a representation of it. The tradi- tion which assigned it to Shakspere may be very questionable ; its being the oldest and in the worst condition may have been the reason for such an appropriation. The boys of the school very gen- erally carried away some portion of it as a memento, and the relic- hunters frequently behaved as boyishly, so that a great portion of the old wood has been abstracted. The court-yard of the school presented many features of interest ; but the hand of modern " improvement" has swept them away. On a visit to Stratford eight years ago, the author obtained the following sketch. The schools were at that time approached by an antique external stair, roofed with tile, and up which the boys had ascended I from the time of Shakspere. This characteristic feature has passed I away : its only record is the cut now given ; the court-yard has been \ subdivided and walled ; and the original character of this portion of \ the building has departed for ever. 5>yv>^^yvvv/wvsA/vwr'y 30 THE HOME OF SHAKSPERE. For the mementoes of Shakspere's later life, we must look m the neighborhood of Stratford. Tradition assigns adventures and visits to many places in its vicinity ; but the most important locality with which his name is connected is the Park of Sir Thomas Lucy at Charlecote. This was ine scene of his deer-stealing adventures, which led, | says tradition, to his quarrel with Sir Thomas, to a lampoon by the I Poet, which occasioned him to leave Stratford for London in greater % haste than he wished, and produced his connexion with thetheatres. \ ; ; Of these tales we must speak farther on. But first let us say a few I words on this ancient mansion. i Dugdale has given the history of Charlecote and its lords with I much minuteness. It is mentioned in Domesday Book ; and its old I Saxon name Ceorlcote — the home of the husbandman — carries us \ ; ; back to years before the Conquest. The present house was built in ^ 1558 by Thomas Lucy, who in 1593 was knighted by Queen Eliza- t beth. It stands at a short distance from, and at some little eleva- | tion above, the river Avon. The building forms three sides of a I quadrangle, the fourth being occupied by a handsome central gate- | ! house, some distance in advance of the main building. The | \ octangular turrets on each side, and the oriel window over the gate, are peculiar and pleasing features. The house retains its gables and angular towers, but has suffered from the introduction of the large and heavy sash-windows of the time of William III. or George I. In Thomas's edition of Dugdale's Warwickshire, published in i 1730, there is an interesting " East prospect of Charlecote," drawn I by H. Beighton ip 1722, which gives a curious bird's eye view of ^ the entire house and gardens in their original state ; that is, in the \ state in which Skakspere would see them. A reduced copy of this I view appears opposite. There is another view, showing the back | of the house from the river, preserved in the hall, and which appears \ ^.«VS THE HOME OF SHAKSPERE. 35 I to have been painted about the reign of James II. It shows the I building to have been at that time precisely in the same condition ; ^ and as all modernisation has affected the interior principally, the \ exterior aspect is now much the same as it was in the daysof the Poet. I Passing through the old gate, we enter the court-yard, which, m I place of the old fountain and circular tank of water, is now laid out I in flower-bed. The hall is entered by a porch having the family arms and crest at each angle. We give a view of the interior as it is now. It has undergone alterations since Washington Irving thus described it in his Sketch-book : " The ceiling is arched and lofty ; and at one end is a gallery, in which stands an organ [this has now been removde]. The weapons and trophies of the chase, which formerly adorned the hall of a country gentleman, have made way for family portraits. There is a wide hospitable fireplace, calculated for an ample old fashioned wood fire, formerly the rally- ing place of winter festivity. On tlie opposite side of the hall is '■.f^.f-f^-ff^^/^.f^^f^^f^-^^^-f.f^ < ^mW^ g^ 36 THE HOME OF SHAKSPERE. tlie huge Gothic bow-window with stone shafts, which looks out upon the court-yard. Here are emblazoned, in stained glass, the armorial bearings of the Lucy family for many generations, some i; being dated in 1558 I was delighted to observe in the quarterings the three white luces, by which the character of Sir Thomas was i| first identified with that of Jus- tice Shallow." The seal of Sir Thomas Lucy, here engraved, exhibits the three white luces interlaced. The autograph is written in a bold hand. Our - — - cut is reduced to one half the size of the ori- ginal. The document from which it is obtained is in the possession of Mr. Wheler, of Strata ford-on- Avon, and is appended to the presen^^ tation of the Rev. Richard Hill to the rectory ; of Hampton Lucy, in the gift of Sir Thomas^ I and is dated October 8th, 1586. Upon the ; vanes of the house at Charlecote, the three ; luces interlaced between cross crosslets are ; also displayed ; an engraving of one of i these vanes may be seen in Moule's Heraldry \ of Fishy p. 55, who says: "The pike of the fisherman is the luce of heraldry ; a name derived from the old French language lus^ or from the Latin lucius ; as a charge it was very early used by heralds as a pun upon the name of Lucy." The deer-stealing story, unlike a matter of fact, has grown to be more defined and clear the nearer it approaches our own time. It first V commences by traditionary stories loosely put down, and exceedingly I inaccurate in detail. Mention is made of a lost ballad satirising Sir \ Thomas. By and by a Stanza is found ; and ultimately we get the ^^^t^■**^^>n^»*^*^*^^*^^*.**■^*^^*^^^i^^.^^^^^r*•^*^^***•****^^^*^^** ■^*-*^ THE HOME OF SHAKSPERE. 37 entire ballad, about as scurrilous and worthless a composition as ever forger fixed on a great man. This ballad is evidently made up from the allusions in the first scene of the Merry Wives of Windsor^ which, as Malone observes, " certainly afford ground for believing that our author, on some account or other, had not the most profound respect for Sir Thomas Lucy. The ' dozen white luces,' however, which Shallow is made to commend as ' a good coat,' was not Sir Thomas Lucy's coat of arms." Granting, however, that Shakspere had in his youthful days mixed with " roysterers," which is far from unlikely, the offence of deer-stealing at that time was looked upon in a very diflTerent light from that in which we should now view it. The laxity of game-laws then, and the sympathy with which popu- lar feeling regarded the act, re-echoed only the sentiments rendered popular by the constant singing of the Robin Hood ballads ; and viewed such adventures much as we should regard the boyish robbing of an orchard. The plays and pomes of the period abound with the expression of similar sentiments. In the play of Th& Merry Devil of Edmonton, mine Host and Sir John the Priest both join in the fun of deer-stealing ; the Host declaring, " I'll have a buck till I die, I'll slay a doe while I live." Reputation was not lost by such outbreaks ; and Shakspere might have stolen a deer without any serious consequences. It is commonly related at the time as often done. Malone has quoted many passages to prove this ; and in Reynolds' Epigrammasticon, 1642, occurs the following lines, which are conclusive : " Harry and I, in youth long since, Did doughty deeds, but some nonsense : We read our books, we sang our song, We stole a deer, who tliought it wrong 7 To cut a purse deserves but banging, To steel a deer deserves but batigingJ r^'ff^^^**^^tt*f^**ff^^^ 38 THE HOME OF SHAKSPERE. ? Shakspere may therefore have stolen a deer; Sir Thomas may ^ have treated the matter a little more seriously than was generally I the wont with those who only judged of other's property ; but the I vindictiveness and ill-feeling of the whole story is the invention of I more modern times. Sir Thomas appears to have been an exem- ^ \ plary country gentleman. He died Aug. 18, 1600, and is buried in Charlecote Church, a short distance from the family seat. His effigy, and that of his wife, are sculptured there. They are exe- cuted in a masterly manner, and may be considered as careful ^ portraits. That of the knight has been given by Ireland, but his I copy has no resemblance to the original. The cut here engraved 5 is a more careful copy of a finer head than any Justice Shallow ^ could show. That Sir Thomas had an equally fine heart, the epi- Z taph on the black slab in the recess at the back of the tomb will shew. I With singular good taste his own name is not mentioned ; but his i I l^.^y'^.A^v^.A^^A^^^^./A^jNM.^y^.^.^^.A^.^^^v^^^vs/s^.rA/'rfy^.A^^^^A^.A^./v^A.A^^y^^^r^./^v^^v^^.^^^AA*^^ -^A<5> 39 > *f^f-f-t*.rr-rr^f<***f-t^ ^*^^^-r-f^.ff't^'f*^,f^-ftj^'*^'*^*~/-t-**^*^t**fr^-f-^^rf*^ X THE HOME OF SHAKSPERE. 43 ■wife's virtues are recorded in the following touching and beautiful inscription : HERE ENTOMBED LYETH THE LADY JOYCE LUCY, WIFE OF SIR THOMAS LUCY, OF CHERLECOTE, IN THE COUNTY OF WARWICK, KNIGHT, DAUGHTER AND HEIR OF THOMAS ACTON, OF SUTTON, IN THE COUNTY OF WORCESTER, ESQUIER, WHO DEPARTED OUT OF t THIS WRETCHED WORLD TO HER HEAVENLY KINGDOME, THE TENTH DAY OF FEBRUARY, IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD GOD 1595, OF HER AGE LX. AND THREE. ALL THE TIME OF HER LIFE A TRUE AND FAITHFUL SERVANT OF HER GOOB GOD, NEVER DETECTED OF ANY CRIME OR VICE ; IN RELIGION MOST SOUND J IN LOVE TO HER HUS- BAND MOST FAITHFULL AND TRUE ; IN FRIENDSHIP MOST CON- STANT ; TO WHAT WAS IN TRUST COMMITTED TO HER MOST SECRET ; IN WISDOME excelling; in GOVERNING OF HER HOUSE, AND BRING- ING UP OF YOUTH IN THE FEARE OF GOD THAT DID CONVERSE WITH HER, MOST RARE AND SINGULAR. A GREAT MAINTAINER OF HOSPI- TALITY ; GREATLY ESTEEMED OF HER BETTERS ; MISLIKED OF NONE UNLESS OF THE ENVIOUS. WHEN ALL IS SPOKEN THAT CAN BE SAID, A WOMAN SO FURNISHED AND GARNISHED WITH VIRTUE, AS NOT TO BE BETTERED, AND HARDLY TO BE EQUALLED BY ANY. AS Z SHE LIVED MOST VIRTUOUSLY, SO SHE DYED MOST GODLY. SET ^ DOWN BY HIM THAT BEST DID KNOW WHAT HATH BEEN WRITTEN ^ TO BE TRUE. THOMAS LUCY. Respected be the memory of Sir Thomas ! A boyish outbreak, if rebuked harshly in a moment of irritability, was, we are sure, forgiven and forgotten by Shakspere, whom we know to have been in friendly communication with the family afterAvards. The dignity 44 Ttiiii mm^ or NMAKNfKHiii 'I'liiw iImhi wiMMliiiji wliuy hwM (*VMM liM«HMii(i iiHH'^ Hi'iuly tlMml in ivn «il.|ulnln|| Ittimlily, whm'M *vw mi'm MMi'lHlii il. (mmiIiI iml- Iim (run. l^wU lH'M(ik(i I'Mili is iimrlf II»m nmmiim of llin M*[«hiil, hiiiI IrttlmMl mt^i'^vfiii thti hunpMi'ti litdgii lh»irp, ill wliiiili Hli«l(W|»Mrt» wmw iMuirtiiml wlitiii t'MMIilll '•' '♦>'=* iMWlMWWMiittS, TllP llMUr |«mU Hi lllMWHUlM )»Ih»iuiuiM(Jt»upPfl of Nmliw|»mVi* i' deiM'M Hi Nli'Hlitu'd, iul iia {^\\Hi il qulul, ^vulh liy lltu Htdd |>i«l)i Otftl IPiidM 111 ANNIi) IIATII WVAVN ('()'|"|'A(Hi). Ily (|(iM t^Mihvity Ihu I'uul itiiiui Imvu oIImm wwiulniMd \\\ Ihn *JVt»n« i»»tf to his 'Mndy^lovp." it iw <» jdnHmut wftlk-«=^ft n\mi ioIIm ftwii Nlwl(i4i'd, iiuini Hud liiJiuriuid im tlm IhimIwi^hIim wlii»di lutJulm llit» MyM nil wnmudi uovn llMld^i, wud |Hv«tio'p iMud, himI Biuiy tHnowj tl«»* t\mU old-tUMhlooMd ^i\U\m of WhoHi»t'y i^ptbcp i thp wood-^miiosom« tid Imm(mmi4 nf Nlwirtu'd Utihiud i wh^vp t^'Oiu Hinoug tlin Uvi^n wliootn M|i Him MJnyiMd wniro of oop of llit» uiowt l^uwutihil of om* iMumtry iduH'idiMH, Hludloiy t*hood« with old lu\lf-Hiol»oi't»d huuntiM \ nod ou*i now IV lilllti I'lmd wido inn, onllod **'IMim NlmU|>oi'*i," ia » phimIhI p*t-« ttn^jdM, Hnd wtwnds hpwidn tlm tttild pHili ut Hw omnmtinotimynt of tht» l^tm lomiin^ to Anno'i^ Umm^ INntopudoi^' down (lou innt^i \vp p this room, and which has been already noticed. Upon an old table I beneath the window, " M * H " is carved ; all indicative of the pro- \ prietors. Mr. Knight says: "The Shottery property, which was 5 called Hewland, remained with the descendants of the Hathaways i till 1838." The present resident in this central tenement is the i granddaughter of John Hathaway Taylor ; a relative, whose Bible, ? dated 1776, still lies on the dresser. He was a man Avho cared little for relics, or the ^associations connected with the house, which was then seldom visited. The furniture, and a full service of antique pewter, which had garnished the dresser for many years, in his time disappeared. When Ireland visited this cottage in 1792, he speaks ,^ 50 THE HOME OF SHAKSPERE. 51 of the descendants of the family as " poor and numerous ;" and at this time he saw and purchased an old oak chair, which he has engraved in I his Picturesque Views on the Avon, \ and which is here copied. He says \ it was called " Shakspere's courting 5 chair." With a similar desire to ^ please relic-lovers to that which has X been already shewn to ha\ e once ex- % isted in Shakspere's birthplace con- % cerning the chair there, this chair, al- "i. though long since gone, has a succes- I sor dignified by the same name, in an ^ old settle in the passage through the house, and which has but one ^ old bit of wood, the seat, in it. It is but fair to add, that those I who are sceptical are not met by bold assertions of its genuine ^ ness, although there be no denial of its possible claim to that I quality ; but all credulous and believing persons are allowed the X full benefit of their faith. In addition to Shakspere's chair, Ireland \ was shewn " a purse which had been likewise his, and handed down f from him to his granddaughter Lady Barnard, and from her to the \ Hathaway family," then existing. At the time of the Stratford Ju- I bilee, George, the brother of David Garrick, purchased from the old ^ lady who then lived here, an inkstand and a pair of fringed gloves, X said to have been worn by Shakspere. David, with his usual care- i fulness, purchased no such doubtful ware. The bed-room over this parlor is ascended by a ladder-like stair ; and here stands an old carved bedstead, certainly as old as the Shaksperian era. It is elaborately and tastefully executed, and has been handed down as an heir-loom with the house. In Ireland's \ time, the old woman of the house, Avho was then upwards of seventy, I 52 THE HOME OF SHAKStERE. I declared that she had slept in the bed from her childhood, and was ^ always told it had been there since the house was built. Whether I there in Anne's time, or brought there since, it is ancient enough I for her or her family to have slept in, and adds an interest to the quaint bed-room in the roof. In a Chest beside it is a pillow-case and sheet, marked " E. H.,'' and ornamented with open-work down the centre ; they are of home-spun fabric, the work of " the spin- ster " when single country girls earned the name. The back-view of the house is more picturesque than the iron one. The ground rises from the road to a level with the back-door. Tall trees overshadow it, and a rltstic stile beside them leads into a meadow, where stands some cottages as old as the home of the Hathaways. There is much to interest the student-lover of the old ^ rural life of England in Shottery. I From the period of Shakspere's marriage to that of his retirement i ftom London, thefe is nothing to connect him with Stratford and its neighborhood. We must look elsewhere But with the natural love of a true-hearted man, we find that he made his native town the [ home he visited whenever he had the opportunity, and chose for his I place ro retirement when the busy metropolitan duties he had fulfilled \ ensured him competence. I NEW PLACE, \ \ the house he had purchased at the early age of thirty-three, he died ^ \ at that of fifty-two. " He was wont to go to his native country ^ once a year," says Aubrey ; and he had so intimately connected \ himself with Stratford by the purchase of property and other things, ^ that his mind was evidently fixed on that town with an endearing ; \ affection through life, and which led him to look towards it as his ; resting-place. New Place, we are informed by Dugdale, was : < 53 *>^A^^^«^^» A^.A^^>^y^«#>/^^^A«s4V^ ^^A^A/./y^^^^^»^ > ^>^>/'»/^/^r.A/>^^/./^<^A^^AV^^^r^^.^^V^/^wr^^ i THE HOME OF SHAKSPERE. 55 originally erected by Sir Hugh Clopton, temp. Henry VH. It was, he says, " a fair house, built of brick and timber.'^ It was sold to the Underbill family, and was purchased from them by Shakspere in I 1597, who having repaired and modelled it to his own mind, changed ^ the name to New Place, which it retained until its demolition, I Shakspere, by his will, gave it to his daughter, Mrs. Hall, for her I life, and then to her daughter Elizabeth, afterwards Lady Barnard. \ On her death it was sold to Sir Edward Walker, whose only ^ daughter marrying Sir John Clopton, it again came into the hands I of its ancient possessors. Sir John gave it to his younger son, Sir ? Hugh, who resided in it during the latter part of his life, and died ^ there in Dec. 1751. By him the mansion was repaired, and a \ modern front built to it; and here, in 1742, he entertained Macklin, I Garrick, and Dr. Delany, beneath the mulberry-tree which Shakspere had planted in the garden. By Sir Hugh's son-in-law the mansion was sold, in 1753, to the Rev. F. Gastrell, a man of unhappy temper, who being annoyed by visitors requesting to see the mulbery-tree' ruthlessly cut it down in 1756, to save himself the trouble of I shewing it. This rendered him exceedingly unpopular in the town, i and he resided there but seldom ; but the house being rated as if he I constantly lived there, in a fit of ill-humor, he declared that that \ house should never be assessed again, — he pulled it down, sold the ^ materials, and left the town universally execrated. 5 There are no views of the house as it was in Shakspere's time. ^ The view engraved so frequently is an imposition. Malone first I published it, " from an ancient survey," in which it is not stated to I 5 represent New Place, or any other place in particular. He ordered i i the discoverer of this survey, Mr. Jordan of Stratford, to add the \ \ arms of Shakspere over the door, because " they were likely to have I I been there !" and to add " neat wooden pales " in front. To which ^ ^ liberal direction Jordan added the porch! and so originated this \ I 53 THE HOME OF SHAKSPERE. i; \ I authentic picture. A view of New Place, as altered by Sir Hugh ;: Clopton, and as it appeared previous to its demolition, may be seen \ in Mr. R. B. Wheeler's « History of Stratford-on-Avon." Not a \ feature of the ancient Shaksperian residence had then been suffere \ to remain. \ X In the garden of Mr. Hunt, to whose family Mrs. Gastrell sold the site of New Place in 1775, are two fragments of the house. One is a stone lintel ; the other, a portion of sculpture, in stone i also, which may have been placed over a door. It is ornamented < with a shield, but the bearings cannot now be distinguished, ^ owing to decay. On each side are groups of flowers, also much \ injured by time. \ It is traditionally reported that the White Lion Inn was built from \ the materials of New Place. The panelling of an entire room was \ fitted up in the parlor of the Falcon Inn opposite, where it still \ remains. It exhibits a series of square sunk panels, covering the \ entire Avails, the upper row being elongated, Avith a plain cornice \ aud dentals above. From the similarity of the panel and cornice \ \ upon Avhich the portrait of Shakspere is painted, already spoken of ^ ? as standing in his birth-room, and the tradition that it was brought \ i from the White Lion Inn, it may have been also a part of the ^ I decoration of New Place when it was last " repaired and beautified." | ff^ ff-t^:t^^*^f^^^j^j'^^^-^ ^f^*^^,^*********'**-**** **~^*^*j^*^ff-f*-r*-ff-**^t*f*^*J^-f**r^f^/^r^.fj^ , THE HOME OF SHAKSPERE. 57 There is another and apparently genuine relic of New Place at present in the possession of the Court family, who own Shakspere^s house. It is a square of glass, measuring 9 inches by 7, in which a circular piece is leaded, haying the letters " W. A. S.," for Wil- liam and Ann Shakspere, lied in " a true lovers knot,^' and the date, I 1615, the year before the Poet's death, beneath. A relative of the I late Mrs. Court, whose ancestor had been employed to pull down I New Place, had saved this square of glass, but attached little value I to it. He gave it to her, but she had an honest dislike to the many \ pretenders to relics, and never shewed this glass unless it was ^ expressly requested by the few who had heard of it. She told her § story simply, made no comments and urged no belief. The letters ^ and figures are certainly characteristic ; they are painted in dark I brown outline, tinted with yellow. The border is also yellow. The \ lead is decayed, and the glass loose. It altogether appears to be as \ genuine a relic as any that have been offered. It has not been en- \ graved before. We have now but to visit I THE TOMB OF SHAKSPERE | \ in the chancel of the beautiful church of Stratford. It is placed I ^,^y^.rA/>'A/sArsAArysAr/vs/'^/AAAAA.A/srysA/sAy'/^A/.^rv/^v\/'y\^A^>A/vi/./ 58 THE HOME OF SHAKSPERE. against a blank window, on the left of the spectator as he faces the altar. How soon it was erected after the Poet's death, we cannot confidently say ; but that it was before 1623 we can ascertain from Leonard Digges verses prefixed to the first edition of the Poet's works. A half-length figure of him is placed in a niche, above is his arms ; on each side of which are seated cherubs, one holding an inverted torch, with a skull beside him, the other a spade ; on the apex above is another skull. Beneath the cushion on which the Poet is writing is inscribed : [ JVDICIO PYLIVM, GENiO SOCRAT EM ARTE MARONEM, \ TERRA TEGII* POPVLVS M^RET, OLYMPVS HABET. \ STA\, passenger; WHI^ GOEST thou by so I*AST? \ READ, IF THOV CANST, WHOM ENVIOVS DEATH HATH PLAST \ WTHIN THIS MONVMENT: SHAKSPEARE, WITH WHOME \ QVICK NATVRE DiDE *, WHOSE J^^AME DOTH DECK YS. TOMBE I FAR MORE THEN COST; SITH ALL YT, HE HATH WRITT \ LEAVES LIVING ART BVT PAGE TO SERVE HIS WITT. ? Obiit. Ano. Doi. 1616. ? ? ^tatis 53. Die 23, Ap. ? \ ^ I The half-length effigy of Shakspere was originally painted after I \ nature. The eyes were a light hazel; the hair and beard auburn. I \ The dress was a scarlet doublet slashed on the breast, over which ^ was a loose black gown without sleeves. The upper part of the I cushion was crimson, the lower green ; the cord which bound it X and the tassels were gilt. John Ward, grandfather of the Kembles, I caused the tomb to be repaired and the original colors restored in | 1748, from the profits of the performance of OtMlo. In 1793, \ \ Malone, in an evil hour, gained permission to paint it white ; and ^ I also the effigy of Shakspere's friend, John Combe, who lies beside \ \ the altar. Mr. Knight has most justly stigmatised this act as one x \ - ^....^ I THE HOME OF SHAKSPERE. 59 of " unscrupulous insolence." Certainly Malone was at much pains to ^vTite himself down an ass. We learn from Dugdale's correspondence, that the sculptor of this monument was Gerard Johnson. His work has been subjected to much criticism, particularly by such as are anxious to have Shak» spere not only a great poet, but a handsome man. This bust does not please them. Mr. Skottowe declares that it " is not only at variance with the tradition of Shakspere's appearance having been prepossessing, but irreconcilable with the belief of its ever having borne a striking resemblance to any human being." A most sweep- ing conclusion, against which most modern authors and artists have arrayed themselves. It is a curious fact that Martin Droeshout's % portrait prefixed to the folio of 1623, and beneath which, Ben John- i son has affixed verses attesting its accuracy, and which all his " fel- I lows" who aided in this edition as well as others who knew and loved \ the man could also confirm, bears a decided similarity to this bust, f Marshall seems to have depended on the same authority for the portrait he engraved for the edition of Shakspere's poems in J 640. '^ All agree in one striking feature ; the noble forehead and quiet un- ostentatious kindly expression of feature which must have belonged to " the gentle Shakspere." These early artists appear to have been literal copyists, and the bust at Stratford is the best, and I incline to 5 think the only authority to be depended on. It was probably cut i from a cast taken after death ; and it is remarkable that it stands a 5 good test phrenologically as if it had been adapted to the Poet — a ? singular instance of its truth. Another corroborative proof exists in I > what has been objected to as inaccurate, the length of the upper ^ lip ; but Sir Walter Scott, whose intellect most nearly approached > the Poet, had the same feature and the same commanding head. ^ The ghastly white paint upon the bust, the high position it occu- ^ pies in the church, and the bad light that there falls on it, hinders i r 5 ^ 60 THE HOME OF SHAKSPERE. \ ^ the due appreciation of its merits. The features are regular, nay, | ^ handsome and intelligent; but it is evident that such a head de- \ pended on its living expression, and that then it must have been emi- \ nently gentle and prepossessing. The lower part of the face, \ though inclined to be fleshy, does not injure the features, which i \ are all delicately formed, and the side-view of the head is very fine ; \ a careful copy adorns our title-page. An intent study of this bust enforces the belief, that all the manifold peculiarities of feature so characteristic of the Poet, and which no chance could have origmat- ed, and no theory account for, must have resulted from its being a transcript of the Man ; one that has received the confirmation of his own living relatives and friends, the best and only portrait to be now relied on. The gravestones of the Shakspere family lie in a row in front of the altar-rails, upon the second step leading to it. His wife's is immediately beneath his tomb. It is a flat stone, the surface in- jured by time, having a small brass plate let in it with this inscrip- tion : here given literally, as are all the other inscriptions. They have been incorrectly printed in most instances. * HERE LYETH INTERRED THE BODY OF ANNE WIFE OF WILLIAM SHAKSPEARE. WHO DEPTED THIS LIFE THE 6 DAY OF AVG : 1623. BEING OF THE AGE OF Q7 YEARES ; Vbera tu mater, tu lac vitamq, dedisti, Vse mihi pro tanto munere Saxa dabo, Quam mallem amoveat lapidem bonus Angel' ore' Exeat Christi corpus imago tua ; Sed nil vota valent, venias cito Christe, resurget, Clausa licet tumulo mater, et estra petet. r^.f^^^f*^^-^.f^ S m <: K w K O o o * £ d s'5 ^ ni M m -I s Si 'i 2 3 -^ £ c S 5 g 5 © W O tn *J O *; S CO '© i » ^ c 1^ tj _e re OS tj u ^ ^ s o £i 5 o 03 aj >- >" r- J3 "I -: ^ o g « -C Co ■cd o ■;: ^ ■^ « >. ^ - 11 ^ ^ S CM C O -^^ ^ t-l ^ "li 61 "i oT H H .. S « „ O M "* « i- H w 5 " ss S » « o a a o : g ^ > S K^ ? i g S J : d s >. !6 « >• i s S «H>. t,^ < 1 : " * H fei ; « > ^ £ a S S " >- S H n Pw i H « H W g c- " s P^ u. o « *- m D 5 S U W O H O O J Q <: una ■^ ffi m ^ tq H g E^ 2 O 3 o B C5 t 2 > S "^ s i bT Q i « =* O H 02 O >< N •- •< s -i ^- ^ -5 >2-5 i > < O iff ^ 1 H • .J H < o < c £ S 5 Is "i^-i^ffj \ 'v:;?,^! m^ o w A H X •<1 „ -^ 3 a, i-S2 e 5 1 s. M H ^ Q s > : a S X C ■< a Q H B Fata mane vt neq d Abstulit, e si periw 62 r^A^ysr^^^.A/VN/'A^Wy THE HOME OF SHAKSPERE. 63 Next comes that placed over the body of the Poet. It is right here to state that the four lines upon it have been generally printed with an absurd mixture of great and small letters: it is here care- fully reduced from a rubbing taken on the stone. The only pecu- liarity it possesses ovelr ordinary inscriptions is the abbreviation for the word that, and the grouping together of some of the letters after the fashion of a monogram. Other instances of similar usages are common in inscriptions of the same age. There is a traditionary story, bearing date 1693, which says, " His wife and daughters did earnestly desire to be laid in the same grave with him," but that " not one for fear of the curse above said dare touch his gravestone." Next to that of Shakspere lies a stone commemorating the rest- ing-place of Thomas Nash, who married the only daughter of the Poet's daughter Susanna ; this lady afterwards married Sir John Barnard, and died at Abington, near Northampton, in 1670, in whom the direct line of the Poet's issue ceased. Dr. John Hall, her father, lies next ; and last comes Susanna, his wife. The whole of the rhyming part of her epitaph had been obliterated, and upon the place was cut an inscription to the memory of one Richard Watts. This has in its turn been erased, and the original inscription restored by lowering the surface of the stone and recutting the letters. The tombs of Hall and Nash have also been renovated by deepening the letters and recutting the armorial bearings, which has been done 64 TfJE HOME or SHAKSPE^i;. under the judicious and careful superintendence of R. B. Wheler, Esq., of Stratford, and the sole expense of the Rev. W. Harness, whose public-spirjted and honorable act deserves as much praise as Malone's miserable meddling does reprobation, I # ^ Such are the relics, genuine and supposititious, and the localities \ which connect themselves with the history of " the world's Poet" at I Stratford. It has been the object of the author of this unpretending I hand-book to collect, engrave and describe all that could be found, I and which no work of greater pretensions has yet done so com- i pletely. The drawings have all been placed upon the wood by his I own hand, and engraved under his superintendence. Several visits I to Stratford have enabled him to obtain many drawings and many f facts of a local character not elsewhere set down. In this world of Z change and fancied improvement such records may be useful, par- I ticularly when they are connected with one who has most honored 1 his native land by his writings, and of whom Englishmen have \ most reason to be proud! 2 ^' Triumph, my Britain ! thou hast one to show, I - To whom all scenes of Europe homage owe. Z He was not of an age, but for all time; < And all the Muses still were in their prime, I • When, like Apollo, he came forth to warm Our ears, or like a Mercury to charm. Nature herself was proud of his designs, And joy'd lo wear the dressing of his lines." B. JONSON. THE END. r^4Vs>vs^J^^/^A«r<^v^r.^^v^r^^.r^^^A^^V'^^^^/^ THE HOME OF SHAKSPERE Sllustrat^ir ani OeBrribeir. BY F. W. FAIRHOLT, F.S.A. AUTHOR OF '^CQSTUME IN ENQLAND," ETC, THIRT Y-^THREE ENGRAVINGS, NewpYork: WILLIAMS BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS, NASSAU-STREET. 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