V , A ^ : ^ oV" ' a\ N c , V, V o ,* V . v ' o 0' / I ,0o y r: **• % ■ \> - v vK % = - r % & c° N G * V o^ ^ ; ^ ,vV ^ ' ' « <& •'^ ^ • •• ' ^ w > c * ^ -^ c^> <^ 3s. •^ x 0> 0> ./-,. A ' * ' "' <^ £ **. aV - V V ^ v * ° /■ C' \ > A^ ^ ,f ,0 o ' %> *be - ^ 'V 0>' - $ ; t ". ^ ■ ^ "V •^ " $• >*% ^ ^'% - j <> ^ ^ <> 5? a i> ,-fc '^ * ■> y - -civ $xontk$mz. " O on a \ S. a Spear. O. Crest a Falcon, wings display'd, ' A, supporting a Spear in |. O. Granted 20 October, 1596, to 1 JOHN SHAKESPERE, of Stratford-upon-Avon, in Com. Warr., Gent., ' per Will. Dethick." — {Index Coll. Arm.) SHAKESPERE'S HOME AT STRATFORD-UPON-AVON. Being a Hifiory of the "Great Jtfoufe" built in the Reign of King Henry VII., 2^£-Sir Hugh Clopton, Knight, and fubfequentli£tke property of William Shakespere, Gent., whei%idie lived and died. BY J. C. M. BELLEW. Imprynted in London, FOR VIRTUE BROTHERS AND CO., i, Amen Corner, Paternoster Row. mdccclxiii. ?P ,V^ T> TO THE REVEREND GRANVILLE JOHN GRANVILLE, B.C.L., Vicar of Stratford-upon-Avon. My Dear Vicar, Allow me to Dedicate to you the following Account of New Place, which would- never have been written but for your hofpitality. To you, and to cur friend, Mr. Hunt, I, and a little circle of friends, have, on two occafions, been under great obligations in making pilgrimages to Stratford. If you can fpend half-an-hour pleafantly with me, I hope you will receive my little Book as an affurance of my lively recollection of the happy hours which I have owed to you. That you may, in recruited health, long live to guard that Shrine which is com- mitted to your keeping, and to enjoy the affectionate refpect of your Parifhioners, and troops of Friends, is, My dear Vicar, The fincere wifh of Your much obliged, J. C. M. BELLEW. Thames Cottage, Hampton, JS'eiv Yeai^s Day, 1863. PREFACE. /~\N entering a Continental Cathedral ^^^ the traveller's attention is arretted by an iron Corona ftudded with burning tapers. They are the humble offerings of devotees. The following pages are my humble offering at the fhrine of that intellectual edifice, io vaft in proportion and fo lovely in detail, which our Shakefpere erected by his works. Let me ftand where the iron Corona does, clofe to the portal, holding my feet in reverence, and not venturing to tread, with any pretence of critical furvey, the long drawn aifles of that ftupendous ftruclure which aftonifhes and delights the mafter minds of our race. viii Preface, race. I mall not need to be told that the " farthing-candle ray " is a very appro- priate fimile to charadterife the following pages. It is fo. But let me pray that it be not blown out, or muffed out, with cruel heedlelfnefs (puffed, of courfe, it is not likely to be), becaufe, though its quantity of illuminating power be but a " little " inch of light," fo far as it does extend, I believe it difperfes fome darknefs, and may prove ufeful in giving other pil- grims to the fhrine, a momentary glimpfe of dim diftances, which may excite curiofity, and the defire to explore their hidden receffes. In fimple language, I believe a great many facts regarding Shakefpere remain to be brought to light ; and that, while the critic or fcholar has little left to fay that is frefh or new regarding his works, the antiquary may have a great deal to difcover and to fay regarding the man. It Preface. ix It is remarkable what a labour of love has been expended by many eminent men of my own profeffion upon the works of the Poet. In their wake I have not dared to follow ; but I mail have done fome good, I truft, if I detect a need and point it out, fo that others, wifer, and better than I, may provide for its fatisfaction. The title of my book fuggefts a fubject upon which there refts the darknefs of an almoft pro- found ignorance. What do we know of the man Shakefpere in his home — in his domeftic, focial, moral character, in his home affociations and his home afTo- ciates ; — nay ! what have we cared to know of him in them ? Let not the reader be deceived, and tempted into reading my book by fup- pofing that I pretend to lift the veil, and with my tiny taper to illuminate the darknefs. I do not. But I do try to make x Preface. make the darknefs vifible ; and to the beft of my opportunities, I have ftriven to caft a little light upon fcattered points, and fome few fafts, which I think have not previoufly been published. The ableft and moft learned man would fpeak with modefty and hefitation regarding any work he might publifh re- ferring to Shakefpere. It is with the moft iincere diffidence that I venture to let the following pages pafs through the Prefs ; but I take courage to do fo from the belief, that every one who will honour me by reading what I have written, will fee that I have honeftly laboured at the facts of my fubjecT:, and that the opinions I venture to exprefs, are alfo honeftly put forth. If I extend this Preface to an inordi- nate length, it is from my anxiety to have my object underftood — or, at leaft, not mifunderftood. The Preface, xi The Pedigrees introduced in this work have coft an infinity of labour, which, the uninterefted or uninitiated, would never fuppofe, in glancing over their ftatiftical defcents. It would be unfair to criticile them as if they bore the im- primatur of a King-at-Arms. Herald's College will only fmile on them as the productions of a tyro. So they are. But, whatever amount of light they give, the flint and fteel have been my own. Ut varias ufus meditando extunderet artes Paulatim, * * * * Etjilicis venis abftrufum excuderet ignem. I believe I am turning inquiry in a ufeful, and much neglected direction, by preffing fuch pedigrees upon the confideration of thofe who are curious in Shakefperian inveftigations. My reafons for fo doing will be found in the body of my work. Whether I have laboured to a purpofe and xii Preface, and done good, or laboured in vain, I leave others to judge. To the Clopton Pedigree I muft draw particular attention, and efpecially to that branch of it referring to the Combes family. In the Appendix (Article, " Combes ") the reader will learn the difficulties and perplexities encountered : and will, I am certain, give me credit for a painftaking purfuit of my object, and hold me pardonable if I mould be found hereafter to have made any miftakes. In the Appendix, likewife, will be found many curious facts reflecting upon the perfons to whom reference is made, which I confidered could not be legiti- mately introduced into the body of my work. The lingular difcovery made, with regard to the man Bott (Appendix A, p. 341), will explain how it came to pafs that New Place was originally fold. " ^uif'excufe, f'accufe ! " If io 9 my excufes Preface, xiii excufes muft amount to felf-accufation ; but of one thing I do not accufe myfelf, and that is, of thankleffnefs to the various friends who have given me their help, To Mr. T. Duffus Hardy, Deputy Keeper of Public Records ; Mr. Burtt, and Mr. Cole of the Record Office ; to Mr. Planch^ and his confreres at Herald's College; to the Vicar of Stratford, his Curates, and William Butcher, the Parifh Clerk ; to Mr. Clarence Hopper, in making a variety of refearches for me; to Mr. Hunt, Town Clerk of Stratford, in patiently enduring my endlefs letters and inquiries ; — to thefe gentlemen, and to a number of others, whofe kindnefs has had my private thanks, (becaufe they object to being mentioned here,) I am greatly and fincerely indebted. Let me offer my thanks likewife to another perfon. To John Middleton, Attendant in the Reading-Room of the Britifh Mufeum, not xiv Preface. not only of late, but for years, I have been indebted for conflant attention. I thank him. moft heartily; and think I do myfelf honour when I go a ftep out of my way to mark the obligations, which thofe who frequent the Britifh Mufeum, the Record Office, the Will Office, and all other fuch public inftitutions, owe to the courtefy always extended to readers and fearchers, not only by the fuperior officers of thofe places, but alfo by their humbler affirmants. I mall be pleafed, if, on doling my book, any of my readers feel a freshened intereft in the Man — William Shakefpere; and above all, I mail be beft fatisfied if they are led to think with me, that this Prince of Poets was a worthier and better man than we vulgarly account him ; that Shakefpere's Home is a fubjecl deferving our ftudy and rerpect ; and that he was no hypocritical mouther of fine fenti- ments Preface. xv ments, inditing with his pen the nobleft and loftieft teaching, and belying it in the conduct of his life. I conceive that no one can teach effectively, that which he has not himfelf felt earneftly ; nor until good can be put for evil, and evil for good, can I bring myfelf to think that the pureft intellec- tual refrefhment of a race thirfting after knowledge, pours from a polluted fource. I picture Shakefpere to myfelf as an em- bodiment of the manly, honeft, and lofty virtues, which his Mufe delights to crown with honour ; and half my rever- ence for him would be gone if I did not feel morally convinced that the greateft of all human teachers, was not only a Great Man, but alfo a Good Man ! *^.* As Shakefpere's name has been fpelt by fo many different people in fo many different ways, I may remark that the orthography I have adopted is that of the Grant of Arms in Herald's College, 1596 5 believing, as I do, that the fpelling in that document was dictated by Shakeipere to Dethick. CORRIGENDA. Page 205. — "no one could/' read " no one would." Page 205. — "Gilrow," read " Gildon." Page 218. — "thofe years enjoying," read " thofe years as enjoying." Page 230. — " Revels," read " Revel." NEW PLACE, Stratford-upon-Avon. %*******%**********%**%*X%%%%%%%%%% ^^^ " was a Fair Houfe, built of brick " and timber, by the faid Hugh, wherein " he lived in his later dayes and dyed. " On the fouth fide of which Chapell " {lands the Grammar School." Thefe words, quoted from Dugdale's "War- " wickfhire," and referring to Sir Hugh Clopton, Knt., were, until the other day, the chief record porTeffed by Englishmen of New Place, of the houfe in which William Shake- fpere alio "lived in his later days, and " died." At length the ftones prate of his whereabout, and it feems defirable to lay their information before the public. Every one, even remotely interefted in the fubjecl:, is aware, that a fhort time back, the land on which Shakefpere's houfe was known to have flood (ufually denominated " Shakefpere's Garden," and, as fuch, pointed out to perfons vifiting Stratford-upon-Avon,) was for fale. It is equally well known that an appeal was made to the public by Mr. Halliwell [vide The Times, October 15, 1861], and that the plot of land in queftion, was refcued from the grafp of private {pecu- lators, or fhowmen, to be verted in the charge of truftees, and by them to be prefer ved for ever — fet apart, and, in effect, confecrated to the memory of the man who lived there, happily accordant with Stratford-upon-Avon, with the prayer expreffed in Garrick's words : — " And may no sacrilegious hand Near Avon s banks be found, To dare to parcel out the land, And limit Shahespere s hallowed ground. For ages free, still he it unconfined, As broad and general as thy boundless mind'' As foon as the fympathy of the public for the object in queftion was exhibited, the ambition of its promoters expanded as the fubferiptions increafed; and nothing lefs than the full and entire recovery of the eftate once porTeiTed by Shakefpere at New Place, would fatisfy thefe ardent and enthuiiaftic individuals. Goldfmith complained (to Dodfley after dinner) that his was an " unpoetic "age." There are many chatterers of the prefent day who repeat the com- plaint, which feems to have become ftereotyped for all time. It was a foolifh thought New Place, thought to fay "an unpoetic age/' for every age rnuft feem to the men of the day matter of fact and unpoetic. To-day always appears profaic ; yefterday and to- morrow — fubjects of retrofpection and anticipation, not objects in poffeffion — are the fit themes for poetry. Goldfmith's age, however profaic it may have feemed, gave him good proof of its poetic appre- ciation ; and fo our age (iron age though it may be) gives equally good proof of its admiration for the real poet and for ge- nuine poetry, wherever it finds the one, or reads the other. If the true poet lives in the hearts and memories of his countrymen, how much more the Prince of all the Bards ? There are thofe who will boldly affert that Shakefpere's works do not attract, and that people generally, care little or nothing about Shakefpere himfelf. It is not to the purpofe in this place to enter into Stratford-upon-Avon. 5 into any difcuffion upon fuch topics. It might, however, be argued that the ftudents of his works have found them- felves compelled (unlefs contented with being guilty of ignorance) to make the Poet's plays the companions of the clofet ; and that from the ftudent's clofet the moft valuable interpretations of his text have iffued of late years. Such an argu- ment would infer that the marvellous creations of the Poet's mind command peculiar reipect at the prefent time ; and it may be unhefitatingly aflerted, that abundant evidence is forthcoming to prove that this is a fact. There has not been an era in Englifh litera- ture more fruitful in labours of critical comment upon the text of Shakefpere, and more inquiring into every fort of evidence likely to throw light upon his life and hiftory. It might alfo be argued, that the people of England are juft New Place, juft as proud of, and juft as interefted in, the fame of their countryman — are juft as anxious to preferve with facred care every relique and memento of the brighter!: genius the world has ever produced, as any of their forefathers have been. Cir- cumftances, perhaps, would warrant the affertion that the prefent generation ex- hibits more intereft in him, and more reverence for everything connected with him, than any other fince his death. The fentiment of George II., that Shakefpere's plays are bombaft, no longer commands courtly acquiefcence ; and the Carlton Houfe fafhion of depreciating his works (particularly by thofe who had never ftudied them) is a fafhion that has had its day. Doubtlefs, the confervative feel- ing of this period with reference to the Poet's birthplace, his laft refidence, and the few reliques connected with him that furvive, has been operated upon by that Stratford-upon-Avon. that revival of tafte for architecture, and that reverence for mediaeval art, which does honour to the reign of Victoria, and will hereafter fignalife it. The hiftorian will tell how, from the fixteenth to the nineteenth century, the ecclefiaftical archi- tecture of England univerfally, and the domeftic generally, became bafer and ftill more bafe ; until, towards the clofe of the Georgian era, it reached a depth of de- gradation (land-marked by the introduc- tion of Roman Cement and Cockney Villas) than which nothing could be more infamous. The fame hiftorian will tell of the great work that Pugin did, of the confequent refufcitation of tafte, and of love for architectural beauty becoming a neceffary part of polite education. He will tell how (as the legitimate accompa- niments of fuch regenerated refinement) the Englifh people awoke to the convic- tion that the fabrics of their churches had 8 New Place, had been at the mercy of Goths and Vandals, and that the moft inter eft ing hiftorical remains of domeftic architecture had been lhameleffly deftroyed or barba- roufly mutilated. Then came the Refto- ration : a reftoration in its particular pro- vince more beneficial and remedial than fome chronological events defignated by that phrafe have proved. To the therapeutic fpirit, fo happily prevalent in England at the prefent period regarding mediaeval art, may fairly be attri- buted fome meafure of the intereft, and a great amount of the funds, which have been fubfcribed to reftore the birthplace of Shakefpere, in Henley Street, at Strat- ford ; and alfo to fave his laft place of refidence from being utilifed for " build- " ing lots," or vulgarifed by any fpeculative Barnum. For fome months the fubject has dropped out of public notice. The terrific calamity Stratford-upon-Avon. calamity at Hartley Colliery, and the incumbent fubfcriptions of all generous and charitable people, for the widows and orphans of the deceafed ; the heavy vifi- tation upon the Queen and country, fol- lowed by the Memorial Fund ; and laft of all, the increafing want of our long- fuffering and brave fellow-countrymen in Lancafhire, calling for the admiration and fympathetic contributions of thofe who can aid them in their dire neceffity, have, for a period, checked any appeals to public fympathy, except thofe of an urgent character. In the face of fuch griefs and fuch wants, it was impoffible for the Shake- ipere Fund fubfcription lift to keep its place before the public. It has, probably for this reafon, been temporarily with- drawn. If fo, the act has been judicious. While the fubjecl: is in abeyance, it may be well to confider what has been done with io New Place, with the money fubfcribed, becaufe a judicious expenditure already made, would be the beft bafis of appeal to the public for further moneys to meet future outlays. It is familiar to every one, that Shake- fpere's refidence at Stratford was called " New Place." There are popular errors in exiftence, both about the place, and the name of the place. It may be accept- able to the reader if a few fads. are thrown together to tell its hiftory, which will be no information to thofe who have been interefted in New Place, but may be inftrudive to many not " read up" in the fubjed. New Place came from, and returned to, the family of Clopton. The Clop- tons pofferTed it long prior to Shakefpere's time, and repofferTed it by intermarriage (fubfequent to Shakefpere's time) with a daughter of Sir Edward Walker. Dugdale (as quoted) ftates that the houfe Stratford-upon-Avon. 1 1 houfe was built by Sir Hugh Clopton, of brick and timber. Sir Hugh lived in the reign of Henry VII. The general ap- pearance of the building can be eafily imagined, though there is no drawing of it in exijience. The plate on the oppofite page gives a reprefentation of a houfe built about the fame time that Sir Hugh Clopton erected " New Place." It prefents to us the front elevation of " Ockwells," in the parifli of Bray, Berkfhire, at prefent porTeffed by Mr. Grenfell, of Taplow. This houfe is stated to have been built during the reign of Richard III., and is one of the very few fpecimens of domeftic architecture now remaining of that date. The Great Hall, until lately, was adorned by a beautiful ftained-glafs window, emblazoned with the armorial bearings of Henry VII., and the Duke of Somerfet ; but, in a fpirit akin to Vandalifm, this moft interefting rem- nant 12 New Place, nant of antique heraldry has been removed from its proper place, and fixed up in Mr. GrenfelPs new houfe, on Taplow Hill. It will not furprife the public, knowing this fact, to learn that Ockwells is turned into an ordinary farm-houfe ; that its architectural intereft and artiftic beauty, as well as antiquity, are apparently unappreciated ; and that its noble hall, with open-worked Gothic roof and oak wainfcoting, is made a ploughboy's lumber-room, filled with agricultural im- plements, ploughs, fpades, facks, barrows, and rakes.* The accompanying drawing of Ockwells has been given in order to prefent a faithful reprefentation of a " great houfe, built of wood and timber," of the time of Henry VII. It is only to be * An unfatisfactory hiftory of the houfe, accompanied with two admirable drawings of the window referred to, will be found in Lyfon's *' Magna Britannica," Berkfhire, Bray, parifh of. Stratford-upon-Avon. 1 3 be regarded as a fpecimen of a period, from which Sir Hugh Clopton's houfe would no doubt differ greatly in detail, but with which it would agree in cha- racter and effect. The lovers of " illuftrated works " have been indulged with a plate repre- fenting Shakefpere's houfe at New Place ; but a drawing of a caftle in the air would have been equally authoritative and correct. This is one error concerning New Place that needs to be exploded. No authentic reprefentation of it exifts. When Dugdale ufes the words "brick " and timber," and tells us that the houfe was built in the reign of Henry VII., any one who has vifited Coventry, Chefter, Shrewfbury, or the " Mint" at Briftol, will be able, in his mind's eye, to picture the general appearance of Shakefpere's houfe, with its multiplied gables, its over- hanging eaves, its barge-boards, enriched with 14 New Place, with the Tudor flower-ornament (as at the Coventry Almfhoufe), its projecting windows, its ftrong framework of crofs- beamed, black, old Englifh oak forming the ribs or fkeleton of the houfe, the inter- vening fquares built in with brick (pro- bably plaftered over and whitewafhed), its wooden porchway, open-arcaded, with a room above, whofe oriel windows dis- played the falcon and tilting fpear. Of that houfe, which Sir Hugh Clop- ton built, and in which Shakelpere fub- fequently lived and died, not a veftige remained but yefterday. Like the infub- ftantial pageant (of the Poet's play), not a rack was left behind, as far as any living man could tell. Shakefpere's Barn may, in a certain fenfe, be faid to have exifted up to 1861. In that year a couple of cottages occu- pying that portion of New Place garden which adjoins the theatre on the weft, were Stratford-upon-Avon. 1 5 were taken down, having, in the firft inftance, been photographed, and then ftripped to the framework of which they were constructed. Thefe cottages had been contrived by fubdividing the ancient barn belonging to Shakeipere. On re- moving the thatch, the lath and platter work from between the beams, and re- ducing the building to its fkeleton ftruc- ture, it was found that, in the lapfe of two centuries and a half, all the timbers of the barn had, from time to time, been replaced, with the exception of fome three or four (mall beams. Thefe were the fole remains of the Poet's Barn. The recent purchafe of New Place led to a feries of excavations, and the difcoveries which have refulted, (though not very extenfive.) are extremely inte- refting, and definitely fettle feveral points which, heretofore, have been fubjecls of furmife and fpeculation. The 1 6 New Place, The leading facts regarding New Place are thefe : i ft. New Place was built by Sir Hugh Clopton, temp, Henry VII., circ. 1490. He died in London, 1496, and being a bachelor, devifed it to his great-nephew, William Clopton, who died in 1521. 2nd. From the Clopton family it paffed by purchafe to the family of Bott, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, 1563.* 3rd. By Willian Bott it was refold to Wm. Underhill, within a fhort ipace of time, between 1563 and 1570.*!* 4th. William Shakeipere purchafed from the Underhill family, for £60, New Place, confifting of " one merTuage, u two barns, and two gardens, with " their appurtenances," during the Eafter Term of 1597, in the 39th year of the reign of Queen Eliza- beth, * Appendix A. f Appendix B. Stratford-upon - Avon. 1 7 beth, and the year after his only fon, Hamnet, had died. By him it was repaired, renovated, and fitted up for his permanent refidence. 5th. March, 161 6. Shakefpere made his will, leaving it to his daughter, Mrs. Hall, for life ; after her, to her daughter. The month following, April 23, 1616, his reputed birth- day, he died in this houfe, and was buried two days later, on the 25th, in the 53 rd year of his age. It was a happy accident that the reign of Queen Elizabeth had begun before the birth of the Poet, otherwife this country would have loft the moft valuable records regarding him. As foon as the Queen afcended the throne, the regiftries of the parifh churches were carefully kept. The Regifter-book of Stratford Church contains entries both of the baptifm and the funeral of Shakefpere. -1564, New Place, "1564, April 26. Gulielmus, Filius " Johannes Shakfpere." But this merely records his baptifm, and not the date of birth, which baptifmal regifters have never done, and even now do not, although the value of fuch entries is apparent. The entry of the funeral runs thus : — 1616, "April 25, Will. Shakfpeare, Gent." 6th. Mrs. Hall fucceeded to the pro- perty, and from her it paffed to her daughter Elizabeth, Lady Barnard. 7th. Lady Barnard (Shakefpere's grand- daughter) according to an indenture dated 20th October, 1652, cove- nanted that New Place fhouy. be had to the ufe of herfelf and her hufband, John Barnard, during their natural lives, and in default of iffue, mould be left to the ufe of fuch perfon or perfons as fhe fhould limit or appoint. Lady Barnard executed a will, 29th January, 1669, whereby New Stratford-upon-Avon. 1 9 New Place was left to Sir John Barnard for his life, and to the ufe of his executors for fix months after his death. Lady Barnard died a few days afterwards, and was buried at Abington, February 17th, 1669. Her will was proved 4th March, 1669. The property continued in the porTeflion of Sir John until his death in 1673 ; fubfequent to which, according to the provifions of the aforefaid will, New Place was fold. An indenture, dated 1 8th May, 1675, conveyed it "to bee and " enure to the only ufe and behoofe " of Sir Edward Walker, Knt., " Garter Principall King at Armes," w T ho completed the purchafe for the fum of £1,060.* He died, as the monument in Stratford Church ftates, the following year — February, 1676. 8th. * Appendix C J 2o New Place, 8 th. The only child of Sir Edward Walker, Barbara,* married Sir John Clopton, * A native poet of Stratford, by name John Jordan, and by trade a wheelwright, publifhed in 1777 a poem entitled " Welcombe Hills" (which are in the neigh- bourhood of Stratford). In allufion to one of the Clopton marriages — that of Edward (the iffiie of the above Sir John and Barbara his wife) with Martha Combe, the laft perfon of note of the family of John a Combe (Shakefpere's friend) — the poet exclaims : — » " Till a late failure, in the iffiie male, Turrid, though unprejudiced, the lineal fcale, An heirefs Combe, right well to he ally d, Became the heir of neighboring Clopton s bride." As Mrs. Partheriche, the defcendant of this alliance, will be alluded to, the marriages are here fubjoined, though the Pedigree of Clopton, in extenfo, will be found elfewhere. Sir Edward Walker. Barbara Walker = Sir John Clopton. Edward Clopton = Martha Combe, last of the line I of John a Combe. Edward Clopton = Martha, d. of Thomas Middleton, Esq., of Mundham, Surrey. 1 a 3 4 5 6 I 7 I I I I I I I Children Frances Clopton, = John Partheriche, Esq. deceased the last of her while young. family. She sur- vived her husband. D. 1793. Stratford-upon-Avon. 2 1 Clopton, of Clopton, in the parifh of Stratford, and thus New Place returned again into the Clopton family. Sir John deceafed, April 18, 1 71 9. By him New Place was bequeathed 9th. To his younger fon, Sir Hugh Clopton, of the Middle Temple, one of the Heralds of the Col- lege of Arms, and Recorder of Stratford. 10th. Sir Hugh Clopton pulled down New Place, entirely rebuilt it, and died in the new New Place, 175 1, aged 80. — Temp. George II. nth. Sir Hugh's fon-in-law and exe- cutor Henry Talbot (brother of the Chancellor Talbot), fold it to the Rev. Francis Gaftrell, 1753. 1 2th. Gaftrell deftroyed the modern houfe, and razed it to the ground, in 1759. 13th. 22 New Place, 13th. The fubfequent hiftory of New Place — 1775 to 1862 — may be told in a few words. Mrs. Gaftrell fold the property to W. Hunt,* Efq., of Stratford, in 1775. 14th. The truftees under the will of W. Hunt, on the 29th Sept., 1790, fold to Charles Henry Hunt,"f* Efq., who fubfequently purchafed of Fanny Mortiboys, ipinfter, the adjoining houfe, now known as " Name's " Houfe." + 15 th. The affignees of C. H. Hunt, on the 15 th May, 1807, conveyed the whole of the property defcribed upon * Grandfather of W. O. Hunt, Efq., the prefent Town-clerk of Stratford. He was a promoter of the Jubilee of 1769. Garrick correfponded with him. f The fecond fon of the aforefaid W. Hunt. % It is only during the prefent year that it has been afcertained that this houfe belonged to Thomas Naihe, who married Shakefpere's grand-daughter, Elizabeth Hall. Stratford-npo7i-A r con. 23 upon the Ground Plan as "New u Place/' including that now occu- pied by the " Theatre/' to Edmund Batterfhee and William George Morris, Efqs., Bankers. 1 6th. In January, 1829, the heir-at-law of E. Batterfhee, and the affignees of W. G. Morris, fold off the property in lots, A — including Name's houfe, was pur- chafed by Mifs Lucy Smith. B — the Cottages formed out of Shake- fpere's Barn, were purchafed, the one by Michael Prentice, the other by Thomas Webb. C — the Great Garden (now a Bowling Green), including the ground now occupied by the Theatre, was pur- chafed by Edward Ley ton. D — is a ftrip of land which formerly belonged to the Clifford Charity, and was 24 New Place, was acquired by an exchange effected by Mr. Gaftrell. It never belonged to the Great Garden in Shakefpere's time, though it has continued a part of it fince Mr. Gaftrell acquired it. E — is a ftrip of Garden at the back of Name's houfe, which always belonged to Name's houfe until 1790, when it was purchafed by C. H. Hunt, and became an integral part of lot A, of which it has ever fince continued a part. F — is the ruins of foundations lately uncovered, in which is identified a fmall portion of Sir Hugh Clopton's " Great Houfe " of New Place, and a much larger portion of the fecond houfe, built about 1720 (paragraph 10). 17th. In 1834, the faid Edward Leyton purchafed Webb's cottage, and in 1838 he alfo purchafed Prentice's; fo Stratford-upon-Avon, 25 fo that he became porTeffor of the whole of the two lots B and C. 1 8th. On the 23rd of January, 1836, the truftees of the above-mentioned Lucy Smith, under her will, fold the lot A to Mr. David Rice, Surgeon. Some time about this period, be- tween 1836 and 1844, Edward Leyton fold that portion of the Great Garden whereon the Theatre now ftands, for the erection of that moft hideous ftructure. By the knowledge of this fact, the reader will fee what amount of " vene- " ration " a flaring brick building, raifed lefs than thirty years ago, can claim from the public. 19th. In July, 1844, the only daughter and child of Edward Leyton, con- tracted marriage with Chas. Frederic Loggin. Mr. Leyton then fettled the whole of the remainder of lots B and C 26 New Place, B and C to himfelf for life, to his wife after him for her life, and after her, to his daughter, under truftees, for her life, giving them power to fell. 20th. We are thus brought down to the prefent period, and to the laft fales that will ever occur upon the New Place eftate. A was purchafed by Mr. Halli- well, by private contract, of the truftees under the will of the above- named furgeon, Mr. Rice, for the fum of £1,200. It was conveyed 21ft March, 1862. B and C were purchafed by Mr. Halliwell, by private contract, of the truftees under the fettlement of Mr. Loggin, for £2,000. They were conveyed February 8, 1862. Accordingly, there ftill remains to be purchafed that piece of ground whereon the theatre ftands, fold off from the Great Stratford-upon-Avon. 27 Great Garden a few years ago. This " theatre " (fo called) belongs, at the pre- fent moment, to a body of ihareholders, who are prepared to fell their rights — the ground, buildings, &c. — for £1,100. No doubt this purchafe will, at no diftant period, be made ; and then the whole New Place property will belong to the public, vefted in the corporation of Strat- ford, to be preferved by them for ever, for the contemplation and enjoyment of the Engliih people. The above detailed facts have been arranged in paragraphs, fo that the reader may, with greater eafe, carry in memory the changes and chances to which New Place has been fubjected. The familiar entries in the church books of Stratford regarding Shakefpere's baptifm and burial having been given, it will render the fubjecl: more complete if the 28 New Place, the principal fafts regarding his marriage, and the iffue of that marriage, are added in this place; for it can fcarcely be doubted that Shakefpere purchafed New- Place in order to provide a home for his wife and children during his long abfences in London — a home which he laboured hard to fuftain — a home to which he always retired when the feafons of tem- porary repofe arrived; when, being fet free from the mental and phyfical ex- ertions neceffary to carry on the bufinefs of Blackfriars and the Globe Theatre, he could enjoy (as he ever loved to do) the fweet affociations of that home, and the delights of the Garden of England — the luxuriant valley of the Avon. Numberlefs efforts have been made to difcover the regiftry of Shakefpere's wed- ding. Up to the prefent time, all fuch efforts have proved vain. The proba- bility — almoft the certainty — is, that it has Stratford-upon-Avon. 29 has long fmce perifhed. His marriage bond and licenfe (bearing date 1582) are preferved at Worcefter among the archives of the diocefe. They run thus : — " Noverint univerli per prefentes nos " ffulconem Sandells de Stratford in comi- " tatu Warwici agricolam, et Johannem " Rychardfon ibidem agricolam, teneri " et firmiter obligari Ricardo Cofin gene- " rofo et Roberto Warmftry notario pub- u lico in quadraginta libris bonce et " legalis monetoe Anglioe folvend, eifdem " Ricardo et Roberto hoered. execut. vel. " affignat fuis, ad quam quidem folu- " cionem bene et fideliter faciend, obli- " gamus nos, et utrumque noftrum per " fe pro toto et in folice hoered, executor " et adminiftrator, noftros firmiter, per " proefentes figillis noftris figillit. Dat. "28 die Novem. anno regni Domince " noftras, Eliz. Dei gratia Angliae, Ffrancas, "et 30 New Place, " et Hiberniae Reginae, Fidei Defenfor, "&c, 25 ." " The condicion of this obligacion ys " fuche, that if hereafter there {hall not " appere any lawfull lett or impediment " by reafon of any precontract, confan- " guitie, affinitie, or by any other lawfull " meanes whatfoever, but that William " Shagfpere one thone partie, and Ann " Hathwey, of Stratford, in the dioces of " Worcefter, maiden, may lawfully folem- " nize matrimony together, and in the " fame afterwardes remaine and continew " like man and wiffe, according unto the " lawes in that behalf provided ; and, " moreover, if there be not at this " prefent time any action, fute, quarrell, " or demaund, moved or depending before "any judge, ecclefiaflicall or temporall, " for and concerning any fuche lawfull " lett or impediment ; and, moreover, if "the Stratford-upon-Avon. 3 1 " the faid William Shagfpere do not pro- " ceed to folemnizacion of mariadg with " the faid Ann Hathwey without the " confent of his frindes ; and alfo if the " faid William do, upon his own proper " coftes and expenfes, defend and fave " harmles, the Right Reverend Father in " God, Lord John, Bufhop of Worcefter, " and his offycers, for licencing them the " faid William and Ann to be maried " together with once alking of the bannes " of matrimony betwene them, and for " all other caufes which may enfue by " reafon or occaiion thereof, that then " the faid obligacion to be voyd and of " none effect, or els to ftand and abide in " full force and vertue." Here follow the fignatures, or marks, of the witneffes ; the firft refembling the attempt that an aged perfon would make to draw a triangle ; the fecond being a clumfy letter C. Two feals are added: the 32 New Place, the one is defaced, the other bears the impreffion " R. H." Who was " R. H.?" Could this be the feal of the bride's father, Richard Hathaway? and inftead of the licenfe being procured in fecrefy, as Mr. Collier has fuggefted, may it not have been granted with the full know- ledge and confent of Richard Hathaway ? Even fuppofing that there might be truth in the view which De Quincey and Mr. Collier have taken of this marriage — that it was accomplifhed hurriedly and fecretly — fuch an argument would ftrengthen the fuppoiition that " R. H." was the bride's father, and that he had accompanied Shakefpere to Worcefter, in order to fee that the licenfe was duly fecured. Such a fuppoiition would be moft natural if there was any ground for fcandal, which many perfons have mown a fingular fancy for infinuating. The " mature young " woman, five years paft her maturity," being Stratford-upon-Avon. 3 3 being " led aftray by the boy with two * and a half years to run of his minority, 5 ' is objectionable to De Quincey's contem- plation. Perhaps the idea is more abfurd than objectionable. The evidence of " legal documents" — " a ftory fo fignificant and fo eloquent to " the intelligent," — certainly mows that Shakefpere procured his licenfe, 28th November, 1582, and that his firft child, Sufannah, was baptifed the following 26th May, 1583. But what then ? Did the mature young woman lead the boy aftray; and did the indignant R. H., on difcovering the truth, infift upon an im- mediate marriage, to hide his child's difgrace ? This would be one way of explaining the procuring of the licenfe ; and there might then be great fignincance in the feal of " R. H." appended to the bond ! It has been conclufively ihown, from the 34 New Place, the very regifters of Stratford, that mar- riages, with the fame " fignificance of " dates " between the church ceremony and the baptifm of the eldeft child, were cuftomary at Stratford. It has alfo been mown, that they were cuftomary in England, and on the conti- nent ; and before any fcandal was hinted at, as to the purity of the " mature young " woman," it would have been well for the marriage cuftoms of the age, and of people in Shakefpere's rank of life, to have been carefully ftudied. Even in this nineteenth century, there are ruftic parts of northern England, in which the fnort of the iron-horfe has never been heard, where fuch primitive cuftoms ftill furvive, and contracts of marriage are made precifely as they were in Shake- fpere's day. In fuch bucolic, or, as they might be called, " uncivilifed " parts, marriage is Stratford-upon-Avott. 35 is " honourable among all men," and as duly celebrated as the contract is made. " Is it a cufiom. 9 Ay, marry, is '/." It is difficult to underftand how a youth of Shakefpere's age, and of his difpofition, could be fufpedted of fecretly and fud- denly binding, " in the prayers of holy " church," a connection that he had formed fhamefully. Reverence for the memory of fo great a moralift, and fo warm a champion of female purity and innocence, mould prompt every examiner of his life and adts, to compare thofe adls with the habits and cuftoms of the days in which he lived. Knowing what were the marriage cuftoms common among the folk with whom the poet was early afTociated, and feeing that his marriage was in accordance with their habits, it is molt natural, and certainly moft charit- able, 36 New Place, able, to fuppofe that friends like John Shakefpere and Richard Hathaway mould be well pleafed for their families to be connected in marriage. That Ann Hathaway was older than William Shake- fpere might be her misfortune, but was not her fault. The " mature young " woman" could not help herfelf; and poffibly fhe may have been kept under her father's roof, denied to the fwains of Shottery, waiting until fuch time as young William Shakefpere could, with any propriety, marry. At length the heads of houfes agreed that they might be contracted ; there was a pleafant trip to Worcefter for the licenfe ; " R. H." went to fee that everything was done duly and in order; William and Ann were mar- ried, — and, it is to be hoped, " they lived " happily ever after." We are indebted to the antiquarian, Sir Robert Philipps, for difcovering the bond Stratford-upon-Avon. 37 bond and licenfe in 1836, in the Confif- torial Court of Worcefter. In the original it is full of legal abbreviations, as given in Mr. Knight's Biography. For the fake of fimplicity, the full text, as rendered by Mr. Halliwell, has been adopted above. The probability is, that the ceremony of marriage was performed in the Chapel of Luddington, a hamlet of the parifh of Stratford, at a fhort diftance from Shot- tery, the refidence of Ann Hathaway, and a place with which the Hathaways were connected. The Marquis of Hert- ford, to whom Luddington belonged, informed Malone that he remembered there were tenants of the name of Hath- away on the eftate. One, John Hath- away, farmed part of the eftate as late as 1775. It is alfo worthy of note that the curate of Luddington was the Rev. Thomas Hunt, who was fchoolmafter of Stratford 38 New Place, Stratford School when Shakefpere would almoft certainly be a pupil there.* If the mafter and pupil were good friends, the facl: might be a ftrong inducement to Shakefpere to be married at Mr. Hunt's church. Licenfes granted for the parifh of Stratford, would, of courfe, be avail- able for all churches and chapels within the parifh, at which marriages were allowed. Luddington Chapel was taken down many years ago, and its regifters have either been deftroyed or loft. The annexed Pedigree will give all neceffary particulars regarding Shake- fpere's family, his marriage, and his iffue. Writers upon this fubjecl: have commonly ftated the marriages and de- fcents in the ordinary letterprefs of their works, which, in fuch matters, is con- fufing. * Mailers of the School : — 1570, Walter Roche ; 1572 to 1577, Thomas Hunt (buried at Stratford, April 12, 1612)5 1580, Thomas Jenkins. E, or ARD igree of Arden, gij traces fro ohert Arclerne. VI. about 1484. A^ed 26. Alive in 1484. Robert A Groom of th toH. V Born about Obtained a Gi 17th year. Married in hi Bal 1 As Anne, hur B. Au?. 9, 170 ^t; Buried Feb. 5, 1 B. I Will. Marv. Cat. Buried April 28, 1 745. B. Oct. 7, 1 7«>9- :y. j 1746. Bap. Nl [6i( 17. Ann. . Sept. 29, I740i jinn. Bap. An. 16, 1767* 1 th 38 New Place, Stratford School when Shakelpere would almoft certainly be a pupil there.* If the matter and pupil were good friends, the fact might be a ftrong inducement to Shakefpere to be married at Mr. Hunt's church. Licenfes granted for the parifh of Stratford, would, of courfe, be avail- able for all churches and chapels within the parifh, at which marriages were allowed. Luddington Chapel was taken down many years ago, and its regifters have either been deftroyed or loft. The annexed Pedigree will give all neceffary particulars regarding Shake- Ipere's family, his marriage, and his iffue. Writers upon this fubject have commonly ftated the marriages and de- fcents in the ordinary letterprefs of their works, which, in fuch matters, is con- fufing. * Matters of the School : — 1570, Walter Roche ; 1572 to 1577, Thomas Hunt (buried at Stratford, April 12, 1612); 1580, Thomas Jenkins. THE PEDIGREE OF WILLIAM SHAKESPERE. (COMPILED BY J. C. M. I ARDERNE, 0R ARDEN. 7L^ SHAKESPERE. _i :,'V 1 L |I, I < ,: „ n r E.kyns. Joan. „ I HATHAWAY. ■. ,„ M il,-,«.,v, ■ Willi \M Mi \K1 S B. , t clSep,.7,. S 8.. yi?p.i,«J wj£ .he ',' '„!' A'i ,',', -li^- ^ ? s ,:.,',: :jg XgL G ™ HMirlfdbM. iM'-'b -1 ' IlljAiIj'ii'lt, Mil,,. fl. Sept. >],!«»>. SSJ** *.«."• " N :«!:' s ' " A " r " 16 -" 88 - ',. M*£„ ,",;''ii 1 ,'„;i -^SsyfejS b .a.4% m! JSyi, <""». .. 3T.W-B ,,s:r-.-., ' I Thimw. "■ s.pt n »i, Stratford-upon-Avon. 39 filling. Where a Pedigree is fet out, the eye inftructs the memory much more eafily and directly, and for this reafon the prefent method has been adopted. Allufion has been made to a popular error regarding Shakefpere's reiidence. Paragraph 10 (p. 21) ftates that the houfe in which he lived was pulled down at the commencement of the laft century. Any reprefentation of that houfe, to be authentic, muft therefore bear date previous to 1 719. No fuch plate or picture exifts, and there is no evidence of any fuch having exifted. In order to fatisfy public curiofity, two were invented ; the one published by Malone, the other by Samuel Ireland, father of the notorious forger of Vortigern and other Shakefperian MSS. Malone's picture was a draft upon imagination, drawn by John Jordan, of Stratford, to whom reference has been made. Jordan was perfectly prepared, 40 New Place, prepared, for a confideration, to invent or compofe, or make himfelf generally ufeful. In firft publifhing Jordan's reprefentation of New Place, Malone accompanied the drawing with this title, giving it a place in his book, but preferving a complete lilence himfelf as to the value or authen- ticity of the drawing : — " New Place, from a drawing in the " margin of an ancient furvey, made by " order of Sir George Carew, (afterwards " Baron Carew of Clop ton, and Earl of " Totnefs,) and found at Clopton, near " Stratford-upon-Avon, in 1786." Jordan fubfequently conferTed that he had invented the porch of the houfe; and Malone himfelf approved of his add- ing Shakefpere's arms, becaufe " they were " very likely to have been there ;" fuggeft- ing, at the fame time, "neat wooden " pales, which might be placed with pro- " priety before the houfe." Ireland, in his Stratford-upon-Avon. 4 1 his work upon the Avon, produced an engraving of the houfe, which he boldly afferted was authentic, and taken from a drawing in the poffeflion of Mrs. Par- theriche, of Clopton Houfe, the laft of the Clopton family, 'which drawing, how- ever, had unfortunately been dejlroyed ! His words are as follows : — " I have taken the liberty of giving a " view of the houfe as it ftood at the " time he reiided there, which he did " from the period of his quitting London " till his death. The view is copied " from an old drawing of one Robert " Trefwells, made in 1599, by order of " Sir George Carew, afterwards Baron " Carew of Clopton, and Earl of Totnefs. " It was found in Clopton Houfe in " 1786, and was in the poffeflion of the " late Mrs. Patriche, who was the laft of " the antient family of the Clopton's. "The drawing, I am informed, is fince "loft 42 New Place, " loft or deftroyed." Whether deftroyed before Ireland made his copy, he omits to mention ; but it is of no particular con- fequence, as the impudent attempt at impofition betrays itfelf. In the ftatements fet forth by Malone and by Ireland, it is impoffible to over- look thefe facts : they both affert that the drawing was found in the year 1786, and they both ufe the identical words, "made by order of Sir George Carew, " afterwards Baron Carew of Clop ton, " and Earl of Totnefs." Three improvements of the ftory are introduced by Ireland, who favours us with the extra information that the draw- ing was made by one Robert Trefwells ; that it was made in 1599, and that it was in the pofTeffion of Mrs. Partheriche, the laft of the Cloptons. Defpite thefe addi- tional baits to beguile the public, and give the ftory an increafed air of truth, it is im- poffible Stratford-upon-Avon. 43 poffible to avoid the impreffion that Ire- land was pirating Jordan's invention ; and that while he was pointing a moral for future writers, he was adorning a tale at the moment to anfwer his own purpofes. On comparing the drawings given by Malone and by Ireland, it is palpable that the one is a very slightly altered copy of the other, or that they are both copies of fome third drawing. If a third — poffibly genuine — drawing had exifted, fuch as Malone afferted, and Ireland re- aiTerted, did exift, executed at the inftance of Baron Carew, it is evident that fuch drawing would not have exhibited a porch of Wren's era {temp. Charles II.) ftuck in front of a drawing made in 1599 [temp. Elizabeth). But we have Jordan's confeffion that " he added the " porch." A genuine drawing, therefore, in the pofTeffion of Mrs. Partheriche, would have been minus the porch which Jordan 44 New Place, Jordan added, and minus the arms upon that porch, which Malone approved, be- caufe " they were very likely to have been " there." What fhall be thought, then, of Ireland's picture, which prefents to us the confeffed impofition practifed by Jordan, and improved upon by Malone ? There can be very little doubt that Ireland took Malone's drawing, added barge-boards to it, and reproduced it as copied from an original at Clopton Houfe. Two queftions of intereft ftill remain to be afked. Did any fuch drawing ever exift on the margin of a furvey ? If fuch did not exift, how came it that Malone lent himfelf to the impudent invention of Jordan, and publifhed it as genuine, knowing that in fome refpedts Jordan had "improved" it? It is hard to believe that any fuch drawing exifted — certainly not as defcribed by Malone, on the authority of Jordan — becaufe Stratford-upon-Avon. 45 becaufe a furvey of his property, made by Lord Carew in 1599, would not be a furvey of other people's eftates. Lord Carew was contemporary with Shake- fpere, and might have known that New Place belonged to him two years prior to the making of the furvey — if fuch were ever made. But whether his lordfhip knew this or not, it is moft certain that his furveyors, in making plans and draw- ings of his eftate and the tenements upon it, would not introduce in the " margin "of their furvey" a houfe which, at leaft thirty-fix years previoufly, had been fold out of the Clopton family. When it is remembered who and what the "Poet "Jordan" was, and how ready he was to perpetrate any impofition upon the public, it feems moft probable that he invented the " margin of the furvey made by order "of Baron Carew," in order to impofe upon Malone, particularly as the exiftence of fuch 46 New Place, fuch a furvey or plan of a nobleman's eftate was moft likely to exift. But was Malone impofed upon ? Did he believe Jordan's ftatement, and regard the drawing as a genuine copy of an ori- ginal reprefentation of Shakefpere's houfe ? Malone may have been predifpofed to be deceived ; he may have received the drawing with credence at firft, as Wal- pole did Chatterton's records of ancient painters ; but when Jordan got to im- proving the houfe, and adorning it with very probable coats-of-arms, it is hard to believe that Malone's faith was blind and unfufpeffing ; while it feems ftill harder to condemn him as particeps criminis in an attempt to pafs off upon the public, as a "great" Gothic houfe of the time of Henry VIL, renovated in the time of Queen Elizabeth (when houfes were ftill built in exactly the fame ftyle and manner — the only difference being in the Stratford-upon-Avon. 47 the "debafed" details of ornamentation, pinnacles, tracery, &c), a drawing which only needs to be glanced at, and it is inftantly felf-condemned. A fac-fimile of this drawing will be found in Knight's " Biography of Shake- fpere" (note on New Place, p. 501). It has been repeatedly copied and prefented to the public, fo that it feems unnecefTary to give it one more " laft appearance" in this place. It and the drawing given by Ireland may be called arcades ambo. The plate on the oppofite page, which accurately reproduces Ireland's, may fafely be regarded as twin-brother to the Jordan- Malone picture, the details being the fame in both, with the fingle variation already noticed. The barge-boards, as feen in the accompanying plate, which Ireland furbifhed up and added to the foiled im- position of Jordan, may well be compared to the fwaggering attempt of a gentleman, out New Place, out at elbows and deftitute of a change of linen, who feeks to impofe upon the public by mounting a clean collar on a mani- feftly dirty lhirt. The reader has only to examine and compare this picture with the picture of Ockwells to perceive, that though it might pafs mufter for the " oyfter-fhell " Gothic of Horace Walpole's fancy, it is as unlike the genuine domeftic architecture either of Henry VII. 's reign, or the "debafed" of Queen Elizabeth's, as Walpole's lath and plafter toy-fhop at Strawberry Hill was a baftard imitation of the ftyle he pretended to affect.* It will be obferved that the " timber and brick " defcribed by * The following letter, written by Horace Walpole, and now among the family papers of the Lord's Dacre, at Belhus, EfTex, has never been made public. It has been kindly placed at the difpofal of the author by Sir Thomas Barrett Lennard, Bart., and will be read with intereft, both as difplaying the fycophantilh ftyle in which Walpole addreffed his fuperiors, and alfo his architectural taite : — [" Strawberry Stratford-upon-Avon, 49 by Dugdale have altogether vanished in Ireland's reprefentation, and that a fiat, palteboard-like uniformity of frontage is prefented, in every refpect oppofite to the character of true Gothic architecture, in which the lines are invariably broken up by "Strawberry Hill, July nth, 1777. " I cannot receive joy from Bellhoufe, my dear Lord, " without giving it, and without telling your Lordfhip "how particularly kind I took it from Mr. Hardinge, " in acquainting me with his intended marriage, — I had " no right to expett fuch attention, but by my zealous " wilhes for his happinefs. When anybody that is " perfecUy content, as he feems to be, thinks of making " others happy, it is the befl proof of a good heart. " When mifery is communicative, it may flow from " want of pity, comfort, advice, or afliftance ; but when " happinefs is neither infolent nor felfifh, the monitor " muft be benevolence. Without including myfelf in " this defcription, I enjoy the fatisfa6tion your Lordfhip, ** Lady Dacre, Mrs. Harding, and Lord Camden mull " have, in the felicity of fo deferving a young man. " It is talking, too, like an old one, but furely all the " riflng young men of the age have not Mr. Harding's " good qualities. Your Lordfhip did me the honour " of inviting me to Bellhoufe ; it feemed ungrateful " not to thank you, and yet gratitude was the true " motive of my lilence. I waited till I could tell you " that I could accept the honour of your offer. I "have had company, and various engagements that " prevented me, and am not yet at liberty from the " precarious 50 New Place, by gables, dormer windows, porches, and deep barge-boards, producing fhadows, relief, and infinite variety. Ireland pro- duced this wretched drawing in 1814. Mrs. Partheriche (concerning whom he was fo ignorant that he could not fpell her name correctly)* died in 1792. As the " precarious ftate of H.R.H. the Duke of Gloucefter's "health, and from expecting him and the Ducheis in " England. 1 " I was mil more nattered, though very unworthy, " by your Lordmip's thinking of confulting me on your " improvements at Bellhoufe ; nobody is more attached " to the beauty of your feat, nor fhall fee your additions " with more pleafure, but I have not the vanity to " prefume to dire6t them. You have not only done " everything there with tafte, my Lord, but to my tafte " of ' ancienne noblelfe ;' and fince cheefemongers can " be peers, I would have the manhons of old barons " powdered with quarterings for diftinftion ; and lince " Mr. Adams builds for fo many of thefe, I wifh he " would deviate from his ftyle of Filigraine, and load " them with the Tufcan order, which admits very " fpeaking columns. " When 1 His Royal Highnefs had married the Countefs Waldegrave, daughter of Sir Edward Walpole, and niece to Horace Walpole. * See quotation, p. 41. Stratford-upon-Avon. 5 1 the fuppofed original picture was unfor- tunately deftroyed when in that lady's porTeffion, it might feem difficult for any ordinary mortal to make a copy of it in 1 8 14: but difficulties of this fort are trifles eafily furmounted when genius, like another Jofhua, repeats the marvel of Ajalon, and puts back the courfes of time.* Difmiffing both Jordan's invention and Ireland's impofition, there is another matter of error which deferves remark. Theobald afferts, that when Shakefpere " repaired " When I have a day at command, will Lady Dacre " and your Lordfhip allow me to make ufe of your " permiffion, and wait upon you. I will not take that " liberty, however, without aiking if my vifit will be et feafonable. I am, my dear Lord, with the truer! " regards, " Your Lordfhip's moft obt. " humble fervant, " Horace Walpole." * Appendix D. 52 New Place, " repaired and modelled " New Place, he gave it that name. This is not the fact. In the furvey of 1590 we find the fol- lowing entry : — " Villielmus Underhill, " gen. tenet, libere quandam domum vo- " catam the Newe Place cum pertinentiis " per reddit. per annum, xij*/. fed:, cur." Conclufive evidence is thus afforded us, that years before the Poet had any intereft in the property, it was known by the name which has ever continued its " houfehold " words." Sir Hugh Clopton, who built the houfe of New Place, happens to have ftyled it in his will "the Great Houfe;" and fuch it has been fuppofed was its ordinary appellation. It is a fuppofition in fearch of a reafon. The phrafe feems rather an expreflion on the part of Sir Hugh, applied to his manfion as compared with the general fize and importance of the tenements that furrounded it, than the title of the place itfelf. It well de- fended Stratford-upon-Avon. 5 3 ferved the honourable defignation ; for when Queen Henrietta Maria, at the head of 3,000 foot, 1,500 horfe, beiide artillery and waggons, marched from Newark, in June, 1643 (on her progrefs to meet the king at Edge Hill, then pro- ceeding to Oxford), and was met at Strat- ford by Prince Rupert, me was conducted to New Place as the moil commodious refidence fitted to receive her Majefty; and here fhe fojourned (as we are in- formed) " about three weeks." Lefs direct, but important evidence of the " greatnefs " of New Place is afforded us by a confideration of the wealth and focial pofltion of Sir Hugh Clopton. This Sir Hugh was a member of the ancient family of Clopton, of Clopton, in the parifh of Stratford (Clopton Houfe being about a mile out of Stratford). The family name was derived from the manor, which had been granted to the Cloptons in 54 New Place, in the reign of Henry III., fo that Sir Hugh's ancestors had been men of rank and importance for at leaft two hundred and fifty years previous to his time. Sir Hugh became alderman of London, and ferved the office of Lord Mayor in the feventh year of the reign of Henry VII., 1492. His name ftill lives frefh and green in Stratford ; for out of the abun- dance which he amafled as a wool-ftapler in London, he not only adorned his native- place with the " Great Houfe," but he endeavoured to beautify the town itfelf, and alfo to benefit it by his charity. In the Guild Chapel of the Holy Crofs, ad- joining New Place, there is a monument which was erected to his memory at the requeft of the Corporation of Stratford, by that Sir John Clopton, his defcendant, whofe marriage with Barbara Walker brought back New Place into the Clop- ton family. The Stratford-upon-Avon, 5 5 The monument tells us of his " pious " works, fo many and fo great, that they " ought to be had in everlafting remem- "brance,eipeciallyby this town and parifh." " He built ye (tone bridge over Avon, " with ye caufey at ye weft end ; further " manifefting his piety to God and love to " this place of his nativity (as ye centurion " in ye Gofpel did to ye Jewifh nation and " religion by building them a ivnagogue), " for at his fole charge this beautiful " Chappel of ye Holy Trinity was rebuilt, " temp. H. VII., and ye crois ile of ye " Parifh Church." The infcription further relates his cha- rities to the poor of Stratford and of London: — £100 to poor houfekeepers, 100 marks on their marriage to twenty poor maidens, both in Stratford and Lon- don ; making of bridges and highways ; founding exhibitions at Oxford and Cam- bridge ; leaving money for poor prifoners, money 56 New Place, money to hofpitals, to the Mercers' Com- pany, and " to ye parfon of ye parifh " where he lived " (a wholefome cuftom that has Angularly fallen into defuetude). After all legacies and expenfes are paid, he leaves the relidue of his goods and chattels to " repairing decayed churches/' " mending bridges and highways," " main- " taining poor children at fchool," and in portioning " honeft maidens." " This charitable Gent, died a Batcheler, " 15th Sept., 1496, and was buried in St. "Margaret's Church, Lothbury." The ancient and beautiful altar-tomb among the Clopton monuments in Strat- ford Church, without any effigy, but with quatrefoil panels, originally fitted with armorial bearings in brafs, is moft pro- bably erected to his memory, becaufe it ftands on the precife fpot where, accord- ing to his will, he directed that he mould be buried, had he died at Stratford ; and alfo Stratford-upon-Avon, $j alfo becaufe the arms carved in the arch above it are thofe of Sir Hugh, difplayed with the arms of the Corporation of London, of which he was Lord Mayor, of the Mercers' Company, and of the Wool Staplers, to all which bodies he belonged. In corroboration of this probability, which might be pretty fafely afferted as fact, any vifitor to the Guild Chapel may obferve on the face of the porch- way, over the arch, a feries of fhields, in recefTes. It has been already mown that this portion of Holy Crofs — the nave and porch — were rebuilt by Sir Hugh Clopton. Accordingly, among the fhields we find, iimilar to the fhields over the monument in the church, the arms of the City of Lon- don, the arms of the Wool Staplers, and the arms of Clopton, quartered with Cockfield (Clopton quartering, a Crofs patee, fitchee in the foot ; Cockfield, a lion rampant).* The * Appendix E. 58 New Place, The quarterings agreeing precifely with the difplay in the " Vifitation of Warwick- " mire," and therefore fomewhat ftrength- ening the affertion of the "Vifitation," that the Cloptons and the Cockfields were temp. Edward I. two diftinct families, and not that Walter de Cockfleld was a Clopton, who affumed the furname of Cockfield, which name continued in ufe down to the time of Sir Hugh Clopton's grandfather, temp. Richard II., after which it difappeared, and Clopton only was ufed. In his Survey of London and Weft- minfter (under the title " Mercers "), Stowe alludes to Sir Hugh, as follows: — " Sir Hugh Clopton, all his lifetime a " Bathchelaur, Maior, 1492, buried at St. "Margaret's in Lothbury, 1496. He "dwelt in Lothbury, where long after "was the fign of the Wind- Mill ; and "where Sir Robert Large, fometime " Lord Stratford-upon-Avon. 5 9 " Lord Maior, had lived before.* This " man was born at Clopton, in Warwick- " mire, a mile from Stratford-upon-Avon, " where he builded a fair ftone bridge of " eighteen arches, and glazed the chancel " windows * This Sir Robert Large (Lord Mayor of London in 1439, died 1441), was the Mercer to whom Caxton was apprenticed when he came to London 'from the Weald of Kent. Stowe mows us that Caxton and Sir Hugh both lived in the fame houfe in Lothbury, and we know they were both members of the Company of Mercers. When we remember that Caxton went over to Ghent and Bruges in the interefl of the Mercers' Company, when the wool trade was fufFering through the quarrel between England and Philip the Good of Burgundy, and that Sir Hugh Clopton was not only the iuccerTor of Sir Robert Large in his houfe and place of burmefs, but alfo a difiinguifhed member of the Company of Mercers, it feems almoft a certainty that Caxton and Sir Hugh muft have been well known to one another; and it is poflible, perhaps probable, that by Sir Hugh the firil books printed in England, "The Game " of Chefs," publifhed 1474, the "Poems of Chaucer," "iEfop's Fables," "Reynard the Fox," and others, would be taken down to his Great Houfe in Stratford, where the wonder and admiration of his neighbours would make the walls echo with the name of Caxton, the introducer of the invention which, in little more than a century later, was to carry forth from that fame houfe the immortal thoughts of him, whofe words, winged by Caxton's aid, have flown from pole to pole. 60 New Place, "windows of the fame Parifh Church " where his arms did ftand. Which, " as William Smith, fometime Rouge " Dragon, hath obferved, differed much " from the coat fet up for him, painted "in a target, in the Mercers' Hall, "which indeed was the arms of the " Cloptons of Suffolk." Thefe fadts prefent to the mind one of England's worthies, a true Christian gentleman in the fulled and beft fenfe of the phrafe. It is a matter of furprife that a man of fuch excellent parts and charac- ter, and fo intimately connected with the houfe and place where Shakefpere lived, mould be fo much overlooked, as he is, by- writers upon Stratford and its antiquities. It is not, however, upon his genuine nobility of character that we have here to dwell ; but upon his tafte, his love for art, and his delight in architecture. It is fomething more than a fanciful idea Stratford-upon-Avon. 6 1 idea for us to believe that the tafte of Sir Hugh Ciopton influenced the mind of Shakefpere. Inftead of a fancy, this feems to be a fact. The "New " Place/' which he erected, was deftroyed fomewhere about 1720, and no repre- fentation of it remains to portray it to us ; but one piece of building, within a dozen yards of the fpot where it flood, is indicative of Sir Hugh's tafte. The nave of the Guild Chapel was rebuilt by him, at precifely the fame period that Dean BalfTiall (then Vicar of Stratford), was rebuilding the chancel of the Parim Church, to which it is clear that Sir Hugh generoufly contributed. Stowe informs us that the perpen- dicular tracery of the windows in this chancel was filled with ftained glafs, at the expenfe of Sir Hugh Ciopton, whofe arms Dugdale faw emblazoned upon the glafs. There can be no difficulty in 62 New Place, in conjecturing what fort of reiidence " New Place " muft have been — how architecturally correct — how excellent in proportion — how artiftic in defign — how pure in the flyle and detail of its ornamen- tation — how deferving of its mailer's de- fignating it the " Great Houfe " of Strat- ford, when we refer to his will, and com- pare its Special pro virions for the repairing of churches, the building of bridges, the construction of highways, with the work that he did himfelf accomplish in erecting Stratford Bridge, building the nave of the Holy Crofs Chapel, and aiding in the erection of the chancel of the Parifh Church. Thofe portions of the Stratford churches, in which Sir Hugh was inter- ested, are, even amidft the lavish richnefs of ecclefiaftical architecture in Warwick- shire, juftly reckoned fuperb fpecimens of the Perpendicular period. Of " New Place " Shakefpere became the Stratford-upon-Avon. 63 the lord and mafter in 1597. The houfe was then rather more than one hun- dred years old. It would need to be " repaired and modelled/' particularly as it had belonged to three refpeclive families within the half century before Shakefpere purchafed it, and had paffed out of the Clopton family about a year prior to his birth. Of the repairs that he made, we know nothing ; but it is eafy to underftand how much his mind may have been impreffed with the ftately beauty of New Place from his earlier! childhood. No inhabitant of Stratford, feeing Sir Hugh's " Great Houfe " and the church that he alfo rebuilt alongfide it, could fail to know them and to admire them, much lefs a boy of Shakefpere's obfervation and appreciative mind. New Place adjoins the Guild Chapel and the Grammar School. There the boy was taught ; and day by day, as he went bounding 64 New Place, bounding forth from school, the firft object that met his view was Sir Hugh's houfe, next the church. While yet a child of between three and four years of age, a fale took place. He may, on the very day of the fale, have been holding to his nurfe's fide, and making his earlieft obfervations upon men and things, as he parTed the chapel of Holy Crofs, and have feen the family of Underhill arrive to acquire poffeffion of " New Place." All this is perfectly poffible ; and if this or anything fimilar occurred, it might imprefs upon the boy's thoughts that New Place had been fold ! Might it not again ? Who can tell, whether in his early days the boy Shakefpere's mind had not been taught by old Sir Hugh's tafte to appreciate and admire the beautiful in art ; had not been fired with ambition to go to London, as Sir Hugh (the pride of Stratford, and its benefactor) had done, and Stratford-upon-Avofi. 65 and by dint of labour and perfeverance to make an independence, and return like him to Stratford, and live honoured and beloved among the townsfolk of his native place ? Who can tell whether this fame boy may not often and often have ftood ruminating under the fhadows of the buttrefles of Holy Crofs, admiringly examining the gables and cafements, the porch and antique barge-boards of the " great houfe," and refolving, mould any fale take place there again, if he were a man and had the means, it mould have but one matter — one, himfelf poffeffed of taftes like Sir Hugh's, who would " repair " and preferve the anceftral manfion ? In any biographies of Shakefpere or hiftories of Stratford which may have been written heretofore, New Place has been 66 New Place, been little more than mentioned. A houfe was built upon it at fuch a date, fold at another, purchafed by Shakefpere at another, and in it he died. No one has ever as yet opened the pages of ancient records to tell us much more about it than that it belonged to the Clopton family, and was built by Sir Hugh Clopton. The time has perhaps come when it is defirable that the public mould become poffeffed of more particulars concerning it ; in fad:, when every avail- able information mould be produced to relate its hiftory. That it was Shakefpere's dwelling- place is the caufe of its interefr. in public efteem ; but that intereft will be in no degree decreafed if we know fomething about the affociations of the place, and of the family to which it chiefly belonged, efpecially as that family muft have been well Stratford-upon-Avon. 67 well known to Shakefpere ; and members of it, that were his contemporaries, play- no obfcure part in the hiftory of his times. Whoever he may be that under- takes to give the world a true and fuffi- cient account of New Place muft inform his readers concerning the Cloptons of Clopton Houfe, iince the hiftory of New Place and its varied fortunes is as clofely twined around the Clopton ftem as the ivy around the oak. On the oppofite page will be found a pedigree fet forth, which has appeared abfolutely effential to the accomplifhment of the author's purpofe. By reference to it the reader will be able to follow him much more eaiily; and in order to fecure perfpicuity — as the fame names are repeated in feveral defcents — thofe have been alphabetically labelled to which it feems neceflary to direct particular atten- tion. It 68 New Place, It has been mown (p. 16), that New Place was built in the reign of Henry VII., not later than 1490, by Sir Hugh Clop ton, formerly Lord Mayor of London (pedi- gree Aa). Sir Hugh was a younger fon of John Clopton, of Clopton — temp. Henry VI., — and being a younger fon, both he and his brother John fought their fortunes as merchants of the Staple, in London. Dying a bachelor, Sir Hugh bequeathed his refidence of New Place to his elder brother's grandfon and heir, William Clopton (Ab), in whom accord- ingly both Clopton Houfe and New Place became veiled. The will of Sir Hugh Clopton, bear- ing date 14th Sept., 1496, was proved at Lambeth on the 4th day of October in the fame year. He defcribes himfelf therein as " citezein, mercer, and alder- man of London," and defires that if he die in London, or within twenty miles thereof, Stratford-upon-Avon. 69 thereof, he mould be buried in the church of St. Margaret's, Lothbury; but if at Stratford-upon-Avon, to be buried in the parifh church there, within the chapel of our Lady, between the altar of the fame and the chapel of the Trinity next adjoining, his body to be brought to ground with four torches and four tapers, and no more. After detailing an agreement with one Dowland and divers other mafons about the building of the chapel of the Trinity, and the tower of a fteeple to the fame, and mentioning his father and mother by name (John and Agnes), there is a difpofition of fundry legacies to cha- ritable and religious ufes to confiderable length ; after which bequefts to divers individuals ; and, finally, entries relative to the devife of his property, in thefe words : — Item. jo New Place, Item. — I will as for my landes and rentes all such is of copy holde that Thomas Clopton the yonger and I be feoffed in remayne holy to hym and to his heires after my decesse for ever and for lak of issue to the right heires of the lordship of Clopton And to William Clopton I bequeith my great house in Stratford upon Avon and all other my lands and tenements beinge in Wilmecote in the Brigge towne and Stratford with reversion and services and duetes thereunto belonginge remayne to my cousin Wm. Clopton and for lak of issue of hym to remayne to the right heires of the lord- ship of Clopton for ever being heires males Also I will that CC marc that Doctor Balsale delyvered me be by the advise and discrecion of my executours employed to the use behoofe and moost profitte of the college of Stratford-upon-Avon by the con- sent and advice of the wardeyn with other sadde prestis and honest men of the towne And all such housing and tenementes as I have within the towne of Caleys I will remayn to my cousin Hugh Clopton the elder and also the reversion of the house that I dwell in att London and the termes of the same. By the inquifition pojl mortem upon Sir Hugh Clopton, it appears that he died feised of the following property in Stratford : — De Stratford-upon-Avon. 7 1 De uno burgagio jacente in Chapell strete in Stretfordpredicta ex oposito capelle exparte boriali et de uno dimidio burgagio jacente in Ely strete alias dicta Swynne strete et de uno burgagio in High strete et de uno orreo et gardino jacente in Henley strete et de uno dimidio burgagio jacente in Church strete in Stretford predicta et de duobus toftis quatuor virgatis terre quatuor acris prati et viginti acris pasture cum pertinentijs in Brygge- towne in parochia de Stretford Et quod idem Hugo ante obitum suum fuit seisitus in dominico suo ut de feodo de uno tenemento jacente in Stratford predicta in Bother strete vocato Balsals place et de uno gardino jacente in Church strete et de uno tenemento jacente in High strete super corneram de le Come market in quo Johannes Balamy inhabit at et de aleo tenemento in Chapel strete butlante super le Corne market in quo TTolfridus Smyth inhabitat in Stretford predicta.* Thefe documents will mow that Wil- liam Clopton (Ab), who had inherited the Clopton eftates in i486, received a very * According to this will, it appears that all this property here recited was demifed and let to Roger Paget and Elizabeth his wife, for term of life of the faid Rogjer. 72 New Place, very confiderable addition to his patri- mony by the death — ten years later — of his great uncle, in 1496. But, together with this acceffion, he found himfelf mafter of two confiderable manfions, removed little more than a mile from one another; viz., Clopton Houfe adjoining the town, and New Place within it. Whether this gentleman kept up both the houfes there is no evidence to fhow ; but as we have proof of New Place being let by his fon (B), it feems probable that William Clopton (Ab) contented himfelf with the patrimonial refidence of Clopton, and fet the example which his fon fol- lowed. Having enjoyed his eftate for twenty-five years, he died in 1521, little more being known of him than that for fome offence to the Crown he received a pardon from Henry VIII. By the inquifition poji mortem, it ap- pears Stratford- upon- Avon. j 3 pears that he was feifed of the following property in Stratford, and retained poffef- fion of New Place : — In uno burgagio jacente in strata vocata Chapel strete in Stretford super Aven ex parte boriali capelle Sancte Trinitatis in Stratford predicta in comitatu predicto et de uno burgagio jacente in Chapel strete predicta uno capite inde abut- tante versus Hugonem Raynold ex parte Australi et alio capite inde abuttante versus quandam stratam vocatam Shepe strete ex parte Boriali et de uno burgagio jacente in strata vocata High strete in Stratford predicta uno capite abuttante versus fundum Magistri Gilde Sancte Trinitatis de Stratford ex parte Boriali et alio capite inde abuttante versus stratam vocatam Slystrete ex parte Australi ac de uno burgagio jacente in strata vocata High strete in Stretford predicta uno capite inde abuttante versus tene- mentum Magistri Gilde Sancte Trinitatis predicte ex parte Australi et alio capite inde abuttante versus Willielmum Staffordshire ex parte Boriali Necnon de uno Burgagio jacente in strata vocata Briggestrete in Stratford predicta ac eciam de quodam orreo jacente in strata vocata Henley strete in Stratford predicta ac de quodam shopa jacente in strata vocata Wode strete quam Robertus Gonyatt modo tenet et occupat et de uno burgagio jacente 74 New Place, jacente in strata vocata Rolher market in Stretford predicta in quo Deonisia Aylys vidua modo inha- bitat ac de uno burgagio jacente in strata vocata Grenhul strete in Stretford predicta in quo Nicholaus Norres modo inhabitat necnon de uno burgagio jacente in strata vocata Church strete in Stretford predicta &c Necnon de alio burgagio ja- cente in Church strete in Stratford predicta in quo Johannes Asliurste modo inhabitat uno capite inde abuttante versus Episcopum Wigornensis ex parte Occident ali et alio capite inde abuttante versus vicum Regis vocatum Church strete ac de duobus gardinis in Stretford predicta abuttantibus versus Johem Hubandys ex parte Boriali et versus dictum Magistrum Gilde predicte ex parte Australi nec- non de dimidio burgagio jacente in Ely strete in Stratford predicta nunc dimisso et locato pro quodam orreo. The above William (Ab) was fucceeded by his fon, bearing the fame name (B), who lived in poffeffion of the combined eftates from 1521 to 1560, at which latter date he died. His will is dated January 4th, and we learn from the in- quifition that he expired on the fame day at Clopton. The death of this William Clopton Stratford-upon-Avon. 75 Clopton (B) brings to light the firft fa& explanatory of the caufes which led to New Place fubfequently becoming the property of Shakefpere. The will bears the name of " William Bott," one of the attefting witneffes. There are traces of Botts in the regifter of Stratford, though the author has vainly fearched for fome mention of this perfon, whofe name is on record as one of the practifing folicitors of Stratford at the period. June 2, 1575. — William, sonne of Robt. Bott (buried) . September 2, 1576. — Sonne to Edward Botte. July 18, 1588. —Margery, daughter of Ralph Bott, deceased. January 19, 1591. — Anne Botte, deceased. The probability is that the Botts were only profemonally connected with Strat- ford, and belonged to fome outlying parifh or hamlet. However this may be, it is certain that William Bott was a lawyer j6 New Place, lawyer in pra&ice at Stratford,* and that he was profeffionally engaged by William Clopton of Clopton (B). After his death, the inquifition was taken on the 17th day of June, 2nd of Elizabeth (1560), at Warwyck, and the Jurors found that he died feised (inter alia) in his demefne as of fee — De et in uno tenemento sive burgagio cum pertinentijs in Stratford super Aven in dicto comi- tatu Warr in vico ibidem vocato la Chappell strete modo in tenura sive occupacione Willielmi Bott. The fame inquifition informs us, that the fon and heir William Clopton (C) was at that date " twenty-two years of age." In due courfe of years this William (C) * Attorneys of Stratford about that date : — Mr. Thomas Truffell, Mr. William Court, Mr. Edward Davies, Mr. William Bott, Mr. Richard Spooner, Mr. Richard Symmons. Stratford-upon-Avon. jj (C) came alfo to die, as the pedigree mows, in the year 1592. The Book of Adminiftrations, in an entry regarding the goods of this gentle- man, reveals to us not only the bufinefs, but alfo the blood relationfhip between the Cloptons and the Botts ; and thus we receive a complete infight into a tranfaclion that feems lingular, regarding which no previous writer has given us any information. The following extract is moil impor- tant : — Octobris, 1597. Duodecimo die emanavit willtelmus commissio Johanni Bott, CLOPTOX. PROXIMO CONSANGUINEO Willielmi Clopton, nuper Biasij , . . -, * , . Johacnis, 1603. clum vixit de Clopton, m comitatu Warwici, de- functi, habentis, &c, ad Administratio administrandum bona, ju- anSSSnse ^ et credita ejusdem, per Maij, 1592. Annam Clopton, eius relic- Johanms, tarn, jam defunctam, non administrata, yS New Place, administrata, de bene, &c., in persona Thome White, Biasfj, notarij publici, procurato- rs, legitime constitute ju- rate. 1605. In what way John Bott happened to be "proximo confanguineo" to William Clopton the author muft confefs his pro- found ignorance; for Heralds' College can give him no relief. No doubt there has been an omiffion in the pedigree, wherever the link between the Botts and Cloptons occurred; but the above ex- tract places it beyond all queftion that, in October, 1597, one John Bott, as the neareft of kin in the male line, after the death of Miftrefs Anne Clopton in 1596, the widow of William, adminiftered the eftate, it is to be prefumed, as the friend and relative of the Countefs of Totnefs, and Anne Clopton, of Sledwick, her lifter, the co-heireffes of the late William Clopton (C). What Stratford-upon-Avon. 79 What the connection between John Bott and William Bott was, the author has not difcovered. They were probably father and fon, or brothers — the latter being the more probable of the two con- jectures. That they were clofe blood relatives is beyond a doubt. Having dug up thefe facts, it will not furprife the moft ordinary mind to find that William Bott, of Stratford-upon- Avon, folicitor, tenant of New Place, relative, and family lawyer to the Clop- tons — witnefs to the will of a father, and advifer to his fucceffor, aged twenty-two — took an early opportunity of improv- ing upon the chances which fortune had cafl in his way. William Clopton (B) died 1560. William Clopton, the adminiftration of whofe eftate fubfequently in 1597 is referred to above, (C) fucceeded, and in 1563 he was induced to fell New Place to his 80 New Place, his late father's tenant, lawyer, and his own blood relative. The tranfa£tions between Bott and William Clopton were confiderable, for by the indenture which follows it will be feen that Bott had a knack of gaining porTeffion of land belonging to the Clop- ton eftate. Indentur in? Willm Clopton et Willm Bott. CfjtS Entmttttre made the x th daye of Januarye in the syxte yere of the reigne of our souaigne ladye Elizabeth by the grace of God quene of England Eraunce and Irelande defendor of the faith &c betwene Willm Clopton of Clopton in the countye of Warr Esquyer on the one partye and Willm Bott of Stratforde uppon Avon in the said Countye gentleman on the other partye wyt- nesseth that the said Willm Clopton for and in consederacon of and for dyuse somes of money to hym in hande att and before the ensealinge here- of whereof and wherewy th the said Willm Clopton doth acknowledge hym selfe thereof well and trulye satysfyed contented and paid and the said Willm Bott his heires executors and administra- tors thereof clerely acquyted exoSated and dys- chardged Stratford-upon-Avon. chardged by these pntes hatli gyven and graunted bargayned and solde and by these psentes doth clerelye and frelye gyve graunte bargavne and sell to the said Willm. Bott all those his three pastures of grounde called the nether Ingon alias Ington and all that his meadowe called Synder meadowe lyinge and beinge in nether Ingon alias Ington in the paryshe of Bisshopps Hampton in the said Conntye of Warr nowe or late in the tenure or occupacon of Bycharde Charnocke and Willm Baylyes of Welon and the assignes of the said Bycharde Charnocke and all that his wynde- myll foure yardes of errable land and twentye and nyne leyes scituate lyinge and beynge in the Feildes of olde Stratforde and in the home nexte adioyninge to the said feildes and all that his meadowe lyinge in Shotterye meydowe nowe or late in the occupacon of John Combes and John Lewys alias Atkyns To have and to holde the said pastures meadowes wyndemylles lande and leys and all and singuler there apptenaunces to the said Willm Bott his heires and assignes for eumore to the onlye use and behoufe of the said Willm Bott his heires and assignes for ever And also the said Willm Clopton hath bargayned & solde by these psentes all and all maner of evi- dences deedes wrytinges chers and mynymentes that be touchynge and concnynge onlye the pmisses or any parte or parcell of them and the said evidences dedes wrytinges chers and myny- mentes the said Willm Clopton couenaunteth and graunteth 82 New Place, graunteth by these psentes to and wyth the said Willm. Bott his executors or assignes to delyuer or cause to be delyued to hym the said Willm Bott his executors or assignes before the feaste of Easter next ensuinge the date hereof and fyr- thermore the said Willm Clopton for him his heires executors and administrators couenaunteth and graunteth by these psentes to and wyth the said Willm Bott that he the said Willm Clopton shall before the feaste of Easter make or cause to be made to the said Willm Bott his heires or as- signes a good suer suffycyente laufull and indefy- cyble estate in the lawe in fee symple of and in the said pastures meadowes leyes of pasture wyndemyll and errable lande wyth all and singu- ler there apptenaunces be yt by fyne feoffament dede or dedes inrolled release confirmacon re- couye wyth voucher or vouchers wyth warrantye agaynste all men or wyth out warrantye as cane and shalbe deuysed or aduised by the learned councell of the said Willm Bott his heires or as- signes and furthermore the said Willm Clopton for hym his heires executors and administrators couenaunteth and graunteth by these psentes to and wyth the said Willm Bott his executors and administrators that the said pastures meadowe wyndemyll and errable lande att the daye of the date hereof be clerelye dyscharged of all and from all former bargaynes sales dowres ioyntors leases statutes mchaunte and of the staple Recognisances iudgementes fynes amcyamentes condempnacons and Stratford-upon-Avon. 83 and all other chardges and incomberances what- soever they be the rentes and suices to the cheife lorde or lordes of the fee from hensforth dewe and accnstomed to be paide onlye excepted and also the said Willm Clopton for hym his heires executors and administrators couenaunteth and graunteth by these psentes to and wyth the said Willni Bott his heires executors and administra- tors that he the said Willm Clopton and Anne his wyffe shall before the fourthe daye of Maye nexte ensuinge the date hereof knowledge a fyne before one of the quenes maiestyes iustyces of the Kinges benche or comon place to be levyed be- fore the Quenes Justices at Westm of and for the said pastures meadowe wyndemyll leyes of pas- ture and errable lande wyth all and singuler there apptenaunces and also the said Willm Clopton for hym his heires executors and administrators coue- nuanteth and graunteth by these presentes to and wyth the said Willm Bott his heires executors and assignes that he the said Willni Clopton and his heires shall att all tymes hereafter and from tyme to tyme when and as often as he or they shalbe thereunto reasonablye required by the said Willm Bott his heires or assignes doo suffer and cause to be done and suffered all and euy suche further acte and actes thinge and thinges as shalbe rea- sonablye required by the learned councell of the said Willm Bott his heires or assignes for the fur- ther assurance and suer makinge of the premisses to the said Willni Bott his heires or assignes for euermore 84 New Place, euermore In wytnesse whereof eyther party to these psente Indentures in?chaungeably have pntto there seales the daye and yere firste above wrytten Et memorand qd ?cio die Aprilis anno Subscript pdcus Wills Clopton venit coram dca dria Regina in Cancellar sua apud Westm et re- cognouit Indentur pdcam et omia et singula in eadem content et spificat in forma supdict. January, in the 6th of Eliz., would be 1563-4 — three months before Shakefpere was born. Upon the authority of Wheler, the author has affumed that the fale of New Place occurred the year previous (1563). Wheler is commonly moft ac- curate, and the above fale gives weight to his affertion, becaufe it proves that Bott was at that time making purchafes from William Clopton. The Fines of 1563 are filent, though it rnuft be obferved that there is a total abfence of all Fines in the Record Office for Michaelmas Term of that year ; which is to be accounted for by the fact that the plague was raging Stratford-upon-Avon. 85 raging. It is moft probable that the fale took place at that time ; and that the late Mr. Wheler had met with fome private trace of it for which the author has fruitleflly fearched among public papers. That William Bott purchafed New Place upon fpeculation appears moft probable, becaufe it only remained in his poffemon for the period of four years. The Fines, Michaelmas Term, 9th Eliz., mow us that the fale by Bott to Under- bill took place at that date. Warr 1567. Hec est finalis concordia fca in Cur Dfie Eegine apud Westm in crastino Sci Martini anno regno? Elizabeth dei gra Angi Franc et Hibnie Regine fidei defensoris &c a conqu nono coram Jacobo Dyer Rico Weston Johe Walshe & Rico Harpnr Justic et alijs drie Regine fidelib5 tunc ibi psen- tib5 in? WiUm Underehyll quer et Willni Botte et Elizabeth uxem eius et Albanu Heton deforc de uno mesuagio et uno gardino cum ptin in Stretford sup Aven unde ptitum convencois sum fuit 86 New Place, fuit in? eos in eadm Cur scil? qd pdci Willms Botte et Elizabeth et Albanus recogh pdet ten cum ptiri esse jus ipius Willmi Underehyll ut ift que idem Willms net de dono j)dcor Willmi Botte et Eliza- beth et Albani Et ill remiser et quiet 9 clam de ipis Willmo Botte et Elizabeth et Albano et hered suis pdco Willmo Underehyll et hered suis imppm Et p^terea idem Willms Botte concessit p se et hered suis qd ipi warant pdco Willmo Undere- hyll et hered suis pdict? ten cum ptiii cont a pdcm Willni Botte et hered suos imppm Et ultius idem Albanus concessit p se et hered suis qd ipi warant pdco Willmo Underehyll et hered suis pdict ten cum ptiii cont a pdcm Albanu et hered suos imppm Et insup ijdem Willms Botte et Elizabeth concesser p se et hered ipius Elizabeth qd ipi warant pdco Willmo Underehyll et hered suis pdca ten cum ptiri cont a pdcam Elizabeth et hered suos imppm Et p hac recogii remissione quiet aclam warant fine et concordia idem Willms Underehyll dedit pdcis Willmo Botte et Elizabeth et Albano quadraginta libras sterlingor. [Endorsed are the proclamations secundum for- mam statuti.] By this fale New Place was refcued from the hands of a grafping lawyer, and palTed into the polTeffion of a family long connected ofWol of Eat UNDER . Underhill = daugh. of t Staff., Esq. I of Bromw = daugh. of — Batt of Long Compton, co. "VV ist. d. of Slade Walse of Marstoke. { William Underhill, rd Underhill son and heir. Ob. s. p. >f Eatington Left his estate to his brother in 1541. Edward. Margaret, d. of — 2tf Edgebastt I I Humphrey. John. Thomas Uncjghters. of Eatin Ob. Oct. 6, Sir Edward Underhill. Ob. 13 Nov. 1 641. Ex quo. the senior branch. (A)| William Under] of IdlicoteandLoxl Ob. March 31, 157J r Buried at Eatingti B i I (B) Shirley, m Underhill icote, Esq. Born Sept. 1555. I July 13, 1597- Described in 1 Will dated July 6, 1597. Fulke Underhill. Bapt. Jan. 28, 1578. Ob. March 1, 1598. s. p. thill pn, Willia = Bridget, d. of John, Lord Carleton. iK.e. (Q 1 t. Alice, = = Sir William U Lucy of of Idlicote, Knt. Buried Sept. 2 = Sarah, daugh. < nderhill = s, Esq. William Swift Underhill. a Catherine, Nicholas widow of Jo ster, Feb. Fogg. Ob. 1727. Sold the Hon. U ,n "754, DOO. Stratford-upon-Avon. 87 connected with Eatington, and Idlicote, near Shipfton-upon-Stour. The Under- bills, as the abstract of pedigree here- with given mows, were originally a Staf- fordshire family, and fettled at Eatington, a few miles from Stratford, on property belonging to the Shirleys.* The younger fon of Edward Underbill purchafed the eftate of Idlicote, a ihort diftance from Eatington, in the 10th year of the reign of Elizabeth (1568), from Ludovic Gre- ville, and fo eftablifhed the junior branch of the Underhills as a family in War- wickshire. This William (marked A on the pedigree) had a fon, alfo named William (marked B), who married his firft coufin, Mary, of Eatington. His fons, Sir Hercules and William, were ftaunch and loyal fupporters of the caufe of Charles I., and were compelled to redeem * Appendix F. UNDERHILL PEDIGREE. Will. Underbill of Wolverhampton, co. Staff., Esq. daugh. of Stanley of Bromwich, co. StafF., Esq. Nathaniel Underbill. daugh. of — Batt of Long Compton, co. War. J c , w , ' . . , , J° hn Underhill = ist. d. of Slade Walse = and. A°-nes, Shirlev in i loo Eatington, Esq., and widow of " y ' I John Norwood. William Underhi son :nul heir- Ob. Left his estate to hi; Edward. 11, . 8. p. brother Edward Underhill = Margaret, had a fresh lease of Eatington d. of — Middlemore of ioo years, m 1541. Edgebaston, co. War. I Humphrey. John. Thomas Underhill = Eliz; of Eatington. I d. of Sir John Congreve Ob. Oct. 6, 1603. I of Stretton, co. of Stafford. I I I Daughters. Thomas Underhill = Eleanor, of Horningham. I daugh. of Roger Winter of Huddington. I I Sir Edward Underhill. Ob. 13 Nov. 1641. Ex quo. the senior branch. I I II I 20 children, 3 sons 7 daughters I I (A) I William Underhill of IdlicoteandLoxley. Ob. March 31, 1570. Buried at Eatington. = Ursula, d. of Sir John Congreve of" Stretton. " Ob. May 13, 1561. , widow of Rich. Newport. Edward Underhill of Bath Kington. Ob. inf. Edward, 2nd. son and heir Eliz. - Edward J.ydyat, of Ge won ton, in Co. Oxon. Mary. = William Underbill ^ ^^ Th °' mai w'JT!* Esq * B °~ Sept * IS5 5- 0b - J«ly 7, 1597, -ffitat. 42 Buried July 1 3 1597- Described in the Inq. P.M. as of Fillongky. W.ll dated July 6, 1597. Proved Aug. 9. J Dorothy. Margaret. A line. Fullce Underhill. fi apt. Jan. 28, I c 7 8. Ob. March 1, .598.%., n f tav t r Hercules Underhill q„, f I Id Ju»t& Knighted at Compton, Sept. 6, ,6i 7 . Heir to his brother Fulke = Bridget, d. of John, Lord Carleton. I William = Hester, u . at u ,d o- I fl- of S.Parker Bapt. March, 1587. of Llandenderil, Esq. (laugh, of Sir Thos! Lucy of Charlecote, Knt. „ (C > I Sir William Underhill of Idlicote, Knt. Buried Sept. 25, 17x0. Elizabeth. Obiit. Nov. 15, 1585. Buried at Stratford. Dorothy. Vaientine (D) f I of r T U £M erhi11 T S ^ah, daugh. of ofIdl.cote.Esq. William Swift of Worcester, Esq. 2nd. Margaret, widow of Cornelius Van Bommel of London, Merchant. Ob. Sept. 28, 1712. ^Etat. 73. Samuel Underhill. Ph Pt ' . '"w St " Nicholas Church, Worcester, Feb *9. .1690. Mar. 1727. Sold Wbcote to the Hon. "encage Legge, in 1754, tor £14,000. Catherine, widow of Jonathan Fogg. Ob. 1739- (F)| Alice. Ob. Apr. 4, '779- -ffit. 91. Rev. George Hammond, M.A., Rector of Hampton Lucy, who succeeded his uncle, William Lucy, D.D. in 1724. Obiit. Feb. 29, 1760. JEt. 66. New Place, redeem their eftate from the Repub- licans for £1,177 % s ' ^^. William Underhill (B) was the perfon by whom the purchafe of New Place was made. By referring to the will of his father (in the Appendix G) it is evident that the Underhills porTefTed property in Stratford-upon-Avon; and therefore the purchafe of New Place by William Underhill is readily under- ftood. His name is repeatedly found among the fines levied about the years 1570 to 1590,* proving that he was anxious to accumulate as much landed property as he could in the neighbour- hood of Stratford-upon-Avon ; in fad:, that he was ambitious to eftablifh the younger branch of the Underhills at Idlicote in as great affluence as the fenior branch at Eatington. It was an ambition deftined * Appendix G. Stratford-upon-Avon, deftined to be difappointed in the perfon of his grandfon (C), who having married Alice, the daughter of Sir Thomas Lucy, of Charlecote, had the misfortune to be- come a widower, and then to become enamoured of a widow, the relict of one Van Bommel, a rich Dutch merchant in London. This lady eftranged Sir William from rural life, led him to London, and drew him into commercial fpeculation. He embarked in the gunpowder trade ; the mills were blown up, and the pro- perty blown to the winds at the fame time. His fon, Hercules (D), was in- volved, along with his father, and the refult was, that in 1754 the eftate was fold to the Hon. Heneage Legge, by the grandfon Samuel (E), whofe fifter Alice (F) was allied with the family of the Lucys of Charlecote, having married the Rev. George Hammond, Rector of Hampton Lucy, who fucceeded his uncle, William Lucy 90 New Place, Lucy, D.D., in the rectory, 1724. A monument to the memory of Mr. Ham- mond, and Alice Underhill, his wife, may be feen in the veftry of the modernly rebuilt church of Hampton Lucy ; the apfidal eaft end of which, lately added by the prefent owner of Charlecote, aided by the genius of Mr. Gilbert Scott, has tranf- formed this church into a fort of fmall cathedral ; and, in the midft of the beau- ties and affociations of Hampton Lucy and Charlecote, has furnifhed the lovers of architecture with a central object upon which the eye refts with gratitude to the liberality and tafte of the prefent mafter of Charlecote. From 1567 to 1597 William Under- hill continued the proprietor of New Place.* It is vain at this remote date to fpeculate upon the caufes which led to Shakefpere's * Appendix H. Stratford-upon-Avon. 9 1 Shakefpere's purchafe of New Place. Certainly there was no neceffity for William Underhill to fell any portion of his property. On the contrary, we have the beft proof that he had the delire and ability to increafe his landed eftate ; and we can eftimate its value when we recall the fact before ftated, that his fon, Sir Hercules, during the Civil War was glad to compound for it, by paying down £1,177. There is one fact concerning the fale of New Place which is worth noting. It was fold to Shakefpere in the Eafter Term of 1597; and Underhill was himfelf dead and buried July 13 th of the fame year. This fact rather favours the idea that New Place was fold from fome private or perfonal motive to Shakefpere ; for it moft certainly was not fold as a bufinefs tranfaction. William Underhill is known to us as an accumulator of landed pro- perty 92 New Place, perty, not as a man who had any necef- fity to part with a fingle acre of his eftate. It is probable that Shakefpere was acquainted with the Underhills, and it may be that William Underhill was aware of the Poet's defire to poffefs him- felf of the property at New Place. New Place would not be a refidence at which Fulk, or Hercules — the future Sir Her- cules, Royalift, and favourite of King Charles — would be ever likely to refide, particularly as Idlicote itfelf was fo con- tiguous to Stratford. It will be fetn by the pedigree that Fulk died the year after his father, and the inheritance paffed to his brother Hercules, a minor. Had Fulk Underhill died the year before his father's death, a reafon for the fale of New Place would have been fupplied us. As it is, the probabilities are ftrongly in favour of the belief that Shakefpere was perfonally intimate with the Underhill family Stratford-upon-Avon. 9 3 family; and both Fulk and Hercules, youths of about feventeen and nineteen years of age, were poffibly anxious that before their father died, the Poet and actor mould be gratified in his wiih, and New Place fecured to him. The facts, however, are thefe: in Eafter Term, 1597, the fale was effected, and on the 1 3th of July, William Underhill was buried. The preceding documents the author believes have never before been publifhed ; the following was difcovered by Mr. Halliwell:— Pasch. 39 Eliz. Inter TYillielmum Shakespeare quer et Williel- mum Underhill, generosum deforc, de uno mesu- agio, duobus horreis, et duobus gardinis, cum pertinentijs, in Stratford super Avon, unde placi- tum convencionis sum, fuit inter eos, &c. scilicet quod predictus Willielimus Underhill recogfi, predict a tenement a cum pertinentijs esse jus ipsius Willielmi Shakespeare ut ilia que idem Willielmus habet de dono predicti Willielmus Underhill, et ift remisit et quietclam de se et hered: 94 New Place, hered suis predicto Willielmo Shakespeare et hered suis in perpetuum ; et preterea idem Wil- lielmus Underhill concessit pro se et hered suis quod ipsi waran? predicto Willielmo Shakespeare et hered suis predicta tenementa cum perti- nentijs in perpetuum. Et pro hac &c. idem Willielmus Shakespeare dedit predicto Willielmo Underhill sexaginta libras sterlingorum. In glancing over thefe dry legal papers, unearthed from the charnel - houfe of hiftory, we are brought into contact with the acts of men, whofe lives would be unknown had they not been preferved from oblivion by the embalming law. Shakefpere's acquaintances, neighbours, perhaps friends, are brought before us in fuch documents, and in the regifters of pariih churches. Thefe, and their tomb- ftones, are almoft our only fources of information concerning the men and women who were of note and confe- quence in and about Stratford, who murr. have been familiar with the Poet, and who Stratford-npon-AvGn. 95 who might, by the labour of a few hours, have left us records of him which would have made the world grateful through all its hours to come. Let us be thankful, however, for pof- fefiing records that do furvive the de- ftruction of time ; and accepting them, if we cannot re-people the paft, at leaft we can catch a glimpfe here and there of forms familiar to the Poet both before and during his New Place life. Among the Special Commiffions taken for the county of Warwick, now pre- ferved in the Record Office, is an in- quilition upon the eftate of Ambrofe, Earl of Warwick, dated 32 Eliz. (1591). The document is very lengthy, and one of very great intereft. Some years back, attention was drawn to it by Mr. Cole, but as yet no antiquary has been found having a publisher of fufficient fpirit to riik its publication. The 96 New Place y The following epitome of fuch portions as ferve the object of the author will be read with intereft. Among the com- miffioners will be obferved the name of Charles Hales, to which the attention of the reader is efpecially directed, for reafons which will appear hereafter. Special Commissions (Co. Warwick) tem/p. Eliz. Inquisitio capta apud Warwic 9 et Stratford super Avon sexto die Octobris anno regni domine nostre Elizabethe Dei Gracia Anglie Francie et Hibernie Regine fidei defensoris &c tricesimo se- cundo coram Fulcone Grevile milite Thoma Leygh milite Johanne Puckeringe armigeris servientibus dicte domine Regine ad legem, Thome Dabridg- court armigero, et Carolo Hales armigero, virtnte Comissionis dicte domine Regine extra Scaccarium nobis et alijs directe ad inquirendum et supervi- dendum de omnibus et singulis manerijs terris tenementis et liereditamentis in comitate predicto nuper Ambrosij comitis Warwicensis Et de quibus- dam articulis eidem Comissioni annexis per sacra- mentum Joliis Turner generosi Ricliardi Wood- ward generosi Radulphi Townesend generosi Johannis Fulwood generosi Humfridi Brace Ra- dulpki Lorde Willielmi Wyatt Johannis Sadler Ricardi Stratford-upon-Avon, 97 Eicardi Walford Georgij Fraimcis Thome Nosor Willielmi Harbage Georgij Gybbes Willielrni Taylor Thome Warde Johannis Collins Thome Shackespeee Johannis Barrett Thome Goddard Eichardi Masters Willielmi Lapworth Thome Preyst Eicardi Williams et Eoberti Farefax qui dicunt ut sequitur * * * * Manerium de Novo Stratford Burgas sive villa de Stratford super Avon cum membris in comitatu Warr 9 . Smythe strete Thomas Shackespeee tenet per copiam datam xxj die Julij anno xxvij regine Elizabethe unam croftam terre ad edificandum horreum ibidem continentem per estimacionem dimidiam acram terre vocatam Pookecrofte et unum gardinum cum pertinentijs pro termino quinquagenta an- norum et re ddit per annum . . . iiij s viij d ^fi H» *T» •«* Yicus vocatus Henley strete Johannes Shackespeee tenet libere unum tenementum cum pertinentijs per redditum per annum vj d sectam curie vj d Idem Johannes tenet libere unum tenemen- tum per redditum per annum xiij d sectam curie . xiij d Vicus 98 New Place, Yicus vocatus le Corne strete et Churche strete WlLLIELMUS UnDERHILL GENEROSUS TENET LI- BERE QUANDAM DOMUM VOCATAM THE NEWE PLACE CUM PERTINENTIJS PER REDDITUM PER ANNUM Xlj d SECTAM CURIE xij d [Note — W m Underbill held also in " Walkers strete unum horreum & c "] Manerium de Shotterye reddit custumar tenen a Shotterie Johanna Hatheway vid tenet per copiam unum messuagium et duas virgatas terre et di- midiam cum pertinentijs per redditum per an- num xxxiij iiij d finem et harriotam . xxxiij s iiij d Manerium de Rowington cum membris customarij tenentes per copiam curie Thomas Shackespere tenet per copiam sibi et heredibus suis unum croftum cum pertinentijs per redditum per annum ij s ad festa predicta equaliter finem, heriotam, sectam curie . . ij s Liberi Tenentes Thomas Shackespere tenet libere unum me- suagium et unam virgatam terre cum pertinen- tijs per redditum per annum &c . . . . x s x d Wood end BiCARDUS Shackspere tenet per copiam ut supra Stratford-upon-Avon. 99 supra unum cottagium et dimidiam virgatam terre et imam acram prati cum pertinentijs per redditum per annum ad festa predicta equaliter vj 3 x d finem et sectam curie vj s x d Mulsowe ende Thomas Shackespere tenet per copiam ut supra unum mesuagium et imam virgatam terre cum pertinentijs per redditum per annum ad festa predicta equaliter x s iiij d finem et harrio- tara, cum ac cedent, et sectam curie . . x s iiij d Georgius Shackespere tenet per copiam ut supra unum cottagium et unum croftum terre cum pertinentijs per redditum per annum ad festa predicta equaliter ij s finem et sectam curie ij s Bicardtjs Shackespere tenet per copiam ut supra unum mesnagium et dimidiam virgatam terre et duas parcellas prati cum pertinentijs per redditum per annum ad festa predicta equ- aliter xiiij 3 finem et liarriotam cum accederit xiiij s At the period of the above inquifition being held, Shakefpere was twenty-eight years of age. In a fmall town like Strat- ford it feems that his family had in- duftrioufly " Scattered his Maker's image o'er the land." There ioo New Place, There was a plentiful fupply both of Shakefperes and Hathaways in and about Stratford, not only at that date, but for many years previous. The regifters and records of Rowington and neighbouring parifhes have yielded their evidences to this procreative truth ; but the author believes the following quotations from a Mufter Roll of the 28th Henry VIII. (1537), have not previoufly been pub- lifhed :— Warwyke. The certyficathe of George Throkmerton knyght John Grevyle Fulke Grevyle Edward Conwey Esquiers and Antony Skynner gent Comyssioners of onr sonerayne lorde the kings conserninge musters to be taken in the hundred of Bar- lychwey and libertye of Pathloe in the county e of Warwyke accordinge to the kinges highnes co@ission to them directed doe certyfie unto your lordships as well the names and surnames of all abell men withine the hundred and libertye afore- said as horses harnes bowes arows billys and other thinges defensabell and mete for the warre with the diversitie therof whiche ar in every township of Stratford-upon-Avon, i o i of the said hundred and libertye that ys to save * * * * Rowing ton Able men ther * * ^| (Inter alios) Thomas Shakespere >Arch[er] * * J Ric : Shakespere * * * Wraxsall Able men ther * * ~) (Inter alios) Will@ Sakespere ^Arch[er] * # * J Ric : Shakespere # * * Abell men there Shotery V LOXLEY John Hathewey >Arch[er] Abell men ther Matthew Hathewey >>Arch[er] It will have been obferved that William Underbill's father (A), the founder of the Idlicote family, was pofTeffed of an eftate at Loxley, a hamlet about three miles from Stratford. In this place alfo the 102 New Place, the Hathaways flourished, for in the will office at Worcefter the author found the following entries : — 1541. Hathaway, Thomas . . Loxley. 1557. Hath way, Simon . . . Loxley. 1558. Hatheway, Joan . . . Loxley. 1617. Hath way, John .... Loxley. 1636. Hathway, Richard . . Stratford. 1637. Hathway, Richard . . Stratford. 1648. Hathaway, Andrew . . Bellbrougton. Now, although William Underhill (B), the poffeffor of New Place, had his chief refidence at Idlicote, it feems probable that New Place was a favourite town- houfe with him ; and equally probable that it was purchafed as a refidence for him during his father's lifetime, as the fale was effected by his father, three years prior to his death. That death may have occurred much more fuddenly than was ever anticipated ; and after his father was laid to reft in Eatington church, William Underhill (B) may have been unwilling Stratford-upon-Avon. 103 unwilling to retire entirely from a reii- dence that had only been prepared for his reception three years previoufly. His focial rank and pofition are fufficiently indicated by the preceding inquifition, wherein he is ftyled "generofus;" and the author's reafon for believing that this "William Underhill — generofus'' (though actually feated at Idlicote) always kept up his town houfe in Stratford, and occa- fionally flayed there, although never making it a fixed refidence, is drawn from the fact, that while the hiftory of the family is to be read in the regifters at Eatington, and the regifters of Strat- ford are almoft filent, it does fo happen that the author has found one baptifmal entry at Stratford, as follows : — November 25, 1585. — Elizabeth, daughter of Mr. William Undrell. The natural inference drawn from this entry being, that during the winter months 104 New Place, months of 1585, the Underhill family removed from Idlicote to their Stratford houfe, at which place it chanced that one of the children was born. We gather from thefe various documents that both at Loxley and in Stratford, William Underhill of New Place was furrounded by Shakefperes and Hathaways. They mufl: have been familiarly known to him, and he to them ; for although there was a broad line of focial demarcation be- tween the yeomen and able - bodied " archers," and the " generofus " mafter of New Place, ftill we muft remember in the cafe of John Shakefpere and his fon there would not be fuch a feparation, becaufe John Shakefpere had attained a pofition in the town fufficiently refpecl- able to allow of a friendly intimacy exift- ing between theUnderhills and his branch of the Shakefpere family. From his childhood in 1567 until 1597 Shakefpere Stratford-upon-Avon. 105 Shakefpere would know William Under- bill, Gent., as the owner of New Place. That he muft have known him focially, and that Underhill muft have had fome private and friendly motive in felling New Place to Shakefpere, almoft upon his death-bed, is a conclufion which the date and circumftances of the fale feem to force upon us. But Shakefpere we know was intimately acquainted with John a Combe, of the " College/' and in his will left his fword to Thomas Combe. What of that ? The queftion will be anfwered with the fame explanation which the author would give to the companion queftion, which we can well believe many time- worn lovers of Shakefpere will be inclined to afk : " Why do you burden your book " with a fet of elaborate pedigrees which " no one has given before, and the ufe of " which is not obvious now ? " Let io6 New Place, Let fuch queftions receive this anfwer. Becaufe the writer believes, honeftly and earneftly, that much more fact, and in- finitely more probability, concerning Shakefpere's life, lies within our reach than is commonly fuppofed. Heraldry and pedigrees may feem to fome perfons very dry ftudy; but it may fafely be afferted that, defpite the flippant jokes of modern democratic writers at the expenfe of the Herald's Tabard, and the mediaeval, quaint affociations of the College of Arms, that inftitution, the Books of Vifitations, and the heraldic dilplays upon ancient church monuments, are becoming daily more and more valuable as contri- butors to the hiftory of our country. However humorous it may feem to fee the novus homo of Pie Corner or Pudding Lane affuming a crefl: to which he has not the remoteft pretenfion, and can mow no claim, neverthelefs in the Stratford-upon-Avon. 1 07 the very affumption there is the indica- tion of an Englifhman's reverence and regard for the ancient landmarks of family and focial hiftory. What does it matter to any one if the inventor of the latere. D electable Soap or patentee of the Bifurcating-Baltic- B riffle- Brum, drops in at one of thofe terrific Holborn fhops, which look like mediaeval menageries for the exhibition of crimfon griffins and uproarious gam- boge lions ; and there, for the fmall charge of 5j\, has his " arms found ? " What though the brindle cat fits and mews a-top his note-paper, curls its tail upon the flap of his envelopes, and fpreads its whifkers over the handles of his fpoons ? Do Garter or Clarenceux lofe their appetites becaufe the vaulting ambition of the mop has a fneaking love for thefe things, and pays for it in the Queen's taxes, with hair-powder and fuch like? Not io8 New Place, Not a jot. They know well enough that the honeft citizen would have found his arms at Doctors' Commons if he could ; and that, pleafe God and his own in- duftry, if he can found a family, fome day or another the brindled cat may have its turn in that direction ! Though the cynic may fmile and fneer at fuch cockney pretention, and though it has a ludicrous afpect, neverthelefs it is not all ludicrous. There is fomething genuinely Englifh at the foundation. There is an evidence of the fpirit of homage to antiquity; of reverence for even the humbleft aflbciation with anything con- nected with the records of the country* As all forms, ecclefiaftical or civil, have their meaning and their moral, fo the forms of heraldry — the quainteft of all — are full of the deepeft meaning and intereft. Let the prefent writer make bold to fay that a moft intenfely interefling book might be, may Stratford-upGn-Avon. 109 may, perhaps, be yet written regarding Shakefpere, by collecting together a record of the perfons and the incidents of thofe perfons' lives with whom the Poet muft of neceffity have been aflb- ciated. Thefe pages cannot be devoted to fuch an undertaking ; and, there- fore, there will be no further attempt made in them than to indicate the direc- tion in which it feems well that fome one fhould travel. It is by no means impoffible to fur- round Shakefpere with friends and ac- quaintances, concerning whom the world generally knows nothing up to the prefent time. What is the common eftimate of him and of his arTociates ? Vulgarity is ftamped upon the traditional ftories regarding his life and fociety. We are told he was apprenticed to a butcher. He was a deer-ftealer. He married a woman in a hurry, 1 1 o New Place, hurry, for a reafon about which the lefs faid the better. He lived unhappily with his wife, and as an evidence of his in- difference, left her his fecond-beft bed. Laft of all, he died of a fever, caught from a bout of drunkennefs. Poor Shakeipere ! Can any one mow that there is a fylJable of truth in any of thefe ftories ? Do fuch low-bred vulgarity, immorality, and beaftiality, fuit with the mind of William Shakefpere ? Has he not in his own words fupplied for us the vixen-like revenge which little- nefs, and the worft littlenefs of all, that of goffips, takes upon any real greatnefs of mind and character : — " I'll give thee " this plague for thy dowry ; be thou as "chafte as ice, as pure as fnow, thou " malt not efcape calumny." Whence do all thefe ftories about our Poet come ? Plain, vulgar-tongued folk call Stratford-upon-Avon. 1 1 1 call them — goffip. When ventilated in a fuperior atmofphere, and carried with the beefs and muttons from the fcullery to the dinner-table, the word diffolves into the politer phrafe — tradition. Be it fo ! But what is Tradition ? Tradition is not to be believed ; but always to be confidered. Tradition is a perjured witnefs, who never yet came into court without a lie upon her tongue — for it is a lie to pervert, diftort, exaggerate, or diminifh aught of the truth ; and where, either in the memory of man, or on the pages of hiftory, was there ever a piece of " goffip," " town's talk," " what everybody fays," " tradition," that did not, on inveftigation, turn out to be gorged with falfehood ? The ftories current concerning Shake- fpere, which the lapfe of ages has confe- crated with the undeferved title of tradi- tion, might well aftonifh any ftranger to Englifri 1 1 2 New Place, Englifh habits ; but they are not in the fmalleft degree aftonifhing, when we remember that it is one of the manners and cuftoms of the Englifh to try to knock a man over, the mo- ment he lifts his head above the herd of his fellow-men. If by abufe and flander we can blight his fpirit, dull his brain, and break his heart, we give God thanks for having accomplifhed a worthy, Chriftian, and charitable end. But if he ftands the pelting, and wont be put down, there is a time coming when he can be cuffed and cudgelled to any extent. For your genuine lover of flander — the vam- pire of private life — the greateft treat on earth is the " poft-mortem " of a man's character, whom he has followed with envy, hatred, and malice through life. There are Cannibals, even in England, who want a gofpel preaching to them far more than their heathen brethren; for while Stratford-upon-Avon. 1 1 3 while the latter whoop and dance around the dead, and then eat the perifhing fleih, the former exultingly leap upon, and until they are lick with furfeit, devour the more than body — the reputation, the life in death, of thofe who lie defencelefs in the grave. There is no need to be furprifed that even mighty Shakefpere's memory has been handed down to us blackened and defamed by goffip. In inverfe ratio, the higher a man attains, the lower and bafer he is likely to be reprefented. An unerring gauge whereby to meafure the value of character and genius againft goffip, in the cafe of Shakelpere, is here fupplied. The ftory — which will hereafter be re- ferred to — regarding the caufes which led to Shakefpere's death, is generally familiar, and has, as a matter of courfe, been com- monly reported in Stratford. In order to mow ii4 New Place 9 mow how goffip — otherwife tradition — improves as me paffes from mouth to mouth, the author lately encountered the ftatement, gravely made to him by a clergyman at Luddington, who had been allured of its truth, that " Shake- " fpere died drunk." That affertion will read to every one as wicked and pre- pofterous as it founded in the ears of the writer. But why wicked and pre- pofterous ? It is the natural refult, and inevitable development of the ftory told in the Rev. Mr. Ward's Diary, which need not be further difcuffed in this place. This piece of goffip of 1862, the author believes precifely to the fame extent that he does any and all of the before-mentioned ftories. They all reft upon one bafis, and that bafis is a rotten one. A very clever, and, in its way, a very convincing pamphlet, was publifhed a fhort Stratford-upon-Avon, 115 fhort time back, by Charles Holte Brace- bridge, Efq., entitled " Shakefpeare no " Deerftealer," the gift of which is, that Shakelpere did not kill the deer in Charlecote at all, but in Fulbroke Park ; that in Co doing he committed no offence againft the law, or morals, but that he offended Sir Thomas Lucy thereby. Mr. Bracebridge quotes the ftatement of the late Mr. Lucy to Sir Walter Scott, that " the park from which Shakefpere ftole " the buck was not that which furrounds " Charlecote." Mr. Bracebridge's pamphlet is well worth reading, and he has done good fervice by it to the memory of the Poet. Now as to the value of tradition. Though tradition invariably fpeaks falfely, as in one inftance Mr. Bracebridge has mown, neverthelefs, though a wretched bad witnefs in court to give evidence, fhe ferves as a very ufeful fign-poft upon the 1 1 6 New Place, the highways of time. She commonly (not always) points to fomething that deferves inquiring into, and indicates the direction in which we mall find it worth our while to travel. So with regard to the traditions about Shake- fpere : the author believes they are a mixture of abfurdity and of falfehood ; but at the fame time, while rejecting them as at all truftworthy, they feem to him to ferve a ufeful purpofe in exciting inquiry, and making us feek for the truth that underlies them. As evil is commonly good perverted, fo falfehood is often the wicked or idle mifreprefenta- tion of fomething true at bottom ; and as good as it is true. Let any one of the fo-called traditions concerning Shakefpere be brought into court, and fearchingly examined, and it will be committed for perjury. But let us take the rambling old ter- centenarian Stratford- upon - Avon. 117 centenarian crone at her real value; go and fit with her in her timber and plafter cottage at Stratford, and liften to her as fhe told her ftory to Betterton, or to Ward, or in her later years to Malone or Stevens, and we mail thank her, not for what fhe teaches us, but for fending us off in the right direction in purfuit of fomething we have yet to learn. There is Mr. John Shakefpere, in Henley Street — he is a glover, or a butcher, or a " yeoman," or wool-dealer ! — what is he ? Can no one fum up all the fuppofed trades or bufinefles, and fay in a word, that they moft probably mean he was a woolflapler ? Make him of any one of the above trades actually and folely, and we cannot reconcile the other ftatements. But like the variorum readings of the fame names and the fame employ- ments in Shakefpere's days, if we adopt 1 1 8 New Place, adopt the conclufion that he was a Merchant of the Staple, we. mall eafily be able to underftand his being called both butcher and glover. Confidering what a ftaple trade gloving was in John Shakefpere's time, in his own county, if he were connected with the mercers in London, he would of neceffity deal in gloves. The pofTeffor of land, and the owner of cattle, it is the height of pro- bability that he may have flaughtered his fheep in his own farm-yard, in order to have the fldns properly preferved. Butcher he might eafily be called, and fo might his fon William ; and alfo be reprefented as apprenticed to a butcher, when he was in reality apprenticed to his father. So, again, the ftory about Shakefpere killing an animal, or helping to kill one, may be true in origin, but tradition's reprefentation of it be as untrue, as if one of our princes or peers were nomi- nated Stratford-upon-Avon. 119 nated a " butcher " becaufe he happened to be preient when a flag's throat was cut. And lb, again, there is the deer ftory. Mr. Bracebridge may be right as far as he goes ; and yet, while tradition points to fome facl that did occur, he might perhaps, though wanting evidence, and yet in truth, have gone much further. Might not Shakefpere have been out, not merely for fport, but as a matter of bufi- nefs ? Might not his father have regu- larly killed, and paid for deer out of Fulbroke Park ? Might not the quarrel with Sir Thomas Lucy have arifen upon this ground ; and an imperious, hot- headed country fquire have attempted to interfere with Shakefpere, thereby making himfelf ridiculous, and henceforward be- ( coming famous in his folly ? Again, as regards Shakefpere's removal to London. May not that have hap- pened i2o New Place, pened for bufinefs motives ? and may he not, during his whole London career, have benefited by a profitable trade, that gave him the pofition of a gentleman, and connected him with gentlemen ? and alfo enabled him to realife that independence upon which he retired ? It muft never be forgotten that his father was in difficulties about the time when the Poet removed to the metro- polis ; and from that moment we never again hear of, or trace any domeftic anxieties in the houfe of John Shake- ipere. The inference feems conclufive. Look at Shakelpere, in his home-life at Stratford : is he not continually en- gaged in commercial tranfactions — buying and felling corn, buying land, farms, ty thes ? Shakefpere was a bufy man — an active, thrifty, accumulative man. He was evidently anxious to make money, and to found a family. His will, and the records Stratford-upon-Avon. 121 records of Heralds' College, in his father's grant of arms, prove this. When he became more permanently refident at Stratford, we find him exhibit- ing the habits of life previoufly contracted. Men's habits are not changed in mid-life, and new ones arTumed. What Shake- ipere was at Stratford we have every reafon to fuppofe he was in London ; but whatever the fources of his accumu- lations, whether from one or various fources — the ftage, his plays, and com- mercial enterprifes — we know that he did make money ; and that at a very early time of life he was able to eftablifh himfelf and family in New Place. So far from the vulgar, bafelefs conjecture, that Shakefpere ran off to London to avoid Sir Thomas Lucy having anything to recommend it, it feems to the author as far-fetched and prepofterous, as it is totally devoid of a fcintilla of evidence in its favour. Why 122 New Place, Why mould we delight in perpetuating fuch miferable fudge ? Why fhould one writer after another, and one generation after another, pafs on, from book to book, and from mouth to mouth, a fet of ftories that would be (diverted of the grand-founding epithet " tradition," and branded with their proper defignation, — pot-houfe goffip) rejected as only fuited to the ideas of tap-room topers ? The term is ufed advifedly. There is the faint, oppreffive odour of that region — faturated with the ftench of ftale beer, and the defpoiling of men's reputations — about almoft all the " traditions " of Shakefpere. Shakefpere with merry com- panions, over the " cheerful bowl," is perpetually being prefented to our notice by tradition. Shakefpere, and "the fcience of drinking (at Bidford) the largeft quan- tity of liquor without being intoxicated!" Shakefpere dead-drunk, and deeping the night Stratford-upon-Avon. 123 night through "under the umbrageous "boughs of a crab-tree!" Shakefpere making doggrel verfes at the expenfe of his particular and perfonal friend, at a tavern, faid to have been known by the flgn of "the Bear !" Shakefpere drinking too hard at a merry-meeting, and dying thereby of a fever ! Oh ! pundits of our literature ! bio- graphers of the greater! man of all your craft ! lovers of the Saxon tongue ! is it by fuch boozing tales as thefe that ye honour the High Prieft of your profef- lion ? Muft the incenfe that you offer at his fhrine reek with the coarfe odour of the village politician's and wifeacre's foul tobacco, and ftill fouler breath? Can no Neibuhr of Englifh record be found ftrong enough and manly enough to cleanfe the ftream of hiftory, by purifying and contemptuous ridicule of this corrupting garbage, polluting every- thing 124 New Place, thing with its poifonous " tradition ? " We are taught to diftruft an autograph of Shakefpere's, and cautioned not to believe a fcrap of writing to be true, unlefs there is internal corroborative evidence to eftablifh its authority ! Better, furely, to caution the world againft believing a fcrap of vulgar goflip, unlefs there is fome internal, and corroborative evidence to eftablifh its authenticity. No one is a jot the worfe or better whether a line of writing be genuine or forged ; but a whole nation is made worfe, — every man who fpeaks the Saxon tongue is worfe, becaufe his confidence and refped: are fhaken, if he difcover that the teacher of the higheft, nobleft thoughts — the Poet who fills the heart with admiration for all that is noble and virtuous and honourable in human nature, began life as a thief, fpent it as a vagabond, and ended it as a drunkard ! Softer-fpoken words might be culled from the Stratford-upon-Avon. 125 the dictionary; but thefe are the real and fimple terms by which, in plain, un- varnifhed ipeech, Shakefpere deferves to be defcribed, if the felf- condemning " traditions " in common currency re- garding him are to be reproduced and re-believed. It may be faid, that the author has met tradition by nothing better than fuggei- tion and that any one can draw pictures from imagination. But this would hardly be juft. Which fort of evidence is more agreeable and acceptable, — that which is probably true becaufe it refts upon con- clufions derived from known facts ; or that which is probably untrue, becaufe it refts upon no other foundation than the loofe and fhifting ftories of goffips ? Goffip reprefents Shakefpere as a booz- ing and beer-drinking fellow. Facts do not prove that he was not; but facts provide us with evidences of his energy, labour, 126 New Place, labour, and thrift, leading us to conclufions from thofe facts which convince us he could not poffibly have been fo. Ex uno difce omnes ! Goffip fays he was a deer- ftealer in Charlecote Park: facts now prove that ftatement to be pofitively falfe, and that if he killed a deer at Fulbroke, Sir Thomas Lucy had no power to prevent him. Goffip fays he ran away to avoid the knight's difpleafure ; facts prove that his father was a man in confiderable re- pute, connected with the Mercer's trade, but that he got into difficulties ; and at that precife period we find young Shake- fpere went to London. Facts truly do not prove, but they lead us to a reafon- able conclufion bafed upon them, that Shakefpere went to London for good and honeft purpofes ; and that he went as a man of bufinefs, not as a homelefs vagrant is the more probable, becaufe facts mow that his father retained poffef- fion Stratford-upon-Avcji. 127 lion of his refidence, and we hear no more of his troubles ; while in a brief period of time his fon returned to Stratford, able to eftablifh himfelf in the " Great Houfe " there. Let us judge of Shakefpere by what we really know of him, however fmall and cir- cumfcribed the amount of our information may be. Rejecting with fcorn the old wives' fables, which other old wives feem to have delighted in perpetuating, it is a fafer and more honourable path to purfue, if we fet out upon a journey in fearch of facts, and, like Pilgrim, eafe our moulders of that bundle of fictions which have burdened us. Let tradition be a finger- poft, and nothing more ! If the enthu- liaftic lovers of the Poet would content themfelves with healthy exercife, they might perhaps find that there are ftill many facts waiting to be dug out of ancient records that have been brufhed paft 128 New Place, paft by us ten thoufand times, and yet never detected. The filver mines of Potofi were difcovered by the tearing afide of a bramble ; and yet their treafures had laid through the long centuries clofe to the handling of men. So it may prove that there are treafures of hiftory that have been very clofe to fome among us, which an accident fome day may difclofe. Even though it be not fo 9 the fubjecl: is well worth diligent fearch. It feems extraordinary that many of the rapturous admirers of the genius of the Poet perpetuate, as if they were true, fo many vulgar flanders and goffips regarding the man. If they were true, we might begin to fufpecl: there is fome- thing after all in that ftrange theory that Shakefpere's plays were never written by Shakeipere, but by Francis Bacon ; be- caufe it would be impoflible to reconcile the man that we mould picture from the writings ' Stratford-upon-Avon. 129 writings, with the man that we mould know in his acts. In Mr. Charles Knight's moft interefting "Biography of " Shakefpere " and running commentary upon contemporary hiftory, manners, and habits of the country, a proper and contemptuous proteft is entered againft the ungracious doggrel attributed to Shakefpere, as written at the expenfe of his friend and neighbour John a Combe, an eftimable, worthy, and charitable gentleman, whom tradition has nick- named ufurer ! Ufurer ! Let any one read his Will, and it will be &en what a friend the poor of Stratford had in the kind old man who lived among them, and bountifully bequeathed his property for their benefit. The good that he did, has, indeed, been interred with his bones. This ftory, and others, Mr. Knight has difmiiTed as they deferve. It is heartily to be defired that many more of the Poet's 1 30 New Place, Poet's biographers had done, and would ftill do, the fame. Can no other picture of him be drawn? Let us make the attempt. It will be admitted that Shakefpere was a precocious and ambitious youth. Let the motive for his early marriage have been what it may, there was precocity in the ftep. But if we difcard the difhonour- ing fuggeftions that have been made re- garding it, and confider it as the act of a young man who had a folemn and earneft appreciation of the value and purpofe of life, we mall find that fuch a view of the tranfaction harmonifes with the whole of Shakefpere's conduct. Let it be faid — it matters not — that this is taking a very novel view of his con duel: : is it not better, when we are attributing motives to a perfon, to try and find good rather than bad ones ? Shakefpere, it is true, needs no apologift, leaft of all the ad- vocacy Stratford-upon-Avon. 131 vocacy of fo feeble a pen as that which traces thefe lines ; but to furnifh motives for a man's acts is a paftime at which all can play an even game ; and therefore the fancy of one man is juft as good as that of another. The Poet's character is read from a totally different point of view in thefe pages to that taken by De Quincey and by many others.* Let it be pardoned, if in love and admiration the author feems prefumptuous when he fays, that he con- fiders, in the glorification of the poet, Shakefpere's character has wanted ftaunch and faithful champions, — men "To think no flander ; no, nor Men to it." Let the fuggeftion above made be enter- tained for a moment, and in what a totally different light do the two momentous ac- tions of the Poet's life prefent themfelves ! — his early marriage, and his early fetting out * Appendix I. 132 New Place, out for London to fight circumftance and conquer independence ! Precocity and ambition are herein com- bined. Who shall blame them ? This man commenced life as a good man mould begin it: there was no "fowing of wild oats ; " no libertinifm ; no exhauftion of the ftrength of youth amidft the ftews of a metropolis. Let Shakefpere's acts — the facts of his life — be weighed againft the words of gofiips who never knew him, and the author contends thofe facts all go to turn the fcale in his favour. His firft ftep on the threfhold of man- hood argues the fenfe of refponfibility, and the ambition for reipect ability. It was in the man; and it came out and mowed itfelf at the earlieft poflible moment.* There * When it was ftated, at p. 31, that there are two feals to Shakefpere's marriage bond, one bearing the impreifion "R.H.," it would have been more correct to fay there "were," becaufe the feals have entirely vanifhed, and there is fcarcely a trace of them on the parchment. Stratford-upon-Avon. 133 There is another characleriftic — the granting of arms to Shakefpere's father. It parchment. Nearly fourteen years have elapfed fince the author laft heard anything of that bond, and it was only by accident that, being in Worcefter lately, he took the opportunity to give it a freih examination. On doing lb, he compared the text of Mr. Halliwell and Mr. Knight with the original, and found that the copy (given at pp. 29, 30) is perfectly correct, while that of Mr. Knight ("Biography," p. 275) contains thefe errors : — " By reafon of any pcontract or affinitie, or by any other," &c, inflead of " by reafon of any pcontract, confanquitie, affinitie," &c. " May lawfully folemnize mriony," inftead of "may lawfully folemnize mriony together." " Laws in that cafe provided," inftead of " lawes in that behalf provided." With regard to Luddington, as the probable place of Shakefpere's marriage, it may be well to put it on record that there is ftill living an old gentleman, named Pidering, at Colton, near Alcefter, who, when a youth, refided at Luddington. This perfon diftinctly remembers having heard it pofitively afferted by the inhabitants of the hamlet that Shakefpere was married in their chapel ; and he alfo remembers the books and regifters of the chapel being burnt in a fire which occurred at his coulin's, the chapelwarden's houfe, at the commence- ment of the prej en t century. (Query. Did Malone ever fearch thofe books?) Mr. Baldwin, who now occupies the farm on Luddington Green, preferves the remains of a Gothic font which belonged to the chapel, as alfo the Black-letter Bible which belonged to the reading-delk, and the key of the porch, which was dug up a few years fince in the garden which now covers the ruins. 134 New Place, It is univerfally admitted that this was Shakefpere's act ; and that it was he who prompted John Shakefpere's application to Herald's College. It will be obferved upon the Shakefpere Pedigree, that the condition of his ancef- tors and the grants of lands, as recorded in the draft of the pedigree in Herald's College, have been reproduced as correct, attributing them to the favour of Henry VII., to whom John Shakefpere's great- grandfather did faithful and approved fer- vice. William Dethick, Garter Principal King-at-Arms, has been charged with granting arms improperly ; and Mr. Halli- well particularly dwells upon the fcoring and interlining of the original grant of 1596. It feems to the author that this fcoring and correction was moft natural, and that in all probability it occurred from the fact of the evidence being taken down from the lips of William Shakefpere. Dethick Stratford-upon-Avon, 135 Dethick is not to be charged with the falfehood or mifreprefentation, if any, appearing in the two drafts of arms, dated 1596 and 1599. In both thefe the faithful fervices of the Shakefperes to King Henry VII. is folemnly afferted ; and it is hard to believe that the affertion is untrue, when it agrees fo well with the probable fettle- ment of the Shakefperes in Warwick- mire, and was made, almoft beyond doubt, by the Poet perfonally, to Dethick, fince the draft bears date when Shakefpere was bufy in London, and the year before he pur chafed New Place — a fignificant fact ! Therefore, on the Pedigree in this book, that ftatement is accepted and believed, becaufe the author believes the draft was drawn under information provided by William Shakefpere himfelf ; and he be- lieves likewife that the man, with the chivalric feelings of a gentleman, would have fcorned to tell a lie. It 136 New Place, It has been fuggefted that becaufe, as it will be feen, the Ardens ferved King Henry VII., Shakefpere was confounding his maternal with his paternal anceftors. So that we may take our choice as to whether, in the firft cafe, he was a liar; or, in the fecond, a fool. Pleafing alternatives for thofe who relifh them ! But it is to be hoped there are not wanting believers in the candour and truthfulnefs of the Poet; who, like Mr. C. Knight, in his "Biography," accept with credit the ftatement found in both the drafts, for which we muft hold Shakefpere himfelf refponfible, con- fidently believing that it was fupplied as information by him in the drawing of the firft draft of 1596, and repeated by Garter King in 1599. But what was the motive for Shake- fpere inftigating his father to obtain this grant ? It can hardly fail to be obvious to Stratford-upon-Avon, 137 to any mind that is not tortuous. The author believes that the grant was fought with the fame motive that the early mar- riage was contracted, — that New Place was purchafed, — and that Shakefpere's will, finally, was made. It feems to him that in all thefe things, and in his wonderful mental activity and pofitive labour, there was the one noble, worthy, ambitious motive throughout : Shakefpere wifhed to found a family. He loved from his early days the honoured refpectability of an Englifh gentleman. He longed and defired that his family mould achieve a place among the gentry of Warwick- fhire. The ambition that we have fcen in the prefent century, at Abbotsford, was precifely what was feen at New Place in 1597. Perhaps there is a more extended parallel between Scott and Shakelpere than this. Was there not the fame hiftoric feeling in both thefe men ? The 138 New Place, The love for antiquity, for defcent, for heraldry, for chivalric ftory and incident, is confpicuous in each of them ! Shake - fpere's plays are hiftoric chronicles ; fo are Scott's novels. They prefent in a popular form, to the entrancement of the people, a moving fpeclacle of events of which many would otherwife be profoundly ignorant. It requires a peculiar fympathy of mind to deal with fuch fubjects, — and that thorough fympathy was inbred in the characters of Shakefpere and Scott. No carelefs reader of Shakefpere's works can poffibly mifs obferving the antiquary's tafte that pervades them. Let this be carried in memory, and the pride of anceftry, in the draft of the grant of arms, will be recognifed as his natural characteristic, and not as Dethick's invention. It will be obferved that the author treats with abfolute difbelief and dif- guft Stratford-upon-Avon. 139 guft the " traditions" current concerning the Poet ; and he is impatient of them, becaufe he folemnly believes them to be injurious to the credit which the Man, as diftinct from the Poet, de- fences to enjoy among his countrymen. He believes that the known and authen- ticated facts of Shakefpere's life, taken by themfelves, prefent to us a Character to be refpected and loved, juft as much as his works do a Poet to be admired. Of thofe leading events of Shakefpere's life which have been fummarifed above, he conceives that, when any mind difengages itfelf from the mire of tradition, they can only be regarded in one light, — to his honour and fair fame. This is a mighty contrail: and contra- diction to the currently-received ftories about ftealing deer, marrying in fhame, and running away to London ! But thofe are ftories without confirmation or evi- dence. 140 New Place, dence, and the author holds they are pofi- tively irreconcilable with the proved and authentic facts of Shakefpere's life, which uniformly exhibit him as an induftrious, high-minded, afpiring citizen, and a man ambitious of taking rank with the families of Englifh gentry. We are informed by Rowe, who gives the ftory on the authority of Sir William Davenant, that Lord Southampton, out of his great friendfhip for Shakefpere, pre- fented him with £1000, to enable him to make a purchafe for which he had a mind. This gift is fuppofed to have been made fome time fubfequent to the year 1593, when "Venus and Adonis" was published, and dedicated to his lordfhip ! We float aloft into a higher and purer atmofphere when we picture our Shake- fpere winning and holding fuch an "efpe- cial friend," — being focially connected with nich a man as Southampton ; and befriended Stratford- upon - Avon . 141 befriended by William and Philip Herbert, Earls of Pembroke and Montgomery. Something too much has been written about the inferior pofition of the Poet; and that pofition has been kept down by the everlafting low-lived {lories with which his name has been begrimed. Shakefpere's genius needs no eulogies. It were to paint the lily to laud that. But Shake [per e — the man, the citizen, the high- minded polifhed gentleman, ambitious of pofition and afferting his title to aflbciate with gentlemen — this is a perfon of whom we have heard too little. From all that his biographers have commonly put be- fore us, we might naturally conclude that he was a fort of dramatic penny-a-liner, fcribbling by day from neceffity — at the point of the literary bayonet — the pen — a certain amount of "copy," the value of which was unknown to himfelf, and de- lighting at night in the fottifh fcciety of taverns. 142 New Place, taverns. It may be that on thefe pages this picture of him is expofed in a broader and more glaring light than the public are accuftomed to fee it in. The author afferts that it is the true light ; and be- lieves that the focial and moral portraiture of the man, as painted by "tradition" (fifh- wives'goffip),is as grofs andprepofterous as he alfo believes every one of thofe daubs, (Chandos or otherwife), which are foifted on the public as likenerTes of the phyfical man, are like fign-painters' portraits, having far lefs relation to the original than the " Saracen's Head " had to Sir Roger de Coverley. Is there not more fatisfadtion in contemplating Shakefpere as the efpecial friend of Southampton, than as regarding him as the "hale-fellow, well-met" com- panion of the fwilling chaw-bacons of " Piping Pebworth, Dancing Marfton," &c. &c. ? Talk of reverence for this mighty man's Stratford-upon-Avon. 143 man's works ! — it feems there is plenty of lack of reverence for the man himfelf. Let us afk ourfelves, when we prate about our love for the " Immortal Bard," where we find anything to juftify our bafe-born traditional rubbifh about that Immortal Man ? Shakefpere could not have acquired the independence he did, had he not been a fober, cleanly-living, thrifty man. Shakefpere could not have inftigated his father to acquire that coat-of-arms, had he not been an ambitious man : ambitious in the pureft and beft fenfe of that word — ambitious to raife himfelf in focial pofi- tion and refpecl:. Shakefpere would not have completed the purchafe of fuch a property as New Place, and have made it his permanent refidence, unlefs he had been what we now call commercially "a thoroughly refpectable man," anxious to take his place 144 New Place > place amongft gentlemen, and to be efteemed as " generofus " in his own county. Every known Ja£t of his life goes to fupport thefe affertions. Let fact be weighed in the fcale with fable, and the meafure of the man will give us for refult a character to refpect, as well as a genius to admire. Something has been faid in allufion to Heraldry. There is one fource of indirect information regarding Shakefpere which has never as yet been thoroughly examined. Authors and biographers have riddled through the fieve of criticifm every grain of direct evidence regarding him, known of, and available. Clofe Rolls, Records, Inquifitions, Regifters, have furrendered their filent teftimonies. But Fines, Leafes, Sales, Births, Deaths, and Marriages, while they give us direct and pofitive know- ledge, do not give that indirect tefti- mony Stratford-upon-Avon. 1 45 mony to be gathered from contemporary affociation. A Pedigree, quaint and for- mal as it may look, when well read and ftudied, may yet be found to guide the antiquary's fearch in fome direction rich with indirect, and leading perchance to the most direct, evidence regarding the Poet. As thefe lines are being penned, there lie before the writer twelve hundred clofely- written foolfcap fheets of War- wickfhire pedigrees and family hiftories, compiled by the late Rev. Thomas Warde, Vicar of Wefton-under- Wetherley and of Barford, Warwickihire. They are a part of the labour of a long life of an enthufi- aftic antiquary's refearch. They are inter- fperfed with pen-and-ink fk etches of an- cient Warwickihire timber-houfes, many of which are now deftroyed ; and their pages are crowded with the moft intereft- ing family and local records, fuch as have not 146 New Place, not been collected together by any one fince Sir W. Dugdale publifhed his famous book, defpite its numerous errors. When the author firft perufed this MS., his intention was to quote from it largely ; but he has relinquished that idea, partly becaufe to do fo properly would have involved the publication of a work of magnitude ; and partly becaufe in doing fo it would have been robbing the MS. itfelf of riches, which, in the author's opinion, would have been like rifling the tomb of the dead of its treafure. Whole and undefiled the Rev. Mr. Warde's MS. mall remain, until fuch time as its pre- cious and Angularly interefting pages can be given entire to the public; though that portion of the public which takes intereft in fuch matters will grieve to hear that the documents now confided to the author's charge do not form more than a quarter of the number which once exifted, and perifhed Stratford-upon-Avon. 1 47 perifhed in a fire in London fome years ago. From the pages of the fragment of twelve hundred meets ftill preferved, many items of information contained in this volume have been gathered ; and a ftore of detail regarding the Lucys, Underhills, Combes, Boughtons, Shirleys, Cloptons, Carews, Grevilles,Throckmortons, and others who lived in Shakefpere's time, has proved to the author the value of the opinion he now exprefTes, as to the wide field of indirect evidence ftill to be explored, calculated to convey moft interefting in- formation, that may lead to a far more perfect knowledge of Shakefpere himfelf than the prefent age pofTefTes. The names juft given (and many others of the Warwickshire gentry might be added), when we ftudy them by the help of the College of Arms, are found linked together by intermarriages, bringing be- fore us curious and interefting facts elfe- where 148 New Place, where unattainable ; and repeopling the pari: by fuch aid, we are enabled to fur- round Shakefpere with the forms and figures of men and women who, in the nature of things, muft have known him well, and been known by him. The names of Sir Thomas Lucy, William Combe, Sir Thomas Throckmorton, and Fulke Greville pafs before us as Mem- bers for the county of Warwick. By turning to the Clopton Pedigree, we find John Combe married to Rofe Clopton, of Clopton.* On the tomb of Judith Combe, in Stratford, we find the arms of Combe quartered with Underhill, and the hiftory of the two families puts before us the intermarriages. In the fame way we learn of the alliance between the daugh- ter of Sir Stephen Hales, the contem- porary of Shakefpere, and Edward Combe. Again, Appendix J. Stratford-upon-Avon. 1 49 Again, the grandfon of Thomas Underhill married the daughter of Sir William Lucy. And again, Jocofa, or Joyce Clopton (three years younger than Shakefpere, born 1568), married George Carew, afterwards Earl of Totnefs. Thefe were people affociated with Stratford, with many of whom Shakefpere muft have been familiar. The Combes, the Under- bills, the Cloptons, the Carews, it may be afferted without any hefitation, were his friends. What does the world know of thefe people? It has heard John Combe libelled as a ufurer; and been told that he was Shakefpere's friend until the Poet lampooned him. It has learned that the Earl of Totnefs was a brave foldier. And this is all. The evidence of John Combe's regard for Shakefpere has paled before a doggrel verfe. The evidence of Shakefpere's attachment to the Combes has been made nothing of. The 150 New Place, The fact that Lord Totnefs, living at Clopton Houfe, was a man of letters and an author, has efcaped notice beyond the record of the fact itfelf. And the ftory that Lord Southampton prefented Shake- fpere with £1000 to complete a purchafe on which he had fet his heart, has never, it is believed, been pointed at the acquire- ment of New Place. When people have been fufficiently naufeated with the fentimental rubbiih with which the prefs has teemed about the " Immortal Bard," and when the tap-room talk, yclept tradition, has been poured out into the gutter with its kin- dred dregs, the healthy and honeft re- fearches of the good and true fearchers of this age after fact, will lead to the gather- ing of new materials for writing the hif- tory of Shakefpere. In fo doing it will be well to furround him with the focial facts of Stratford at the time when he lived, having Stratford-upon-Avon, 151 having ftripped him of the fables of half a century after he died. It is furely more pro- fitable to know the perfons among whom he dwelt, than to liflen to the loofe ftate- ments of people that he never faw. In- quiries about his contemporaries may bring us to difcover fomething about him ; but if they never teach us anything pofitive as to his hiftory, there is fome fatisfadlion in contemplating the men and women who had the privilege of his acquaintance. Let us glance at one or two of the Stratford worthies of the Shakefperian age. There were three houfes which we of the prefent generation would give much to have refcued from deftruclion : New Place, the Poet's home ; the College of Stratford, the home of his friend John a Combe ; Clopton Houfe, the home of the Cloptons and Carews. Of thefe three, two have utterly perifhed : the third, Cloptoi* 152 New Place, Clopton Houfe, exifts as it was recon- ftrudted by Sir Edward Walker (F) in the time of Charles II. Happily one morfel of the original houfe, built in the time of Henry VII., has been fpared. It ftands at the back of the prefent manfion, and was a porch-way entrance acrofs the ancient moat. One hundred and forty years have paifed away fince a Sir Hugh Clopton (H), and withal a Herald of the College of Arms, deftroyed the houfe in which Shakefpere died. The prefent generation, therefore, has been robbed of nothing which it has contemplated and pofTerTed. Not fo with the College. That venerable ftructure, erected in the reign of Edward III. by Ralph de Stratford, Bifhop of London, and adjoin- ing the yard of Stratford Church, was fhamefully deftroyed within the memory of living men. This monaftic eftablifh- ment had been " embellifhed " at the * front Stratford-upon-Avon. 153 front towards the church, with Georgian facing ; but at the back it ftill retained many of its mediaeval architectural features. Unfortunately, in the year 1796, it was fold to one Edmund Batterfbee, a man who had made money in Manchefter, and curfed Stratford by fettling there. The MS. records in the author's truft, allude to the College as follows : — "In 1797, the furniture of this " manfion, the College, was difpofed of " by auction, together with a collection " of paintings. Many of them were very " curious, ancient, and valuable ; and " fome very interesting family portraits, " which were, unfortunately for the " antiquary, fold and difperfed. Whole " lengths of Queen Elizabeth, Charles II. " and his Queen, Louis XIII. and his " Queen. Charles II. and his Queen, " Louis and his, are now in the Town " Hall 154 New Place, " Hall at Lichfield, having been purchafed " for a trifle each, for Mr. Green's " mufeum in that town, and fince its " being difcontinued, thefe pictures— not "finding a purchafer! — have been all " hung up in the Town Hall. Full " length paintings of George, Prince of " Denmark, George I., and II. alfo de- " corated this antique manfion. A large "piece, bearing the date 1641. A half- " length portrait of Juxon, Bifhop of " London, who attended the unfortunate " King Charles I. to the fcaffold. This " painting very likely was an original, as " the pious Bifhop, at the time of the " ufurpation of Cromwell, retired to his " houfe at Little Compton, in Gloucef- " terfhire, which is not far from Strat- " ford. A very beautiful half-length " portrait of Lady Radnor, and innume- " rable family portraits ! and others too " numerous to mention. " This Stratford-upon-Avon. 155 " This venerable manfion, — which had " exifted through a lapfe of 446 years, " and fince the fuppreffion of the religious " houfes in the reign of Henry VIII. " had been the refidence of feveral very " honourable families, — was now doomed " to fall, and its ancient walls to be " pulled down to the ground, though the " whole of the manfion was in perfect " repair, and fome parts of it fitted up in " the modern ftyle by its purchafer, who " very unfortunately had purchafed it. " Being an entire flranger to the town of " Stratford, having lately purchafed the " houfe {landing near the large gates of " the entrance to the church, where he " refided, and having more money than " any regard for venerable antiquity, or " any refpefl: for antiquarian lore, or the " ancient porTefibrs of this noble manfion, " he, tradefman-like, — for he was a Man- " chefter tradefman, — not liking that the " ground 156 New Place, " ground facing his own houfe mould be " encumbered with fuch an old anti- " quated building, determined to have the " whole pulled down, like Mr. Gaftrell, " who deftroyed the famous mulberry- " tree. By the taking down of this an- " cient pile the town of Stratford had to " lament the deprivation of one of the " chief and greateft ornaments. But Mr. " Batterfbee, regardlefs of public opinion, " and delirous of the land on which it " ftood, to make ufe of part for a kitchen- " garden and the reft for pafture for his " cattle, deftroyed the whole of the old " College in 1800. Sic tranfit, &c." The above quotation has been made in full, that the reader may have a fpecimen of the ruthlefs manner in which, little more than half a century ago, the moft interefting family reliques were difperfed, and the houfe in which Shakefpere had fpent many an hour with the Combes and the Stratford-upon-Avon. 157 the Cloptons was deftroyed ! Can it be that when old fwords, and halberds, and rufting antiquities were turned out with the pots and kettles, Shakefpere's fword went along with them ? It is quite pojjible. Pafs we on now to Clop ton Houfe, which, happily, remains. As before ftated, one remnant of the antique Shakerperian edifice ftill ftands : the re- mainder of the manfion being Carolean. Neftling under the weftern fweep of Wel- combe Hills, the Hopes rich with verdure, dotted with copfes, and fhadowed with ancient trees, among which the deer feed, ftands Clopton Houfe. As we look upon that folitary remnant of the Tudor Houfe, we feel a thrill of pleafure in the con- viction that under its portal Shakefpere and his friends muft have parTed fcores of times. The moat ran directly in front of it, and was a few years back difturbed, in order 158 New Place, order to lay fome modern foundations. Various trifling reliques of by-gone days were recovered, and among others three fack-bottles of ftunted form, made of the coarfeft glafs. Two of them had the creft of Combe upon them. There is a theme for a reverie ! Sack from the Col- lege, taken up to the Houfe! Was it an offering from John a Combe to Lord Totnefs ? Was it a fpecial prefent at fome Chriftmas time, when the lips of the Lady Joyce or the Poet pledged the cup, and did honour to the " Boar's " Head ? T Who can tell ? The empty bottles funk in the mud of a moat for centuries come back to light, and tell us on what friendly terms the families of Combe and Clopton were, in the days when they pledged the toaft in fack.* There * One of thefe bottles is now in poffeilion of the author. From the length of time that it has been buried, it has acquired thofe prifmatic colours which grow upon glafs under the foil. Stratford-upon-Avon. 159 There is but one place left which, in its reliques and affociations, brings Shake- fpere vividly back to the imagination, and that is Clopton Houfe ! We enter its noble hall, with receffed bay-window full of the Clopton coats of arms, and running our eyes round the walls we light upon the manly, maffive head of George Carew, Lord Totnefs. There hangs his portrait as frefh, and in as fine prefervation as the day it was painted."* There, too, are numerous members of the Clopton family — Joyce, the Countefs, venerable men, and noble ladies, coming down in fucceffion to Mr. and Mrs. Partheriche. There is a fplen- did original of the " Lady Elizabeth," Cromwell's * There are two portraits of Lord Carew at Clopton Houfe. The one here referred to came from Alton Hall, Birmingham ; the other, which has always been in the houfe, hangs in one of the galleries. Both pictures feem to have been painted at one date, and the treatment is the fame ; but the Alton is in far the belt prefervation. 160 New Place, Cromwell's mother : and a moft intereft- ing painting of the river front of White- hall Palace in the days of the Stuarts. Among a multitude of others, is a beau- tiful portrait of Sir Edward Walker, wear- ing his badge of Garter King. In turning over the papers and MSS. of Clopton Houfe the author met with an ancient written and emendated copy of the third part of " Jewel's Apology ! " What ftory could this manufcript tell! It is in the handwriting of the time of Mary and Elizabeth. Whofe was the book? Could it ever have belonged to Jewel himfelf, or was it made for fome member of this Clopton family ? Who can guefs ? Perhaps the moft precious book of all at Clopton is a fmall volume by Richard Pynfon — a collection of Statutes. It is as complete and perfect as the day it iffued from the prefs of the King's Printer. This Stratford-upon-Avon, 1 6 1 This book tranfports us back to Shake- fpere's own times. It was in his day exactly what we fee it now. Whence it came, whofe it was, none can tell. But it is among the old books and papers of fuch a place as Clopton that we beft like to meet with fuch a book. Tumbling about in unknown nooks and corners there may yet be found other fuch, and more direct evidences connected both with the Poet's period and the Poet himfelf. Here, at leaft, is one book pub- limed before Shakefpere's birth, which we find preferved not only in Warwickfhire, but in the very houfe with which all his circle of friends is affociated. Let the fact fpeak for itfelf. From the houfes let us glance at their mailers and miftrerTes ! Much ftrefs has been laid upon heraldic refearch, and the author, — it may be fome- what boldly, but, neverthelefs, very iin- cerely, — 1 62 New Place, cerely, — has expreffed not merely his opinion about the value of heraldic re- cords, upon which there needs no opinion to be expreffed ; but his conviction that there is yet much knowledge to be gained from refearches, to which a comparifon of the Warwickfhire pedigrees of Shake- fpere's age, would lead the inquirer. In preparing thefe pages for the Prefs, the examination of the Viiitations has led the author again and again upon the track of information of which he was previoufly in utter ignorance. May not the fame refult await other inquirers ? Moreover, we experience a frefhened intereft when we gain a knowledge of the perfons who furround the Poet in familiar intercourfe. That marriage regifter — " 1561. June 4. — Johannes Combes, GenerosuSj " et Rosa Cloptonne " — brings Shakefpere into connection with the great folk at Clopton from his earlien: years. Stratford-upon-Avon. 163 years. Rofe was married the year after her father died, and her brother William had come into pofTeffion. She was mif - trefs of the College during the firft fifteen years of the Poet's life, and as fhe watched him growing, and fawhim attain his fourth year, fhe would hear the news from the Houfe that her brother's wife had brought him a little girl — duly chriftened Jocofa or Joyce. This was the future Countefs. The Poet would be juft old enough to remember her being born, the year after William Underhill, Efquire, had come to refide at New Place. The boy and girl grew up to man's and woman's eftate, familiar with the fame people and having the fame friends. In 1575, Queen Eliza- beth arrived at Kenilworth, and Matter Langham, in his letter to Mafter Martin defcribing the Queen's vifit, difcovered that " Olid Hags, prying into every place, " are az fond of nuelltiez az yoong girls " that 164 New Place, " that had never feen Coourt afore." Then did the men of Coventree make petition that they *' moought renue now " their old Storical Sheaw," — " of late " laid dooun they knoe no cawz why, " onlefs it wear by the zeal of certain " theyr preacherz. Men very commend- " able for their behaviour and learning, " and fweet in their fermons, but fome- " what too four in preaching awey theyr " Paftime."* Among the young girls who had never feen Court afore we may probably reckon Joyce Clopton, for the author has dis- covered, among the pedigree MSS. in his cuftody, that at an early age Joyce was appointed * A curious MS. copy of the celebrated "Letter " wherein part of the Entertainment unto the Queen'z " Majefty at Killingwoorth Caftl : in Warwickfheer in "this Soomerz Progreft, 15J5, is flgnified," is in the author's poffeilion. The writer notes " this manufcript "is valuable." The author's name is given, Langham. Mr. Knight calls him " the entertaining coxcomb, " Laneham." Stratford- upon- Avon. 165 appointed a Maid of Honour to Queen Elizabeth, being " a great favourite and " remarkable for her virtues." Moft likely the Queen firft faw the little girl, aged feven, on this memorable occa- fion, when William Clopton (C), her father, came to Kenilworth to do honour to Leicefter. However this may be, the lithe Joyce muft have been brought about the Queen's perfon at a very youthful period, for young George Carew, a Cap- tain in the army, met her, made love to her, and married her without her father's knowledge when me was 1 9 years of age ! " Mr. Clopton was greatly difpleafed " with his daughter's marriage with Cap- " tain Carew, which was without his " knowledge and confent, and intended to " difinherit her. But upon an accidental " meeting and converfing with Captain " Carew, he found him a man of fuperior " genius and fine addrefs, which quali- " fications 1 66 New Place, " fications fo effectually recommended " him to his favour that he was recon- " ciled, and fettled his eftate at Clopton, " which was very confiderable, upon him " and his daughter." By reference to the Pedigree, it will be found that Clopton House was in the poffeffion of three perfons during the whole of Shakefpere's life. William Clopton (C) inherited it three years before the Poet's birth, and enjoyed it until 1592, when Shakefpere was 28 years of age. Joyce and her hufband fucceeded, and long outlived the Poet. In thefe three perfons we have indi- viduals of rank, importance, and intel- lectual power. The traditions which affociate Shakefpere with Clopton Houfe would be of little value, were it not that they are finger-pofts directing us to in- quiries which give us every confidence that he was fo affociated. The Combes, Cloptons, Stratford-upon-Avon. 167 Cloptons, Underhills, Boughtons (of Lawford), we find linked together by family ties and focial bonds. In the midft of them, in the " Great Houfe," that had belonged to the families of two of them, Shakefpere refided. It is a happy, plea- fant picture that the mind creates for itfelf, as in imagination it repeoples the College, and New Place, and Clopton Houfe, and the neighbouring refidences of Idlicote and Boughton. We feem to fee our Shakefpere enjoying, and enjoyed in, fuch fociety. When we turn to the Pedi- gree, and learn what was the character and fame of George Carew, Earl of Tot- nefs, we can conceive in the brave foldier's periods of leave and repofe how greatly he would appreciate fuch converfation as he might find in New Place. Carew was himfelf an author, and efleemed a literary character in his day. Being fent by James I., in 1609, on an embaffy to 1 68 New Place, to France, he drew up on his return a relation of the ftate of that country, and gave portraitures of Henri Quatre, and of the principal people about the Court. He alfo wrote the " Pacata Tlibernia" a hiftory of the wars in Ireland, which Bifhop Nicholfon fays contained the tran- factions of three years of much fighting, in Munfter, from the latter end of the year 1599 to the death of Queen Elizabeth. He alfo tranflated into Englifh a hiftory of Iriih affairs, written by Maurice Regan, a fervant of the King of Leinfter, in the year 1171; the MS. of which work was formerly in the library of the Duke of Chandos. Without purfuing the records of pedi- grees further, it is to be hoped that enough has been brought forward to anfwer the queftion at page 105, which the author fuppofed being put to him. It is true there is no pofitive and direct evidence Stratford-upon-Avon. 169 evidence that Shakefpere ever affociated with many of the perfons that have been named. Heaven forbid that there ever mould be found any direct evidence that he affociated with any of the perfons into whofe fociety he is degraded by tradition ! But which is the truftier of the two — the fair and natural conclufions which the mind draws from the contemplation of contemporaneous facts ; or the idle, loofe, and fhifting ftories of perfons who had never feen the Poet, or could fpeak a word from their own knowledge ? Shakefpere's character, read by the offenfive taper-light of village goffip, is not the character which the ftudent of his works would expect to meet, and be miferably difappointed if he did not meet. The weights and meafures of con- fcience — the things fhe approves, or dis- approves — have one eternal, unchanging ftandard. In every age there is the fame fenfe 170 New Place, fenfe of right and wrong, clean and un- clean, fober and diffolute. Shakefpere either was or was not a man to love and refpedt, as well as a Poet to admire. If he fank fo low as to have his paftime with tipplers and drunkards, then our diminifhed regard tarnifhes the bril- liancy of our admiration. But if there is abfolutely no evidence whatever to prove aught againft the man ; if deer ftealing, and vagabondiiing, and hard drinking are unfupported by a fingle eftablifhed, proved fact ; and if, on the contrary, they are Angularly at variance with what are the known faffis of this great man's life, it is but juft to his memory, and giving him the honour which is his due, if we fcout with contempt the wrencings of tap-tubs and the vulgar goffip of clowns. The view of Shakefpere's life and character which the writer takes, is not drawn from imagination, prefent- ing Stratford-upon-Avon. 171 ing an outline which will admit of no faults. It is eafy to mount a Pe- gafus, and foar aloft on the wings of grandiloquent words about his genius, and his poetry, and his dramatic fkill. It is the profaic, and not the fentimental, view of the man Shakeipere with which thefe pages are engaged. It is Shake- fpere's Home which is their concern. Planting our feet on a few acres of land, under the fhadow of Holy Crofs, in Stratford, the object is to know as much as poffible about that home hiflorically and focially, and to know what the man was who inhabited it. His ambition to acquire poffeffion of New Place was as honourable and laud- able as it feems natural. Was not John Shakefpere, the Poet's father, engaged in the fame trade as the great Sir Hugh Clopton, however wide the difference in the extent of their dealings ? That Great Houfe 172 New Place, Houfe had been the London mercer's home. It had belonged to the man who made his money in Old Jewry and the Cheape. Before Shakefpere fet out for London, when his father was in dif- ficulties, he very probably took a linger- ing look at the houfe, — took courage from the memory of the man who had lived in it, — and fet out for London town with a ftern determination to win inde- pendence himfelf, and return to live in Stratford, enjoying it. Let us review the circumftances of his life, and we fhall find all this is moft natural, and harmo- nifes with what we know are facts. His running away to London, like a thief, to efcape Sir Thomas Lucy, is a wretched, crack-brained ftory, bafed upon no fact whatever ; but invented folely to try and make out a reafon for Shakefpere's going, when a natural and fufficient reafon laid clofe at hand. Lord Stratford-upon-Avon. 173 Lord Southampton gave him £1000 to complete fome purchafe he greatly defired. There was a purchafe com- pleted, and probably completed in a hurry, for the vendor fold in Eafter term, and was dead in July ! May not Lord South- ampton's money have been given for this particular purpofe ? And when Shake- fpere was fettled at New Place, what are the evidences, the fadis, we know of him ? They uniformly go to prove that he was a careful, induftrious, money- making man, feeking to acquire property and to found a family. His proper ambition is difcoverable in every move- ment of his life: in his acquirement cf New Place ; in his grant of arms by the College ; in his will ; in his various pur- chafes of property ; and, laft of all, in the fociety of the perfons with whom we conclude, both by pofitive and alfo by indirect evidence, that he affociated. As 174 New Place, As we tread the garden of New Place, and recall the mighty dead that once trod that fame plot of earth, and called it his, let thofe who love to think of him as the Poet, think of him alfo as the Gentleman. The idle talk of men who never knew him has wafted down to us unproved and difcreditable ftories. At his threfhold, when we enter New Place, let us make them, with the duft, from off our feet. Shakefpere's honeft, anxious life deferves better from us than a readi- nefs to hear him defamed. As we tread his garden let us think of him, and judge of him by what we know of him. It is not much, indeed, but it may fome day be more. Such evidence as we have, all tells in his favour. It prefents to us a man with goodly ambition raifing him- felf and his family to prefent indepen- dence, and to everlafting fame. It pre- fents to us a cautious, careful labourer — a Stratford- upon-Avo?z. 175 a painftaking artift, a moft fkilful anato- mift of human nature. It prefents to us no hurried fcribbler of plays, careleffly throwing off, without an idea of their beauty, the teeming imaginations of his brain, as it has been impudently afferted ; but a man who chaftened his mufe with fevere caftigation, and applied himfelf through life with unhalting felf-devo- tion, not only to feek out the treafures of thought, but to polifh, and fet his gems in fuch marvellous frameworks of plot, as in Othello, Lear, Hamlet, and Macbeth, that the world has gazed thefe three hundred years with admiration and de- light upon his wondrous workmanihip. And when we tread his garden let us think of him as the greateft, loftieft teacher of mankind who has ever fpoken with uninfpired lips. " There are," faid Watfon, Bifhop of Llandaff (to the late Duke of Rutland, when retiring from his tutorfhip), 176 New Place, tutorfhip), " two books to adhere to in " your future life ; one is the Book of the " Child of God ; the other the Book of " the Child of Nature." From Shakefpere's House at New Place, many of the pages of that book went forth to the world; and in that garden, among its trees and flowers, their thoughts were meditated. Let us honour his memory where his very prefence feems to overfhadow us. " A gleam of daylight Jet Will gild the cloud of eve ; And the foul's light linger yet O'er the place itfighed to leave.'' 9 In writing about Shakefpere, inches of fact have been fringed with acres of conjecture. When once an author has entered upon the field of conjecture he can wander along at his will, unchecked and Stratford-upon-Avon. i yj and unhindered ! But if conjecture is fuggeftive of inquiry, where inquiry may not have been fufficiently made, perhaps it is not altogether worthlefs. Where did Shakefpere obtain his knowledge ? That queftion has been afked by every ftudent of his works, and has never yet been fatisfactorily anfwered. Ben Jonfon afferted that he had " fmall Latine, and leffe Greeke," by which, it is to be prefumed, he meant to ftate that Shakefpere had received the rudiments of a claffical education, without being diftinguifhed as a fcholar. Such a conclufion might be fairly arrived at from a ftudy of his plays. But though he might not have been able to tranflate the Medea or Antigone with eafe, it does not admit of a doubt, that in fome way or other, and at an early age, he muft have read extenfively — perhaps indifcrimi- nately. At 178 New Place, At eighteen he married. The youth, whether he was a lawyer's clerk, or appren- ticed to bufinefs, had finifhed his curri- culum at fchool before that event. We are confequently reduced to the neceffity of confidering his " education " (techni- cally fo called) as finifhed when he was feventeen years of age. Had he acquired the mafs of information with which his mind was ftored, previous to that date ? or, during the labours of author and adtor in London, did he find time to purfue the cultivation of his mind, as well as to inform himfelf of the data and hiftorical fa6ls regarding any par- ticular play which he was going to write? A diftinguifhed magiftrate of the prefent day once anfwered the writer of thefe lines (on his exprefling furprife at the minutely accurate information difplayed by a popular novelift regarding the local hiftory and hiftorical records of a place he had Stratford-upon-Avon. 179 had never vifited), " Oh ! give a man a " fortnight at the Britifh Mufeum and he " will get up any period or place you " pleafe." No doubt there is much truth in this remark ; but, imprimis, Shakefpere had no Britifh Mufeum to which he could refer ; and, in the next place, the know- ledge he difplays in Romeo, Hamlet, Macbeth, or any of the plays, the plots of which he borrowed from hiftorical books, tracts, or ftories he had read, is of a very much deeper and profounder character, than refults from curfory reading. It is not the knowledge of a " common-place " book/' or a " cram," but the refult of keen obfervation and clofe ftudy. Not in the technical, but in the broaden: fenfe of the term "education," infuffi- cient inquiry has been made, as to how, or by what means, Shakefpere became felf-educated ? for it does not admit of difpute that his profound knowledge of human 180 New Place, human nature, and his marvellous capa- city for the acquifition of facts, were the refult of felf-cultivation. No grammar fchool of King Edward VI. instructed a boy's mind as Shakefpere's mind was inftructed. Conjecture fpeculates as to how he gained his information ? Suggeftion, with a furmife, may inquire whether the hiftory of the " Guild " at Stratford has ever been narrowly fcruti- nifed, with a view to arriving at a con- clufion. Shakefpere's lines in the Third Act of the Twelfth Night have been repeatedly quoted : — Maria. Hes in yellow Jlockings. Sir Tobt. And cr of s- gartered. Maria. Mojl villainoufly ; like a pedant that keeps a fchool i the church. Whether Shakefpere had his own pre- ceptor before his mind's eye, may be doubted ; but there can be no doubt that he Stratford-upon-Avon. 1 8 1 he alludes to a cuftom of his time, which had come under his own obfervation, which was the very common habit of holding public fchools in the Lady chapels, or chancels of churches which had for- merly been connected with monaftic eftab- lifhments. There are many perfons alive who have belonged to fchools kept in the church — as,forinftance,the Queen Elizabeth School, which was held in the Lady chapel of St. Mary Redcliffe at Briftol, and in which they received their education. Schools in the church were not uncommon. The fchool at St. Alban's continues to be held in the Lady chapel of that ftupendous Nor- man abbey, to the prefent hour. A fchool was kept (perhaps ftill is) in the Triforium of Chrift Church, Hants. The college fchool at Worcefter alfo has been held in a noble hall within the Cathedral precincts. A long lift of fuch fchools in the church might 1 82 New Place, might be given. But there is one re- markable fadt connected with them ; they have, as a general rule, been eftablifhed or held in the Lady chapels, or chapels of fuppreffed monaftic inftitutions, and not in buildings that were parochial churches before the Reformation. In connection with thefe fuppreffed monafteries, or cells, there were frequently valuable libraries, rich in ancient chronicles, tales of the wars, hiftories of royal heroes and valiant knights, as well as in the lives of the faints, miffals, and breviaries. Such an eftablifhment was the Guild of the Holy Crofs. Henry VIII. fuppreffed its conventual character. His fon Ed- ward VI. erected it into a grammar fchool. The Corporation records of Stratford prove that the chancel of the Guild Chapel was ufed as a " fchool i' the church," and it is altogether uncertain whether fuch ufe was continuous or temporary. Mr. Halli- well Stratford-upon-Avon. 183 well and others imagine it was temporary, founding their opinions upon probabilities as they fuggeft themfelves to their minds from an examination of the Corporation books. The items of allowances there alluded to in 1568 are: — " for repayryng " the fcole ; " " for dreflyng and fweepyng " the fcole houfe ; " " for ground and " fellynge in the olde fcole ; " " for takyng " doun the foller over the fcole." Mr. Halliwell comments upon this — "This " laft entry would alone feem to prove " that the fchool was not then in the " chapel, but in another building." The difference in the terms of deligna- tion feems to warrant the opinion that there may have been an intended dif- tinction between the "fcole" and "olde " fcole." The ufe of the word " olde " appears to lignify that there were two fchool -rooms, or places of teaching, belonging to the one " Grammar School," anfwering 184 New Place, anfwering probably to what is called in the prefent day, the upper and lower fchool. And if the chancel of the Guild Chapel had lately been appro- priated for fcholaftic purpofes, it was very natural in the Chamberlain's accounts, to defcribe the fchool-room in the monaftic buildings of the ancient guild as " the " olde fcole." It was the trueft defcrip- tion, for the fame place had been " a "fcole" for fifty-two years previous to the fuppreflion of the monafteries, having been founded in the laft year of the reign of Edward IV., 1482, by a Thomas Jolyffe, under charge and control of the Guild of the Holy Crofs. There is another entry and date in the Corporation books, of great importance. In February, 1594, an order directs, that there fhall be no fchool kept in the chapel from that date. It will be fair to conclude, that up to that year, from the new Stratford-upon-Avon. 185 new foundation of the fchool in the 7th year of the reign of Edward VI., 1553, the Guild Chapel had been ufed for fchool-teaching ; and in all probability about that date, the " olde fcole " had fuch additional accommodation given to it, that it was no longer neceffary to appro- priate the Guild Chapel to fuch a pur- pofe. Whether it was habitually ufed as a fchool from 1554 to 1594 (as the Lady chapel of St. Alban's ftill is, and St. Mary Redcliffe was until lately), is of no great moment, becaufe diftindl evidence proves, that, whether occafionally or habitually » to fuch ufe it was devoted during the years when Shakefpere was at fchool, and (fuppofing he continued at fchool until he was fixteen) for fourteen years fubfequently. It may yet be difcovered that greater impreffions were produced upon the mind of the boy Shakefpere by the advan- tages 1 86 New Place, tages he derived from the " fchool i' the " church," than have ever been fuggefted by commentators upon his life! Many obfcurities have of late years been cleared up, by a careful perufal of documents hitherto neglected. There are poffibly in exiftence many documents, which, if difcovered, would throw a flood of light upon the bufinefs of his manhood and his authorfhip, that remain for the prefent fhrouded in obfcurity. Probably enough, on that night in June, 1613, when Burbage was performing Henry VIIL in the Globe Theatre, Blackfriars, and the thatched roof catching fire, the entire building was deftroyed, many MSS., plays, and note- books of the Poet's, may have perifhed in the flames, which would have fet at reft the unfatisfaclory queftion — How did Shakefpere acquire his varied, profound, and alfo defultory knowledge ? The Stratford-upon-Avon. 187 The inquiry feems to force us to one or other of two conclufions : either he enjoyed peculiar advantages from the " fchool 1 the church " which could not be derived from the ordinary crofs- gartered pedants' routine of Hie, Hcec, Hoc, or he muft have been enabled, by Lord Southampton, or fome other influential perfon, to obtain accefs to a library in London. At the prefent moment, in the utter abfence of all dired: evidence upon the fubjedt, we are thrown back upon pro- babilities, and the indirect internal evi- dence of Shakefpere's writings. They appear to bear a twofold witnefs in favour both of Stratford and London ; but fuch knowledge as fo bufy a man could acquire in London, was much more likely to be obtained for the occafion, and ftudied in hiftories and chronicles hurriedly, in order to conftrud: the plots of his pieces, than to be of that profound and equally dif- curfive New Place, curfive character, which remains to the prefent time the admiration and equally the puzzle of the world. In the plays which we know that Shakefpere wrote, when one of the " owners " or " partners " of the Globe Theatre, and in the full ftrain of mental and phyfical exertion, we do find an immenfe amount of that " knowledge of a period " before alluded to, which is rather the bufinefs of a fearcher of records, than of a ftudent of literature. This, after all, is the mere fkeleton of a play. The flefh and life that clothe thofe dry bones of history, could not be fo read-up or crammed. The plays of Henry IF. and Henry VI. may ferve for example. No Garter- King-at-Arms, no F.S.A. could fupply us with more accurate knowledge of defcent and pedigree, than do fuch fpeeches as thofe of Mortimer (Firft Part Henry VL> Ad: ii.), and of the Duke of York (Second Part Stratford-upon-Avon. 189 Part Henry VL, A& ii.). No hiftorian could fketch character more admirably, or render narrative more tranfparent, than do the princes and prelates who fpeak in Ad: iv. Second Part of Henry IV. But while fuch knowledge might have been ftudied for the purpofe, let it be remem- bered that this fame Adt is world-famous for a knowledge of a very different cha- racter — a knowledge of human nature, exhibited in the two phafes of high and or- dinary life, — King Henry and the Prince ; and Juftice Shallow, Falftaff, and Bar- dolph, — in itfelf fufficient to have eftab- lifhed the fame of a humorift or fatirift of any age. It is not a queftion of pro- bability, but a known fact, that Shake- fpere did model the ikeletons of many of his plays upon the chronicles which he read while actively occupied at the Globe Theatre. Still, that does not account for the flefh, and blood, and life, with which 190 New Place, which they are quickened; and in order to do fo, it feems necerTary to retrace our fteps to Stratford, and to attribute them to a precocious acquifitive- nefs, as well as natural quicknefs of obfer- vation. Quicknefs of obfervation feems necerTarily allied with the keener! fenfe of the ludicrous. The traditions of Strat- ford concerning the Poet's humour, may well be trujled when we read his plays ; and when we regard him as a fatirift of the follies of mankind, in comparifon with the fatirifts of modern times, their attacks are but as the prick of a bodkin or a pin, compared with the flaying of a fcalping-knife ! Shakefpere's knowledge was two-fold : it was the moft wonderful that any human being has ever exhibited, regarded as knowledge refulting from obfervation ; but it was alfo knowledge acquired by reading and ftudy. In him every one recog- nifes Stratford- upon- Avon. 191 nifes the ftudent as well as the obferver. When did he ftudy ? Where did he ftudy? A great amount of his know- ledge of life, as exhibited in his ruftic characters and clowns, was, we know, the photographing of perfons with whom he had come in contact in Warwickfhire ! There alfo moft probably was his ftudy ! It has been afferted that, towards the clofe of his life, he regularly retired to Strat- ford for the purpofe of writing his plays. The affertion carries with it every proba- bility, and it is likely enough the truth, that at Stratford he was habitually a ftu- dent to the very clofe of his career. If the Tempeji or Henry VIII. were the laft plays he wrote, he muft have been fuch. We may well incline to the belief, when we remember the touching farewells of Profpero and Wolfey to that power which they had fo long exercifed. Shakeipere himfelf might be fpeaking to 192 New Place, to us in the "long farewell," or in the lines : — "Til break my faff, Bury it certain fathoms in the earth, And deeper than did ever plummet found, Til drown my hook." It is not, however, with the clofe but with the commencement of his career, that we have to do. Was not Stratford the fchool- houfe of his life ? Did not his mind, — with a precocity fuch as has been exhibited in Milton and Chatterton, and for which Lord Byron was nervoufly anxious that the world mould give him credit, — eagerly and thirftily drink at the fources of fuch knowledge as were capable of being reached in his youthful years ? Though it may feemingly be a very unfatis- fadlory manner of anfwering a queftion, to put another; neverthelefs, when every lover of Shakelpere has afked, and will continue to afk until the queftion is anfwered, " Where did the Poet gain his " diverfified Stratford-npon-A r con. 193 " diveriified learning?" it may not be altogether ufelefs to reply to fuch in- quirers — Have you not paffed over, with- out fufficiently fearching confideration, the days that were fpent at " the fchool i' the "church?" Have you thoroughly in- veftigated the character of that fchool, and of the Guild of the Holy Crofs, with which it was originally incorporated? Have you fatisfied yourfelves, whether, in that very church, Shakefpere might not have found thofe fources of knowledge which he evidently found fomewhere and fomehow ? Between the date when King Henry VIII. fuppreffed the monaftic eftablifh- ment in 1536, to the date of his fon, Edward VI., reviving the School of the Guild in 1553, only feventeen years inter- vened. Thofe years were long enough to complete the work of difperfion or deftruction among the libraries of abbeys that 194 New Place, that were themfelves reduced to ruins, but no fuch ruin overtook the Guild of the Holy Crofs. It was not an eftablifh- ment of fufficient importance to be ruined, and accordingly it changed hands, and followed the deftiniefc of the Reforma- tion. What became of its furniture — its chattels — above all, its books ? Was there any library connected with the Free School of the Guild ? If fo, what object could there be for the officers of Henry VIII. to deftroy it, or difperfe it ? The problem as to where Shake- fpere gained his extenfive knowledge, can never be folved until inquiries in this direction fhall be — if ever — fatisfactorily anfwered. The ground, to the befl belief of the author, is almoft, if not altogether, unbroken ground. Whether the readers of thefe pages will feel the fame conviction that he does, it is not for him Stratford-upon-Avon. 195 him to know; but, while the moft in- terefting of all inquiries regarding the life of Shakefpere ftill waits for an anfwer, the author has convinced himfelf, that if that anfwer is ever rendered, it will come from Stratford, and not from London ; — it will prove that William Shakefpere, while a fchool-boy, with little Latin and lefs Greek, had neverthelefs a thirft for know- ledge in his own mother-tongue, a love for acquiring information of the moft diverfified character, and a marvellous power, or natural gift, for hiving his ftore in the cells of memory, and bringing forth that knowledge, " fweeter than honey or " the honeycomb," whenever it was re- quired. With a conviction, which nothing but abfolute evidence to the contrary would ever make, the author feels morally certain that at the " fchool i' the church " Shakefpere had free accefs to fome valu- able ftore of books, whether belonging to 196 New Place, to the Guild proper, or to the fchool of the Guild, or to fome other library that was contiguous and eafily accef- fible ; and that from the fame fources at which the thirfting fchool- boy drank, the man, in his occafional and eventually permanent retirement, drank alfo. Per- haps there may have been a peculiar charm and attraction for this teacher of mankind in fettling at New Place, becaufe its gables and cafements were fhadowed by the glorious architecture of that Holy Crofs Chapel, wherein he had dis- covered, and ever after fondly fought, thofe filent teachers — dear and precious books ! — the unquarrelling friends, the un- changing companions, the charmers whofe charms never fade; — alike welcome to the man in the zenith of literary fame, and to the fchool-boy with fatchel and mining morning face, eagerly feeking (as King Edward named the mailer of the Stratford School) Stratford-upon-Avon. 197 School) the Pedagogue and "the fchool " i' the church." Though the remains are very fcanty that ferve to give us any information regarding Shakefpere, it is fomewhat remarkable that one of the rnoft valuable relics connected with him fhould have belonged to his library. One book of Shakefpere's, with his autograph on the fly-leaf, exifts. It is Montaigne's Effays. Amidft the goffip of literature with which the modern Prefs abounds, it is no fmall teftimony to the worth of fuch books as Montaigne's Effays, and Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy, that they ftand without rivals to the prefent hour ; approached only by Hallam, by D'Ifraeli's " Curiofities of Literature," and one or two other works of like character, but unfurparTed by any, in their own quaint 198 New Place, quaint and captivating ftyle of hiftorical anecdote. That Montaigne mould be a favourite author with Shakefpere will be readily underftood by any one who has ftudied the minds of the two men. They were both fatirifts of the eccentricities of human nature. They had both a relifh for conceits. They were both philo- fophers of life. We can well imagine that Montaigne would be as valued on the fhelves of New Place, as Charles Lamb defcribes a new book to have been valued, when it was at laft acquired after the careful ftoring of every fpare farthing, and carried home in triumph to his filler ! Shakefpere's one book ! And fuch a book ! What more humorous, in- ftructive, entertaining, and improving companion could a man need than Montaigne's EfTays ? Leaving to Mr. Emerfon Stratford-upon-Avon. 199 Emerfon and Mr. St. John the talk of apologifing for the occafionally eccentric tendency of the Gafcon's fancy — remem- bering the fafhion of rtie times in which he lived, and the vernacular even of courts and kings, which in modern days would make the hair of fociety ftand on end — we might be permitted to arrange in imagi- nation the bookfhelves of New Place, and with the fingle vertebra of a library — Montaigne's EiTays — proceed to the formation of the body of Shakefpere's firefide literature, as Profeffor Owen con- structs an animal upon the authority of a bone. Aftonifhing as the number of works is which Caxton contrived to produce be- tween the publication of the " Game of " Chefs," in 1474, and his death in 1491 — the year before Sir Hugh Clopton was Lord Mayor of London — equalling as much as five thoufand clofely printed folio pages, this leaping of the giant in the womb of time 2oo New Place, time (as Mr. Hallam called it) was nothing in comparifon with the production of books during the feventy years that inter- vened between the date of Caxton's death and Shakefpere's birth. The great printer's favourite apprentices, Pynfon and Wynkyn de Worde, had between them publifhed more than fix hundred volumes at the end of the firft quarter of the fif- teenth century. When once the prefles had been eftablifhed at Oxford and other large provincial towns, the iflue averaged feventy-five volumes a year. So that, by the clofe of the century when Shake- fpere modelled and furnifhed his houfe at New Place, he had the pick of ten thoufand volumes publifhed in the Englifh tongue, and could adorn his ftudy either with Cranmer's Bible, publifhed by Graf- ton, or with one of John Day's ; or with that edition of 1551 for which Tindall was ftrangled, and his body burnt. In addition Stratford-upon-Avon. 201 addition to this, the retirement of Strat- ford would be enlivened for him by the arrival of " Mercuries " or " Flying " Couriers/' in which the lateft intel- ligence from Town would be recorded, and he might fee what Heminge and Burbage were about at the Globe. When fpeculations are hazarded as to the knowledge of S-hakefpere, and its fources, it is deiirable to have facts of this defcription recalled to mind. We ordi- narily labour under the impreffion that books were very fcarce in Shakefpere's days; and if we may take Lord Macaulay's celebrated picture of England's country houfes in the time of Charles II. as fome- thing like the truth, we may make a pretty fair guefs at what would be the amount of intellectual food enjoyed by the gentry and fquires of Warwickshire juft one century earlier. If, between 1660 and 1665, " tne difficulty and ex- " penfe 202 New Place, " penfe of carrying large packets from " place to place was fo great that an ex- " tenfive work was longer in making its " way from Paternofter Row to Devon- " mire or Lancashire than it now is in " reaching Kentucky," .... and " few " Knights of the Shire had libraries fo " good as may now perpetually be found " in a fervants' hall," the fubjecT; of rural intellectuality would be depreffing in- deed, on glancing backwards one hundred years prior to fuch Boeotian darknefs, were it not that the crab-like movement in this inftance would be pofitive progrefs, fince there can be no queftion that learning degraded in England between the dates 1560 and 1660. Upon Shakefpere's claffical knowledge, or maftery of languages, there is little to be faid, or that needs to be faid fince the publication of Dr. Farmer's (the Mafter of Emmanuel College, Cambridge,) " Effay Stratford-upon-Avon, 203 " Effay on the Learning of Shakefpere." That exhauftive pamphlet, Malone can- didly admitted, was overwhelming in its evidence, and conclufive, that the Poet's claffical plays and poems were not con- ftructed upon a knowledge of the claffic authors, but upon tranflations of thofe authors. Whether Ben Jonfon ever uttered the flighting words attributed to him or not, he would be a rampant enthufiaft indeed who would dare to con- travene the truth of the words them- felves. Nothing can be more conclufive of Shakefpere's mere fchoolboy know- ledge of Latin than his abfurd mifquo- tation from Lily's Grammar of a line which, for the purpofe of example, is given one way in the grammar, but runs very differently in the " Eunu- " chus " of Terence, from which, had our Poet really been quoting, he would have quoted correctly. In the 204 New Place, the Taming of the Shrew, we read (A& i. Scene i)— Tranio. Mafler, it is no time to chide you now; Affe&ion is not rated from the heart : If love have touctid you, naught remains lutfo, — " Redime te captum quam queas minimo." In the original ("Eunuchus," I. i. 29) the paflage ftands thus : — Phcedria. Nee quid agam, fcio. Parmeno. Quid agas? Ni/i ut te redimas captum, quam queas Minimo : Ji nequeas paululo, at quanti queas Et ne te qfflictes. Phcedria. Itanefuades, &c, &c. The truth was that Shakefpere had learnt Lily's Grammar at fchool (with its " Epiftle " and directions by Cardinal Wolfey). We have no poflible reafon for fup- pofing that he ever pretended to fcholar- fhip. He put into the mouth of Tranio a line with which, in his day, every fchoolboy was familiar ; but from whence derived, Stratford-upon-Avon. 205 derived, it is very probable, Shakefpere neither knew nor cared. Probably, with his keen humour, no one could have en- joyed a laugh more than he, could he have liftened to the rubbifh which Shake- fperian " fcholars " have talked about the claffical knowledge of a man who was too honeft even to pretend to any fami- liarity with the Greek and Latin poets. The well-worn ftory of Mr. Hales, of Eton, filtering through the works of Rowe, Dry den, and Gilrow, is equally honourable to Mr. Hales, and probably clofe to the truth. Rowe writes : " In a converfation be- " tween Sir John Suckling, Sir William " D'Avenant, Endymion Porter, Mr. " Hales, of Eton, and Ben Jonfon, Sir " John Suckling, who was a proferTed " admirer of Shakefpere, had undertaken " his defence againft Ben Jonfon with " fome warmth ; Mr. Hales, who had "fat 2o6 New Place, ' fat ftill for fome time told them, ' ' That if Mr. Shakfpeare had not read ' ' the ancients, he had likewife not flolen ' ' anything from them ; and that if he ' ' would produce any one topick finely ' ' treated by any one of them, he would ' ' undertake to jhow fomething upon the 6 c fame fubject at leaf as well written by < < Shakfpeare: " Fifteen years before Rowe's Life of Shakefpere had been publifhed, Gildon's Letters and EfTays (in 1694) told the ftory. "The enemies of Shakefpere " would by no means yield him fo much " excellence : fo that it came to a refo- " lution of a trial of fkill upon that fub- " jedt. The place agreed on for the dif- " pute was Mr. Hale's chamber at Eton. " A great many books were fent down by " the enemies of this Poet ; and on the " appointed day, my Lord Falkland, Sir " John Suckling, and all the perfons of " quality Stratford-upon-Avon. 207 " quality that had wit and learning, and " interefted themfelves in the quarrel, " met there ; and, upon a thorough dif- " quifition of the point, the judges, " chofen by agreement out of this learned " and ingenious affembly, unanimoully " gave the preference to Shakfpeare, " and the Greek and Roman poets were " adjudged to vail at leaft their glory in " that to the Englifh hero." Dryden's allufion to the ftory (" Effay " on Dramatic Poefy," 1667,) is as fol- lows : " The confideration of this made " Mr. Hales, of Eton, fay, ' that there " ' was no fubjecl: of which any poet ever " c writ, but he would produce it much " * better done by Shakfpeare/ ' The " ever-memorable " John Hales was a fcholar of diftinguifhed European reputation, and, therefore, he muft have been as familiar with the Greek and Latin poets as with Shakefpere. He was one of 20 8 New Place, of thofe ripe and broadly read fcholars — not thick as blackberries even in the nine- - teenth century — who are as familiar with the poetry of their own country as with that of the ancients. Hiftory has affured us of this : and how very few there are like him ! How very few thofe who can " cap verfes " in that highefh range of literary knowledge, where Terence, Horace, Sophocles, and Euripides, can be inftantly anfwered by the quotation of a kindred line from Spenfer, Shakefpere, or Milton. Hales was one of thefe few athletes of fcholarfhip, and therefore his opinion is worthy of all confideration, while his celebrated victory deferves to make him, as Malone prayed he might remain, " ever-memorable." The mental gymnaftics thus performed in Mr. Hale's room at Eton, feem to point out very diftincHy the ftrength and the weaknefs of Shakefpere ! " If he "had Stratford- upon- Avon, 209 " had not read the ancients ! " What then? Mr. Hales knew he had not. Deeply read himfelf in the claffics, he knew that his favourite was not fo. But, what then ? Point out any moral, any philofophic reflection, any noble and elevating fentiment, produced by the ancient poets, and " I will produce it "much better done by Shakfpeare," faid Mr. Hales. From the crucible to which Dr. Far- mer fubjected the writings of Shakefpere, they came forth purged from that alloy of iilly eulogy which was a drofs, giving to the Poet what never belonged to him, and depreciating the pure coinage uttered by his brilliant brain. The marvel of Shakefpere's works is in the beauties that are all his own. The prodigality of his genius may in fome degree be eftimated when one of England's greateft fcholars challenges the ancient poets, and declares himfelf 2io New Place, himfelf ready to " cap " any fentiment of their verfe by a fimilar fentiment, equally well or better exprerTed in Shakefpere. And who, in the trial, wins the victory ? Let it be granted frankly that Shakefpere, in writing his Troilus and Crejjida, followed Caxton's Hif- tory of Troy ; that he borrowed from Plutarch; that he read Hollinfhed in order to conftrudt Richard III. ; that he ftudied a tranflation of Belleforeft before he wrote Hamlet I — Let the fame fort of facts be quoted againft Henry IF., Richard II, and all the hif- torical plays : and what does it amount to ? Both the clofet and the ftage are witnerTes to the truth, that the more " hiftorical " the Poet is — the more he depends upon and adheres to chroni- cles or legends — the lefs powerful he is. Thofe plays are the leaft popular which are the moft hiftorical, for the fimple reafon that Stratford-upon-Avon. 2 1 1 that where he has to trace the hiftory of a reign in the cramped limits of a play, he is neceffarily fettered, and the fcope of the Poet's fancy is more or lefs fubjected to the inevitable rehearfal of facts. How different is it in the unapproached per- fection of treatment, progreffive develop- ment of plot, and poetry of diction in Othello and Macbeth. In thofe, as in Hamlet, and Romeo, and King Lear, a fcheme of the play has been derived from ancient writers, or tranflations, but nothing more. The genius of the Poet has been left free to portray character, and to clothe fentiment with words as no other poet ever did. There is every difference between learn- ing and language. Shakefpere's know- ledge was not a knowledge of language, but it was the knowledge of learning. It is highly probable that he never derived a fingle clamcal incident, allufion, or ftory 212 New Place, ftory, direct from a claffical author. It is equally probable that he never in his life read a Greek play, and knew no more of Terence than he had learnt of him in Lily's Grammar ! The more we realife thefe fafts (for they are fadts), and the more furprifing the learning of the Poet becomes, he does not thereby fink, but rather rifes in our admiration. We ftrip him of pre- tenfions—po/l-mortem honours to which he laid no claim — and regard him folely as what he is, the Poet of England, and uttering in Englifh verfe the thoughts gathered from, or fuggefted by, Englifh literature. We have feen that there were ten thoufand volumes publifhed in Englifh during the century in which he flou- rifhed, and that every year contributed largely to the information of ftudious men. Whatever truth there may be in Macaulay's , Stratford-upon-Avon. 213 Macaulay's ftrictures upon the ignorance prevailing in the reign of Charles II., the bufinefs of Shakefpere's life involved read- ing and ftudy. And although it is true that the circulation of books in the rural districts of England may have been very flow, ftill this objection would not be any impediment to Shakefpere, who, living conftantly in London, and travelling to and fro between Stratford and town, would have ample opportunity to take down with him into the country any books which he wifhed to read. Chro- nological tables of the order in which his plays were written, founded upon internal evidence, dates of performance, or of publication, have frequently been pub- limed. Such tables are after all conjec- tural, and it is no proof of the date when a play was written, to learn when it was printed or played. In the abfence of demonstration, the conjectures of Malone 214 New Place, Malone and Chalmers attribute, the one feven, the other eleven plays to Shake- fpere prior to his purchafe of New Place in 1597. The far more fatisfadtory, becaufe pofitive, facts which Mr. C. Knight gives us, fhow that only three plays had been publifhed prior to 1597. With a very trifling amount of excep- tion it may, therefore, be ftated that the mafs of his plays were written during his tenancy of New Place ; and all the greateft, without doubt, during the latter period of his life. Within fixteen years thirty-four plays of Shakefpere's were either printed or fpoken of in print, giving us an average of two plays a year ; their actual publication, or direct allufion to them in particular years, being as follows : — In 1597 .... 3 Plays. „ 1598 • • • • 8 „ „ 1600 . . . . 5 „ „ 1602 . . . . 3 „ In Stratford-upon-Avon. 2 1 5 In T603 .... 1 Play. „ 1604 . . . . 1 „ „ 1607 . . . . _ 2 „ „ 1609 » 1611 » 1613 It is very remarkable that, according to this lift, the Poet worked the hardeft during the year he became poffeffed of New Place, and for the four or five years fubfequent. Itfeems natural to conclude that Shakefpere purchafed New Place with a view to making it his literary fanctum ; for it is impoflible to refill con- necting with the purchafe, the fecundity of his pen. Let us only confider the character of work in which he was em- ployed when in London, and let any man fo engaged anfwer whether it would be poffible for Shakeipere, regularly employed at Blackfriars or the Globe, rehearfing and performing, to ftudy the plots and pro- duce the MSS. of eight or five tragedies and comedies per annum. If he could have 2i 6 New Place, have done fo, he would have been a far greater prodigy than the world has ever yet accounted him. Such an Herculean labour of mind and body is beyond the capacity of any human being. But if we attach the purchafe of New Place to Shakefpere's fuccefs as a play-writer, and contemplate him withdrawing there from the excitement and buftle of Blackfriars to produce the Merchant of Venice, and Midfummer Nighfs Dream, then that garden, and the flender remains of the foundations of his houfe feem to be- come doubly precious to Englifhmen. As time wears on his labours flacken; but almoft to the end he continues bringing forth from the treafures of his mind the immortal works which gild his fame. The opinion of many writers has been that Shakefpere was undomefticated, and that he rarely vifited Stratford. Humbly, but confidently, the writer embraces a directly Stratford-upon-Avon. 217 directly oppofite opinion. To him it appears impoffible that Shakefpere could have accomplished the literary work he produced, immerfed in the bufinefs and diffracting engagements of Blackfriars or the Globe. Circumstances feem to give credit to the fuppofition that a larger amount of his time was fpent at New Place than is commonly eftimated; and as to his being undomefticated, or un- happy in his home, fuch an uncharitable and purely conjectural idea has not even as much refpectability as the mare's-neft which De Quincey difcovered in the marriage licenfe. The minds that give welcome to the one notion will, moft likely, cherifh the other. Inftead of Shakefpere refiding in Lon- don and occafionally vifiting Stratford, it may be much nearer the truth to fay that he lived the latter years of his life chiefly at New Place, and only vilited London at thofe 218 New Place, thofe periods of the year when his prefence was abfolutely necerTary. The probabili- ties are ftrongly in favour of this opinion, and there is no evidence to the contrary. For the laft eighteen years of his life he is prefented to our imagination as the mafter of New Place. He is not to be regarded during thofe years enjoying retirement and repofe, like many of the great men who have followed him in his profeffion, as Garrick at Hampton, John Kemble at Laufanne, or Macready at Sherborne and Cheltenham. The "filver livery of advifed age," which it was permitted the two firft — and long may it be allowed to the third— to wear, was never donned by Shakefpere. He died in the frefhnefs and vigour of life ; and, as we know of a certainty, con- tinued actively employed until the clofe of his exiftence. It is faddening to think how little affociated with his private life remains Stratford-upon-Avon. 2 1 9 remains to us. A letter, a will, a deed, a book — and that is all ! How different the fate of the mafter and his apprentices. There are happily preferved to us the chief incidents in the life of Garrick ; and many articles of perfonal property be- longing to him, which are highly prized. When Shakefpere was dead a hundred years, fcarce a trace of him remained. A few ftories gathered from goffips hung about his track in Stratford ; but anything actually aifociated with him would have been as hard to difcover there, as the Philofopher's Stone. The hundred years was only juft completed, when the houfe in which he had lived and died was razed to the ground. The defcendants of his fitter, Joan Hart, as the pedigree fhows, have reached down to our own days. PofTibly fome of them may ftill exift in the neighbourhood of Tewkefbury or Gloucefter. To Joan he bequeathed not only 220 New Place, only his houfe in Henley Street, and twenty pounds, but alfo " all my wearing " apparel." What would the world now give to fee a fuit of wearing apparel that had been worn by Shakefpere ? If the coat of Napoleon in the Louvre, or of Nelfon in Greenwich Hofpital, attracts the attention of tens of thoufands, what would be the value of and intereft in the black gown, " garded with velvet and faced with " cony ;" the ruddy coloured hofe, the caf- fock, the jerkin, the "fryze bryches," the rapier, and " the hat of a certain kind of " fine haire, fetched from beyond the feas, "which they call * bever hatte.' "?* Shakefpere's wardrobe muft have been ftocked with articles of this defcription. They were all left to his filter ; and his fitter's defcendants certainly furvived to the * Fairholt's " Coftume in England," p. 216 (i860, Ed.) Stratford-upon-Avon. 221 the end of the laft century. It would have feemed natural for them to have preferved fome of the coftume of the Poet, but there is not a trace of anything of the fort. In the fame way he bequeathed to Mr. Thomas Combe his fword. The pedigree mows us how the Combe pro- perty parTed into the Glopton family, by the marriage of Martha Combe with Edward Clopton. What would his countrymen not give to recover Shake- fpere's fword ? Its prefervation would have been moft eafy. If the fword of the Conqueror could be preferved in the family of the late Sir Godfrey Webfter, with the Roll of Battle, down to the middle of the laft century, and only then perifhed through the misfortune of a fire, why could not the Combes and Cloptons have preferved Shakeipere's fword ? Why might it not have been depofited ere this in 222 New Place, in fome national treafury ? If there is an article of ufe which has the quality of defying accident and time, it is a fword. Very probably Shakefpere's fword ftill exifts, but has been loft or fold ! Who knows whether it may not have been among the furniture and chattels fold off by Mr. Batterfbee, previous to the demolition of Stratford College, the refidence of the Combes ? What became of the broad filver-gilt bowl bequeathed to Judith Shakefpere — ■ Mrs. Quiney ? What became of the " chattels, plate, jewels, and houfehold " fluff" bequeathed to Dr. Hall and Mrs. Hall ? Thefe would naturally de- fcend to Lady Barnard ; and at her deceafe would continue in the ufe of Sir John Barnard, until his death in 1673. Neither Lady Barnard's will, nor the indenture relating to her property, make any men- tion of Shakefpere's heir-looms. The broad Stratford-upon-Avon. 223 broad filver-gilt bowl, the plate, the jewels, all vanifh from fight. Articles of this defcription do not perifh or con- fume away. They may exift now in as excellent prefervation as in 1 6 1 6 ! If to, what has become of them ? Unlefs the filver bowl was fold by the Quineys, and melted down, it would moil probably be engraved with a creft, or a monogram, or fome device whereby it could be recognifed. Is it yet too late to inftitute a fearch for fuch an invaluable relic of the Poet ? A man of Sir John Barnard's ftation would naturally leave plate, jewels, and property, to his heirs or relatives. It is faid that this family has died out within a very fhort time at Abingdon, in Berk/hire. If fuch is the fact, family heir-looms do not defcend to the grave : they pafs to fome one. If the inquiry has not yet been diligently made, it is well worth while to know in what di- rection 224 New Place, redtion the Barnard property has gone ; and to trace — failing direcl: male defcent — the female hTue, and the marriages which may have carried property into other families. It feems impoffible but that Elizabeth Hall muft have inherited the plate and jewels which belonged to her grandfather ; and as me makes no direcl; mention of them in her will, it is natural to fuppofe they continued in poffeffion of her hufband. We fee Shakefpere's perfonal property divided among his children and his lifter : to one his wardrobe is bequeathed, to another his plate, to another his broad lilver bowl, and to Thomas Combe his fword ! It is hard to believe that a man valued during his lifetime as Shakefpere was, and immortalifed fo quickly after his death, mould be held in the leaft efteem by thofe of his own houfehold. It is hard to think that no one belonging to Stratford-upon-Avon. 225 to him mould defire to preferve the me- mentoes which he had particularly be- queathed to them in his will. And yet the fact ftares us in the face that not a fingle heir-loom of the Poet has been handed down, by any one branch of his family, to the prefent day ! All, all are loft and gone, fave one book, the prefervation of which has been purely accidental! Rowe, who acknowledges himfelf in- debted to Betterton for a confiderable part of the paffages relating to the Poet's life introduced in his Biography (published 1709), informs us that Betterton's "vener- " ation for the memory of Shakefpere . . . " engaged him to make a journey into " Warwickshire, on purpofe to gather " up what remains he could of a name " which he had in fo great veneration." Confidering that Betterton was born in 1635 — the fame year in which Dr. John 226 New Place 9 John Hall died — and that his daughter furvived until 1669, when Better ton was thirty-four years of age, — and confidering alfo that me was eight years of age when her grandfather died, and therefore per- fectly able to fpeak of him from her own recollection, — it does feem extraordinary that the remains which Betterton went to Stratford to gather up were fo fcanty. He would find Shakefpere's children all dead, but his refidence in the pofTefllon of his grandchild, who, though living at Abington, was probably an occafional vifitor to her property in Stratford. Had he even made her acquaintance, with what a fund of information might Rowe's Life have been enriched ! and what treafures connected with the Poet might have been chronicled, and pofiibly preferved, through his intereft ! But the fates feem to have ordered it otherwife. The Poet had not been dead twenty years Stratford-upon-Avon. 227 years when Betterton was born ; and within half a century of Shakefpere's deceafe, this venerator of his memory probably viiited Stratford. From that place he does not feem to have brought back with him a rlngle memento of the Poet; or to have feen his rword, his filver bowl, his books, or any of his chattels, at a defcription of which the ears of every antiquary in England would now tingle, while to recover one of them would make any prefent difcoverer famous. Fifty years, and the treafures of the Poet were unnoticed or unknown ! One hundred years, and the domeftic aflb- ciations of his pupil and interpreter, David Garrick, are as frefhly and care- fully preferved as if he had been in their midft yefterday ! Within a mile of one another, at Hampton and Hamp- ton Court, are two refidences, which, fo 228 New Place, fo long as they exift, will be for ever aflbciated with Shakefpere and Garrick. Thanks to Mr. Peter Cunningham's timely difcovery in the Audit Office of the "Revel's Booke," we now know when " Shaxberd's " Plate of Errors, his Mar- chant of Venis, his Mefur for Me fur, and his Merry Wives of Winfor, were per- formed before James I. We know with certainty of two noble chambers — and thofe royal chambers — in which Shake- fpere was feen and heard, and of none other ; for though it would be almoft a profanity to difturb the tradition which identifies the houfe in Henley Street, Stratford, as the birthplace of the Poet, there is no abfolute certainty of fuch being the cafe. The Banqueting Houfe, at Whitehall, and the mifnamed " Wol- " fey's Hall," at Hampton Court, wherein Shakefpere's company performed before the king in the winters of 1603 and 1604, are Stratford-upon-Avon. 229 are chambers for ever aflbciated with the hiftory of England ; and not among their minor aflbciations is the recollection that in them the King of England liftened to the Poet's plays — faw the Poet him- felf as one of the players — and "be- " flowed efpecial honour upon Shake- " fpere," in " an amicable letter." The letter was in the pofTeffion of Sir William Davenant as reported, and there feems no reafon to queftion the truth of the report. But whether it be true or not, there is no queftion regarding the enactment of the tragedies and comedies before the Court at Whitehall and Hampton. We are thus enabled to interweave the memory of our Poet with two ftrudtures utterly diffimilar in architectural detail, but each a princely pile, and each clofely con- nected with the mod ftirring events of hiftory. Prince Charles, a child of four years of 230 New Place, of age, may have fported at the King's knee, and witneffed the deed of blood done by the Moor in the fame hall through which he was to pafs to a darker deed of blood years afterwards. The hiftory of that Palace of Whitehall is familiar to every fchoolboy, but not fo familiar that of the two halls which have adorned the Palace of Hampton Court. For contrail, for light and fhade in hiftorical painting, what four pictures of funfhine and fhower could be more dramatic than a vigorous reprefentation of Wolfey's Banqueting Hall, as it muft have appeared when he entertained the French Ambaflador, — when the Court Revels was held there after the acceffion of James, and Shakefpere performed in the hall which now occupies the fame lite as Wolfey's, which was moft probably defigned by him, but not erected until the 22nd Henry VIIL, fix years after the Cardinal Stratford-upon-Avon. 231 Cardinal had left the Palace for ever; — and on the oppofite or fhadowed fide of the picture, when Mary inhabited the Court, liftening to the mafles and prayers of her priefts, praying for her fafe deliverance of an heir to the throne of the realm, which was never deftined to be born ; or when Cromwell, in his domeftic gloom, paced up and down that Hall, liftening to the mufic of the " box of whiftles," which Puritanic opinion thought too Popifh for the chapel of Magdalen College, but was a fit inftrument, erected in the Minftrel's Gallery at Hampton, to foothe the throbbing breaft of the Lord Protector. George Cavendifh defcribes Wolfey's entertainment to the Ambaflador of Francis I. Nearly three hundred bed- rooms were fitted up to receive his fuite, each provided with a bafin and ewer of filver, wine and beer veffels of filver, bowls, goblets, and filver fconces. At 232 New Place, At the banquet, bouffets ftretched acrofs the end of the Hall, having fix fhelves one above the other, crowded with gold and filver plate. During the fecond courfe the Lord Cardinal came in, booted and fpurred, and giving all welcome, took a golden bowl rilled with hypocras, and drank to the health of his Sovereign Lord and of the King of France. What a contraft to the fpedlacle witneffed on the fame fpot in the following century, when the King-killer, quivering with emotion as his child lay dead in an ad- joining chamber, wandered in his foli- tude about that Palace ! There Mary likewife had wandered in her folitude ! and there, too, Charles had parTed fome of his bittereftdays! Strange aflbciations thefe, with the Hall in which Shakefpere and his company had performed before Charles's father, and perchance in Charles's prefence ! The Stratford-upon-Avon. 233 The deftruction of New Place, and the lofs and definition of every article of perfonal property that the Poet be- queathed to his family, excepting one book, — Florio's tranflated edition of Mon- taigne (1603), with his fignature in- fcribed, — muft for ever remain a matter of the deepeft regret. We only know of fix fignatures of Shakefpere. All, fave one, are appended to legal documents. The auto- graph in Montaigne is the only fcrap of writing by the Poet which affociates us with him in his literary life. However valuable his fignature may be, a far higher value attaches to his writing in a book that was one of his companions and friends, and poffeffed a place in his home, than the mere execution of a hard, dry, legal document. A very interefting account of Shakefpere's copy of Mon- taigne was written by Sir Frederick Madden, which ftates that it was pur- chafed 234 New Place, chafed in 1838 for the Britifh Mufeum, from the Rev. Edward Pattefon, of Eaft Sheen, and had belonged to his father, the Rev. Edward Pattefon, of Smeth- wick, near Birmingham, by whom, pre- vious to the year 1780, the volume ufed to be exhibited as a treafure, on account of its containing the autograph of Shake- fpere. In other words, the book and its autograph were mown with pride, and not for f ale, prior to Ireland's forgeries, and the vulgar attempts to imitate Shakefpere's fignature by fuch impoftors as Jordan, "the Poet of Stratford" fave the mark ! Sir Frederick Madden fays, and fays properly, "the prefent autograph chal- lenges and defies fufpicion." The book of itfelf is interefting, apart from its con- nection with Shakefpere ; and as it is a treafure which can only be infpected by fpecial leave, it may be well to publifh its title. THE THE ESSAYES, MORALL, POLITIKE, AND MILLITARIE DISCOURSES, LO: MICHAELL DE MONTAIGNE, KNIGHT, Of the Noble Order of St. MlCHAELL, and one of the GENTLEMEN in Ordinary of the French King, Henry the Third, his Chamber. ■Wbt JFt'rst tBoofa. (***) Firft written by him in French, and Now done into Engli/h By By him that hath inviolably vowed his labours to the iEternitie of their Honors, Whofe names he hath feverally infcribed on thefe his confecrated Altares. To the Right Honorable LUCIE, CO : OF BEDFORD, and LADIE ANNE HARRINGTON, Her Ho. Mother. t&fyt g>etari& 28006c. To the Right Honorable ELIZABETH, CO : OF RUTLAND, and LADY PENELOPE RICHE. Clje GHnrtf 3S0OS*. 7b the Right Honorable LADIE ELIZABETH GREY, and LADIE MARIE NEVILL. JOHN FLORIO. ^f Printed at London, by Val. Sims and Edward Blount, dwelling in Paules Churchyard. 1603. Stratford-upon-Avon. 237 That Shakefpere was familiar with this tranflation is put beyond all doubt by the fad: that, in Ad: ii., Scene 2, of the Tempeji, he quotes from it almoft word for word : — " F the commonwealth, I would by contraries Execute all things : for no kind of traffic Would I admit ; no name of magiftrale ; Letters fliould not be known ; riches, poverty, And life of fervice, none; contraEl, fuccefjion, Bourn, bound of land, tilth, vineyard, none ; No ufe of metal, corn, or wine, or oil; No occupation ; all men idle, all; And women too; but innocent and pure ." The paffage thus quoted, in Florio, Book i., Chap. 30, runs as follows: — Speaking of a newly difcovered country, which he calls Antartick France, Mon- taigne obferves : — " It is a nation — would " I anfwer Plato — that hath no kind of " traffike ; no knowledge of letters ; no in- " telligence of numbers ; no name of " magijirate, nor of politike fuperioritie ; "no ufe of fervice, of riches, or of poverty; " no contracts ; no fuccefjions ; no divi- " dences ; 238 New Place, " dences ; no occupation, but idle ; no " refpeft of kindred, but common ; no " apparell, but naturall ; no manuring of "lands; no ufe of wine, come, or "mettle," &c. That the volume in queftion belonged to a library in Shakefpere's time, its binding fhows, particularly in the Tudor-fafhioned fleur-de-lis and crown ornamentation with which the leather is ftamped. That the volume belonged to Shake- ipere himfelf, the autograph which " challenges and defies fufpicion " proves. Having re-aflerted Sir Frederick Mad- den's words, it would be unfair not to quote the following paflage from Mr. Halliwell's "Life of William Shake- " fpeare," pp. 280-81 : — " It is unneceflary to fay that many alleged autographs u of Shakefpeare have been exhibited ; but forgeries of te them are fo numerous, and the continuity of defign, " which a fabricator could not produce in a long docu- " ment, is fo eafy to obtain in a mere fignature, that the " only fafe courfe is, to adopt none as genuineon internal " evidence Stratford- upon- Avon. 239 " evidence. A fignature in a copy of Florio's tranfla- " tion of Montaigne, 1609, is open to this objection. " The verbal evidence as to its exiftence only extends " as far back as 1780, after the publication of Stevens' " fac-fimile of the laft autograph in the will, of which " it may be a copy with intentional variations." Mr. Halliweirs general accuracy makes an error, in what he fays of this book, remarkable; and excites the fufpicion that, in his fcepticifm, he may have difdained to give the book that honourable confi- deration which it really deferves. He fays, " tranflation of Montaigne, 1609." The title above given will fhow that the date is 1603. The error is hardly worth notice in itfelf, but well worth it when fallen into by a gentleman to whofe painftaking and fearching accuracy we are fo greatly indebted. It awakens an impreflion that Florio's Montaigne may be worthy of a clofer examination than it has yet received, and may perhaps con- tain more interefting evidence in favour of its having belonged to Shakefpere than has 240 New Place, has as yet been mown. For inftance, Sir Frederick Madden, in his defcription of the book, notices the manufcript notes which are found in it, and the quotations and references on the fly-leaves at the be- ginning and ending of the volume. He ftates that he had at firft hoped thefe notes might have proved to be in the handwriting of Shakefpere, but on ex- amination he concluded they were written at fome period later than Shakefpere's time, though not much later, as the character of the writing proves. There Sir Frederick leaves the matter. But it is well worth while to take the book in hand, and re- fume its examination at the point where Sir Frederick has dropped it. On the fly-leaf are Italian quotations, references to the claflic poets, and references tofub- jects in the book. Thefe prove that the writer was a literary man and a claflical fcholar. Taking up the references, and turning Stratford-upon-Avon. 241 turning to the body of the work, we find the margins annotated in feveral places, and Montaigne's Latin quotations veri- fied or corrected. Sometimes a wrong author's name is given : if fo, the anno- tations correct the prefs. Sometimes a quotation is given without the name of the author : if fo, the annotation throws in " Livy," "Virgil," or fome other clafiical name — fuch a book, fuch a line. We are thus put beyond all doubt that the writer was fome fcholar who had the clafiical poets, as we fay, at his fingers' ends. But here comes the marvel of the matter. Upon the edges of the leaves is printed with pen and ink the name A. HALES. Hales ! Is it poflible that the con- nection of that name with Shakefpere entirely efcaped the recollection of Sir Frederick Madden, and all other exami- ners of the book ? Did no one remem- ber the Poet's champion at Eton, who Lord 242 New Place, Lord Clarendon declared " was one of the " leaft men in the kingdom, and one of " the greater!: fcholars in Europe." Sir Frederick is perfectly correct in ftating that the orthography in the volume, though not Shakefpere's, belongs to a date of the Shakefperian age. When we link together thefe facts — that Mr. Hales, of Eton, was the Poet's enthunaftic ad- mirer ; that he was a profound fcholar, and therefore the very man who would fupply the names of claffic authors to quotations, and correct errors of reference to them, or infcribe on a fly-leaf a parallel paiTage from fome Italian poet ; that if there was a fale of Shakeipere's goods and chattels at New Place, his books would be precifely the memorials of the man which Mr. Hales would covet and pur- chafe ; that a volume containing, his autograph would be a prize eagerly fought and religioufly preferved ; that fuch Stratford-upon-Avon. 243 fuch a work would be read and annotated by Mr. Hales with the intenfeft pleafure; and that the name " Hales" is actually in- fcribed upon the edges of the leaves, — it does feem that a ftrong teftimony to the value of the book has been overlooked, and that a moft interefting piece of in- ternal evidence as to its hiftoric value has been unappreciated. It is true that it falls fhort of abfolute proof; but the links of the chain couple themfelves fo natu- rally, and the probabilities are fo ftrongly in favour of this book having belonged to Mr. Hales, that if fuch evidence re- commends itfelf to the minds of thofe who read thefe pages, Florio's Mon- taigne muft be regarded henceforth with a heightened intereft ; and juft as we re- gard the book from having parTed into the porTeffion of fuch a man as Mr. Hales, muft its prefervation by him be an additional teftimony — if fuch were needed — 244 New Place, needed — in favour of the authenticity of the autograph of Shakefpere. Let Hales be " ever-memorable," faid Malone, becaufe of his defence of Shake- fpere. Will he not deferve to be " ever- " memorable," indeed, if it mould prove that to his love and reverence we are in- debted for the prefervation of the only- known article of property that belonged to Shakefpere ? Thoroughly convinced of the genuine- nefs of the autograph, and ftrongly imprefTed with the belief that after Shakefpere's death his goods and chattels were fold, and that this book pafled into the poffeffion of Mr. Hales, of Eton, Florio's Montaigne is regarded by the author as the folitary "In memoriam" of New Place. New Place is fwept away; the great houfe has vanifhed; the Poet's fword is loft ; the plate and jewels are deftroyed or fold, or loft likewife ; the broad Stratford-upon-Avon, 245 broad filver-gilt bowl is — melted down perhaps ; but one treafure is fpared to us, better than plate or jewels, becaufe it is aflbciated with the Poet's play of the Tempeft, — becaufe it bears his autograph, — becaufe, being a book, it is a memento moft kindred to him who has given to the world, fuperior to all other products of the human intellect, the Book of books, — and becaufe, having belonged to his library, we know how he muft have valued it — " Me, poor man ! my library Was dukedom large enough." The attention of the reader has been efpecially called to the name of " Charles " Hales," as one of the commiffioners of the inquifition for inquiry regarding the eftate of Ambrofe, Earl of Warwick. It will be obferved that in Shakeipere's time a Charles Hales is connected with Strat- ford. Then a John Hales is peculiarly interefted 246 New Place, interefted in upholding the Poet's fame ; and on a book bearing his autograph the name "A. Hales" is found infcribed. A vifit to Heralds' College, and a little of the " Old Mortality" fpirit of mural refearch in Canterbury, Warwick, and Somerfet, gives us information of confider- able intereft, and feems to the author to add value to the folio of Montaigne. The fad: is, the Hales family was con- neded with Snitterfield, and one branch of it was feated there both before and after Shakefpere's time. This diftin- guifhed ftock, which yielded fo many fervants to the Crown in the high offices of the law, belonged, ex flirpe, to Can- terbury, and may be traced as located at the Dane John, or Dungeon, of that city, at Hales Place, at Tenterden, and elfe- where. By reference to the appended Pedigree, it will be feen how the junior defcents of this houfe became feated at Coventry, John Hales, of the Dane John, Canterbury, Baron of the Exchequer. Isabella, fil. et hceres of Stephen Harvey. Sir James Hales, Kt. = fil. et hceres de Justice of the Common Pleas. I Thomas Hales, of [ Henley-upon-Thames, I Mildred. = John Humphrey Hales, = Joyce, of the Dane John. d. and co-heiress of Robt. Atwater, Sir James Hales, of the Dane John. Alice, d. of Sir Thomas Kempe. Cheiney Hales, of the Dane John. Ob. 1 6 March, 1596. Mary, d. of Richard Harden. I Sir James Hales, of Lower Dane Jofm. Living 161 9 Stratford-upon-Avon. 247 Coventry, at Newland near Coventry, and at Snitterfield. John Hales (A) ac- quired the celebrated Priory of Coventry, which Angularly enough had been granted by patent of Henry VIII., dated 28th July, 37th anno., to John Combes, Efq., and Richard Stansfield, their heirs, &c. From them it paffed to this John Hales, in the 15 th of Elizabeth. He died feifed thereof, leaving it to John, his nephew (B), fon of his brother Chriilopher, who, it will be obferved, had married the daughter of Lucy of Charlecote. If the reader will glance over this Pedigree, it will be obferved that the Halefes, Lucys, and Combes became con- nected by marriages between their fami- lies ; and it is of fome intereft to find that fuch a magnificent monaftic eitabliih- ment as the Priory of Coventry — magni- ficent even in the wreck that remains of it to the prefent time, converted as it is to 248 New Place, to be a home for the poor — belonged to the father or grandfather of John k Combe, and after him to the Halefes of Warwick- fhire. The reader will perhaps accufe the author of taking him a heavy ride acrofs heraldic country to arrive at a very fimple fact. But in thefe matters of refearch there is no royal road to knowledge, and it is only by patient fearch that we arrive at a knowledge of facts calculated to throw light on fubjects like the prefent. The pedigree of Hales, if given in all its branches, would require the infertion of an immenfe map-like meet in this place, and therefore it is neceflary to exclude fuch branches as are not con- nected with the hiftory of Shakefpere. As the Halefes wandered away from Kent to Warwickshire, to Coventry, to Snitter- field, to Newland, fo one of the branches took root in Somerfetfhire, at a place called fa fa ■J <1 W H fa O E u p* cq co o o ON ON Z u »-»h o tq w^ r~ ^ § ►— l h 3° >S «! ?•- O o'-3 o S wo X w h S o z •d a. -§•5 3 - la lit d.a o o Stratford-upon-Avon. 2 49 called High Church. To this branch the "ever-memorable John" belonged. His life is familiar to Eton and Oxford men, and to perfons interefted in Laud, and the Royalift troubles. It is not generally known ; and therefore a few words on the fubjed: may not be in- opportune, as John Hales has always appeared to the author to have been the firft fcholar in England who recognifed, as it deferves to be recognifed, the genius and tranfcendent fuperiority of Skakefpere to all the poets of ancient or modern days. He was, as the Pedigree fhows (A), the fixth fon of John Hales, of High Church (B), and was born in 1584. He matriculated at Corpus Chrifti College, Oxford, April 16, 1597, anc ^ took his B.A. July 9, 1603 ; was elected Fellow of Merton, October 13, 1606; took his M.A. in 1609 ; and was admitted Fellow of Eton, May 24, 161 3. He accompanied 250 New Place, accompanied Sir Dudley Carlton to the Hague as his chaplain, and was admitted to the Synod of Dort, with reference to which he wrote his " Golden Remains." His connection with the Synod gave a ftrong Arminian turn to his opinions, and, as he himfelf expreffed it, he " bid " John Calvin good-night." In February, 16 19, John Hales re- turned from the Synod, and took up his reiidence in England; but his peculiar theological opinions rendered him ob- noxious to Laud, who fummoned him to a lengthened interview, in 1638, at Lambeth Palace, when, by mutual expla- nations, Laud and Hales became recon- ciled, fo that a very fhort time afterwards the Archbifhop, at a public dinner, pre- fented Hales to a canonry at Windfor, into which he was inftalled June 27, 1639, though in 1642 he was ejected from the fame. About the time of Laud's Stratford-upon-Avon. 251 Laud's death, 1644, he retired from his rooms in Eton College, and took up his refidence in a private chamber in Eton, where he concealed himfelf for a quarter of a year, in order to preferve the College books and keys, of which he was Burfar. He lived upon bread and beer, and in his concealment was fo near the College, that he ufed to fay, " thofe who fearched " for him might have fmelt him if he " had eaten garlick." He refufed to take the Covenant, and was confequently regarded as a malignant, and ejected from his fellowship at Eton. There are many conflicting ftories about his poverty, and the dire neceflity in which he was com- pelled to fell, for £700, a part of his library to Cornelius Bee, a London book- feller. This ftatement, however, obtains weight from the confirmation of Dr. Pearfon, who wrote the preface to " Golden Remains." John 252 New Place, John Hales died May 19, 1656, and was buried in Eton College Chapel-yard, where a monument was erefted to his memory by P. Curwen, Efq., and in 1765 an edition of his works was pub- lifhed, edited by Lord Hailes. The following extrafts from his will, taken from the Eton College Regifter, are interefting : — " I, John Hales, of Eton, &c. &c, do dispose " of the small remainder of my poor and broken " estate in manner and form following : — 1st. I " give to my sister, Cicely Combes, £5 " Moreover all my Greek and Latin books I give " to my most deservedly beloved friend, William " Salter of Richkings, Esq All my English " books, together with the remainder of all moneys, " goods, and utensils whatsoever, I give and be- " queathe to Mrs. Hannah Dickenson of Eton, " widow, relict of John Dickenson, lately deceased. e ' In whose house ... I have for a long time been 11 with great care and good respect entertained — ' ' and her I do by these presents constitute and or- " dain my sole executrix As for my funeral, " I ordain that at the time of the next Evensong " after my departure my body be laid in the " Church-yard Stratford-upon-Avon. 253 " Church -yard of the Town of Eton, ... in plain " and simple manner, without any Sermon, or " ringing of the Bell, or calling of the people " together, without any unseasonable commessa- " tion or compotation, . . . for as in my life I have ' ' done the Church no service, so I will not that in " my death the Church do me any honour." It will be obferved in the above de- tailed fafts, that John Hales had taken his degree at Corpus Chrifti College thirteen years before Shakefpere died, and that he was a Fellow of Eton three years prior to that event. Alfo, that — doubtlefs owing to the family connection with Snitterfield — Cicely Hales, his lifter, had married into the family of Combe ; and laftly, that John Hales's younger brother was named Anthony Hales (C). When we come to put all thefe facts together, there can be little doubt as to the origin of John Hales's peculiarly ftrong intereft in Shakefpere ; and the ink-printed name A. HALES, on the edges of the leaves of the 254 New Place, the copy of Montaigne, gives additional value to that already moft valuable volume ; becaufe we gather from that name, and from the fcholarly comments and notes in the book, that John Hales, after Shakefpere's death, had porTeffion of this work, — had annotated it with his own erudition, — and that from him the book paffed to the poffeffion of his brother Anthony ! It appears to the author that this circumftantial evidence is as con- vincing as any fuch evidence can be, fhort of a pofitive entry on the fly-leaf to that effed:. That the book fhould have re- mained in families connected with War- wickfhire, is moft natural ; and that it mould belong to a clergyman in the fame neighbourhood in 1780, is precifely what we mould expect. Let it be remem- bered that Mr. Pattefon exhibited the book to his friends as bearing the Poet's fignature for no mercenary purpofe, and with Stratford-upon-Avon. 255 with no view of making a fale of it. He valued it as it deferved, and facredly preferred it. His fon was induced to part with it to the Britifh Mufeum, be- caufe it was urged on him that fuch a book ought to be depofited in the Na- tional library. The reader, and particularly the anti- quary, will pardon this lengthened diver- lion regarding the " ever-memorable " John " and his family ; for, believing, as the author does, that the name A. HALES has enticed him into a refearch which he would otherwife have over- looked, fo he believes it has furnifhed additional evidence in fupport of Sir Frederick Madden's paper, and — if fuch were needed — confirmed the authenticity of the autograph in the only remaining book that belonged to the Poet. Until faith can be driven by over- powering proofs into the wildeft infidelity, let 256 New Place, let us cling to the belief that the auto- graph is genuine, and that this volume did belong to our Shakefpere. Should that laft plank, which floats us over the gulf of feparation that has gone on widening for more than three hundred years, ever drift away, and leave us utterly cut afun- der from the domeftic life of the man, we fhall ftill have, in two of the Palatial Halls of England, monuments that muft be for ever affociated with the genius and glory of the High Prieft of literature. A mile away from the Hall in which Shakefpere charmed his King and the Court, is the Villa to which one of his chief interpreters, David Garrick, retired, after leaving his profeffion. It is now faft approaching a century fince he too muffled off this mortal coil ! Half a century after Shakefpere's death, all the tangible aflbciations connected with him feem to have perifhed, or to have been removed from Stratford-upon-Avon, 257 from Stratford ! Not fo at Garrick's Villa, when a whole century is well-nigh complete fince his death. His Villa, his garden, his river-fide pleafure-grounds, his temple erected to Shakefpere, re- main as he left them. There is the lawn fkirting the Thames, overhung with noble trees, which Garrick mowed with delight to Dr. Johnfon, and re- ceived from the Doctor, as he furveyed the beauty of the fcene, the moralifing rejoinder, " Ah, David, thefe are the " things that make Death terrible ! *'* There is the tunnel under the road, fug- gefled by the Doctor ; — " Well, David, " if you cannot get over the road, " try and get under it." There is the drawing-room with the Chinefe-pat- terned * This anecdote was told me by the Rev. Edward Phillips, of Surbiton, to whofe family Garrick's Villa now belongs. The ftory is aflbciated with the place, and is poflibly now publilhed for the flrrt time. 258 New Place, terned papering, the palm-tree faftiioned fireplaces, the chairs and fofas, exactly as he left them. There is his bedroom, with its prefTes, its furniture, its bed, and chintz hangings, fo long delayed in paffing the Cuftoms, that David affured his Ma- jelly's officers Mrs. Garrick was breaking her heart over their delay. Could Gar- rick return to Hampton and re-vifit his home to-morrow, he would find it, its furniture and appointments, as if he had only left it yefterday. The reveren- tial fpirit in which this Villa has been prefer ved, and the furniture of Garrick's drawing-room and bedroom refpected, is above all praife. In the lapfe of time, through whatever hands the property may pafs, let us hope that centuries to come will find thefe chambers exactly as they are now, at the clofe of the firft century fince the great tragedian's death. But how painful is the contraft between Stratford-upon-Avon. 259 between the conservative action exhibited at Hampton, and the deplorable, nay, wicked, neglect, which prevailed at Stratford ! A volume of fuch intereft and import- ance as Montaigne's " EfTays," publifhed in 1603, is precifely the fort of work which we ihould expect to find on Shake- fpere's bookfhelf. Florio's tranflation recommends itfelf becanfe it is a tranfla- tion, fince it has been fatisfactorily proved to us that Shakefpere's knowledge was largely, if not entirely, gathered from tranflations of Claffical, French, and Italian authors ; and, moreover, — the character of Montaigne's mind being peculiarly cal- culated to intereft Shakefpere, — had the volume in queftion bearing his autograph not exifted, it might with fome confi- dence be argued that a tranflation of fuch a famous author, publifhed about 1603, by a near relative of Ben Jonfon's, with whom 260 New Place, whom Shakefpere was probably per- fonally familiar, would be precifely the fort of book of which the Poet would porTefs himfelf, and in which we mould expect to find his autograph. Let a catalogue of all the books published in or about that date be placed before any one familiar with Shakefpere's caft of mind, and it may be arTerted, without fear of contradiction, that were he about to make a purchafe out of the lot, one of the firft he would felect would be Montaigne. Here, at the threshold, our curiofity to learn fomething of the favourite books which the Poet may have had about him is cut ihort. We know nothing of the fources of his learning beyond fuch internal evidence as his plays and poems afford. If they carry us over the threshold, they take us no further. They favour us with no glimpfe of the fanc- tum — Stratford- upon- Avon. 261 turn — of the reading-ftand, the work- table, the inkhorn, or the book-prefs. What early advantages Shakefpere pof- fefTed — whether from the fchool " i' the " church," or other fources — continue a profound myftery up to this time; though there yet remain quarters for inquiry where fome information might be ga- thered. The earlieft reliable evidence of Shakefpere's being in London dates in 1589, when he was twenty-five years of age. It is poffible he may have been con- nected with London for a year or two previoufly, but certainly not longer. Until he was twenty-three or four he refided at Stratford ; and this fact fupports the opinion that it was in Stratford the whole groundwork of his knowledge was obtained, as it was in Stratford, in later life, that the greater!: achievements of his genius were accomplifhed. Imagi- nation alone can aid us to picture him at New 262 New Place, New Place when he was comparatively wealthy, able to purchafe property and tythes in Old Stratford, Welcombe, and Bifhopton, and to carry on profitable tranfactions in corn or wool. In his home he had but one child, Judith, who remained unmarried until the year pre- vious to his death ! Poor Hamnet, her twin-brother, died the year before they moved into New Place ! Mrs. Shakefpere and this daughter were his conftant com- panions. His other daughter and her hufband, Dr. Hall, lived hard by, and had made a grandfather of him when he was only forty-four years of age. A grandfather ! when many Englishmen, as Johnfon exprefTed it, " having frifked " with the dogs," are only beginning to think about marriage, now-a-days ! The glimpfes we catch of him as he paffed along the laft ftage of his life are very few, and fcarcely take us into his home. The Ancient Chalice and Paten of Bishopton, From iv hie h SHAKESPERE is f aid to have received the Holy Communion. (It will be observed that the lid of the Chalice, when Will UC ULOCIVCU llldl LUC 11U Ul U1C V^UcllILC, \\ 1 inverted, forms the Paten, upon the top of which is engraved the date, 1571). Face p. 262. Stratford-upon-Avon. 263 home. Bufinefs tranfactions connected with his purchafes at Stratford or in London; the pofTeffion of corn; a vifit to London in 16 14 to oppofe the enclofure of lands at Stratford, — thefe and a few other facts of a like character are all the in- formation regarding him that has reached us. There is infinitely more fatisfaction in mufing over a couple of lines in Rowe's Life, becaufe their ftatement depends upon Betterton's inquiries, made at Stratford a few years after Shakefpere's death. He fpent his later days " in eafe, retirement, " and the converfation of his friends. " The words may be applied to the laft years both of Shakefpere and of Milton. In retirement and (poor though Milton was) at eafe, and enjoying the conver- fation of their friends, their countrymen muft love to contemplate England's moft illuftrious fons — the Epic and Dramatic Laureates of the Saxon tongue. Of the domeftic 264 New Place, domeftic fcene at Bunhill Fields we know enough to be enabled to picture it. We even know that Milton enjoyed his even- ing pipe while joining in the firefide talk. We know his daily habits ; his hours of ftudy; his writings in London and at Chalfont. It is poffible that Milton, in that year 1614, when Shakefpere was in town, may have feen him pafs down Bread Street, Cheapfide, to the " Mer- " maid Tavern," — that patriarch of London Clubs — there to enjoy a ftoup of liquor and a jeft with rare Ben Jon- fon. And yet, while a mafs of the moll interesting information exifts regarding the life of the younger of thefe poets, who were actually contemporaneous, nothing furvives to admit us into the home and fociety of him who Milton calls " our " wonder and aftonifhment" — " Dear fon of memory, great heir of fame," There are two circumflances connected with Stratford-upon-Avon. 265 with his laft days at New Place with which we are acquainted. " In perfect " health and memory, God be praifed," he had his Will drafted 25th January, 16 1 6. February 10th, his daughter Judith married Thomas Quiney. We are led to conclude that the Will was probably drawn up in January with refer- ence to his daughter's marriage ; and that fubfequent to the wedding, Shakefpere was feized with fome fudden illnefs, which led to the execution of the Will on the 25th day of March. Thefe few facts, occurring in the firft three months of the year 1616, conftitute the entire knowledge we poffefs of the doling days of Shakefpere's life. Forty years after his death, the then vicar of Stratford, Mr. Ward, jotted down fome of the ftories current in the place regarding the Poet. Among others, he ftated, " Shakefpear, Drayton, and Ben Jhonfon "had 266 New Place, " had a merry meeting, and, itt feems, " drank too hard, for Skakefpear died of " a feavour there contracted." When we remember that Shakefpere died in the prime of life, and that he was in perfect health and memory twelve weeks prior to his deceafe, it feems likely enough that fever was the caufe of death. The wedding of Judith would perfectly account for Ben Jonfon and Drayton being his companions at Stratford at fuch a time, though no evidence has as yet been produced to prove Jonfon's where- about at that date. The ftory of drinking too hard is fufceptible of explanation in the fame way ; and it is eafy to be under- ftood how the conviviality of a wedding party at New Place would be converted, on the tongues of goffips, into "hard " drinking at a merry meeting." Village ftories and traditions, as it has been already admitted, are worthy of con- fideration Stratford-upon-Avon. 267 fideration, but not of truft. They are feldom abfolutely true in themfelves, and yet they almoft always direct the hiftoric inquirer in the right direction to arrive at truth. Traditions are like photographs — diftorting the prominent features of the fubjects they reprefent. Accepting the reverend vicar's ftory as a Stratford tradition, told him in the rough-and- ready phrafeology of the place, and tran- flating the meaning of " hard drinking" into the joyous feftivity which would be naturally obferved at fuch a period as the wedding of the Poet's daughter, when friends like Ben Jonfon and Drayton were gathered around the board of their old companion, to drink to the health and happinefs of the bride and bridegroom, — we have a domeftic picture prefented to us of the laft days of Shakefpere, as happy in itfelf as it is probable from its confonance with his character. Though 268 New Place, Though the picture is the bareft fketch, yet its touches are true to nature ; and all, fave one, we know to be true in fact. That one, (the coarfenefs of its colouring toned down), harmonifes well with the reft, and gives completenefs to the outlines. Let fancy fill in the canvas, and the autumn days of the Poet's life be painted in the golden tints of nature's own autumn time, in which funninefs and fadnefs fo myf- teriouily blend. Pleafant it is to think that the happinefs of New Place was not fhadowed by any tedious or agonifing ficknefs. There was no lingering difeafe, no protracted pain. " In perfect health " and memory, God be praifed," our Shakefpere lived until his flfty-fecond year. He enjoyed his Merry Chriftmas, and the converfation of his friends. Then came the preparations for the wedding. New Place was all alive. Mrs. Shake- fpere's fecond-beft bed, like enough, was aired Stratford-upon-Avon. 269 aired and made up for the arrival from town of Ben Jonfon. Shakeipere thought the time befitted that he mould make his Will, which was accordingly drafted. The great garden was neatly trimmed, no doubt, and the borders of fnowdrops and crocufes fringed the beds about the mulberry tree. The wedding- day arrived. Parfon Rogers, the vicar, appeared in his beft cafTock, bands, and tippet; and robed in clean white linen furplice, leaned against the tomb of John a Combe, book in hand, until the wed- ding party came. Coaches in Stratford were unknown ; but " Slowly — stately — two by two," the train of relatives and friends pro- ceeded from New Place to the church. The merry marriage-bells rang out their welcome, and William Shakeipere, lead- ing Judith through troops of friends, prefented 270 New Place, prefented her at the altar to the vicar, and gave the woman to the man. There were no fignatures of witneffes to the ceremony neceffary, elfe had we feen, perchance, Shakefpere's and Rare Ben's upon the fame page of the Regifter. The ceremony over, and the vicar un- robed, the whole party left the church. It was the laft time Shakefpere entered it alive, and the laft time he left it ! The wedding of his child brought him there that day : about nine weeks afterwards his children attended in the fame place at his funeral ! But on that marriage morn none dreamt of, or anticipated, the im- pending lofs which not New Place only, or Stratford, but England and her litera- ture, were to fuffer. The marriage tables were fpread ; the cakes and ale were plen- tiful; and Parfon Rogers, garnifhing his periods with Latinity, after the fafhion of his day, told how one of old time, in a little Stratford-upon-Avon. 271 little town of Galilee, had bleffed with His prefence that marriage-feaft at which the " water faw its Lord, and blufhed ! " " Meanwhile the day Jinks f aft, the Jun is Jet, And in the lighted hall the guejls are met ; The beautiful looked lovelier in the light Of love, and admiration, and delight." It was a merry, happy evening in Strat- ford ! No doubt the Halefes, and the Quineys, the Hathaways, " my Coufin " Green," Thomas Combe, and all the lads and laffes of the varied Shakefpere connection, as far as Warwick, had col- lected at New Place to celebrate the wedding, — to " dance and eat plums ; " to be merry with the " round " and " wooing dance," and to trip it lightly to the ftirring notes of " John, come kifs " me now !" Subftituting Ben Jonfon for " Couiin Capulet," the Poet's own words beft ferve our purpofe to imagine the fcene : — " Welcome, 272 New Place, " Welcome, gentlemen ! ladies that have their toes Unplagued with corns will have a bout with you : — Ah ah, my mijlreffes ! which of you all Will now deny to dance? .... / havefeen the day That I could tell A whifpering tale in a fair lady's ear, Such as would pleafe ! — 'tis gone, 'tis gone, 'tis gone. Come, mu/icians, play. A hall ! a hall ! give room, and foot it, girls. More light, ye knaves ! and turn the tables up, And quench the fire, the room is grown too hot. — Nay, Jit, nay, Jit, good Coujin Capulet, For you and 1 are pajl our dancing days ! '' So, while they went on with the dance, and joy was unconfined, we can imagine thefe pat res confcripti of Stratford, ga- thering together in a knot, and the "natural wit" of Shakefpere, goaded into point and brilliancy by Ben and Drayton, burfting forth into corrufcations of fancy ! Then the reminifcenfes of London life, of Blackfriars and the Globe, would come up, and the experiences of thefe wits would aftonifh and delight their country friends. Shakefpere could tell many an anecdote of kings and courts, of Whitehall and Stratford-upon-Avon. 273 and Hampton ; and, perhaps, among the jovial pledges of the fupper, Ben Jonfon might let flip fomething about Gunpow- der Plot. Such a " merry-meeting " — the celebration of his daughter's wedding- day — we have fufricient reafon for fup- poflng, prefents us to Shakefpere at New Place, in health and vigour, for the laft time. A fever feized him. A few brief days of ficknefs intervened. Gradually the ftrength of the hale man fuccumbed before the invading enemy. Neceffity compelled the Will to be figned. Gloom porTerled the lately happy, feftive, houfe. At Chapel Street corner, with whifpered words and folemn head-fhaking, the friends of the dying man told their worft fears. Then there was another gathering ! In Holy Crofs, moft like, the Church's prayers were heard for him who lay a-dying. By his bednde Vicar Rogers would ftand, calming the woes 274 New Place, woes of the living, and pointing to the hopes of the dying ; while gradually — but painleffly as fever does its work — the laft enemy ftole in among the group, and the windows of New Place were dark- ened, and the doors were fhut, and the keepers of the houfe trembled, and the mourners went about the ftreet, becaufe man goeth to his long home ! " The " reft is filence ! " As Stratford-upon-Avon. 2j$ As regards the identification of Shake- fpere's refidence, there is a popular error. Many writers, and even fome of the lateft, affert that the Sir Hugh Clopton who fucceeded to New Place in 171 9, " repaired and beautified it, and built a " modern front to it." This ftatement is repeated in numerous works down to the prefent day. It is not a mere error ; it is more than an error, for it is totally untrue. The evil refulting from it is, that defcribers of New Place, whofe works are efpecially read by vifitors to Stratford, have betrayed the public into a very undeferved amount of regret for the destruction of the Rev. Francis Gaftrell's houfe, in 1759; that being the houfe to which 276 New Place, which a " modern front " is reprefented to have been added ; the original ftrudture of Sir Hugh Clopton being encafed within it, juft as the monaftic Zion Houfe is enclofed within that ponderous ducal pile on the banks of the Thames, which looks like a " Union " outfide, and is decorated as an Italian Villa infide. Thoufands of perfons have mourned Mr. Gaftreirs deftrudtivenefs, caring nothing for the " modern front," but grieving over the antique interior, where Shake- fpere was fuppofed to have lived and died. It is defirable that the public fhould be fet right concerning this miftake, and underftand, that, about the year 1720, one Sir Hugh Clopton utterly demolifhed the fabric which another Sir Hugh Clopton, about the year 1490, had erected. It was not a "modern front," but an entirely new houfe, which was erected about 1720; and it was this ftructure (of the Dutch Stratford-upon-Avon. 277 Dutch William or Queen Anne's ftyle of building) which, devoid of all historical afTociation, the ruthlefs Gaftrell razed to the ground.* Reprefentations of this houfe are ex- tant. They only need to be examined, and the eye learns inftantly that a com- plete rebuilding, and not a " modern "fronting," muft have occurred in or about 1720. Upon the ground-floor the hall door occupied the centre, flanked right and left with three windows. On the firft-floor a row of feven win- dows were difplayed, the central one opening into a fmall balcony. The three centre windows and the doorway, flightly projecting, were furmounted by a pedi- ment, containing the creft and motto of the Cloptons, " Loyavte Mon. Hon?2evr" in the tympanum. The * Appendix K. 278 New Place, The middle of the roof was occupied with a fquare platform, furrounded by a wooden baluftrade, as frequently feen in houfes of the period. Rufticated ftone- work,in long and fhort blocks, ornamented the corners of the houfe, and a projecting Claffic cornice, with dentile decoration, gave a finim to the roof. On the oppofite page this houfe is reprefented. In it Mr. Garrick and his friends were enter- tained at the time of the Jubilee, in 1769. It was what auctioneers call a fubftan- tial family maniion, very fquare, very flat, very red, and in its flat- topped roof, with wooden baluftrades, clofely related to the ftyle of ftructures delighted in by the King of pious and immortal memory. About Kenfington, Chifwick, and Hammerfmith, any number of "fuitable " refidences," built at the fame date, may be feen, generally confpicuous as Colle- giate Stratford-upon-Avon. 279 giate fchools, or Claffical and Commer- cial academies. However ponderous, raw, and felf- afferting the architecture of that period may be, let it be confeffed that it is in- finitely grander, more ftately, and more real than that pretentious ftyle now pre- valent in London, in which " whatever is, u is not," and a muddy ftucco is falved over the carcafes of houfes to make them look what they are not — fubftantial. The name of the Rev. Francis Gaftrell was execrated in Stratford. He com- mitted great offences againft the town. This perfon appears to have been the fon of Dr. Gaftrell, Bifhop of Chefter, and to have held the living of Frodfham, in the diocefe of Chefter. He married Jane, the daughter of Sir Thomas Afton, Bart., whofe family was feated at Afton, in Chefhire. At Stow Houfe, Stow, a fuburb of Lichfield, about half 280 New Place, half a mile to the eaft of the Cathedral, lived Elizabeth Afton, filler to Mrs. Gaftrell, and, as is ufual with fpinfters when arrived at a mature age, commonly defignated " Mrs. Afton." Subfequently to the Rev. F. Gaftrell's death, his widow lived on Stow Hill, in a houfe adjoining her lifter's. Letters addreffed by Dr. Johnfon to this lady are given in Bofwell's Life, as alfo feveral to Mrs. Afton. With both thefe ladies Johnfon had been intimately acquainted from his earlieft years ; and the intimacy continued until the day of his death. The following paragraphs from one of his letters will give the reader fufficient evidence of the terms on which Johnfon lived with thefe friends : — "Bolt Court, Fleet Street, "January 2, J 7 79. "Dear Madam, " Now the New Year is come, of which I wifh you " and dear Mrs. Gaftrell many and many returns, it is " fit that I give you fome account of the paft year. "In Stratford-upon-Avon. 281 " In the beginning of it I had a difficulty of breathing, " and other illnefs, from which, however, I by degrees " recovered, and from which I am now tolerably free. . . w But the other day Mr. Prujean called and left word " that you, dear madam, are grown better ; and I know " not when I heard anything that pleafed me fo much. " I lhall now long more and more to fee Lichfield, and " partake the happinefs of your recovery. Now you " begin to mend, you have great encouragement to take " care of yourfelf. "Do not omit anything that can conduce to your " health, and when I come I lhall hope to enjoy with "you and dearefi Mrs. Gaflrell many pleafing hours. "Do not be angry at mv long omillion to write," &c. &c. &c. " Madam, " Your moll humble fervant, " SAM. JOHNSON." There is an old man, by name Mr. Thomas Barnes, now living in Bird Street, Lichfield, who has entered his ninety-firft year. He was born at Chorley, near Lichfield, the firft week in February, 1772. He was brought up a wig-maker, and may be faid to have followed his trade up to the prefent time. Mr. Barnes is in the enjoyment of all his faculties, able to garden, and while gardening to recur with the greater!: clearnefs of memory 282 New Place, memory to the events of his early life. He is perhaps the only perfon living who can fay that he remembers Dr. Johnfon. Mr. Barnes informed the author that he clearly recollects Mrs. Afton and Mrs. Gaftrell living at Stow ; and that he re- members feeing the Doctor walking with thefe ladies in Boar Street, Lichfield, op- pofite the Town Hall. Mr. Barnes was alfo well acquainted with Mr. Peter Garrick, brother of the tragedian, whole houfe was fituate in Lichfield, on the lite now occupied by the newly-erected Literary Inftitution and Probate Office. Mr. Barnes had no perfonal acquaint- ance with Doctor Johnfon or his female friends, Mrs. Afton and Mrs. Gaftrell, for whom, it is beyond queftion, the Doctor entertained the warmeft and moft fincere friendlinels of feeling. In glancing round the walls of Lich- field Cathedral, on the north fide of the great Stratford-upon-Avon. 283 great weft door in the nave, and above the door of the fouthern tranfept, there ftill ftand tablets to the memory of Mrs. Afton and Mrs. Gaftrell. "Still," be- caufe it would be well, for the fake of the architecture, if thofe unfightly and un- harmonious lumps of mafonry had been removed, in the late elaborate reftorations at Lichfield, to fome lefs confpicuous pofitions. Lichfield Cathedral, as it now appears, will be contemplated for genera- tions to come as a monument whereby to recall the Epifcopate of Dr. Lonfdale. The lover of church architecture will ponder over and revel in the regenerated lovelinefs of that exquifite gem of art ; and in admiration of the fpirit and muni- ficence with which the clergy and gentry of the diocefe have gathered round their venerated Diocefan, in carrying out the glorious work which has been accom- plifhed, contrail it painfully with fome of its 284 New Place, its lifter edifices, where Cathedral bodies are much richer, and far more able, but apparently much lefs willing, to encounter the facrifices neceffary for much-needed reftorations. To wit — look at Durham, a Golden See ! That monarch of all Norman piles is ftill disfigured with filthy white-wafh and yellow-wafh. The con- dition of its nave is a difgrace to any Cathedral chapter; and, as if to prove that ecclefiaftical barbarians ftill furvive, thofe ftupendous pillars — the glory of the Palatinate — have very lately been out- raged by having gliftening lead gas-pipes nailed to their fides, furmounted with fittings and fhades of the commoneft and moil vulgar defcription ! As it will be neceffary to fay a few words reflecting Mrs. Gaftrell with re- gard to the deftruction of the mulberry- tree, it may be the moft chivalric if we anticipate her blame by founding her praife, Stratford-upon-Avon. 285 praife, and adminifter the antidote before the bane. The following infcription on her monument in Lichfield Cathedral is a grandiofe fpecimen of teftamentary gratitude : — "J. G. died October 30, 179T, aged 81. " Sacred to the memory of Jane, daughter of Sir " Thomas Alton, of Alton, Baronet, and widow of the " Rev. Francis Gaftrell, Clerk, who, to the lait moments " of her life, was conftantly employed in acts of fecret " and extenlive charity, and on her death bequeathed " to numerous benevolent inftitutions a considerable " portion of her property. This monument was erected " by her five nephews and three nieces, who partook " equally and amply of her bounty. "Let not thy alms, the holy Jesus cried, Befeen of men, or dealt with confeious pride ; Sojhall the Lord, whofe eye pervades the Ireajl, For thee unfold the manfions of the ble/L " O'er her whofe life this precept held in view, A friend to want, when each falfe friend withdrew ; May thefe chafte lines, to genuine worth afjignd, Pour the full tribute of a grateful mind. "Sweet as at noontide s fultry beam, thefliower, That fteals refrefliing oer the wither d flower, Her filent aid, by foothing pity givn, Sank through the heart, the dew of gracious heaven, " Deeds fuch as thefe, purefliade,fliall ever bloom, Shall live through time and glow beyond the tomb. Through thee, the orphan owes parental care, Bends the glad knee, and breathes the frequent prayer ; Through New Place, Through thee the debtor, from defpondence Jled, Clafps his fond babes, and hails his native fhed ; Through thee, theflave, unbound his mqjjive chain, Shouts with new joy, and lives a man again; Through thee, thefavage on a dijtantfhore His Saviour hears, and droops with doubt no more. " O thou who lingering here, /halt heave thefigh, The warm tear trembling on thy pen/ive eye, Go, and the couch of hopelefs forrow tend, The poor man's guardian, and the widow' s friend ; Go, and the path which Aston lately trod, Shall guide thy foot fieps to the throne o/God." The Rev. Francis Gaftrell appears to have had a great defire to acquire property in, and alfo about, Stratford. It does not feem that he intended to make New Place a permanent refidence, but merely a temporary retreat for pleafure and repofe. In his garden flood " Shakefpere's " Mulberry-tree," which all vifitors to Stratford were curious to fee and fit under. Mr. Gaftrell's temper was forely tried by the perpetual invafions of thefe vifitors, and in his fpleen he fent forth the fiat to cut it down — " with Gothic bar- " barity," as Bofwell remarks. Dr. John- fon Stratford- upon- Av on. 287 fon told him Mr. Gaftrell did fo u to vex "his neighbours." Bofwell adds, "His "lady, I have reafon to believe, on the "fa?ne authority, participated in the guilt " of what the enthufiafts of our immortal " bard deem almoft a fpecies of facrilege." This facrilege took place in 1756, only three years after Gaftrell became porTerTor of New Place. The wood of the mulberry-tree was purchafed by Thomas Sharp, of Stratford, watch and clock maker, who manufac- tured it into boxes, goblets, and a variety of articles for fale. Twelve rings made out of the wood were manufactured for the Jubilee, 1769. A few valuable mementoes ftill remain, highly prized, and carefully treafured. Among thefe, the Shakefpere chair now in the porTeffion of Mifs Burdett Coutts, and purchafed by her for £300, is the moft valuable. The medallion on the back 288 New Place, back of this chair was carved by William Hogarth. There is the mulberry cup, which was ufed by Mr. Garrick, and held in his hand when he fang his own fong at Stratford : " Behold this fair goblet, 'twas carved from the tree, Which, O my fweet Shakefpere, was planted by thee! As a relic I kifs it, and bow at iheJJirine, What comes from thy hand muft be ever divine: Allfliall yield to the mulberry-tree. Bend to thee, 1 Bleft mulberry : Matchlefs was he, Who planted thee, And thou, like him, immortal be!" Etc. etc.* W. O. Hunt, Efq., Town-clerk of Stratford, poffeffes a drawing-room table made * The following receipt for the fale of mulberry- tree wood to Garrick is interelling : — " yth July, 1762. " Received of David Garrick, Esq., by the hands "of Lieutenant Eufebius Silverier, Two Guineas in " full for four pieces of Mull-berry tree, which, with " the other pieces of the fame tree, I lately delivered " to the faid Mr. Silverier for the ufe of the faid Mr. " Garrick, I do hereby warrant to be part of the " Mulberry Stratford-upon-Avon. 289 made of walnut, the top of which is beautifully inlaid with wood from the mulberry-tree. The device is unufual, being formed by a feries of thin rounds, into which a branch of the tree muft have been fawn. A block of wood occupies the centre of the table, the rounds encircle it, and fucceffive circles con- tinue being defcribed, until they reach the exterior frame of walnut within which they are comprehended. The heart of the tree, and the varying rings of the wood, being feen in every round, a piece of furniture has been manufactured which is artiftic as a fpecimen of geome- trical * Mulberry Tree commonly called Shakefpeare's tree : ' and faid to be planted by him ; and lately cut down I in the Rev. Mr. Gaftrell's, late Sir Hugh Clopton's, ' garde n, in Stratford-upon-Avon. " Witnefs my hand— GEO. WILLES. " Witnefs hereto — Wm. Hunt, Attorney in Stratford. John Payton, M after of the White Lion there." 290 New Place, trical cabinet-making, and invaluable in its hiftorical affociations. This table be- longs to a gentleman who beft deferves to poffeis it, both on account of the un- flagging enthufiafm he has exhibited in everything that has reference to Shakefpere (especially of late in fecuring New Place to the public) ; and alfo on account of the urbanity he has fhown vifitors to Stratford, who have had the honour of being introduced to him. In 1759 what was thought a greater, but was in reality a minor offence, was committed. Being compelled to pay the aiTerTment for the poor at Stratford, as well as at Lichfield, his fixed refidence, Gaftrell vowed that New Place mould never be afferled again, and pulled it down. This has been regarded as an unpardon- able crime. It was not fo in reality, be- caufe the houfe had no connection with the Poet, as has been fhown. There can be Stratford-upon-Avon. 291 be little doubt that had Homer, Dante, TafTo, and Shakefpere all lived in that felfsame houfe it would have mattered nothing to the Rev. Mr. Gaftrell. He would have deftroyed it, whatever had been its affociations. Even among clergymen, particularly the perverfe and obftinate, paffion often dominates veneration. The Rev. Francis Gaftrell's difpofition is a ftudy ; but it is one which cannot be now purfued. It may be allowable, how- ever, to hint, that inquiry may juftify Johnfon's communication to Bofwell. Mrs. Gaftrell poffibly did more than " participate in the guilt ; " and in the murder done upon the mulberry-tree it may hereafter appear that me was the Lady Macbeth, mitigating the reverend Thane to deeds of " Gothic barbarity." A Diary written in Scotland by Mr. Gaftrell has lately been prefented (among other 292 New Place, other gifts) to the embryo, "Stratford " Mufuem." Hereafter the public will have accefs to this hitherto private MS. It tells nothing of Stratford ; but being a diary, it reveals fomething of the ftyle of thought of the man. A very common- place and unpoetic ftyle of thought it is, but harmonious with what we mould conceive fuch a man would be. It may not be gallant to the fair fex, but never- thelefs fomething near the truth, to con- jecture that Mr. Gaftrell has been abufed over much : that, as in all great crimes, fo in the mulberry-tree flaughter, " there was " a woman in it," aiding, abetting, and, as Johnfon fays, "participating in the " guilt." Malone, in writing to Dr. Davenport, of Stratford, May, 1788, quotes a letter received from a lady at Lichfield, who afferts that it was Mrs. Gaftrell, and not her hulband, who cut down the mulberry-tree. In the fame letter Stratford-upon-Avon. 293 letter, Malone's correfpondent gives him a hiftory of Mrs. Gaftrell's lateft perform- ance at Lichfield. Her houfe on Stow Hill had been let to a lady at the rental of £100. The lady had been very kind to the poor in the neighbourhood. Mrs. Gaftrell having had fome difagreement with her tenant, took meafures to turn her out, and determined that the poor jhould derive no benefit from that houfe again, which (he refolved mould remain empty. Malone's correfpondent, in great wrath, fays, that Mrs. Gaftrell is "little better " than a fiend." In this report there is a coincidence that cannot efcape obfervation. The fame feeling which prompted the deftrudtion of the houfe at Stratford, in order that it might never again be arTeffed for the relief of the poor, likewife prompted the clofing of the houfe at Stow Hill, Lich- field, that the poor might derive no further 294 New P/ace 9 further afliftance from thence. It is hardly poffible to refift the concluiion which the peculiarity of thefe circum- ftances fuggefts; and defpite Johnfon's friendly regard for Mrs. Gaftrell, we muft remember that it is from his own lips we hear of that lady's participa- tion in her hufband's acts. She was undoubtedly a paffionate and imperious woman ; and if the whole truth were known, it feems very probable that the inftigation to the act, if not the carrying it into execution, both in felling the tree and deftroying the houfe, is attributable rather to Mrs., than to Mr., Gaftrell. It has been difcovered that there was a Chancery Suit pending between Mr. Gaftrell and the Corporation, ftrengthen- ing a fufpicion that hot blood was roufed. The public at this moment knows little of the merits of the Gaftrell cafe, or the amount of provocation under which Stratford-upon-Avon. 295 which that irrafcible divine fuffered. If all the charges againft him regarding the deftrudtion of the mulberry tree were proved, and he were found guilty as the real criminal, neverthelefs he cannot be found guilty, as he commonly has been, of deftroying Shakefpere's houfe, — fimply becaufe Shakefpere's houfe did not exift for him to deftroy. From thefe facts above ground, we now defcend to difcoveries recently made below ground. During the fpring of 1862, that portion of the garden of New Place fronting the main ftreet, Chapel Street, on the weft, and bounded by Chapel Lane on the fouth, was excavated to the extent of about lixty feet fquare. The workmen, having cleared away the foil 296 New Place, foil and debris over this large fpace to the depth of eight or ten feet, came upon a feries of foundations. Some very interesting fadls have been difcovered. The leading and moft manifeft are, that two fets of foundations exift. The one muft be thofe of the maniion built in the Georgian era, circa 1720; the other thofe of Shakefpere's own houfe — the " Great Houfe" which Sir Hugh built circa 1490, and in which both he and the Poet "lived and died." Upon this lite there never have been more than the two houfes in queftion. For the fake of diftindlion, let thefe houfes be deiignated refpectively, the " Great Houfe" and the " Clopton Houfe." It is eafy to diftinguifh the foundations of the one from the other, becaufe the lines of walls in the Clopton Houfe at certain points meet, and interfed: the walls of the Great Houfe (efpecially in the foundations Stratford-upon-Avon. 297 foundations abutting on Chapel Lane). Where they fo meet and interfecl:, the Clopton foundations are built over and acrofs thofe of the Great Houfe. Again : the materials of the Great Houfe are for the moft part ftone, which fuch foundations — built nearly 400 years ago — commonly were. The materials of the Clopton Houfe are red brick, and in many places the plafter upon the walls of the offices in the bafement is ftill perfect ; and not only perfect, but (hows the coloured outline of the ftaircafe, leading from the offices up to the firft- floor, as clean and black as if it had been painted yefterday. Various evidences prove the date of this portion of the foundations. Firft. The bricks of which the party- walls are built have that bright red colour, and are fet together with that peculiar clofenefs and fharpnefs of edge, which 298 New Place, which particularly characterife the period of William, Anne, and George I. Secondly. The condition of the plafter and painting mows that they belong to a houfe which muft have been inhabited at a comparatively recent period. Thirdly. The evidences of habitation revealed in the Clop ton foundations prove that they were portions of Gaftrell's houfe, and verify the ftory of its fudden deftrudtion. The kitchen fire-place was found quite perfect, and the afh-pit filled with the cinders of the coals that may have cooked Mr. Gaftrell's dinner in Stratford the day before he demolished the houfe. A great variety of trifling domeftic evidences of this fort abound, mowing that thefe " Clopton " founda- tions are the bafement ftory of a houfe of modern ufe, and that the houfe itfelf muft have been erected during the laft century. Laft Stratford-upon-Avon. 299 Laft of all, the ground above thefe foundations when dug out proved to be a debris of plafter-of- Paris mouldings, cornices, and decorations belonging to the ftyle of ornament commonly intro- duced in the houfes of the reigns of Anne and the firft Georges. When the walls of the houfe were knocked down, this plafter work was buried in the ruins ; but it is now carefully arranged in an adjoining houfe for infpedtion. There cannot be a doubt about the foundations of the Clopton Houfe (1720) being identified. From them we turn to the much fmaller but far more interefting remains of the Great Houfe. It is evident that the Great Houfe was not reftored with a " modern front," becaufe there are two diftinct ground plans ; and the Clopton Houfe founda- tions (as already ftated) run afkew to thofe of 300 New Place, of the Great Houfe, interfering them at very acute angles. It is alfo evident that in laying the walls of the Clopton Houfe a great portion of the foundations of the Great Houfe were cleared away entirely, and that thofe only were left untouched which there was no neceffity to move. Confequently the foundations of the Great Houfe in which Shake- fpere lived are comparatively fmall in extent. The following fadls are illuftrative : — Firft. In two feparate places Tudor mullions have been difcovered, built into the Clopton foundations, mowing that fome of the material of the Great Houfe was cleared out and ufed again in laying the external foundations of the modern one. Secondly. In that portion of the Clopton foundations where the kitchens and offices flood, the ground exhibits no traces CHAPEL LANE NASH'S HOUSE KEY TO THE PLAN FOUNDATIONS : GREAT HOUSE AND CLOPTON HOUSE. A. Ancient Well of the Great Houfe. B. Well, lately difcovered, which appears to have belonged to Naih's Houfe. C. Kitchen Fire-place. D. Piece of projecting Ancient Wall, belonging to Shakefpere's, i.e. the Great Houfe ; conjectured to be the Foundation of the Entrance Porch way. E. The External Wall of the Ancient Great Houfe, terminating in N, a Fire-place of the Clopton Houfe. F. The Site of Nam's Houfe : with Ancient Foun- dations. G. The Crown of the Vaulting depofited in one of the Offices. H. The Position at which the Ancient Mullions have been built into the Clopton Foundations. I, K, L, M. Cellar Windows in the Clopton Foun- dations. N. Fire-place in one cf the Offices of ditto. O. Ditto. Stratford-upon-Avon. 301 traces of ancient walls, although it is almoft certain that the Great Houfe en- tirely covered this iite, fince the frontage to Chapel Street, between Chapel Lane on the north, and Nam's Houfe (the next plot of land on the fouth, where a refi- dence now ftands, but which never be- longed to New Place), is not more than fixty feet in length. Two apparent exceptions prefent them- felves, viz., a piece of ancient wall which, extending under the ftreet, protrudes in- wards into the main wall of the Clopton foundations; and a few feet removed from it, in one of the offices, there are the re- mains of the crown of a vaulting. Both thefe interlopers, looking ftrangely out of place, are at firft fight a complete puzzle. Why they were fuffered to abide where they now affert themfelves, and are un- doubtedly in the way, is the natural con- jecture. The 302 New Place, The portion of wall that projects from the foundations (and outward, under the footpath of Chapel Street) is palpably, both from polition and conftruction, part of the Great Houfe, and may probably be one of the foundations of the porch- way or entrance of the Great Houfe, which would neceffarily require to be very ftrong, if above the porch (with its ponderous oak beams, and its elaborately carved arcades) there rofe an overhanging chamber, with oriel window command- ing the ftreet. This is mere conjecture, which, though it feems probably correct, muft be taken for what it appears worth. The crown of the vaulting obtrufively thrufting iftelf into one of the Clopton offices would be a marvel and a myf- tery, fuppofing it to belong to the Great Houfe; but, with all humility, it may be queftioned whether it ever did ! May it not, after all, be one (and the only one) Stratford- upon- Avon. 303 one) mafs of vaulting, which did not break afunder when that reverend 8am- fon pulled down a domeftic Gaza about the ears of his enemies — the Philiftines of Stratford ? May not this conglome- rate have quietly dropped from its vaulted eminence to the humble pofition on the floor which it now occupies, and (inftantly covered in with lighter materials) have efcaped being dafhed afunder ? This fuppofition, if it be correct, would folve a difficulty of which there has, as yet, been no fatisfactory folution offered. Affuming it to be true, the remains of Shakefpere's Houfe would be the above- mentioned (porch) wall, and the main walls of the Great Houfe adjoining Chapel Lane, which the Clopton walls were built acrofs, and interfered, but which remain in their original folid con- dition. Thefe main walls are prefer ved the entire depth of the houfe, commen- cing 304 New Place, cing from the frontage at the junction of Chapel Street and Chapel Lane, and running eaftward along Chapel Lane. Having reached the extreme point to which foundations run in that direction (about forty-five feet in depth), they turn at a right angle northward, and continue about twenty feet, when they encounter a fire-place of the Clop ton Houfe, built over and upon them, in which they be- come loft, and are no farther traceable. Thefe, then, are the very walls of the very houfe in which William Shakefpere lived and died. They are inconfider- able, it is true, but neverthelefs far more extenfive than any one could have dared to hope; for when we confider that two houfes have occupied this fite, and (as is evident) the foundations of the former were in a great meafure cleared away in order to lay the foundations of the latter, — moreover, when we recall the paffionate Stratford-upon-Avon. 305 paffionate vexation which caufed the fud- den and total demolition of the latter, it is a matter of no fmall fatisfadtion to dif- cover at leafl Jixty feet of the indifputable and veritable foundations of the Great Houfe that Sir Hugh Clopton erected nearly four hundred years ago, furviving the ravages of time and the work of man's deftruffivenefs, exhumed and once more brought to light in the middle of the nineteenth century ; fo that all who reverence the name and memory of the greater!: genius of the world, may identify, and, for themfelves, examine the walls of the houfe in which our Shakefpere lived and died. In the midft of thefe foundations there has been iimultaneoufly revealed an object of peculiar intereft. It is " Shakefpere's " Well " — the ancient well of New Place. When the labourers made the difcovery in digging out the foundations, it was choked 306 New P/ace, choked with the debris of the Gaftrell ruins. The well was cleared out, and its quoiningftones were found to be as perfect as ever. On the 5th of Auguft, 1862, another well, equally as ancient, and, if poffible, in a better ftate of prefer vation as to its mafonry, was difcovered in the em- bankment under Nafh's Houfe, at the ex- treme northern limit of the New Place plot. Two wells attached to the fame houfe feem ufelefs ; and therefore it may be conjectured, that although this latter well is now within the boundaries of New Place, it may, at fome diftant period, have belonged to, and been enclofed in, the adjoining freehold, " Nam's Houfe," which is now included in the New Place eftate. On the morning after the clear- ance, Shakefpere's well had filled with feveral feet of the pureft and molt deli- cious fpring water. From the bountiful fupply of this fpring, every traveller can now Stratford-upon-Avon. 307 now flake his thirft, and drink of the fame well from which the Poet drank. In the courfe of the excavations a few articles have been dug up, of no parti- cular intereft or value. At the bottom of the well, a peculiarly primitive flat - candleftick, with long, ftraight handle, and very fmall ftand for the candle, was found. A bone-handled knife, with metal ornaments of an antique character. A number of tobacco-pipe bowls of the time of Charles II. ; the bowls very fmall, and the clay imprefled at the elbow with the name of the manufacturer, " Robt. Legg." Figured tiles belonging to a pavement ; glafs ; and various pieces of iron-work, much corroded. Thefe, and a vaft amount of fmall arti- cles of domeftic ufe, have been found among the debris, which are all collected together 3 o8 New Place, together at Nam's Houfe for the anti- quary's examination and difcuffion. Among them there may perchance be fome trifling objects as ancient as the time of Shakefpere; but it would be almoft idle to hope that the riddling of the vaft amount of earth which has been difplaced will bring to light any objects of real value, or capable of being afTo- ciated with the Poet's tenancy of New Place. All Stratford-upon-Avon, 309 All the boundaries of Shakefpere's Gar- den — including the " Great Garden " — have been afcertained, and proved by the title-deeds (nearly 1 00 in number) of the furrounding properties. The whole of this New Place eftate is now purchafed and fecured to the public, with the ex- ception of one plot occupied by a con- venticle-like brick building, entitled "The " Theatre." This ftructure has neither age, appearance, utility, nor affociation to recommend it to the public. The fpot where it {lands was never occupied by any former theatre ; the building be- longs to the prefent century. As a build- ing it is to the laft degree ugly, and might be miflaken for a village Bethel or Ebenezer ! 310 New Place, Ebenezer ! It is an obftrudHon and eye- fore in Shakefpere's Garden ; added to which, to complete its condemnation, it is not a theatre at all ! Having been con- verted into a fort of lecture-hall or public room, it fuits the purpofes either of a Police Court or County Court in the morn- ing, and of Ethiopian Serenaders, Con- jurors, and Travelling Wonders at night ! The building belongs to fhareholders, who are willing to fell the property for £1,100. In due time it is to be hoped that this hideous fabric will be purchafed and fwept away, fo that New Place may be reftored to its former condition as a garden, and preferved as fuch for ever. The name of a theatre in Shake- fpere's Garden, catches the ear, and fug- gefts that it muft be connected with the traditions of the place. It is apparent that this ftructure has no claim to the antiquary's confideration. There is but one Stratford- upon - Avon. 3 1 1 one building in Stratford that is in any way affociated with the paft — and that is a barn. A barn is ftill pointed out in which Mrs. Siddons is faid to have per- formed in her youth. The tradition is probably true, becaufe not only was the company of her father, Roger Kemble, accuftomed to perform in Warwickfhire, but her grandfather, Mr. Ward, was in the habit of acting at Stratford. On the 9th September, 1746, this gentleman gave a benefit performance in the (then) Town Hall, in order to procure funds for repainting the buft of Shakefpere on the monument in the church, and reftoring the original colours. The play enadted was Othello, accompanied with a Pro- logue written for the occafion by the Rev. Jofeph Greene. Through Ward, a diftinguifhed man of the prefent gene- ration was connected with a remote dramatic era : the late Charles Kemble, with 312 New Place, with whofe perfon and performances thoufands ftill among us were familiar, was Ward's grandfon; and the grand- father was an actor in the days of Bet- terton. At one of his benefits in Dub- lin, the celebrated Peg Woffington made her firft appearance, according to the ftatement in Boaden's "Life of Kemble," though his ftatement "errs in particu- " larity ; " for while it fixes the date as April 25th, 1760, the records of the quiet little church at Teddington tell us that on the 3rd of that month, in that fame year, Peg Woffington had left life's ftage for ever, and was interred on that day, aged 42. The miftake made by Boaden arofe from his confufing the year of Woffington's death with the year of her firft appearing for the benefit of Charles Kemble's grandfather. The hall in which Ward produced Othello, for the purpofe of reftoring the monument at Stratford Stratford-upon-Avon. 3 1 3 Stratford, no longer exifts ; fo that the barn which is affociated with the name of Mrs. Siddons, feems to be the fole remaining building in the town within which the plays of the Poet were reprefented in the days that are gone and the years that are fled. At the commencement of this work it was contended that as great a venera- tion is felt for Shakefpere by the prefent generation as by any that preceded it. It muft, at the fame time, be admitted that the age is eminently practical. With a revived and increafingly fpreading tafte for the Beautiful, the men of the Iron age demand that the Beautiful fhall be combined with the Ufeful. Englifh- men are ever ready to give their money in honour of a great name; but they ftipulate that it fhall not be wafted on ufelefs 314 New Place, ufelefs architecture or unprofitable objects. It has been the purpofe of this work to fhow what ufe has been made of the money already provided by the public. New Place in its integrity has been fe- cured. Shakefpere's Garden is beyond any rifks from future fales. The fite of the GreatHoufe has beendifcovered. The few remains of foundations have been brought to light. The garden, as yet in a difturbed ftate, will prefently be cleared and re- ftored to its former ufe. Once again, and for ever, it will be Shakefpere's Garden. In this, a good work has been accom- pliihed. Much is done; but much remains to do. To complete the work well begun, public aid will be neceffary, and for that aid the public muft be fought. It might be well if thofe who were con- cerned in the various purchafes of New Place, and have examined all the titles and records connected with it, were to give to Stratford-upon-Avon. 3 1 5 to the world a detailed hiftory of them, accompanied by the fulleft plans and illuflrations of the property as it exifted when put into truft in 1861. Hereafter fuch a work, which this fmall volume makes no prefumptuous pretence of un- dertaking, would be of the higheft value. There are very few men among us com- petent to perform it ; but among the few, Mr. Halliwell has had rare advantages in his connection with the purchafes of New Place, which no one elfe has en- joyed. To him the public feem to have a right to look for that fair and faithful hiftory — that compilation of the facts re- garding New Place, which have hitherto been obfcure or unknown, but mull now be beft known to him. The object with which thefe pages have been written, will be fully accomplifhed if they fucceed in attracting public notice to the good work fo far done, and in ftimu- lating 3i 6 New Place, lating the aid which is neceflary to com- plete the full redemption of the Poet's property. New Place muft for ever be affociated with the memory of Shake- fpere ; and the mere fight of foundation walls belonging to the houfe in which he lived and died, cannot fail to excite the deepeft intereft in the minds of all who are attracted to the fpot by hearing of the recent difcoveries. But intereft having been excited, and curiofity having been gratified, a practical purpofe will be required, fooner or later, to fupport the fentiment, under the influence of which, Shakefpere's countrymen have purchafed his garden. We are often aiTured that " opportunity is everything. 5 ' If not everything, it is unqueftionably a great thing; and with regard to the fubjecT: under confederation, opportunity has re- folved to do her beft in lending it a help- ing hand. The Stratford-upon-Avon. 317 The fwiftly approaching year 1 864 will be the Tercentenary Jubilee of the Poet's Birth. Nearly a century ago (in 1769), the celebration of his nativity was held in Stratford under the direction of David Garrick. A ffllier or more ufelefs exhibi- tion was never witneffed. Defpite the ex- citement which it created at the moment in Stratford, there feem to have been fome of the inhabitants who fpoke of it in contemptuous language, for the " Gar- " rick Correfpondence " reveals a paffage of letters between the Rev. Mr. Jago,* of Snitterfield, and George Garrick, the brother of the tragedian, mowing that the latter had refented fome uncompli- mentary animadverfions of Mr. Jago's upon Garrick and the Jubilee. The brother's refentment was a neceffary re- fult, for never was there a more devoted brother * Appendix. L. 3i 8 New Place, brother than was George Garrick to David. A charming illuftration of this is afforded us in the "tender pleafantry " of Charles Bannifter at the time of Garrick's demife. Whenever George was abfent from Drury Lane for any length of time, on returning, his invariable queftion to the hall-porter was, "Has my brother wanted " me ? " It eventuated that the brothers died within a few days of one another. David Garrick expired at his houfe on the Terrace, Adelphi, early on Wednef- day morning, January 20th, 1779, and was buried in Poet's Corner on the ift of February. On the 3rd of February George Garrick expired. When the re- port reached Drury Lane, Bannifter ob- ferved, " His brother wanted him ! " But the admiration and affection of George for David could not draw the fting of the Rev. Mr. Jago's cutting obfervations. Their fting lay in their truth Stratford-upon-Avon, 319 truth. Garrick in one of his letters wrote, "When I was burled about that " foolifh hobby-horfe of mine, the Ju- * bilee ! " His language is as correal a defcription of it as could be given, though the wet weather kindly interfered to prevent the greateft abfurdity of the programme — the " pageant proceffion " of Shakefpere's principal characters." Owing to the tremendous downpour of rain, that pageant was never perpetrated at the Jubilee, albeit, there is in the Town Hall of Stratford, a fire-fcreen which gives an amazing pictorial illuftration of the proceffion ; and there is alfo a tradi- tion that Mrs. Siddons perfonated Venus in the Jubilee proceffion. The fcreen in queftion — although it reprefents a difplay that never took place, — is well worthy of contemplation. Painted by fome village artift, it is as grotefque and amufing a pro- duction as any one with a keen fenfe of the 320 New Place, the ludicrous, would wifh to contemplate. Diftant be the day when the Corporation of Stratford remove from their Hall, this humorous reprefentation of an hiftorical event that never took place ! With reference to Mrs. Siddons appear- ing as Venus in the proceffion of the Jubilee, it is true that me did perfonate that part, but not at Stratford. Owing to the proceffion being warned out of the programme, it was dramatifed the follow- ing October (1769), at Drury Lane, by Garrick, who introduced into it the fongs and the odes that had been given in the Stratford Amphitheatre. We read of it, " Such was the magnificence of the " fcenery, and the effect given through- " out the piece, that it was fo far efta- " blifhed in public favour as to caufe its " being repeated during the feafon for " upwards of 100 nights." It was not even upon this occafion that Stratford-upon-Avon. 321 that Mrs. Siddons exhibited as Venus, nor, until 1775, — the feafon before Gar- rick's final retirement, and that of her firft appearance at Drury Lane. Garrick re- vived the fpeffiacle of the Jubilee Procef- fion during the feafon, and the Lady Ann who had trembled in terror before his glance of reproach in the great fcene of Glofter's wooing, was caft to perfonify Venus. Mrs. Siddons, in her Autograph Recollections, alludes to the Jubilee per- formance : — " He (Garrick) would fome- " times hand me from my own feat in " the green-room to place me next to his " own. He alfo felected me to perfonate " Venus at the revival of the Jubilee. " This gained me the malicious appella- " tion of * Garrick's Venus/ and the ladies " who fo kindly beftowed it on me, rufhed " before me in the laft fcene, fo that if he " (Mr. Garrick) had not brought us for- " ward with him, with his own hands, " my 322 New Place, " my little Cupid, (the fubfequent auto- " biographer Thomas Dibdin), and my- " felf, whofe appointed fituations were in " the very front of the ftage, might have " as well been in the Ifland of Paphos. " Mr. Garrick would alfo flatter me by " fending me into one of the boxes when " he acted any of his great characters." Such are the facts which conned: the name of Mrs. Siddons with the Jubilee Proceffion, there being no connection at all with the celebration at Stratford, at which, neverthelefs, (he might have been prefent; for two years previoufly (Feb- ruary 12, 1767), Mifs Kemble (aged twelve), and her brother, John Philip (aged ten),* had appeared in the parts of the Princefs Elizabeth and the Duke of York, * John Philip Kemble was born at Prefcot, in Lan- cafhire, February, 1757. The author was, fome years fince, curate of Prefcot, and a frequent vifitor of the hum- ble folks who now inhabit the houfe in which Kemble firrf Stratford-upon-Avon. 323 York, in the theatre at Worcefter, in Havard's tragedy of Charles the Firjl, which, though unknown to the modern ftage, was at one time highly popular, and fo affecting, that when the part of Charles was performed at Hull by Cum- min gs, the early rival of Kemble, his im- perfonation of the miferies of the King fo overwhelmed Mifs Terrot, the daugh- ter of a garrifon officer, that her emotions caufed her inftantaneous death. The Stratford Jubilee was celebrated for three days : Wednefday, Thurfday, and Friday, the 6 th, 7 th, and 8 th of firft faw light. Like many houfes in the neighbour- hood, it is built of the prevailing red fandftone, and is whitewashed. It has folidity enough to ]aft for cen- turies to come. In former years, when Prefcot was the firft town out of Liverpool on the coaching road, thou- fands of travellers would pals by the door of John Kemble's birthplace. It Hands in the "Lower Road," going from the market-place of Prefcot to the neigh- bouring railway ftation of Rainhillj and the good man of the houfe ufed to take pride in fhowing the bed- room " i' which th' great actor cum i'th' wuld, welly ni^h srancr a 'undred yeear." 324 New Place, of September, 1769. The town was thronged with vilitors from London and the furrounding counties. There were prefent, among others — The Duke of Manchefter. Duke of Dorfet. The Earl of Northampton, Earl of Hertford, Earl of Plymouth, J And & ^ Counteffes . Earl of Carliile, Earl of Denbigh, Earl of Shrewfbury, Lord Beauchamp, Lord Grofvenor, Lord Windfor, Lord Catherlough, Lord and Lady Spencer, Lord and Lady Archer, Lord and Lady Craven ; and a large number of Baronets, Members of Parliament, and County gentlemen. Connected with the drama there were — David Garrick, and his brother George, Mr. Foote, Mr. Colman, Mr. Macklin, Mr. and Mrs. Yates, Mr. Rofs (Edinbro), Mr. Lee (Bath), and about one hundred and feventy aftors and Stratford-upon-Avon. 325 and actreffes of minor repute from the London theatres. Among other notabilities prefent was James Bofwell. Dr. Johnfon was flay- ing with the Thrales, at Brighton, and could not be induced to honour the Jubilee with his prefence. Bofwell fays, " I was very forry that I had not his " company with me at the Jubilee in " honour of Shakefpeare, at Stratford- " upon-Avon, the great Poet's native " town. Johnfon's connection both with " Shakefpeare and Garrick founded a " double claim to his prefence, and it " would have been highly gratifying to " Mr. Garrick. Upon this occafion I " particularly lamented that he had not " that warmth of friendfhip for his " brilliant pupil which we may fup- " pofe would have had a benignant " effect on both. When almoft every " man of eminence in the literary " world 326 New Place, " world was happy to partake in this " feftival of Genius, the abfence of " Johnfon could not but be wondered at " and regretted." Perhaps the verdict of pofterity may be the reverfe of Bofwell's. The " Great " Cham " was not partial to buffoonery, and it is probable that he kept away from Stratford becaufe he would not en- courage his " brilliant pupil " aftride of his " foolifh hobby horfe."* Johnfon had no * A number of letters regarding the Jubilee of 1769, addrefled by Garrick to Mr. Hunt, of Stratford (grandfather of the prefent Town Clerk), are in exig- ence. In one of them Garrick fays : — "I heard yefler- " day, to my furprife, that the country people did not " feem to reliih our Jubilee, that they looked upon it to " be Popifh, and that we fhould raife ye d 1, and " would not. I fuppofe this may be a joke, but after " all my trouble, pains, labor, and expenfe for their " fervice and the honour of yr county, I fhall think it " very hard if I am not to be received kindly by them 5 " however, I lhall not be the firft martyr for my zeal. " I am, dear Sir, te Always in a hurry, but yours fincerely, "D. GARRICK." " Pray tell me fincerely what common people fay." Stratford-upon-Avon. 327 no tafte for mafquerading, which Bofwell had. The occafion was propitious. During the day he appeared in the ftreets of Stratford with the words " Coriica Bofwell " difplayed in large letters round his hat ; and at the evening entertainment he exhibited himfelf as a Corlican Chief, with " Viva la Liberia " infcribed on the front of his cap ! John- fon's prefence at fuch fooling, would have been much to be regretted. The only portions of the Jubilee which deferve record, were the performance, in Stratford Church, of Dr. Arne's Oratorio of 'Judith, under the direction of Arne himfelf, for which he received a payment of £60 from Garrick; and the Oration pronounced by Garrick, in the Amphi- theatre. The Odes, which were partly fpoken by him, and partly fung, con- tain nothing to recommend them to our perufal ; but one paifage from the " Oration 328 New Place, " Oration in honour of Shakefpere, "written and fpoken by Mr. Garrick," may fitly be reproduced. Alluding to the " ufes " and opportunities of life, at the clofe of his oration, Garrick faid, — " In thefe fields, where we are pleafed " with the notion of doing him honour, " he is mouldering into duft. c Deaf the prats' d ear, and mute the tuneful tongue. ,' " How awful is the thought ! Let me " paufe. If I fpeak, it muft be in my " own character and in yours. We are " men ; and we know that the hour " approaches with filent but irrefiftible " rapidity, when we alfo mail be duft. " We are now in health and at eafe ; but " the hour approaches when we mail be " fenfible only to ficknefs and to pain, — " when we fhall perceive the world gra- " dually to fade from our fight, and clofe " our eyes in perpetual darknefs." Ten Stratford-upon-Avon. 329 Ten years fubfequently the world had faded from Garrick's fight. Time's courfe is fo rapid, that another centenary Jubilee is clofe at hand. What men of eminence in the literary world, what nobles or princes of the land, will collect at Strat- ford — and in what manner the Jubilee is to be conducted — muft fhortly be con- iidered. It may, however, be fuggefted to thofe interefted in the reftoration of New Place, and to thofe who will arrange the programme of the Jubilee, that they mould remember Garrick's folemn pero- ration on the "ufes" of life, and, efpecially in this practical age, determine upon foliciting public fympathy and fupport in April, 1864, for practical purpofes, and not for a frivolous pageant to the memory of a great man. The beft honour which can be paid to his memory will be the promotion of objects ufeful to the body of men in connection with whom 33° New Place, whom Shakefpere made his name and fame. That the Tercentenary of his birth mould be celebrated at his birthplace is a propriety which every one will recog- nife; but what muft be there, may alfo be elfewhere. There is no reafon why the people of the Metropolis mould not commemorate the occafion, as well as the feledl few whofe time and means will allow them to congregate at Stratford. Such a double celebration feems almoft a certainty. But, whatever be the form of feftival held, whether in London or in Stratford, the age we live in, warns all feniible men againft the repetition of any fuch mumming as took place under Gar- rick's programme of 1769. Foote, who was prefent, has given us his definition of that occafion : — " A Jubilee is a public " invitation, circulated by puffing, to go " poft without horfes, to a borough " without Stratford- upon- Avon, 3 3 1 " without reprefentatives, governed by " a mayor and aldermen who are no " magiftrates, to celebrate a great poet, " whofe own works have made him im- " mortal, by an ode without poetry, " mufic without melody, dinners with- " out victuals, and lodgings without " beds ; a mafquerade, where half the " people are bare-faced ; a horfe-race up " to the knees in water ; fireworks extin- " guifhed as foon as they were lighted ; " and a gingerbread amphitheatre, which, " like a houfe of cards, tumbled to pieces " as foon as it was finished." Foote's cauftic humour, if not true in its defcrip- tion of the Jubilee, is perfectly true in outline ; the grotefque colouring of the picture is its only untruth. It is devoutly to be wifhed, that the follies of 1769, may be a warning to the people of 1864. To begin and end with a (how, and to accomplifh no permanent good, 33 2 New Place, good, is not confonant with the tafte of the prefent day. Whether at Stratford or in London, or at both places, the Tercen- tenary celebrations muft feek the public fympathy on behalf of fome public good. If there were but the one celebration at Stratford, it might be well to devote all the funds collected, to the completion of the propofed purchafes, the laying-out of New Place Gardens, and the erection of fome monumental ftructure, commemorative of the purchafe and of the 300th celebration of the Poet's Birth, but, while beautiful as a piece of architec- ture, at the fame time a ftructure that fhould be practically ufeful for literary purpofes, and a benefit to Stratford and the nation. In the Metropolis, the refults of a Jubilee celebration, might probably be devoted to fome other object. It appears natural, that the object mould be Metro- politan ; and if fuggeftions were wanted, numberlefs Stratford-upon-Avoyi. 333 numberlefs fchemes, without doubt, would quickly be propofed. But it mould never be forgotten that the Jubilee is in honour of Shakefpere, and that thofe have the beft claim to enjoy the benefits of the public largefs, who, in this day and gene- ration, follow the calling of the man, to whofe honoured memory, the commemo- ration is dedicated. True it is, there are many who profefs a confcientious difapproval of the drama, and who, neither diredly nor indiredlly, would encourage the " poor player." It may be a fubject of regret — but, neverthelefs, it is a fad; which cannot be denied — that fome perfons afTed: to condemn the works of Shakefpere himfelf. With this undoubted fad: in mind, it will be defirable, having due refpect to tender confciences and hopelefs prejudices, to prefent fome objed: for pub- lic fympathy at the Jubilee, which may, if poffible, difarm all cavil and objection. If 334 New Place, If the depredators of Shakefpere, and the difapprovers of the profeffion to which he belonged, be taken on their own ground — and, for the fake of argu- ment it be momentarily granted that the Puritanical view of the drama is its righteous and proper eftimate; in the fame proportion that its influence is af- ferted to be evil and deftructive, muft the fympathies and folicitude of fuch perfons, if fincere in their belief, be aroufed on behalf of one helplefs clafs connected with Shakefpere's profeflion. Whatever the player may be, the player's child muft be an object of concern to all who are interefted in the education of the young ; — but he muft be doubly fo to thofe, whofe duty it is, in the lin- cerity of their principles, to attempt the refcue of that child, from influences which they believe deftructive of its foul's welfare ! It Stratford-upon-Avon. 335 It is to be hoped that the fubjeft of education would prefent a common ground, whereon diverfities of opinions might meet to accomplifh, a truly Chris- tian and beneficial objed:. In the abundant philanthropy of the prefent age, fchools and inftitutions have lprung up on every fide, wherein the greater the degradation of the young, the greater the fympathy of the pro- feffed religious world ! The fallen, the friendlefs, the erring, and the outcaft, have been the recipients of Chriftian compaffion and folicitude. Every right- feeling perfon muft pray that God's blef- fing may protedt and profper our Ragged Schools, our Reformatories, our Peni- tentiaries, and that they may, in their profperity, reflect bleffings on the heads of all earneft men and women, who, in their fupport, have practically evinced the firft of Chriftian virtues. But there are fpheres 336 New Place, fpheres in life, removed alike from abfo- lute want, and affociation with crime ; where fympathy is not lefs needed, and where refpedtable poverty — that owes no man anything — fhrinks from feeking aid, and values felf-dependence with as honourable a love, as the wealthier!: and nobleft of the land ! Among Shakefpere's profefhonal de- fendants, there are many fuch, who, owing to the fmallnefs of their falaries, are hindered from procuring for their progeny that found teaching which every Englifh child mould enjoy ; and who, conftrained by need, are compelled to in- troduce their offspring in their early years to fubordinate fituations in the theatres, at a time when the child's moral and phyfi- cal conftitution require, the one bring- ing up in the way it mould go, the other, the vigour derived from regular habits, early rifing, early reft, and unbroken repofe. Stratford-upon-Avon. 337 repofe. It is unneceffary to point out that the oppofite of all this, is the in- evitable refult of engaging a child in the arduous bufinefs of a theatre. The intel- lect, is left untrained, the ftrength of the body is fapped and undermined, and it is to be feared that in a calling peculiarly open to temptation, moral deterioration may frequently accompany phyfical ex- hauftion. In that Royal College which has been honoured with the patronage of, and has been watched over with intereft by, the higheft perfonages in the realm, the de- fign of the promoters is underftood to be, not only the provifion of homes for de- cayed adtors and adtrefles, but alfo the completion of a Dramatic College in the fuller fenfe of the phrafe, wherein child- hood and old age may be affociated — wherein Spring and Winter may flourifh together, and both put forth their feafon- able 338 New Place, able flowers. Some of the nobleft of Old England's charities exhibit this touching union ; and never has the fatirift of this age more tenderly moved the hearts of his readers, than in that paflage of the Newcomes, where the aged brother of the Charter Houfe, liftens to the chapel-bell calling the fchoolboys to their prayers, and replies to his own folemn fummons, "Adfum!" The Char- ter Houfe is one of many fimilar foun- dations fcattered about the land. It was a happy thought on the part of thofe who were moft earneft in inflitu- ting the Dramatic College, to defire that, within the boundaries of the fame inftitu- tion, a fchool for the player's child mould be erected hard by the homes of thofe who had fallen into the fere and yellow leaf. The homes are completed, but this good work has not yet been begun ! Is there not, in fuch an undertaking, a beneficial Stratford-upon-Avon. 339 beneficial and charitable object, to which the profits of a Metropolitan Tercen- tenary celebration of Shakefpere's na- tivity might be dedicated ? The educa- tion of the children of actors can be ob- jected to by none, and is a righteous and goodly aim, that may properly be approved by all ! It would be a great work accomplifhed — a work of genuine and practical honour to the memory of the Poet, if on a fes- tival, which can only be celebrated by every third generation, a fufBcient fund were raifed for building and endowing with a few " Shakefpere Scholarships," a Dramatic College School, wherein the children of the hard-worked and humbly- falaried artifts could be provided with found and liberal education, fitting them, when adults, to take their choice of other callings in life than thofe of their parents, if fo diipofed ; but, under any circum- ftances 34-0 New Place. fiances, preferving them in their child- hood, from the turmoil, fatigue, prema- ture conftitutional decline, and inevitable precocity, of baby actors, and Thefpian phenomena. By the erection of fuch a fchool, Shakefpere's Jubilee, in 1864, would be made a genuine and abiding Jubilee in the families of hundreds of our country- men, who are painftaking, flriving, and reipeflable men, - — who would blefs, with grateful hearts, the friends that fympathife with them in their narrow circumftances, — friends that abhor the afTumption of patronage, and cordially embrace a rare opportunity of mowing concern and care for the player's children, on the feftival which commemorates that red-letter day in England's calendar, when, three hundred years ago, fweet Shakefpere was himfelf a child ! APPENDIX. A — page 16. The Family of Bott. Though connderable information has been difcovered in the preparation of this work regarding the Botts, as given at pp. 75 to 85, nevertheleis, I have not thought it worth while to purfue my inquiries far into their hiftory, as I fhould had there been anything of intereft as regards Shakefpere likely to be arrived at by the refearch. It will be obferved that I have fpoken in ftrong language regarding W. Bott 3 and, at p. 86, have called him a "grafping lawyer." From the evidence which has come into my pofTeffion in refearches regarding the fales of New Place, I find that Bott mult have been a thoroughly unprincipled, pettifogging attorney, doing all the dirty work of Stratford and its neigh- bourhood. His character oczes out through the medium of the following proceedings taken in the Star Chamber (temp. Elizabeth) ; and however meagre the details may be, ftill new light is difcernible regard- ing fome members of his family and his pofition with reference to W. Underhill. By the Bill of Complaint we are informed that John Harper, of Henley-on-Arderne, co. Warwick, who was pofTefTed of certain lands and tenements in Henley, Ownall, Wotton, and Whitley, in the county aforefaid, was in danger of being taken in execution under a diftrefs at the fuit of Sir Edward Alton, Knight. Under which circumftances, being himfelf a plain and fimple- 342 Appendix. fimple-minded man, he was induced to feek the aflift- ance of W. Bott, of Stratford, a man of about fifty years of age, and reputed of fome experience and ability, to advife him properly. Bott had two fons and three daughters, and finding his client pofTefled of fome fubftance, although under age, made up a match between him and his daughter Iiabel ; and further, on the 10th of April, 1563, devifed a deed of feoffment, whereby Harper mould aiTure to him and others, in fee fimple, all his lands to certain ufes, unknown to the petitioner, but as far as he con- ceives, to the ufe of petitioner and wife, and their heirs, &c, with remainder to one of Bott's fons, pro- mifing to extricate him from his difficulties, alleging it was for the better advancement of his wife; and that the faid deed was only a conveyance of his goods, and " that becaufe the goods remained in the houfe, he " mufl make livery of them by the ring of the door." The unfufpe6ling youth fell into the fnare, being eafily led to do whatever his father-in-law initru6ted him, who, not content with this, if we may believe the allegations of the petitioner, forged, erafed, and altered other deeds concerning the faid conveyance ; indeed, in the preamble of the bill, which we muft bear in mind was framed probably fome fix or feven years after (Mrs. Harper being dead in the interim, without children), he denounces him as " a man " clearly void of all hone/iy, fidelity, or fear of God, and " openly detecled of divers great and notorious crimes, as, " namely, felony, adultery, whoredom, falfehood, and (e forging, a procurer of the di/inherifon of divers gentle- " men your Majesty's fubjecls, a common barretour, and " Jlirrer of fedition amongji your Majefly 's poor fub- " jecls" This nefarious proceeding, executed without the confent or privity of petitioner, places him in the pofition that he cannot leafe his lands, &c, without Bott's confent, and that, in point of fact, he is only tenant thereto for life. Having thus wrefted peti- tioner's tioner's pofleffions, he withholds too the evidences and muniments of the fame — the contents, and even the number of which are utterly unknown to petitioner. He prays, therefore, a writ of lubpena for W. Bott perfonally to appear and aniwer thefe charges. Thus far the complainant's ftatement. Bott denies the fads alleged as flanders emanating from complainant and his adherents, and declares that if the premifes were true, it were determinable at common law, and not in the court of Star Chamber, Hating that about fix years ago, complainant being a minor, did marry his daughter Ifabel, at which time he promifed on arriving at twenty-one he would make her a jointure ; but inftead thereof, becoming improvi- dent, he mortgaged his lands, and fell into difficulties. Thereupon, coming to his father-in-law in tears, he befought his afliftance, which he readily promifed on thefe conditions, viz., that he ihould allure his eftate, or rather the portion left uniquandered, to himfelf and wife, or the longeft liver of them, then to their iflue, failing which, to the various fons and daughters of the faid Bott in fucceflion, for which defendant undertook to fatisfy Sir Edward Afton and divers other creditors. The catalogue of crimes hurled at his reputation he meets by a countercharge, and declares it to be by the "falfe and malicious procurement of one William Under- " hill and Rowland Whelar, which that the faid defen- " dant is ready to aver and prove that the faid Underhill "is a Jiirrer of J edition, and of a, very evil confcience, " andfo meet to join with the faid Whelar, avery common " barretour and a vagabond." Further, he denies the truth of the ftatement about his own procurement of the marriage, for the complainant was married three or four years before the affair of Si*- Edward Afton. All the other charges he denies in toto feriatim. The replication of Harper denies the ftatement about the jointure, and that whatever mortgage he made, which would be but trifling, was at Bott's miti- gation. The debts, too, as paid by defendant, were of no no magnitude ; fome eight pounds would cover the whole, including that of Sir Edward Alton, in difcharge of which defendant yet detaineth £9, which petitioner recovered againft Sir Edward, and detains moreover a fum of 40 marks which he promifed to give with his daughter as her dowry, &c. So far from W. Underhill being meet to be matched with any vagabond, he is, on the contrary, " a gentle- " man of a worjhipful calling in his country, and very 11 well known to all honeji men to be of good eftimation, " and of very good name, report, and credit, a maintainer " °f J u Jiice, and a reprejjer of evil doers." That Sir Edward Alton's fuit againft petitioner was commenced long before his marriage, is alio untruly alleged. The rejoinder by Bott denies generally the truth of the ftatements in the. foregoing replication, and fays further that he never did promife complainant any bigger fum than aBio, which he did pay before they went to the church to be married, and avers that com- plainant is maintained and fupported in his flanders by the faid W. Underhill *and his companion, Rowland Whelar, as named in the anfwer. By taking the year 1563 as the date of the marriage, or thereabouts, and adding fix years, the time noted by Bott in his anfwer, the probable date of thefe pro- ceedings would be about 1569. It will be feen at p. 77, that there was a near relationship at one period between the Botts and the Cloptons. In the Domeftic Correfpondence, Eliz., vol. cxxxvii., art. 68, anno. 1580, among the Gentlemen and Freeholders in the Countie of Warwick appears, " Hundred of Hemlingford, " George Bott." In another fimilar work appears, " Solyhull, " George Boote." (Intended for Bott, as there was a family fo named at Solyhull at that date.) From Appendix. 345 From various traces of the name, cropping-up in this way, I have fatisfied myfelf that an extenfive family of the Botts was fcattered about VVarwickfhire in Shakefpere's time; and if it were worth while, a very flight inquiry in the parifh registers in the neighbour- hood of Stratford would probably fupply abundant evi- dence concerning them. There was a moment when I entertained the fuipicion that the Botts had been mixed up with fome foul play perpetrated in the Clopton family, in the time of William and Anne Clopton. On peruiing the following documents, any reader would naturally fuppofe, as I at firft did, that a William Clopton, and Anne his wife, living about the years 1580 to 1589, would be the William and Anne marked "C" upon the Pedigree, more efpecially as the circumftance of this William Clopton dying without an heir, gives countenance to the allegations in the following Bill of Complaint. I had not then compiled the Clopton Pedigree, and confequently was not aware that William Clopton (C) lived until 1592, and that Kentwell, in Suffolk, was no part of the property of that branch of the Clopton family feated at Clopton, W r arwicklhire. This proves the neceffity for an inti- mate acquaintance with family pedigrees when we deal with public records, otherwife a confounding of peribns may eaiily arife, fuch as in this infrance would be moft natural, where we find documents relating to peribns of particular names at a fixed date, and then difcover that peribns of the fame names — man and wife — and at the fame date, lived in another county. Bill of Complaint of Anne Clopton, &c* " Showing that her late hufband, William Clopton, " Efq. * Proceedings in Chancery, temp. Eliz., C. c. 13, No. 3. Date inscribed on the top, 12 May, 1589. Counts ot three documents only, the answer ot the defendants not appearing to be extant. 346 Appendix. " Efq., of Kentwell, in county of Suffolk, leafed fundry "manors and lands to William Clopton of Groughton, " and another, to pay ^40 per annum for the fame, "&c. &c. Thomas Clopton (a brother of the half " blood to the faid William, complainant's late hulband) " ufed fubtle means to obtain the lands from the right " heirs, perfuading the faid William Clopton who was "enfeebled by long ficknefs, to dilinherit his next heirs, " and to convey his whole eftate to the faid Thomas " Clopton, inducing him to make his will by the which " he left only one legacy of very fmall amount to one " of his fervants, and nothing to his wife or his lifters, " or lifters' children, &c. &c. Prays a writ of fubpcena, "&c. &c, as Thomas Clopton, William Clopton of " Groughton, and John Bowfell, the other defendant, " have procured the property to be conveyed to them- selves, and have made themfelves matters of all." Replication of Anne Clopton to the Anfwer of William Clopton and John Bowfell : " States that John Bowfell, defendant, was fervant " to William Clopton, complainant's late hulband, and " that during his long continued illnefs it was infinuated "by defendants to William Clopton, that Anne his " wife, and one Thomas Smith, a nephew of William " Clopton, employed poifon, whereupon Ihe delired that "ihe might go away from him for fome little time, "until he were recovered and better perfuaded con- cerning fuch ilanderj to which her hufband replied "that Thomas Clopton was a bad, lewd fellow, and "ufed fuch fpeeches of her as were not decent to "rehearfe. Finally, Ihe went to the houfe of one "Lady Pelham, of Suffex, and there abode until " Edward Lovell, now fervant to Thomas Clopton, " adminiftered a potion to William Clopton, which "was a purgative or fuch like, from the effects of " which he died, whereas had it happened during her "relidence with him, ihe would have been charged as "acceflbry to his death." The Appendix. 347 The Rejoinder of Thomas Clopton, Efq., and John Bowfell, to the above Replication of Anne Clopton : " Denies the allegations attributing her leaving to the " indifcreet behaviour of complainant, and unnatural " dealing towards her late hufband, whom me neither " loved nor obeyed ; condemns the Statement about " Lovell as ilander ; depofes to the perfect flate of "the faculties of William Clopton, and his powers of "memory and appetite, &c." B — page 16. It would appear from the mention in this place "between 1563 and 1570," that there is fome uncer- tainty about the date of fale by W. Bott to W. Under- bill, whereas the exact date, Michaelmas Term, 1567, is given with a copy of the Fine at p. 85. The truth is, that when paragraph 3rd, p. 16, was Stereotyped, I had not discovered the Fine given at p. 85 ; and rather than cancel the page, I preferred to make the correction in this place. C— page 19. The general reader had better be warned, particu- larly if he Should be a reader of Malone, againft falling into the error into which that author, in the original edition of his Shakelpere's Works, would betray him. The Statement there made, both as to the Nafh pedigree, and as to the manner in which New Place paned from owner to owner, is completely erroneous. The fact is well known to every Shakefperian fcholar but it may be as well to fet it forth diftinclly. Malone fays — "Sir " Sir John Clopton, Knt. (the father of Edward " Clopton, Efq., and Sir Hugh Clopton), who died at " Stratford-upon-Avon in April, 17 19, purchafed the "eftate of New Place, etc., fome time after the year "1685, from Sir Reginald Forfter, Bart., who married "Mary, the daughter of Edward Nalh, Efq., coufin- "german to Thomas Nalh, Efq., who married our "poet's grand-daughter, Eliz. Hall. Edward Nafh "bought it after the death of her fecond hufband, " Sir John Barnard, Knt. By her will, fhe directed "her truftee, Henry Smith, to fell the New Place, "etc. (after the death of her hufband), and to make "the firft offer of it to her coufin, Edward Nafh, "who purchafed it accordingly. His fon, Thomas " Nalh (whom, for the fake of diftin&ion, I fhall call the "younger), having died without iffue in Auguft, 1652, "Edward Nalh, by his will, made on the 16th March, " 1678-9, devifed the principal part of his property to "his daughter Mary, and her hulband, Reginald "Forfter, Efq., afterwards Sir Reginald Forfter ; but "in confequence of the teftator's only referring to a " deed of fettlement executed three days before, with- " out reciting the fubftance of it, no particular mention " of New Place is made in his will. After Sir John " Clopton had bought it from Sir Reginald Forfter, he "gave it by deed to his younger fon, Sir Hugh, who "pulled down our poet's houfe and built one more "elegant on the fame fpot." Malone's errors in the above paflage are extraor- dinary, becaufe they are not only errors as to pedigree, but errors as to fales and purchafes, which the fmalleft amount of inveftigation would have proved to him to have been incorre6t. It is eafy to fet him right upon the pedigree, but impoffible to conceive how he could be fo milled as to make the feries of egregious blunders which will appear in the above extract when it is compared with the correct ftatement, in par. 7, p. 19. I give the pedigree which was accepted by Stevens and Malone firft, and then the corre6t one. By the firft w o s Oh p4 W H CO O fai o < O w o w fa • -e-fc c 15' '&§ wffl fa 4 © <1 _2 firft it will be feen that it was fuppofed there was a lineal defcendant of Shakefpere in the female line ; by the fecond it is apparent that there was no fuch defcent. If the reader happens to be familiar with the original edition of Malone, he will be ftruck by the difcrepancy between my ftatement, at p. 19, and the ftatement made by Malone. It will be found on reference to Bofwell's edition of Malone, 1821, that the error in the original edition had been difcovered, and was corrected by Bofwell. Malone had been milled by the incorrecl: pedigree (No. 1), which had been fupplied to Mr. Stevens by Mr. Whalley, upon which Malone had relied. It reprefented the exigence of direct de- fendants from Elizabeth Nafh, Shakefpere's grand- daughter, and that Sir Reginald Forfter, of Eaft Greenwich, married the daughter of Elizabeth and Thomas Nafh, thereby coming into poffelTion of New Place. The error arofe from miftaking the daughter of Edward Nafh, Efq. (A), of Eaft Greenwich — coufin- german of Thomas Nafh, of Stratford — and fuppofing her to have been the child of Thomas Nafh, who never had any children by his wife, Elizabeth Hall. To avoid any farther errors upon this fubje6t, the reader is cautioned againft the ftatement made in Malone's original edition, which was fet right by Bofwell in the 1 82 1 edition. D— page 51. Jordan. Gentlemen s Magazine, October, 1800, p. 1000. — f When Ireland was engaged upon his ' Picmrefque f View of the Avon, he navigated down this poetic f ftream attended by a very modeft and well-informed 8 man, Mr. John Jordan,' &c. It was Mr. Jordan who " gave NASH AND FORSTER PEDIGREE. No. i— ERRONEOUS. William Shakespere = Ann Hathaway. Dr. John Hall = Susanna Shakespere. Hamnet. Judith. Elizabeth Hall = ist. Thos. Nash, Esq. = and. Sir John Barnard. Mary Nash = Sir Reginald Forster, j of JVartoickjhire. Jane Forster = Franklyn Miller, Esq., 1 of Hide Hall, co. Hertford. Nicholas Miller, Esq. = Mary , d. of Nicholas Franklyn Miller, Esq. No. 2.— CORRECT. Nash William Shakespere = Ann Hathaway. I I I "" I Anthony Nash, Esq., = George Nash Dr. John Hall = Susanna Shakespere. of Welcombe. I Buried Nov. 18, 1662. nd. Sir John Barnard = Elizabeth Hall = ist. Thos. Nash, Esq. I (A) Edward Nash, Esq., = Sir Reginald Forster, Bun., of East Greenwich, I of Greenwich, co. of Kent. ! Created May 4, 1661. Thos. Nash, Esq. Jane. * Mary = Sir Reginald Forster, Bart. I Buried in Stratford Church. Reginald Forster. Mary. Jane Forster = Franklyn Miller, Buried at Stratford, Obiit. Feb. 12, I of Hide Hall, Aug. 10, 1685. I73 1 - -<92t. 62. co. Hereford, Esq. I I Jane Miller = Will. NorclifFe, Esq. Nicholas Miller = By her the monument I in Stratford Church was erected to the memory of her mother and I grandfather. I Nicholas Franklyn Miller, Esq., &c, &c, &c. "gave Mr. Ireland his firfl information on which " he created his vifionary falfehood (the Shakefpere "forgeries)." Ditto, 1809, September, p. 885. — "It is conjectured " that many of his (Jordan's) tales refpecling Shake- "fpere were from his own inventive genius." E-page SI- The Clop ton Arms. The porch of the Chapel of the Holy Crofs has been allowed to fall into fuch a flate of decay, that only one of the four fhields which once adorned it can now be read. It is the one bearing the arms of London. The fhields, as they originally appeared, are given by Dugdale, and could eafily be reflored. A beautiful coat of the Cloptons will be found infide the chapel, adorning the porch at the entrance. It is unfortunately buried under the clumfy and offenfive gallery which has been erected over the line of the fcreen which originally divided the chapel from a fmall ante-chapel. Holy Crofs is one of the mofl painful fpecimens of plaflerers', painters', and carpenters' church refloration. Its pews and fittings are mofl fubftantial, mofl fervice- able, and mofl deteflable. It is well known to every one acquainted with the building, that its walls are adorned with a feries of frefcoes of the moft interefling defcription. Thefe have been carefully hidden under coats of yellow wafh. Everything that the Corporation of Stratford could do to difguife this venerable pile, has been done. The ancient oak fcreen has been hidden behind the gallery : the exquifite flonework of the porchway has been mutilated ; and all that the mofl barbaric Proteflant tafte could accomplifh to convert the building into the appearance of a comfortable conventicle, has been thoroughly Appendix. 351 thoroughly carried out. There are only three features, internally, of this building, that carry us back in imagination to Sir Hugh Clopton's time. lit. His ihield and quartering^, which have happily elcaped deftruclion on one ride of the doorway. 2nd. The tracery of the windows. 3rd. A beautiful piece of mediaeval iron-work — the handle of the priefts' door, palling from the chancel to the garden formerly occu- pied by the priells' houfes, attached to the prefent grammar fchool. The fooner the Corporation of Stratford fet about a restoration of this chapel — clean the walls and reproduce the frefcoes ; remove the frightful and ufe- lels gallery blocking up the lovely tower arch ; reftore the fcreen to its proper place, and fit up the building with open benches and ftalls — the more it will be to their credit. Inftead of introducing the following fafts in the Clopton Pedigree, I have referved them to be inferted here. It will have been feen that on the death of Mrs. Partheriche, the Clopton Houfe Eftate paffed under her will to Charles Boothby Scrimlner, Efq. (I), who took the name of Clopton. The Pedigree lhows that he was the fon of Anne Clopton, who married Thomas Boothby, Efq., and the heir-at-law of Mrs. Partheriche at her deceafe. According to the provi- sions of that lady's will, in default of iffue the eftate was to pais to Edward Ingram, Esq. (K, Pedigree), the fon of Barbara Clopton and Aihton Ingram ; and, in cafe of default, to his brother John or his heirs, all of whom were tenants for life. In cafe of no iifue in any of thefe families, the eftate was to pais to one Anthony Clopton, of Ireland, who had perfuaded Mrs. Parthe- riche that he was defcended from the Clopton family. C. B. Scrimiher Clopton died 1815, without iffue j Edward Ingram died 1818, without iffue 5 John Ingram died, aged 90, November 20, 1824, without iffue. The faid Anthony Clopton died in like manner without iffue. The eftate then came to a Mrs. Noel (L), 3 S 2 Appendix. (L), a lifter of the above C. B. Scrimfher Clopton. She, being next heir to the eftate, during its pofTeilion by the above-named John Ingram Clopton (for, by the will, every pofTefTor was bound to affume the name of Clopton) fold the reversion to Charles Meynell, Efq., for a^i 0,000 in money, and an annuity of 5^300 per annum ; the ^10,000 being to pay the debts of her brother Charles Boothby, who, having been greatly embarraffed, committed fuicide. Charles Meynell, Efq., the purchafer of the reverfion, died in 18 15, leaving two fons and a widow, Elizabeth, who married Samuel Stoddart, Efq. ; and they con- jointly, by a decree of the Court of Chancery, fold Clopton Houfe and eftate for £$0 an acre, the purchafe- money(279 acres) amounting to ^13,9755 the buildings on the eftate being further valued at ^781. The timber fold for ,§£548 ; and the Clopton pews, in Strat- ford church, with two fmaller ones, for a£joo; the Clopton meadow, for s£i,$oo ■ and the furniture and FAMILY PICTURES IN THE HOUSE, for £$$ ! ! ! The whole were purchafed for ^16,9^9 i$s. 6d., by George Loyd, Efq., of Welcombe, Stratford, in Odober, 1830. Mr. Loyd died in July, 183 1, leaving the Clopton and Welcombe eftate to his brother, John Gamaliel Loyd, Efq., for his life, and afterwards to his nephew, Charles Warde, Efq., the prefent pofTefTor. There were fome legal difficulties, owing to the non-completion of the purchafe prior to Mr. Loyd's death, which were let rght by an order in Chancery, but they are of no intereft to the public. The above fads furniih thofe who may be interefted in the fubjecf with a corre6t account of the hands through which the Clopton eftate has paffed fince the extinction of the direct defcent, as traced upon the Pedigree, down to the prefent moment. F— page 87. F— page 87. Underhill. The hiftory of the fettlement of the Underhill family at Eatington, near Stratford, is curious and amufing. The facts now related are gathered from the elaborate notice of Eatington and of the Shirley family contained in the MSS. of the late Rev. Mr. Warde. The Pedigree I have given fhows that the Underhills came originally from Wolverhampton. They fettled at Eatington in the firft year of the reign of Henry VIII., owing to John Underhill marrying for his fecond wife one Agnes Porter, of Eatington. This John obtained a leafe for 80 years of the manor of Eatington, from Sir Ralph Shirley, Knight. This was an amorous knight, who married in fucceflion four wives, — the laft in the year 15 14. This lady, a daughter of Sir Robert Sheffield, bore him a fori, Francis, who was left father- lefs in the firft year of his life — January, 15 17. Being very much his own mafter, before he was of age this foolifh youth married a widow, the relict of Sir John Congreve, of Stretton, county Stafford, and likewife the daughter of his guardian, Sir John Giffard. The widow Congreve brought with her to her young hufband's home two daughters by her late fpouie, Elizabeth and Uriula Congreve. By turning to the Underhill Pedigree, it will be feen that the two fons of Edward Underhill, of Eatington, eventually married thefe two young ladies, and the reader will not be furprifed to hear what followed. By a leafe, dated April 28, 1541, the above-named Francis Shirley was induced to grant the whole of his ancient Warwickinire property, except the right of prefentation to the church of Nether Eatington, to Edward Underhill and his eldeft fon, Thomas, for a term of 100 years. This leafe was the caufe of much unpleafantnefs and of a long feries of lawfuits, which were were not finally determined until the year 1652. The Underbills were accufed of having obtained this valu- able leafe of the Shirleys' lands by the procurement of the mother of the young ladies, Dorothy Congreve, who had married Francis Shirley. The following extracts, made from depositions taken at Shipfton-upon- Stour, illuftrate the times, and the characters of Francis Shirley and his wife : — " Ralph Brokefby, of Sholbye, in the county of " Leicefrer, Efq., being examined, depofed — " That Francis Shirley did not meddle in the " management of his eftate, only in his horfes, hounds, " and deer in his park at Staunton, wherein he took " great delight ; but referred the refidue to be ordered, " and for the moil part to be difpofed of, by the faid " Dorothy his wife, and her friends, who ruled the " fame, and efpecially his hofpitality and houfekeeping, " with great frugality and worfhip, to her lingular com- " mendation, as well for prefervation of his woods, " keeping his houfe in good repair, and all other " things whatfoever. From fuch converfation and deal- " ings as he had with and for the faid Francis Shirley, " and his fon, John Shirley, he judged that Eatington "be now (1613) worth 56200 per annum more than " the 40 marks paid for it (by the Underhills). More- " over, he depofeth, that Thomas Underhill, and Eliza- " beth his wife, did make an attempt to have had " from Francis Shirley the Fee farm of the manor of " Eatington for ^200 in money, wherein they had " prevailed if they had not been providently prevented "■by John Shirley, and further he gave his advice to " John Shirley fo to do." Defpite the litigation, the fenior branch of the Underhills retained poifefTion of Eatington until the expiration of the leafe, in 1641, when the heir removed to Upthrop, in the parifh of Alderminfter, county of Worcefter. During the reign of Elizabeth, the profperity of the Underhills was at its height ; and it was in Shakefpere's time time that they acquired lands in and about Stratford,, and in numerous parifhes about Eatington. Our intereft, in this work, is directed to the junior branch of the family, and therefore the fenior line has not been given in the Pedigree. The founder of this junior line was William (A), (the younger fon of the above-named Edward), who married one of the lifters Congreve — Urfula. He was the father of William Underhill (B), who purchafed New Place from Bott, and fold it fubfe- quently to Shakefpere. Concerning thefe perfons, I have gathered fome interefting information, which will mow their connection with the county, and particu- larly with Stratford-upon-Avon. (S.P.O. Domeftic Correfp. Elizabeth, vol. cxxxvii. art. 68, 69). Art. 68. — "A Booke of the Names of the Gentlemen and Freeholders in the Countie of Warwick. 1580." " Hundred de Kington : *• •* * * Tho. Undrill, gent. * * * * " Hundred de Barlichway : ■x- * * * Wm. Clopton, Efqr. -x- -x- * -x- Wm. Underhill, gent. * * -x- * John Coomes, gent. * * * * John Shakefpeare. * * * * Thomas Shakfpeare. * * * * John Shakfper. * * * * Art. 69.— 356 Appendix. Art. 69. — Another Book, intituled, "A Booke of the Names and Dwelling-places of the Gentlemen and Free- holders in the Countie of Warwick. 1580." (Under Idlicote, no Underhills are placed -, the names of Richd. Hall and Wm. Merfhall occurring only.) " Allington Inferior : * * * # Tho. Underhill, gent. * * * # " Stretford-upon-Avon : Wm. Claptun, Efquier. ■* * ■* ■* John Shaxper. * # # * Wm. Underhill, gent. * •* * * " Rowington : * * * * Tho. Shaxpere. The following documents, an abftracl: of the will of William Underhill (A), and the will in full of his fon (B) — Shakefpere's Underhill — feem to me to com- plete all the information regarding this family which it is necelfary to publifh. G— page 88. G— page 88. Alflradi of Will of William Underhill. {Vide Pedigree, A). William Underhill makes his will on the ift day of December, anno. 12 Eliz. (1569), and defcribes himfelf therein as of " Newbold Revell, in Com: Warr, " Gent."* In the firft place he expreffes his defire to be buried by his dearly beloved wife, in the pariih of Nether Eatington. He then proceeds to exprefs his intentions as to the difpofition of his property, as fol- lows : — To his heir, &c, the third part of all his manors, lands, and tenements ; the reft (the manor of Idlicote being held in capite) to his executors, with all " leafes, goodes, cattell, plate, and houfehotd ftutfe," to fulfil the intents and meaning of his will, and to bring up his children. He prohibits mofl emphatically to his heirs the alienation of his lands, except for their lives, their wives' lives, or leafes for xxj years. Prohibits his fon, W. Underhill, from marrying before the age of twenty- four, without the confent of his brother Shirley, brother Brokefby, brother Thomas Underhill, and brother Congreve, or their heirs, &c, &c. In the event of his fon dying, or going about to alienate or fell his lands, he provides that they fhall pafs * I find that the manor of Idlicote was alienated by Louis Greville to William Underhill (A), in the 10th of Eliz., and that in the following year the same Louis Greville alienated to the same William Underhill the manor of Loxley. It will be observed that on the Pedigree I have described this William (A), as of Idlicote and Loxley, while in his will he describes himself as of " Newbold Revell." The above facts will ex- plain the reason. He was commonly known, when he made his will (1569), as Underhill of Newbold Revell, the Idlicote and Loxley property having been acquired only during the two years previous. pafs to teftator's brother, John. The properties in the will enumerated are the manor of Idlicote, lands and tenements in Idlicote, Coxley, and Hollington, lands in Kington-BafTet, Barton, Meryden, Alfpathe, and Efenell, in the county of Warwick aforefaid. The teftator mentions a brother Humphrey. Alfo a brother Thomas, and the faid Thomas's fon, Francis (his god- fon), as follows : — " And alfo I do give to my brother Thomas, untell his " fon Frauncis Underhill my godfon be of the age of " xxiirj yeres and then only to the faid Frauncis and to " the heires males of the very body of the faid Frauncis " lawfully begotten as is aforefaid and with like condi- " cion and untill fuch time as is aforefaid all my landes " and tenementes with their appurtenances in Hafelor " Stretforde-upon-Aven and Drayton in the county of " Warwick and in the parifh of Wolverhampton in " the county of Stafford " &c. Two more fons of his brother Thomas are alfo men- tioned, viz., George and Humphrey. Alfo Humphrey, fon of his brother John. Teftator mentions by name his three daughters, Dorothy, Margaret, and Anne, to each of whom there is a bequeft of ^500. To his fon William, he leaves his lignet of gold. To each of his daughters "one filver fpone;" to Dorothie her mother's wedding-ring and one bracelet of gold ; to his fecond daughter, " my late moft loving wife " Newport's"* wedding-ringe ;" to my youngeft daugh- ter, " a little chain of gold, and one other of my firfl " wife's ringes." Legacies are bequeathed to his brother John's chil- dren, * This was his second wife, who had pre-deceased him little more than a year, her will (which was made by license of her husband) having been proved on the 28th of January, 1569. She was the widow of Richard Newport, of Heming- ham, by whom she had a son, John, and four daughters, Con- stance, Elizabeth, Ursula, and Mary. Appendix. 359 dren, to his lifter Dalby's children, to his filter Wyke- ham's children, and to his lifter Mynofa. Allulion is made to an Elizabeth Underhill, his god- daughter, his lifter Wynilred's daughters, and his lifter Tamer's daughters. He provides, in the event of any difficulty ariiing about the interpretation of his will, that it fhall be referred to the judgment and arbitration of his friend, Sir James Dier, Lord Chief Juftice of the Common Pleas. He Itrenuoully urges more than once (reiterating the fame delire at the conclulion) the non-aliena- tion of his lands, and particularly requefts that his daughters do not throw themfelves away in mar- riage ; and lhould they marry contrary to his deter- mination and appointment, or " offend and myfufe " themfelfes in carnal] or adulterous lyvyng and the " fame be duely proved " that then the portions and bequefts allotted them fhall be null and void. This will was proved at London on the ioth day of April, a.d. 1570, the teftator having departed this life, according to the inqiiijition poji mortem, on the laft day of March preceding. H — page 90. The Will of William Underhill. (Fide Pedigree, B.) " $rt % fame of gob $mm WILLIAM UNDER- " HILL of Idlicott in the conntie of Warwicke " Efquier beinge of perfect minde and memorie did as '■' well in the fixth daie of Julie anno clomini 1597 as " at divers other tymes or at leaft once in the tyme of " his licknes whereof he died make and declare his " laft will and teftament nuncupative in manner and " forme followeing or the like in effect viz. Firfl he " revoked all former wills and teftamentes by him " made " made or declared and willed that his daughter Do- " rothie fhold have for her parte five hundred poundes " and all her Jewells and that his younger daughter " named Valentine mold alfo have other five hundred " poundes Likewife he willed that his eldeft fonne " Foulke Underhill fhold have all his landes and that " in regarde thereof if he lived he mould be charge- " able to perform all fuch promifes and grauntes as " fhall at anie tyme hereafter appeare to be made by " him the faide William Underhill in his life time for " which he had received monie And further he " willed that if the faide Foulke Underhill fhould " happen to die, then his next heire that fhall inherite " fhold be chargeable to performe the fame his pro- " mifes and grauntes. Alfo he willed that everie of his " otherfonnes ftiould have twohundred poundes a peece. " Likewife he the fame William Underhill declared " that he had oweinge unto him two thoufande poundes " for the which he had fpecialties. And that one " Mafier BafTet owed unto him threefcore and tenne " poundes for which he had nothing to Ihewe. Laftlie " he conftituted and appointed Mafier George Sherley " Efquier and Mafier Thomas Sherley his brother " executors of the fame his laft will and teftament and " humblie defired that it wold pleafe them to take " uppon them the execution thereof. And this his faide " laft will and teftament he foe made and by worde " declared in the prefence of divers credible witnefles. " Proved at London, on the 9th day of Auguft " AD 1597, by the oath of Alexander Serle et notary public, the pro&or of George Sherley " Efq. and Thomas Sherley, the executors " above named." It will be obferved that in the above will of W. Un- derhill (B), he leaves two members of the Shirley family his executors ; from which we may gather that the difpute between the Shirleys and fenior branch of the the Underbills of Eatington did not affect the junior branch at Idlicote. For thofe who are fond of church-hunting, and reading heraldic achievements, Eatington offers peculiar attractions. It is the burial-place of the diftinguifbed families of Shirley and Ferrers, and is rich in monu- mental remains. There are memorials likewife to ieveral of the Underhills. Edward Underhill, whofe ions married the twin Congreves, is thus remembered — 11 Here lyeth buried under this ftone Edward ee Underhill, lbmetime gentleman of this Town, " with Margaret, fometime his Wife : which Edward " diffeafed this world the fifth day of November, « A.D. M.D.XLVI. " On whofe folly s Jhefu have mercy. Amen." Thomas, the eldeft fon of the above, and Elizabeth Congreve, his wife, are alio held in memory, with a very lengthy inicription, of which the following is but a fmall part. Their monumental virtues are immenfe : " Here lyeth buried the bodyes of Thomas Under- " hill, of this Towne, Efquier, and Elizabeth his wife, " who lived married together in perfect amitie about " 65 years, and had iflue between them xx children : " viz. xiii fons, and vn daughters She dyed " 24 Junii, An. D. 1603 j and he the 6th day of Octo- " ber next after " God they feared : God theyferved: God they loved: " and to God they dyed." As far as this book is concerned, the mofl interefting of all the monuments is that of the William Under- hill (A) from whofe fon Shakefpere purchafed New Place. The infcription runs as follows ■ — " Here lyeth William Underhill of the Inner M Temple of London, gentleman: of Edward Underhill, ( * Efquier, fecond fon -, and Urfula his dearly beloved " wife " wife, youngefl daughter of John Congreve of Stret- " ton, in Com. Staff. Efquier, whofe life was a fpectacle " unto all honeft, virtuous, and obedient wifes: me dyed " the xmi th day of May, An : Dora : M.D. L.X.I. " Upon whofe fouls Chrifi have mercy. Amen.''' (No date is given of the death of this William Underhill (A) ; but the period is fixed by the proving of his will in April, 1570, as above.) I— page 131. De Quincey. De Quincey's article on Shakefpere in the old edition of the " Encyclopaedia Britannica," is probably known to a comparatively fmall number of perfons. Probably had he been alive at this time, and having fuch an article to write, he would not have produced the one in queftion ; probably, alfo, in his complete works, now iffuing from the prefs, and fo beautifully got up, we {hall never find the article in queftion. But the well- worn phrafe is painfully applicable, " literce fcriptce manent." Whatever fuch a man as De Quincey might write, is fure to leave its mark ; and therefore, when a giant hits a giant's blow, we muft look for the necef- iary contufion. De Quincey ufed his flrength to bruife the reputation of Shakefpere ; and it is a very forry apology, when you have disfigured a man, to beg his pardon, and fay you did not intend to hit fo hard. The refult of De Quincey's article has been precifely what anyone might expect. Men who have never read that article, perhaps never heard of it, have received through other channels of information the impreffion made by De Quincey. In this way, minds receive pre- judices which no regret on the part of the writer of an article Appendix. 363 article can prevent. I can quite believe that if De Quincey could, years ago, have torn out from the pages of the Encyclopaedia his article on Shakefpere, he would have done fo. But that can never be done ; and though it be fuppreffed in his works, or otherwife huddled away, it cannot be obliterated from the pages of the work in which it remains, unavailable. For this reafon I have dwelt upon it, and referred to it, hoping that the attention of thofe who read thefe pages may thereby be drawn to the fubject, and that a proper antidote may be adminiftered to the baneful influence which fuch an article as De Quincey's has had, and would ftill have if treated with filence. It is far more healthy and more juft to drag it into the open day, point to its injurious paragraphs, and fay openly — Thefe words ought never to have been written ; they are unjuftifiable ; they are the mere conjectures of a man who muft have regretted writing them, and who never would have written them had he acquainted himfelf thoroughly with the cuftoms of the times in which Shakefpere lived. I give one extract, from De Quincey to fhow how he wrote, and to explain the tone aluimed by me in the body of this work. He is commenting on the marriage bond (pp. 29, " What are we to think of this document ? Trepi- " dation and anxiety are written upon its face " As the daughter of a fubftantial yeoman, who would " expect fome fortune in his daughter's fuitor, {he (Anne "Hathaway) had, to fpeak coarfely, a little outlived ** her market. Time, fhe had none to lofe. William " Shakefpere pleafed her eye, and the gentlenefs of " his nature made him an apt fubject for female bland- " ifhments — polhbly for female arts. Without imputing " to this Anne Hathaway anything fo hateful as a " fettled plot for enfnaring him, it was eafy enough " for a mature woman, armed with fuch inevitable " advantages of experience and of felf-poffeffion, to " draw " draw onward a blufhing novice, and, without dire6tly " creating opportunities, to place him in the way of " turning to account fuch as naturally offered. " Young boys are generally nattered by the conde- " fcending notice of grown-up women," &c " Once, indeed, entangled in fuch a purfuit, any perfon " of manly feelings would be fenfible that he had no " retreat ; that would be to infult a woman grievoufly — " to wound her fexual pride — and to infure her lafting "fcorn and hatred. Thefe were confequences which " the gentle-minded Shakefpere could not face. He " purfued his good fortunes, half perhaps in heedleff- " nefs, half in defperation, until he was roufed by the " clamorous difpleafure of her family upon nrft difco- " vering the fituation of their kinfwoman. For fuch " a fituation there could be but one atonement, and " that was hurried forward by both parties, whilft, out " of delicacy towards the bride, the wedding was not " celebrated in Stratford, where the regifter contains " no notice of fuch an event." (and much more to the fame effect). The reader will now underftand the emphafis ufed in various portions of this book; and will, perhaps, wonder with me that Shakefpere's was not too ' honoured a name to be dealt with fo flippantly by a famed author in a great national work. Let it be faid of the above, that it is — every fyllable — an unfupported and degrading conjecture ; that the motives and the a6ts are the bafe inventions of De Quincey's own imagination ; and that the man who ufes his pen to hurt the fair fame of the dead in fuch a fafliion, were he twenty times the author and writer that De Quincey was, deferves the fevereft condem- nation. J— page i48 > J — page 148. CLOPTON PEDIGREE. Combe, or Combes. To work out the Combe Pedigree, and to bring it down corre&ly to the union between the heireis Martha Combe and Edward Clopton, has coft me an amount of labour, which none but thofe acquainted with the difficulties of iuch work will give me credit for. By the courtefy and kindnefs of Herald's College, I was enabled to take a copy of the pedigree contained in "Vincent's Warwickshire " (1619). This book was prefented by Sheldon to the College in 1684, and is always regarded as a moft truitworthy guide. Having poirelfed myfelf of this, I next conlulted all the Viiitations and MSS. at the Britifh Mnfeum which would give any light on the fubje6t, and next I ran- facked the regifters of Stratford Church. I have at laft compiled that Pedigree which will be found on one part of the " Clopton " meet. In the main features of this Pedigree I have thought it my duty to accept the authority of Vincent, but I con- fefs I do ib with great hefitation, being unable (except upon a conjecture which I have embodied in the Pedi- gree) to reconcile the conflicting evidence of Vincent's MS. and the unbending entries which I find in the Stratford Regifter. To thofe who are curious in fuch matters this fub- je6t cannot fail to be interefting, and therefore I will go into it fully. After having gone over the Stratford Regifter with great care, and affifted by Mr. Butcher, the Parifh Clerk, who has reviled all my quotations, I find the fol- lowing to be the whole of the entries with regard to the Combes family about the dates with which we are interefted. Marriages. Marriages. i $61. Auguft 27. — Johannes Combes, generofus, et Rofa Cloptonne. Burials. 1,573* Ap r ^ 4- — Jone, filia Johannis Combes. 1575. April 8. — Francis, fonne to Mr. John Combs. 1^76. June 11. — Francis, fonne to Mr. John Combes. 1577. January 29. — John, fonne to Mr. John Coombes. 1579. Oft. 14.— Miftrefs Rofe, wife to Mr. John Combes. 1^84. Feb. 2. — Will, fonne to Mr. John Combes. 1584. May 24. — Mifirefs Elizabeth, wife to Mr. John Combes. 1614. July 12. — Mr. John Comles, gentleman. We naturally afk, who was this Mr. John Combes ? On turning to the infcription upon the altar tomb of John a Combe, in the chancel of Stratford Church, we find it terminating in this fafhion. After enumerating the bequefts of the deceafed, it concludes, — " Ye wich " increafe he apoynted to be diftributed towards the " reliefe of ye almes-people theire. More he gave to " the poore of Stratford Twenty LI." What does that 51 mean? Can it be intended to denote the age of John a Combe at the time of his death ? Probably not ; but if not, what pofhble mean- ing can it have ? The reader will foon fee the interefl: of this inquiry. There is no evidence, that I am aware of, to tell us at what what age John a Combe died ; and there are, unfor- tunately, fo many Combes in the Pedigree named "John," that we are in great danger of confuting one with another. John a Combe, Shakefpere's friend, is commonly reputed to have been an old man at the time of his death ; but he is alfo reported to have been an old bachelor. In a MS. given by Mr. Hunter in his New Illuftrations, we read of " an old gentleman, " a batchelor, Mr. Combe, upon whole name the "poet," &c, &c. AiTuming that John a Combe was an old bachelor, who was the John with all the children ? The Pedigree ihows us that there was another John Combe, living at Warwick, but he had married one Johanna Murcote, and therefore he could not be the huiband of Rofe Clopton, married in 1,561, and dead in 1579, nor yet of " Miftrefs Elizabeth," who died in 1584. We are driven, therefore, to the neceffity of trying to fhow that one of the above-named ladies was the wife of John a Combe s father. This is what Vincent fets forth in his Pedigree, and it is fupported by a note of Malone's. He fays, "Mr. Combe married Mrs. Rofe " Clopton, the youngeft daughter of William Clopton "of Clopton, Efq. [it was old John who married Rofe " Clopton'], Auguft 27, 1 561 ; and therefore was, pro- bably, when he died, eighty years old.'' As Vincent was a Warwickihire man, and had full opportunity of acquainting himfelf perfonally with the hiftories of the families he catalogued in his Visitation, we feem bound to conclude that John a Combe's father (John of Stratford) was the hufband of Rofe Clopton. The regifler above quoted mows that lhe lived in wed- lock from 1561 to 1579. During that period, four children of Mr. John Combe's were interred in Stratford Church, viz., Jone, Francis, Francis, John. They evidently were Rofe Clopton's offspring, and died in infancy ; but of them there is no mention made in Vincent's Pedigree. I have introduced introduced thefe names with dotted lines, according to heraldic cuftom, to fignify that the defcent is doubtful, though there cannot be any doubt upon the point, becauie the evidence of the Stratford regifter is over- powering: and therefore in the above omiffions, Vin- cent's Pedigree at Herald's College muft be fo far incorre<5t. But Vincent inftru&s us that " old John" took Rofe Clopton for his fecond wife, and that his celebrated fon, John a Combe, was the third offspring of the firft marriage with Jocofa, the daughter of Edward Blount, of Kidderminfter. It will be feen, on reference, that there were four children by that marriage. Affuming that Jocofa Blount died the year prior to her hufband's fecond marriage, and that her children were born one year after the other, {he could not have been married later than 1555 (moft probably the date would be two or three years earlier) ; and affuming that " old "John" was twenty years of age when he married, it would give his date of birth about 1^35. It is moil likely that he was born fomewhat earlier, but as mar- riages were contracted in very young years in thofe days, we could hardly conjecture his birth as prior to 1^32. At the death of his fecond wife, therefore, he would be about 47 years of age, and not at all too old to marry for the third time. That he did fo feems almoft certain, becaufe we are encountered with the entry, in 1,584, " Miftrefs Elizabeth, wife to Mr. John " Combes." It is quite poffible that this lady might have been the wife of John a Combe, for at that date he was probably five and twenty years of age. But as John a Combe is univerfally reported to have been an old bachelor, this cannot be correct. We have no alternative, therefore, but to conclude that " old John" did marry for the third time, after the death of Rofe Clopton, and that " Miftrefs Elizabeth" was the mother of the child " Will," who was buried February 2, 1584. It was only three months afterwards that the mother followed the child to the grave, and therefore it appears probable probable that the child's birth and death coil the mother her life alfo. With the entry of " Miftrefs "Elizabeth's" funeral, all knowledge of "old John," as far as I am acquainted, ends. I am at a lofs to underftand why Malone guefTes " old John" as probably " eighty years old when he died," limply becaufe he married his iecond wife, Rofe, in 1561, at which date he was poffibly about thirty years of age — probably fomewhat younger. Difproportionate alliances as to years were not falmonable in thofe days ; and we can with certainty conclude that "old John" muft have been a youthful bridegroom when he married Rofe, becaufe, in 1561, fhe muft have been quite a girl, lince her eldeft brother, William Clopton (C), was only born in 1537, and was therefore but twenty-four years of age when his lifter, the third younger than himfelf, was married. Rofe could not have been more than eighteen or nineteen when fhe married John Combe ; and it is not likely that a girl of eighteen, in thofe days, would marry a man many years older than herfelf. It is quite poffible that "old John" may have lived until he was eighty years of age. If lb, he only died four or five years before his fon, John a Combe. The regifter of Stratford is totally lilent on the fubjecl, and I can find no trace there of his death or burial. He may poftibly have been interred at Aftley, from whence his family came. It will be feen that on the Pedigree I have, with the dotted lines of doubt, lupphed "old John's" third marriage, and the burial both of his wife and his child, concerning whom Vincent is altogether lilent. I con- clude his Pedigree muft be defective, becaufe the Strat- ford regifters will admit of no queftions or doubts 5 their entries are abfolute and conclulive evidence. I confefs I have had, and ftill have, fome doubts as to the correclnefs of Vincent in reprefenting John a Combe as the third child of Jocofa Blount — " Old " John's " firfl wife ; though I dare not venture to call in queftion his pedigree, becaufe it clears up one great great difficulty which has never before been explained, and in this refpect is evidently correct. Thofe who have ftudied John a Combes' Will cannot fail to have been ftruck with the manner in which he confidently fpeaks of his "brother John and his children," though he alfo fpeaks of his " Coujin Thomas Comle" and fubfequently calls him "my faid nephew, Thomas " Combe." " Item. I will and bequeath and devife to my Cousin " Thomas Combe, &c," . . . . " that he the faid " Thomas Combe, his heirs and affigns, fhall yearly and " every year for every year for ever pay to a learned " preacher twenty millings to make a fermon twice a " year at Stretford Church, &c, &c," . . . . " and if " my faid Nephew Thomas Combe .... (hall or " do not pay the faid twenty fhillings yearly to a " preacher," &c. There can be no queftion as to the perfon here de- fcribed, nor to the miftake in the drafting of the Will, calling him in the one inflance Coufin, and in the other Nephew. Having difcovered one fuch miftake, I was led to fuf- peft that the term "brother" might be alfo open to fome fuch explanation, becaufe, though it was constantly the cuftom, after the death of one child, to chriften another by the fame Chriftian name (as we fee in the cafe of the infants "Francis," the fons of " Old John"), neverthe- lefs, we fhould hardly expect to find two brothers living and both bearing the fame title. Vincent's pedigree explains the matter at once. We there fee that thefe Johns, though both fons of " Old John," were, never- thelefs, only half-brothers — the one being the child of Jocofa Blount, the other of Rofe Clopton. Hence at their chriftenings each received the name " John ; " and when John a Combe was making his Will, it was very natural for him to fpeak of " my brother John." Having thus fairly acknowledged Vincent's flrength and authority, I will frankly allow that I have only weaknefs to oppofe to him in fupport of my doubts and and hefitations. I have undoubtedly proved one of two things. Either Vincent's Pedigree is incorrecl in net having fupplied us with the names of Role Clop- ton's children in full, and with " Old John's " third marriage, and the name both of his wife and child • or he has altogether dropped out of notice fome John Combe, of Stratford, and a member of this family, whole wife and family are proved by the regifler to have exifted. The difficulty might ealily be folved if we entertained the idea of John a Combes having once married — his children having died — and that he was left a widower, inftead of being a bachelor. This would make things fmooth at once ; but unfortunately every fort of evi- dence and tradition agrees with the pedigree in making John a Combe always and ever a bachelor. We mult conclude, therefore, that Vincent altogether overlooked " Old John's " third marriage. May he not, pollibly, have confounded the one John with the other, and have made John a Combe by miftake the fon of Jocofa Blount, rather than of Role Clopton ? There is a ftrong imprellion on my mind that I have feen it ftated that John a Combe was the fon of Rofe Clopton. If the figures LI upon his tomb are intended to indicate his age, he muji have been ; for reckoning from 1562, the year after Role Clopton was married, to the year in which John a Combe died, he would have been 51 at the date of his death, July, 16145 added to which, it muft be remarked that Vincent's Pedigree does make a "John Combe " to have been Rofe Clopton's eldeft child, only it reprefents him as the "brother John," and makes John a Combe the fon of the nrfr. wife. As regards the property or the defcent coming down to Martha Combe, wife of Edward Clopton, it matters not whether Vincent is right or wrong. The point is of fome intereft to thofe who are endeavouring to put together the fa6ls and affociations of Shakefpere's day, and to trace out the precife relations of thofe perfons among whom he moved in focial friendmip and in- timacy. As I faid before, I know my pofition is weak, and Vincent's very ftrong. I fubmit, theiefore, to his authority, with the ftrongeft inclination to difpute it. When John a Combe died, in 1614, he could not, under any circumstances, have been an old man. I cannot calculate him, though the fon of Jocofa Blount, to have been more than fixty at his death. Should it, how- ever, at any time appear that the figures on his tomb denote his real age, it would be a lingular coincidence to find that both Shakefpere and his attached friend died in their fifty-fecond year; and thofe figures would alfo eftablifh the fa6t that John a Combe came of the Clopton race, and mufl have been the fon of Rofe Clopton. K— page 277. In cafe the reader fhould have a curiolity to fee a houfe exactly like New Place in the lalt century, I may mention that the new line of railway between "Waterloo Station and London Bridge has lately dif- clofed one. In paffing along Union Street, in the Borough, in the narrow part, where the feries of arches runs clofe to the back of the houfes on the left (going towards London Bridge), there is a fmall ftreet, called Gravel Lane. In that ftreet I lately came upon the houfe referred to, and as it is precifely fimilar, even in fmall details, to the prints of New Place (1720), it may be an object of intereft to fome of my readers. As it ftands clofe into the angle where the Chatham and Dover Railway, going to Blackfriars Bridge, croffes the extenfion line from Waterloo to London Bridge, and the A6t of Parliament gives powers to purchafe this property, it may be well to draw attention to this interefling old houfe, before the iron Vifigoths fweep it away. It belongs to George Vaughan, Efq., of Weftbourne Terrace, and has been in pofleffion of his family family for a confiderable period. Mr. Vaughan's tenants, J. H. and G. T. James, hatters, have a worthy affection for the old — old place, which Hands an ancient landmark in the midft of modern buildings. Over the doorway, upon a lozenge, is the following infcription : — j D. H. 1703. T C "P The old leaden tank bears date, ' K ' A 1609. The broad llaircafe and the panelled rooms are care- fully preierved, with the exception of the oak out of one of the rooms, which Mr. Vaughan has lately, and very properly, removed to preferve it, in cafe he ihould be compelled to part with his cherilhed houfe. Gravel Lane leads down to the Thames, and to the lite of the Globe Theatre. The following fa6ts, therefore, become interefting. Mr. James remembers, when he was a boy, fome forty years ago, that rows of elm trees lkirted the lane ; and he can recall the fact of an aged carman in the employ of MefTrs. Vaughan, telling him about the year 1820, that when he was a youth, in taking the carts down to the Thames, he was obliged to pulh the bulhes and brambles out of the way to enable the cart to pafs. Thefe fa6ts are ftriking, becaufe they prove that the land behind the Globe Theatre retained the fame rural character to the end of the laft century which it muft have familiarly prefented to the eyes of William Shakefpere. There was, until a few months ago, a large garden at the back of Gravel Lane Houfe. It is now being built upon by the piers of the Chatham and Dover railway arches. In it, from time to time, many relics have been dug up. Of courfe there are many houfes around London of the fame character and date as this houfe, but none in the direction where it Hill exifts. I have not, however, feen anywhere a houfe fo fo exactly correfponding to the elevation of New Place (1720). It is the verifimilitude ; and, therefore, if the Londoner wifhes to fee what New Place was like at that date, he has only (before it is too late) to take a walk over Southwark Bridge, and penetrate the now denfely-populated and uninviting heart of the Borough, called Gravel Lane. L— page 317. The Revo R. Jagc is buried in the fide aifle of the nave of Snitterneld Church, of which he was Vicar. As a poet, he was well and defervedly known about Stratford, and many of his productions obtained a much wider popularity. He lives in the pages of " Elegant " Extracts." One of the bell parodies in the Englifh language, upon Hamlet's foliloquy, " To be or not to " be," will be found in that work. It was written by Mr. Jago, and defcribes the miferies of a would-be poet longing after bays. It commences, " To print, " or not to print," and while adhering moll clofely to the language of Shakefpere, admirably depicts the fears and hopes of the depreffed rhymeller, working up to this climax — " Thus critics do make cowards of us all." Mr. Jago died in 1781, iEt. 69. HATHAWAY, M, (See Shakespere Pedigree.) It appeared to me perfectly unneceffary to encumber the Shakefpere Pedigree with the defcents of the Hath- aways down to their extinction — in the Shottery branch — during the prefent century. To any one curious on the fubject, the Stratford regiflers will always fupply an abundant fund of information. I I have contented myielf, therefore, by merely intro- ducing in Shakefpere's Pedigree thole names which were ablblutely neceifary to ihow the connection with him by marriage ; and in this place I have collected together ibch material as teems to me valuable, in order to preferve a correct record of the lateit defcents of the Shottery family, and of the way in which the property palTed from them to its prefent owner. As no one has previoufly undertaken to do what I have thus done, I believe that the following information will not only be valuable on the inftant, but in fome few years hence will become very valuable to the antiquary, who will thank me for refcuing from oblivion many details which in another generation would have been loft for ever. I am under obligation to Mr. William Thompfon, of Stratford, the prefent owner of Ann Hathaway's Cottage, and alio to his folicitors, for the prompt manner in which they laid the title-deeds open to my infpeftion, and for the manner in which they fhowed themfelves anxious to give me any information they poireifed. Though Mr. Thompfon is yet a very young man, it was exceedingly agree- able to me to find that the Shottery property had come into the poifelhon of a gentleman who thoroughly appreciates its hiftoric affociations, and allures me of his intention to preferve the fabric from fpoliation or decay. My thanks are alio due to Mrs. Baker, of the Cottage, who, I trull, will have no reafon to regret the length of time that we puzzled together in her kitchen over the old family Bible, until we got the Pedigree corre6t, as far as her knowledge went. It mull, indeed, be a fource of unending regret to this good woman, when ihe recalls from day to day her father's fale of the houfe, which belonged for centuries to the long line of her anceftors. It was a bitter neceffity; and every vilitor to Ann Hathaway's Cottage mull feel with her, and for her. By the help of Mrs. Baker, Mr. Thompfon, his lawyer, and the pariih clerk, I have been enabled to put put together the accompanying Pedigree. By reading it through, and then perufing the abftracts I have made of deeds in Mr. Thompfon's poffeffion, the reader will be put in poffeffion of the hiftory of the Hathaway family during the laft hundred years. AbftraBs of Title Deeds, &c, regarding Ann Hathaway' 's Cottage, Shottery. I. Will of John Hathaway of Shottery (Pedigree, A). " Bequeathes to Urliila Good, now Urfula Kamill, " $s., payable 12 months after the deceafe of my " mother, Sarah Hathaway. " Alfo to my fitter, Jane Hathaway, now Jane "Webb (B), the fum of Twenty Pounds. " Alfo all Freehold Lands, i.e. in fee fimple, to my "loving mother, Sarah Hathaway, during her life ; and " after her deceafe, I devife the laid "To my three fitters, Sarah Hathaway (C), Elizabeth "Hathaway (D), and Sufannah Hathaway (E), and " their heirs. " And I hereby nominate my mother, Sarah Hafcha- "way (L), executrix, &c. " I have hereunto fet my feal this 7th day of Augufl, "in the 17th year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord, " George II. "Proved April 2, 1746." Will of Sarah Hathaway (C), dated May 3, 1779. " I give, devife, and bequeath unto my brother-in- 'law, William Taylor (F), and Sufannah (E), his wife, 'during their joint lives, and the life of the longeft ' liver of them, all that my third part or fhare of and ' in a meffuage or tenement, lands, hereditaments, and ' premifes which I may die feized or poffeffed of or 'entitled unto, fituate at Shottery aforefaid, in the ' poffeffion of the faid William Taylor, or elfewhere — "and Uyn its K !Aard Standi I ( Susan Hath of Shotte , i W , haway Taylo ec. 1 8, 1747- |Iy 21 1818. 'July, 1 8, 18: ;pt. 9th, 1820 . = Eliz. J 9. Jan. 3 ry. d, 4.9. I Thomas. B. June 5, 17S9. Ob. March, 1835. = Mary Burbridge. ! Six childrtn now living (1862.) athaway Bal r. 24, 1843. pprenticed. t aa pag;e ■ put together the accompanying Pedigree. By reading it through, and then perufing the abftracts I have made of deeds in Mr. Thompfon's poffeflion, the reader will be put in poffeffion of the hiftory of the Hathaway family during the laft hundred years. AbftraSls of Title Deeds, &c, regarding Ann Hathaway' 's Cottage, Shottery. I. Will of John Hathaway of Shottery (Pedigree, A). " Bequeathes to Urmia Good, now Urfula Kamill, " $s. t payable 11 months after the deceafe of my " mother, Sarah Hathaway. "Alfo to my filler, Jane Hathaway, now Jane "Webb (B), the fum of Twenty Pounds. " Alfo all Freehold Lands, i.e. in fee fimple, to my "loving mother, Sarah Hathaway, during her life ; and "after her deceafe, I devife the laid " To my three lifters, Sarah Hathaway (C), Elizabeth "Hathaway (D), and Sufannah Hathaway (E), and " their heirs. "And I hereby nominate my mother, Sarah Hatha- " way (L), executrix, &c. " I have hereunto fet my feal this 7th day of Auguft, "in the 17th year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord, " George II. "Proved April 2, 1746." Will of Sarah Hathaway (C), dated May 3, 1779. "I give, devife, and bequeath unto my brother-in- 'law, William Taylor (F), and Sufannah (E), his wife, ' during their joint lives, and the life of the longefl ' liver of them, all that my third part or fhare of and ' in a meffuage or tenement, lands, hereditaments, and ' premifes which I may die feized or pofTeffed of or ' entitled unto, lituate at Shottery aforefaid, in the 'pofTeffion of the faid William Taylor, or elfewhere — "and HATHAWAY. {The Later Defcenls of this Family, from its ExlinBhn in the DireB Male Line.) Hathaway. U]i£aU = |^-; o . I (H) Elizabeth = — Standley Hathaway I of Chipping Campden, John Hatha 11 dated " 7 th day o rd April 2, .746. To jane Weh"^ This William Taylor By her will, proved at Worcester, Oct. 13, ': he bequeaths the n phew lohn Hathaway Taylor. izabeth. Susan Hatl = William Taylor. John Hattaway Taylor. = Mary Hamp Ilapt. D,c. 18, 1747- I or Luddingto Obiit ,iyzi,.8i8. Ob. January Will dated July, 18, 1816. | Buried at St .., o Mr. Thomas Barnes .uddington for £345, by conveyance, d Oct. 30, 1838. Eliz. Dobbin. Obiit. at Brui Thomas. = Mary Burbriitfc. Mary Taylor. = George] I borough, .8.6. I in 1841a ized at Bidfurd. i at Cloptc Shottery. B.Junes, 1789. I Ob. March, .835. S.June 23, >«4J- Appendix. 377 ! and from and after the feveral deceafes of the laid ' William Taylor and Sufannah his wife, then I give, 'devife, and bequeath all and lingular the premifes 1 aforefaid unto my nephew, John Hathaway Taylor (H). "Proved October 13, 1785, at Worcefter." Conveyance, July 22, 1795 — "Between Richard Standley (G), of Chipping Camp- " den, County of Gloucester, Flax-drelTer, eldeft fon and "heir-at-law of Elizabeth Standley (H), his late mother, " deceafed, who was one of the lifters, and a devizee "named in the laft will and teflament of Robert " Hathaway (M), heretofore of Shottery, parifh of Old " Stratford, County of Warwick, Yeoman, deceafed, " and Mary, the wife of the faid Richard Standley, of " the firft part ; John Hathaway Taylor (I), of Shottery " aforefaid, yeoman, of the fecond part ; Thomas Hunt, " of Stratford-upon-Avon, County of Warwick, gentle- " man, of the third part ; in conlideration of s€$$ to "laid Richard Standley, paid by laid John Hathaway " Taylor, the faid Richard Standley did convey unto " faid John Hathaway Taylor, all that one undivided " third part or lhare, the whole into three equal parts " to be divided, of and in all thole two feveral cottages "or tenements, and two orchards, &c. &c, lituated in " Shottery, aforefaid. " Conveyed in fee to John Hathaway Taylor." 4- Fine, Michaelmas Term, 36 George III. — " Between Thomas Hunt, gentleman, plaintive, "Richard Standley, and Mary his wife, to bar dower." 5- Will of John Hathaway Taylor (I), dated July 18, 1816. "John Hathaway Taylor, of Shottery, Lime-burner, " bequeathes unto my wife, Mary Taylor (J), and her " affigns, ' affigns, for and during the term of her natural life, ' all thofe my feveral meffuages or tenements, &c. 'fituate lying and being in Shottery, parifh of Old ' Stratford aforefaid, and now in my own and Samuel 'Bridges' occupation as tenant thereof to me; and ' from and after the deceafe of my faid wife, I give 'and devife the faid meffuages, &c, unto my fon, 'William Taylor (L), his heirs and affigns for ever. ° Proved, 9th September, 1820." 6. Mortgage, January 5, 1836. "William Taylor (K) to Thomas Talker ; mortgage 'of Houfes and Premifes at Shottery, for fecuring c ^ioo and interefl. 7- Conveyance, October 30, 1838 — " By William Taylor (K) and the Mortgagee to Mr. 'Thomas Barnes, in fee of two meffuages, orchards ' and gardens and premifes, at Shottery, parifh of Old ' Stratford, County of Warwick. William Taylor re- 'ceived ^245, confideration money, and Thomas 'Tafker, the mortgagee, ^100 from Mr. Thomas ' Barnes, of Luddington." Mr. Thomas Barnes, by will, dated January 5, 1855 — "Devifed all thofe three cottages or tenements — "formerly Hathaways — and fituated in Shottery afore- " faid, unto William Thompfon, his heirs and affigns "for ever." Baptifm, Appendix, 379 Baptifm, 1747. — December 18, John Hathaway, ion of William Taylor. 1809. — John Taylor and Elizabeth Barnett, married, January 3, at Stratford. 1828. — September 5, John Taylor, buried, aged 49. 1835. — January 10, Mary Taylor, aged 82. I append a few entries from the Marriage Regifter of Stratford which are not familiar; though attention has been previously drawn to that of Jan. 17, 1579, when one William Wilfonne married one " Anne " Hathaway of Shottery e." The extracts from churchwardens' accounts I have not feen before in print. Theie accounts are full of the names and Signatures of perfons with whom we are familiar as living in Shakefpere's time. Marriage Regifter, Stratford. 1^67. January 13. — Lawrentius Walker et Phillippa Hathaway. 1570. October 22. — George Hathaway et Anne Catan, of Loxley. 1^72. May 18. — Henry Smith, of Banbury, to Ales Hathaway, of Shottery. 1575. Thomas Hathaway et Margaret Smith. 1579. January I 7- — William Wilfonne et Anne Hathaway, of Shottery e. June 22. — David Jones et Ffrances Hathaway. 1634. — Regifter ligned by John Hathaway, church- warden. Churchwarden s Accounts. 1633. July 18. Signed, Tho. Name. " A Levy of Taxation " of ^40 through- out the whole pariln. The 380 Appendix. The account of William Walford, April, 1 61 8, churchwarden for the year pall. Borough of Stratford : " Henley St. Ward. " Received of Rich. Hathaway . . iij s * iiij d- " Sept. die. Junii, Anno 1619. Accounts figned, Richard Hathway. The fifteenth of April, 1628. Mr. John Hall, Churchwarden for the Borough. 7 th day of April, 1629. Surveyors for the highways. George Barker, ) c , n ' T 1 6 u .. \ for the County. John Hathaway, \ J 24th day of February, 1627. Will. Combe. Ge. Combe. Richard Hathaway. 8th day of October, 1626, j T , „ ,, -n va ~ 2? th March, 1627. f R - Hathaway, Bayhfle. 3rd day of April, 1621. Batholomew Hathaway, George Quiney, Curat. Ditto, April, 28, 1620. Oft. 17, 1641. Tho. Clopton. The name of Barnard appears frequently. J. S. Virtue, Printer, City Eoad, London. * mK ifffM """LLio-p | // *3UBf = -sBwoqjL "uoiXo^j JO / oq- io I 'pooMAauoii 1 c"/A AJU3 H OJ [BJ3U9 O .^UJ0»V - 4 ^T S3 IKH «is V . °<»««.o Wra i , 3 , CH , cluollx ^4^5-a, 3 ^ U9 X UI c U3po7 jo •••'PqpaBu 0s l 3;)Bf({ — — J I ^mq.l3JUB jo Ajjo 'uooibh Ul 'Mmj «,m waqoHlojwq puB.. 9 njoiq '•J^i 'sajBH SB[oqj iN U3 3T 03 ^B| d S3[E „ , z 1 PEDIGREE OF HALES. o.Kent. | Robert ll.lcs.Kt., V -I SI. |nhnnl |mm .1. ,,., .....I I I. ,,! i odcn, in Tcntcidcn, Hci.iv Hales J Bii C II. 1. 1, Attorney (icnciall,. v VIM , Music, ol the Rolls. I. ICdward, M...|:;..cl, Willi..... ,1. „l Mi, llunl.lc. H.mvn, of Tcntcidcn. .1. "i I"!". ofDodinflton. Honeywood, """' 7 «LoVti.o.»»s Balway. Thomas Halt John Hales. K.iiili..l..ii.i'iv II. ilcs, - Maria, of Snittti field, I i.l. ci !,..■ .1 George Harper, or Kent, Esq. Si. i'l,:,.l,s ll.,lcs, r.li/.ihcl,, Thomas. Anne. = Edward Combe, ,,l N. viand, ,.„, „l II,. Id.nl Walter Fisher, ol " Statton-iipon- ij, a. ■sC.in.ni „„., . .in nl I niidmi, and . il./cn ill Cnvcntry. Huvon," R.,i. ( /,.-. H ,, he Ninth. OI>.i6i 5 . I MSS. 6o6o, f. 4 .) • a ...I....I ,„d ■..,,.. 1 i ,. V.i. ' "';' Will ! d.'.'dW. Mv.ldleton, dated it.t,S. 11m|„csIs m tlic , i ol Snittcrfield. ofSurrey. John Hales, = d. of Anthony Fonte, Esq., -> h ",?. u JiT8!t, B ' id «"-' inherited the Priory, Co- I of Co. Leic John. 7 ' "H , Knotlcsln.d Mali . Bartholomew Hales, . Katharine, idley, Waiwii k . nl Sl.iltcrlield. Id.nl Tims. ('., JEt. 51, 111 1619. n| Diakclnw, 1 Derby. •6 19 1 ui «JB3A i psgy •Og «A\Op5jB.I(J |0 6 19 1 ui 4? ^. O0 v / ,^ V^ ^ T « ^ > ^ ' ■% ^ ^0 X '> r '' >.^v^ & v ■>\ A A N - & '-■^ \" xV ' - -0' c o N ^ o 0' **v v 0© ^ C x c° ^ 7>V \^a« "W x ^^- -- - - "-v r-0* ," N " ♦ -%, * \a X ,« a ' .**' % c v * - V •0 G o x TfflBAfWOFCOHGflESS I ■ ■ m m m ■ ■ ■r