Encyclopaedia Britannica > Volume 21, ROT-Siam

744
SHAKESPEARE
17th Greene says, in notes which still exist, “My cosen
Shakespear comyng yesterdy to town, I went to see him
how he did. He told me that they assured him they
ment to inclose no further than to Gospell Bush, and so
upp straight (leavyng out part of the Dyngles to the
ffield) to the gate in Clopton hedg, and take in Salis-
buryes peece; and that they mean in Aprill to survey the
land, and then to gyve satisfaction, and not before; and
he and Mr Hall say they think ther will be nothyng done
at all.” This proves that the agents of the scheme had
seen Shakespeare on the subject, that he had gone care¬
fully into the details of their plan, consulted his son-in-
law Dr John Hall about them, and arrived at the conclu¬
sion that for the present they need take no decided action
in the matter. There is evidently on Shakespeare’s part
a strong feeling against the proposed enclosure, and the
agents of the scheme had clearly done their best to remove
his objections, promising amongst other things that if it
went forward he should suffer no pecuniary loss, a pro¬
mise already confirmed by a legal instrument. But nine
months later, when the local proprietors seemed bent on
pushing the scheme, Shakespeare takes a more decided
stand, and pronounces strongly against the whole business.
We have a notice, dated September 1, 1615, to the
effect that Mr Shakespeare had on that day told the agent
of the corporation “that he was not able to bear the
enclosing of Welcombe.” As his proprietary rights and
pecuniary interests were not to be affected by the pro¬
posed enclosure, this strong expression of feeling must
refer to the public advantages of the Welcombe common
fields, and especially to what in Scotland would be called
their “ amenity,” the element of value arising from their
freedom and beauty, their local history and associations.
Welcombe, as we have seen, was the most picturesque
suburb of Stratford. The hills divided by the leafy
Dingles afforded the finest panoramic view of the whole
neighbourhood. On their eastern slope they led to Ful-
broke Park, the probable scene of the deer-stealing adven¬
ture, and towards the north-west to the village of Snitter-
field with its wooded sweep of upland “ bushes.” Every
acre of the ground was associated with the happiest days
of Shakespeare’s youth. In his boyish holidays he had
repeatedly crossed and recrossed the unfenced fields at
the foot of the Welcombe Hills on his ways to the rustic
scenes and occupations of his uncle Henry’s farm in the
outlying forest village. He knew by heart every boundary
tree and stone and bank, every pond and sheep-pool,
every barn and cattle-shed, throughout the whole well-
frequented circuit. And in his later years, when after
the turmoil and excitement of his London life he came to
reside at Stratford, and could visit at leisure the scenes of
his youth, it was perfectly natural that he should shrink
from the prospect of having these scenes partially destroyed
and their associations broken up by the rash hand of
needless innovation. In his own emphatic language, “ he
could not bear the enclosing of Welcombe,” and the only
authoritative fragment of his conversation preserved to
us thus brings vividly out one of the best known and
most distinctive features of his personal character and
history—his deep and life-long attachment to his native
place. Another illustration of the same feeling, common
both to Scott and Shakespeare, is supplied by the prudence
and foresight they both displayed in husbanding their
early gains in order to provide, amidst the scenery they
loved, a permanent home for themselves and their families.
Shakespeare, the more careful and sharp-sighted of the
two, ran no such risks and experienced no such reverses of
fortune as those which saddened Scott’s later days. Both,
however, spent the last years of their lives in the home
which their energy and affection had provided, and both
sleep their last sleep under the changing skies and amidst
the fields and streams that gave light and music to their
earliest years. Hence, of all great authors, they are the
two most habitually thought of in connexion with their
native haunts and homesteads. Even to his contempo¬
raries Shakespeare was known as the Swan of Avon. The
two spots on British ground most completely identified
with the noblest energies of genius, consecrated by life¬
long associations, and hallowed by sacred dust are the
banks of the Tweed from Abbotsford to Dryburgh Abbey,
and the sweep of the Avon from Charlecote Park to Strat¬
ford church. To all lovers of literature, to all whose
spirits have been touched to finer issues by its regenerating
influence, these spots, and above all the abbey grave and
the chancel tomb, are holy ground,— national shrines visited
by pilgrims from every land, who breathe with pride and
gratitude and affection the household names of Shakespeare
and of Scott.
The name Shakespeare is found in the Midland counties Shake-
two centuries before the birth of the poet, scattered so speare
widely that it is not easy at first sight to fix the locality ai,d
of its rise or trace the lines of its progress. Several facts, y‘
however, would seem to indicate that those who first bore
it entered Warwickshire from the north and west, and may
therefore have migrated in early times from the neighbour¬
ing marches. The name itself is of course thoroughly
English, and it is given by Camden and Yerstegan as an
illustration of the way in which surnames were fabricated
when first introduced into England in the 13th century.
But it is by no means improbable that some hardy
borderers who had fought successfully in the English
ranks may have received or assumed a significant and
sounding designation that would help to perpetuate the
memory of their martial prowess. We have indeed a
distinct and authoritative assertion that some of Shake¬
speare’s ancestors had served their country in this way.
However this may be, families bearing the name are
found during the 15th and 16th centuries in the Arden
district, especially at Wroxhall and Rowington,—some
being connected with the priory of Wroxhall, while
during the 15th century the names of more than twenty
are enumerated as belonging to the guild of St Ann, at
Knoll near Rowington. In the roll of this guild or college
are also found the representatives of some of the best
families in the county, such as the Ferrerses of Tamworth
and the Clintons of Coleshill. Among the members of
the guild the poet’s ancestors are to be looked for, and it
is not improbable, as Mr French suggests, that John and
Joan Shakespeare, entered on the Knoll register in 1527,
may have been the parents of Richard Shakespeare of
Snitterfield, whose sons gave each to his children the
favourite family names. Richard Shakespeare, the poet’s
grandfather, occupied a substantial dwelling and culti¬
vated a forest farm at Snitterfield, between 3 and 4 miles
from Stratford. He was the tenant of Robert Arden of
Wilmcote, “a gentleman of worship,” who farmed his own
estate, situated a few miles to the west of Snitterfield.
Richard Shakespeare was settled at the latter hamlet and
doing well as early as 1543, Thomas Atwood of Stratford
having in that year bequeathed to him four oxen which
were then in his keeping; and he continued to reside
there certainly till 1560, and probably till his death. He
appears to have had two sons, John and Henry, of whom
John, the eldest, early broke through the contracted circle
of rustic life at Snitterfield, made his way to Stratford, and
established himself as a trader in one of the leading
thoroughfares of the town. This movement to the town
probably took place in 1551, as in 1552 John Shakespeare
is described in an official document as residing in Henley
Street, where the poet was subsequently born. As to the