PREFACE
Two years ago, at the request of the editors of the Youth's Companion, I wrote for that periodical a series of four familiar articles on the boyhood of Shakespeare. It was understood at the time that I might afterwards expand them into a book, and this plan is carried out in the present volume. The papers have been carefully revised and enlarged to thrice their original compass, and a new fifth chapter has been added.
The sources from which I have drawn my material are often mentioned in the text and the notes. I have been particularly indebted to Halliwell-Phillipps's Outlines of the Life of Shakespeare, Knight's Biography of Shakspere, Furnivall's Introduction to the "Leopold" edition of Shakespeare, his Babees Book, and his edition of Harrison's Description of England, Sidney Lee's Stratford-on-Avon, Strutt's Sports and Pastimes, Brand's Popular Antiquities, and Dyer's Folk-Lore of Shakespeare.
I hope that the book may serve to give the young folk some glimpses of rural life in England when Shakespeare was a boy, and also to help them—and possibly their elders—to a better understanding of many allusions in his works.
W. J. R.
Cambridge, June 10, 1896.
[CONTENTS]
| PAGE | |
| PART I.—HIS NATIVE TOWN AND NEIGHBORHOOD | [1] |
| Warwickshire | [3] |
| Warwick Castle and Saint Mary's Church | [4] |
| Warwick in History | [8] |
| Guy of Warwick | [9] |
| Kenilworth Castle | [12] |
| Coventry | [14] |
| Charlecote Hall | [19] |
| Stratford-on-Avon | [24] |
| The Early History of Stratford | [27] |
| The Stratford Guild | [34] |
| The Stratford Corporation | [39] |
| The Topography of Stratford | [43] |
| PART II.—HIS HOME LIFE | [47] |
| The Dwelling-houses of the Time | [49] |
| The Household Furniture | [52] |
| Food and Drink | [57] |
| The Training of Children | [60] |
| Indoor Amusements | [67] |
| Popular Books | [71] |
| Story-telling | [73] |
| Christenings | [80] |
| Superstitions connected with Birth and Baptism | [84] |
| Charms and Amulets | [87] |
| PART III.—AT SCHOOL | [93] |
| The Stratford Grammar School | [95] |
| What Shakespeare Learnt at School | [99] |
| The Neglect of English | [106] |
| School Life in Shakespeare's Day | [110] |
| School Morals | [112] |
| School Discipline | [113] |
| When William Left School | [118] |
| PART IV.—GAMES AND SPORTS | [119] |
| Boyish Games | [121] |
| Swimming and Fishing | [130] |
| Bear-baiting | [132] |
| Cock-fighting and Cock-throwing | [136] |
| Other Cruel Sports | [139] |
| Archery | [142] |
| Hunting | [145] |
| Fowling | [151] |
| Hawking | [153] |
| Theatrical Entertainments | [160] |
| PART V.—HOLIDAYS, FESTIVALS, FAIRS, ETC. | [165] |
| Saint George's Day | [167] |
| Easter | [172] |
| The Perambulation of the Parish | [174] |
| May-day and the Morris-dance | [176] |
| Whitsuntide | [184] |
| Midsummer Eve | [186] |
| Christmas | [190] |
| Sheep-shearing | [193] |
| Harvest-home | [195] |
| Markets and Fairs | [198] |
| Rural Outings | [207] |
| NOTES | [213] |
| INDEX | [247] |