13.—Gower, Ronald, in the Antiquary, of August, 1880, vol. ii, p. 63, “The Shakespeare Death-Mask,” concludes thus—“But how, may it be asked, can proof ever be had that this mask is actually that of Shakespeare? Indeed it can never be proved unless such an impossibility should occur as that a jury of matrons should undertake to view the opened grave at Stratford; they at any rate would not need to fear the curse that is written above his grave—for it says, ‘Cursed be he (and not she), who stirs that sacred dust.’” This is a ‘new version’ of the time-honoured line. I note too that Lord Ronald reproduces the “legal friend’s” joke in Mr. Parker Norris’s article. But I do not say he ever saw it.
14.—Halliwell-Phillipps, J. O., in his Outlines of the Life of Shakespeare, 1st edition, 1881, p. 86: 2nd edition, 1882, p. 172: 3rd edition, 1883, p. 233: writes thus—
“The nearest approach to an excavation into the grave of Shakespeare was made in the summer of the year 1796, in digging a vault in the immediate locality, when an opening appeared which was presumed to indicate the commencement of the site of the bard’s remains. The most scrupulous care, however, was taken not to disturb the neighbouring earth in the slightest degree, the clerk having been placed there, until the brickwork of the adjoining vault was completed, to prevent any one making an examination. No relics whatever were visible through the small opening that thus presented itself, and as the poet was buried in the ground, not in a vault, the chancel earth, moreover, formerly absorbing a large degree of moisture, the great probability is that dust alone remains. This consideration may tend to discourage an irreverent opinion expressed by some, that it is due to the interests of science to unfold to the world the material abode which formerly held so great an intellect.” Mr. Halliwell-Phillipps has more faith in the alleged precaution than I have. Surely a needy clerk, with an itching palm, would be no match for a relic-hunter. May we not here read between the lines, q. d., ‘to allow any one to make free with the masonry and explore the sacred dust?’
15.—Anonymous Article in the Birmingham Daily Gazette, of December 17, 1880, headed “Excavations in the Church and Churchyard of Stratford-upon-Avon.” This repeats, on the authority of Washington Irving’s Sketch Book, the story recorded by Mr. Halliwell-Phillipps. It is an alarmist article, censuring the Vicar’s excavations, which were made indeed with a laudable purpose, but without the consent, or even the knowledge, of the Lay Impropriators of the Church.
16.—Anonymous Article in the Cincinnati Commercial Gazette, of May 26, 1883, headed “Shakspeare at Home,” where it is said “Nor should they [the antiquarians of England] rest until they have explored Shakspeare’s tomb. That this should be prevented by the doggerel engraved upon it, is unworthy of a scientific age. I have heard it suggested that if any documents were buried with Shakspeare, they would, by this time, have been destroyed by the moisture of the earth, but the grave is considerably above the level of the Avon, as I observed to-day, and even any traces connected with the form of the poet would be useful. His skull if still not turned to dust, should be preserved in the Royal College of Surgeons, as the apex of the climbing series of skeletons, from the microscopic to the divine.”
17.—Ingleby, C. M., Shakespeare’s Bones, June, 1883, being the foregoing essay.
Printed by Robert Birbeck, Birmingham.
FOOTNOTES
[1a] The corrigenda has been applied to this eBook. For example, in the book this phrase is “and its ancient tombs” but is corrected in the corrigenda to “and our ancient tombs”. DP.