New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-09-09
THE VALE OF THE RED HORSE
SCENES IN wARwICKsHIRE--How To SEE
THE SHAKESPEARE COUNTRY
[yRoM STAFF CORRESPONDENT OF THE TRrBuxgI
Stratford-upon-Ayon. August 20.

The traveller who hurries through this rerior
of Warwickshire-an American travellers MOSTLY
do hurry through t-appreciates but little thu
things that he sees, and does not at all understand
how much he loses. The customary course Is IN
lodge at the Red Horse Hotel-whch certainly 4.
one Of the most comfortable places in Europe-and
thus to enjoy the associations that are connected
with the visits Of Washington Irving. His parlor.
his bedroom number Ia, his armchair his poker.
and the Sections Clock, mentioned by him In the
Sketch Book are all to be seen-if your
lightning-express conductor will give you time
enough TO see them. From the Red Horse you
are taken in a carriage, when you ought to be
allowed TO proceed on foot, and the usual road
includes the Shakespeare Birthplace, the Grammar
School and Guild Chapel, the remains Of New
Place Trinity Church and the Shakespeare graves
in it's chancel. Anne Hathaway's cottage, at
Shottery, and, perhaps, the Shakespeare Memorial
Library and Theatre These all are impressive
sights, to the lover of Shakespeare but when you
have seen all these you have only just begun to
sec the riches OF Stratford-upon-Avon. IL is only
by living in the town, by making yourself familiar
with it in all its moods, by viewing 1t in storm
well as in sunshine, by roaming through its quain.
deserted streets in the lonely hours of the night
by sailing up and down its beautiful Avon, BY
about it for many miles in every direction, BY
becoming, in fact a part Of It's actual being, that
you really obtain a genuine knowledge OF this de-
lightfu place Familiarity in this case, does not
breed contempt The worst you will ever learn
Of Stratford is that paltry gossip thrives in it,
that its intellect is, with due exception, narrow
and sleepy; and that it is heavily ridden by the
ecclesiastical establishment. You will never find
anything that can detract from the impression Of
beauty and repose made upon your mind by the
sweet retirement Of its situation, by the majesty
OF its venerable monuments, and by the opulent
diversified splendors Of its natural and historical
environment. On the contrary, the more you
know of these charms the more you will love the
town, and the greater will be the benefit Of high
thought and spiritual exaltation that you WIN
derive from your knowledge of it; and hence 1T I%
| important that the American traveller should beN
counseled for his sake TO live little while
in Stratford instead of treating it a mere in
cident of his journey.
The occasion of garden party at the rec
| tory of clerical friend at But
ler's Marston gave opportunity to see
enc of the many picturesque and happy homes
with which this region abounds. The lawns here
are ample and sumptuous. The dwelling and the
church. which are close to each other are powered
in great trees. From the terraces lovely view
NAV be obtained of the richly colored and timely
cultivated fields, stretching away toward Edge
! hill. which lies eastward from Stratford-upon-
/ Avon about sixteen miles, and marks the be-
ginning of the Vale of the Red Horse In the
| churChyard are the gray, hchen-coNered remains
of one of the ancient crosses, from the steps OF
which the monks preached in the early days OF
the Church. Relics of this class are not n''-
merous and they are deeply interesting for wha5
they suggest of the people and the life OF Garner
times il perfect specimen of the ancient cross
may be seen al Henley-in-Arden, few miles
northwest of Stratford, where il stands in moulder-
ing majesty, at the junction OF two roads, ID the
centre of the Enthusiastically inharnonous with
the petty shops and numerous shabby inns OK
which this long and struggling, but characteristic
and attractive, settlement is composed Inc
| tower of the church at Buffers Marston. gray,
grim structure 4" four-square to opposition was
! built in the eleventh century-a period OF much
| ecclesiastical activity IN these Islands "itmn
| found noble pulpit of carved oak, dark with
age of the time of James the First. there are
many commemorative stones in the church, on one
of which appears this lovely coupet addressed to
| the shade of young girl:
Sleep. gentle soul. and wait thy Makers viii!
Then rise unchanged and be an angel still'
The present village of Buffers Marston-a little
tiny stream and almost hidden in wooded dell
is comparatively new for it has arisen since the
| time of the Civil Wars. The old village was
! sweut awav by the Roundheads when Essex and
! Uampden came down to fight King Charles NJ
Edgehill in 1912. That fierce strife waged all
along the country side. and You may still perceive
here in the inequalities of the land, the sites on
which houses formerly stood 1t is sweet and
peaceful place now smiling with ho"ers ana
musical with the rustic OF the leaves of giant
elms The clergyman here farms his own glebe,
and he has expended more than thousand pounds
in the renovation of his manse The
church living is not worth much more than
hundred pounds year. and when he leaves the
dwelling if he should ever leave II, he loses the
value of all the improvements that he has made
THIS he mentioned with contented smile Inc
place. in fact, is little paradise and as looked
across rl,e green and goldes fields and saw the
herds at rest and the wheat waving in sun and
shadow. and thought of the simple life OF the
! handful of people congregated here, the words
Of GRAY came ringing into my mind:
! Far from the maddng crowds iSnoble strife
Their sober wishes never learned s 70 suaS
Along the cool seQuesteTCd vale or Re
! They kent the nolseess tenor Of their way.
| "rnreoorled age in corners thrown Was
,ha+ 6ne limo suggtsted 10 Shakespeare by the
soo+acla or tbc old almShouse OF the Holy Guild,
which stood in his time, just as il stands now,
close TO the spot where he lived and died? New
Place. Shakespeare home, stood on the northeas'
corner of Chapclst. IA continuation OF Hlsh-st]
and Chapel Lane. The Guild Chapel stands on the
southeast corner of those streets, Immediately OPP
posite to what once the poets home oou'n-
ward from the chapel and adjacent to 1t eXtehds
the long. low, sombre building that contains inc
Free Grammar School and the almshouse, founded
by Thomas Joyire in 1852, and refunded IN 1919
by King Edward VI In that grammar scho"
there is good reason TO believe that Shakespeare
WAS educated: nc first by Walter Roche, afterward
by Simon Hunt-who doubtless birched the niue
bovs then even AS the Rev. Mr.. LalTan does now;
il hoi,c n cardinal nrnciple with the British edu-