Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-12-19
RELICS AT STRATFORD
DOUBT CAST ON ANNE HATHA-
WAY COTTAGE AT sHoTTERY.
No Record Of Shakespeare's Sweetheart
-Credulity Of Pilgrims to
Poets Shrine.
s. c. Walters in the London Times.

s. C. Walters in the London Times.
We visit Shakespeare's shrine with feel
ings of reverence. and the majority OF Wis
ttors naturally accept implicitly the state
ments that are made and believe in the
proved genuineness of the relics shown to
them. 1t will be rude shock to thousands
of English and American devotees either to
discover that the necessary authenticity is
lacking or to learn that there never was
any proved connection between the poet
and some of the most conspicuous articles
labeled with his name. Yet assertions are
80 dogmatically made that casual visitor
would possess temerity indeed to reject
them.
allege no ill faith against the guides and
.curators. They are sincere enough and
they perform their set duties with unvary-
Ing courtesy and patience 1t is mot theirs
to reason why. That task is for inde-
pendent students in spite of any tenn
porary hostility their heterodoxy may ex-
cite.
The Shakespeare Desk.
My first protest is against the so-called
"Shakespeare's desk" exhibited at his
birthplace. The assumption that it was
Shakespeare's is unwarrantable 1t Is ex-
tremely doubtful whether the desk dates
so far back as Shakespeare's time; it is alb
solutely certain that it never was a
scholars desk at all, but an usher,s This
fatal objection is got over by Snowden
Ward. among others, by saying that per
maps Shakespeare was SchoOlmaster.
Perhaps he was-perhaps he was head mas
| ter Of the grammar school, for there is just
as much evidence on the one point as the
| other. but still we do not prove the desk 70
be his. This piece of old furniture from
the Latin room is interesting enough as
old Notwithstanding more
In New Place there is an antique shovel
board. and the visitor is informed Il speak
| from personal experience) that If Shakes
peare did not actually own it he often play
| ed a game upon 1t. AS matter of fact, It
| came from the public house opposite, the
Falcon Inn, and those who care to believe
| that our "godlike Shakespeare wasted his
nights there may hold the shovel board as
sacred. But there is not an iOta of proof
! that he knew Of its existence, and yet 1t Is
| thought worthy of the most conspicuous
place In the hall of his rebuilt residence.
The Mulberry Tree.
| Equally in keeping with this tavern curl
osity is the mulberry tree at the back of the
house guarded with the utmost care, rallied
round. proudly pointed out, because 1t ac-
cords with the local sentiment Of propriety
! to credit that Shakespeare drank too hard"
| under the tree of which this is an offshoot,
foul tradition rests on the uncorroborated
| statement of picker up of unconsidered
| trff1es, who extracted it from the dust heap
of village legends nearly century after
| the poets DEATH
The delicacy which obtrudes the mulberry
! tree on the notice Of visitors also is the
means of calling attention TO the Shakes
peare f1agon," Of which the utmost that can
| be recorded by such an enthusiast as Snow
| den Ward is that 1T is said to have been
| the poet's' Yet / know that visitors to
| New Place neye r go away without being
convinced that Shakespeare's own lips have
| touched it.
Genuine relics of Shakespeare there are.
| One is his signet ring, the other is the
| brooch bearing his name found by Joseph
| Smith in 1928. 1t was long in the possession
| of my friend, John Rabone of Birming-
| ham, who traced It's history with the most
| scrupulous care. and recall his telling me
| that this was 1.-The only certain link with
| Shakespeare the man." I did not agree at
| same opinion since. Would that I could
| have faith as grain of mustard seed in
| the so-called Anne pathways trinket box"
at New Place, or the old clothes chests in
| Henley street.
Cottage at Shottery.
Perhaps the greatest delusion remains for
| the visitor who goes to Shottery with the
! firm conviction that he will there find Anne
Hathaway's cottage. There is picturesque
homestead there famous all the world over
| as the birthplace of Shakespeare's wife and
the scene of his courtship. The chimney
corner in which the lovers sat is duly point
ed out; the lattice window at which the girl
| watched for the poets coming across the
| fields is shown as a verify, and made to
excite the most romantic fervor.
And yet no Anne Hathaway is to be
traced in Shottery records. Sidney Lee
finds an Agnes, who might have been
called Anne. but even this does not prove
| that it was Shakespeare's sweetheart
Charles knight. most credulous of all
Shakespeare's biographers, sadly admits
I'VE cannot say absolutely that Anne
Ha thaway was of Shottery. Snowden
Ward arrives at the same conclusion, and
adds that acre were three Hathaway fam
/ lilies from whom the poets wife might have
| come. But even ii Anne lived in a cottage,
| her cottage disappeared long ago; the pres
ent structure is only part of Richard Hath
aways farm, and, as Mr.. Lee says, has
undergone many alterations and renova
TONS AS for the family ITSELF it's male
| line became extinct leo years ago. and the
late Mrs. Baker-"the last of the Hatha-
! ways"-was pious deceiver, who had no
| real claim to the consideration she received
In the light of such facts, what are we to
say of the Shakespeare and Hathaway rel
| les at the cottage?
Anne Hathaway's Bed.
What reply shall we make to that typical
| extravaganza INDUCED in by DIR. Brandes.
| who draws picture of Shakespeare's jour-
ney to the cottage: He would enter, and
! look once more upon the wooden bench IN
! the chimney corner on which he and She
| had sat in their ardent youth. There was
| the old fifteenth century bed in which
| .Apnes parents had slept, with her, as
| child. at their feet The Anne Hath
away bed room" If not a myth, is not a
demonstrated fact. The fireplace. where
| the lovers sat in their ardent youth" is 4
pretty fancy. The lattice window is there,
| but whether Shakespeare's wife was ever
within a mile OF two of 1t is open to dis
| cussion. Shottery is full of delightful ro-
nance, but romance should not be offered
| to Shakespearian pilgrims as substantial
realities.
Famous Map Exhibited.
The famous Waldseemuller map Of 1907,
| the earliest one in existence bearing the