The sexton and his companion had been employed as carpenters on
the preparations for the celebrated Stratford jubilee, and they
remembered Garrick, the prime mover of the fete, who superintended the
arrangements, and, who, according to the sexton, was "a short punch
man, very lively and bustling." John Ange had assisted also in cutting
down Shakspeare's mulberry tree, of which he had a morsel in his
pocket for sale; no doubt a sovereign quickener of literary
conception.
I was grieved to hear these two worthy wights speak very dubiously
of the eloquent dame who shows the Shakspeare house. John Ange shook
his head when I mentioned her valuable collection of relics,
particularly her remains of the mulberry tree; and the old sexton even
expressed a doubt as to Shakspeare having been born in her house. I
soon discovered that he looked upon her mansion with an evil eye, as a
rival to the poet's tomb; the latter having comparatively but few
visitors. Thus it is that historians differ at the very outset, and
mere pebbles make the stream of truth diverge into different
channels even at the fountain head.
We approached the church through the avenue of limes, and entered by
a Gothic porch, highly ornamented, with carved doors of massive oak.
Pages:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25