NARRATIVE ONE OF SHAKESPEARE'S LIFE: FROM MY FATHER'S COLLECTION MACBETH 1902.

DIED AT THE AGE OF FIFTY TWO.BURIED INSIDE THE CHANCEL OF STRATFORD CHURCH,WITH THE FOLLOWING EPITAPH INSCRIBED OVER HIS GRAVE.

" Good Frend, for Jesus' sake forbeare

To digg the dvst encloased heare,

Blest be ye man yt spares thes stones,

And cvrst be he yt moves my bones "

(Exact wordings)

BIRTH & PARENTAGE.

Name of Shakespeare seems to have been very common in the Middle Ages in many parts of England.There is,however,good reason for supposing that William Shakespeare's ancestors were farmers.The poet's father, John Shakespeare appears to have been in early life not only a prosperous man of business in many branches,but a person of importance in the municipal affairs of Stratford. He held for one year "the highest office in the Corporation gift,that of bailiff";he afterwards became chief alderman.He married Mary Arden,who brought him land and houses,but " was apparently without education"; several extant documents bear her mark,and there is no proof that she could sign her name.

William ,their third and eldest surviving child,was born at Stratford-on-Avon, April 1564.His father was then in prosperous circumstances,and when,in July of that year,the plague raged violently at Stratford,he subscribed liberally to the relief of the victims among the poor.In a few years,however,he fell into debt and difficulties,was obliged to mortgage his wife's property,and gradually lost his interest in municipal affairs.

(Next- William's Childhood  & Youth & His Marriage)