PART I.

SHAKSPEARE IN STRATFORD.

CHAP. I.

Birth of Shakspeare — Account of his Family — Orthography of his Name. _Page_ 1

CHAP. II.

The House in which Shakspeare was born — Plague at Stratford, June 1564 — Shakspeare educated at the Free-school of Stratford — State of Education, and of Juvenile Literature in the Country at this period — Extent of Shakspeare's acquirements as a Scholar. 21

CHAP. III.

Shakspeare, after leaving School, follows his Father's Trade — Statement of Aubrey — Probably present in his Twelfth Year at Kenelworth, when Elizabeth visited the Earl of Leicester — Tradition of Aubrey concerning him — Whether there is reason to suppose that, after leaving his Father, he was placed in an Attorney's Office, who was likewise Seneschal or Steward of some Manor — Anecdotes of Shakspeare — Allusions in his Works to Barton, Wilnecotte, and Barston, Villages in Warwickshire — Earthquake in 1580 alluded to — Whether, after leaving School, he acquired any Knowledge of the French and Italian languages. 34

CHAP. IV.

Shakspeare married to Anne Hathaway — Account of the Hathaways — Cottage at Shottery — Birth of his eldest Child, Susanna — Hamnet and Judith baptized — Anecdote of Shakspeare — Shakspeare apparently settled in the Country. 59

CHAP. V.

A View of Country-Life during the Age of Shakspeare — Its _Manners and Customs_ — Rural Characters; the Country-Gentleman — the Country-Coxcomb — the Country-Clergyman — the Country-Schoolmaster — the Farmer or Yeoman, his Mode of Living — the Huswife, her Domestic Economy — the Farmer's Heir — the Poor Copyholder — the Downright Clown, or Plain Country-Boor. 68

CHAP. VI.

A View of Country-Life during the Age of Shakspeare — _Manners and Customs continued_ — Rural Holidays and Festivals; New-Year's Day — Twelfth Day — Rock-Day — Plough-Monday — Shrove-tide — Easter-tide — Hock-tide — May-Day — Whitsuntide — Ales; Leet-ale — Lamb-ale — Bride-ale — Clerk-ale — Church-ale — Whitsun-ale — Sheep-shearing Feast — Candlemas-Day — Harvest-Home — Seed-cake Feast — Martinmas — Christmas. 123

CHAP. VII.

A View of Country-Life during the Age of Shakspeare — _Manners and Customs_, continued — Wakes — Fairs — Weddings — Christenings — Burials. 209

CHAP. VIII.

View of Country-Life during the Age of Shakspeare, continued — _Diversions_ — The Itinerant Stage — Cotswold Games — Hawking — Hunting — Fowling — Fishing — Horse-racing — The Quintaine — The Wild-goose Chase — Hurling — Shovel-board — Juvenile Sports — Barley-breake — Parish-Top. 246

CHAP. IX.

View of Country-Life during the Age of Shakspeare, continued — An Account of some of its _Superstitions_; Winter-Night's Conversation — Peculiar Periods devoted to Superstition — St. Paul's Day — St. Swithen's Day — St. Mark's Day — Childermas — St. Valentine's Day — Midsummer-Eve — Michaelmas — All Hallow-Eve — St. Withold — Omens — Charms — Sympathies — Superstitious Cures — Miscellaneous Superstitions. 314

CHAP. X.

Biography of Shakspeare resumed — His Irregularities — Deer-stealing in Sir Thomas Lucy's Park — Account of the Lucy family — Daisy-hill, the Keeper's Lodge, where Shakspeare was confined, on the Charge of stealing Deer — Shakspeare's Revenge — Ballad on Lucy — Severe Prosecution by Sir Thomas — never forgotten by Shakspeare — this Cause, and probably also Debt, as his Father was now in reduced Circumstances, induced him to leave the Country for London about 1586 — Remarks on this Removal. 401