. In the old paths: memories of literary pilgrimages . ext. But to return. Grendon Underwood is a long straggling village,embosomed in trees, and situated in what was oncethe old forest of Bernwode. Most of its cottages arethatched, and, indeed, Shakespeare might have livedin any one of them, judging from their antiquity. Awell-filled stackyard near the church at the north endof the village indicated the quondam Olde ShipeInne. The central part is still used as a farmhouse,but the wing to the left, a three-storied gabled house,is fast becoming a ruin, picturesque in its decay withits high-pitc
. In the old paths: memories of literary pilgrimages . ext. But to return. Grendon Underwood is a long straggling village,embosomed in trees, and situated in what was oncethe old forest of Bernwode. Most of its cottages arethatched, and, indeed, Shakespeare might have livedin any one of them, judging from their antiquity. Awell-filled stackyard near the church at the north endof the village indicated the quondam Olde ShipeInne. The central part is still used as a farmhouse,but the wing to the left, a three-storied gabled house,is fast becoming a ruin, picturesque in its decay withits high-pitched roof, tall EHzabethan chimneys, andbrick-and-timber walls intersected by great blackbeams. In the ground floor there is a large room inwhich many a merry company must have met in theolden times. Its features are a Tudor doorway andingle-neuk, and a window filled in with lozenge-shapedlattice-work, containing a shield in the centre. Mount-ing an old oak balustraded staircase, the steps of whichhave fallen away so that you ascend at your peril, the. THE OLDE SHIPE:A traditional haunt of Shakespeare. 98 NOVEMBER DAYS farmer will show you the room, lit by a small ovalwindow in the gable, where, tradition says, Shake-speare slept. Across the road from ShakespeareHouse is the parish church, of the usual Bucking-hamshire type, a simple nave and chancel, and battle-mented square tower, with corner turret. Its porchwas taken down in 1833, and with it disappearedanother link with Shakespeare, for the local story hasit that on one occasion Shakespeare himself fell asleepin the porch, and was rudely awakened by the villageconstables—the village Dogberry and Verges. It wasdoubtless in these early strolling days that Shakespearemet the rustic types that he afterwards immortalised,the laughing rogues that enrich his pages with theirirresistible humour, and serve as a foil to his splendidhistorical pageantries. Thus even in the dim November days I am dream-ing of the old paths. It is goo
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookpublisherlondo, bookyear1913
