Shakespeare's England . true. Thomas Lucy. A narrowformalist he may have been, and a severe magistrate inhis dealings with scapegrace youths, and perhaps ahaughty and disagreeable neighbour; but there is atouch of manhood, high feeling, and virtuous and self-respecting character in those lines, that instantly winsthe response of sympathy. If Shakespeare really shotthe deer of Thomas Lucy the injured gentleman had aright to feel annoyed. Shakespeare, boy or man, wasnot a saint, and those who so account him can haveread his works to but little purpose. He can bear thefull brunt of his faults. He
Shakespeare's England . true. Thomas Lucy. A narrowformalist he may have been, and a severe magistrate inhis dealings with scapegrace youths, and perhaps ahaughty and disagreeable neighbour; but there is atouch of manhood, high feeling, and virtuous and self-respecting character in those lines, that instantly winsthe response of sympathy. If Shakespeare really shotthe deer of Thomas Lucy the injured gentleman had aright to feel annoyed. Shakespeare, boy or man, wasnot a saint, and those who so account him can haveread his works to but little purpose. He can bear thefull brunt of his faults. He does not need to becanonised. 146 SHAKESPEARES ENGLAND The ramble to Charlecote — one of the prettiest walksabout Stratford — was, it may surely be supposed, oftentaken by Shakespeare. Many another ramble was pos-sible to him and no doubt was made. He would crossthe mill bridge (new in 1599), which spans the Avona little way to the south of the church. A quaint,sleepy mill no doubt it was — flecked with moss and. Meadow Walk by the Avon ivy — and the gaze of Shakespeare assuredly dwelt onit with pleasure. His footsteps may be traced, also, infancy, to the region of the old college building, demol-ished in 1799, which stood in the southern part ofStratford, and was the home of his friend John Combe,factor of Fulke Greville, Earl of Warwick. Still an-other of his walks must have tended northward throughWelcombe, where he was the owner of land, to the xu SHAKESPEARES HOME 147 portly manor of Clopton, or to the home of William,nephew of John-a-Combe, which stood where thePhillips mansion stands now. On what is called theAncient House, which stands on the west side ofHigh Street, he may often have looked, as he strolledpast to the Red Horse. That picturesque building,dated 1596, survives, notwithstanding some moderntouches of rehabilitation, as a beautiful specimen ofTudor architecture in one at least of its most charmingtraits, the carved and timber-crossed gable. It is ah
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectshakespearewilliam15
