(Vol. v., p. 539.)
There is a very full and curious account of a _ring_-seal (of which I
possess two red wax impressions), supposed to have belonged to Shakspeare,
in a work unassumingly entitled _A Guide to Stratford-upon-Avon_, by R. B.
Wheler, published in 1814. I presume _that_ is the seal--or, rather,
_ring_-seal--to which reference is made; but how far Mr. Wheler's
statements and speculations may encourage "belief in the genuineness of
this relic," your correspondent, and others taking any interest in such
matters, must for themselves determine.
As the publication above named is before me, it may not be unacceptable to
give a summary of Mr. Wheler's narrative, which occupies eight concluding
pages of the _Guide_. It appears that on the 16th March, 1810, an ancient
gold ring, weighing 12 dwts., and bearing the initials "W. S.," engraved in
Roman characters, was found by a labourer's wife upon the surface of the
mill-close adjoining Stratford churchyard, being the exact spot whereon Mr.
Oldaker since erected his present residence. It had undoubtedly been lost a
great many years, being nearly black; and, continues Mr. W.,--
"Though I purchased it upon the same day, for 36s. (the current value
of the _gold_), the woman had sufficient time to destroy the 'precious
_ærugo_' by having it unnecessarily immersed in _aquafortis_, to
ascertain and prove the metal, at a silversmith's shop, which
consequently restored its original colour. It is of tolerably large
dimensions, and evidently a gentleman's ring of Elizabeth's age.
Similar seal-rings are represented on cotemporary paintings and
monuments: and the crossing of the central lines of the 'W.' with the
oblique direction of the lines of the 'S.' exactly agree with the
characters of that day. For proof we need wander no farther than
Stratford Church, where the Totness and Clopton tombs will furnish
representations of rings, and Shakspeare's monument of letters,
perfectly corresponding in point of shape. The connexion or union of
the letters by _the ornamental string and tassels_" [or _True Lover's
Knot_, according to your correspondent], "was then frequently used, of
which numberless instances may be found upon seals and upon
inscriptions, in painted windows, and in the title-pages of books of
that period; and for further coincidence of circumstances, it may be
observed over the porch leading into the hall of Charlcote House near
Stratford (erected in the early part of Elizabeth's reign, by the very
Sir Thomas Lucy said to have prosecuted Shakspeare for deer-stealing),
that the letters 'T. L.' are surrounded in a manner precisely similar."
After adverting to many vain efforts made by him to discover whether there
existed anywhere Shakspeare's seal attached to letter or other writing, Mr.
Wheler states that he had examined--
"A list of all the inhabitants of Stratford assessed to the levies in
1617, wherein I cannot discover any apparently _respectable_ person the
initials of whose name agree with 'W. S.:' but from this assessment,
though probably copied from an anterior one, nothing conclusive can be
estimated, it being made in the year subsequent to Shakspeare's death;
and I should, from a close observation of the ring, be inclined to
suppose that it was {590} made in the early part of the poet's life.
Mr. Malone, in a conversation I had with him in London," (adds Mr.
Wheler), "the 20th April, 1812, about a month before his death, said
that he had nothing to allege against the probability of my conjecture
as to its owner."
Mr. W. afterwards proceeds:
"That such a seal was used by a person connected with Shakspeare by a
marriage is certain; for I possess an impression of the seal (and
apparently a seal-ring) of Adrian Quiney, bailiff of Stratford in
1559-60; and who, I have every reason to believe, was the uncle of
Thomas Quiney, our poet's son-in-law. This seal of Quiney's, which is
appended to a deed dated June 28, 9 Eliz., 1567, being a conveyance of
property in Bridge Street, Stratford, very minutely corresponds with
the Shakspeare ring in size, and has a very near resemblance to it in
_the string and tassels_ uniting the Roman initials 'A. Q.;' which
ornamental junction is carved somewhat similar to what is now called
_The True Lover's Knot_, and in the Shakspeare ring the upper bow or
flourish resembles a heart."