[Illustration: SHAKESPEARE'S HOUSE.]
Close to the village of Naseby rises the Avon, some of its springs being
actually within the village, where their waters are caught in little
ponds for watering cattle. The slender stream of Shakespeare's river
flows downward from the plateau through green meadows, and thence to the
classic ground of Stratford and of Warwick. It was at Stratford-on-Avon
that Shakespeare was born and died;
"Here his first infant lays sweet Shakespeare sung,
Here the last accents faltered on his tongue."
[Illustration: ANNE HATHAWAY'S COTTAGE.]
The old house where he was born is on the main street of the town, and
has been taken possession of by a Trust which has restored it to its
original condition. Its walls are covered with the initials of visitors;
there is nothing to be seen in the house that has any proved connection
with Shakespeare excepting his portrait, painted when he was about
forty-five years old. The sign of the butcher who had the building
before the Trust bought it is also exhibited, and states that "The
immortal Shakespeare was born in this house." His birth took place in
this ancient but carefully preserved building on April 23, 1564, and
exactly fifty-two years later, on April 23, 1616, he died in another
house near by, known as the "New Place," on Chapel Street. Excepting the
garden and a portion of the ancient foundations nothing now remains of
the house where Shakespeare died; a green arbor in the yard, with the
initials of his name set in the front fence, being all that marks the
spot. Adjoining the remnants of this "New Place" is the "Nash House,"
where the curator representing the Shakespeare Trust has his home. This
building is also indirectly connected with Shakespeare, having belonged
to and been occupied by Thomas Nash, who married Elizabeth Hall, the
poet's granddaughter, who subsequently became Lady Barnard. The church
of the Holy Trinity at Stratford contains Shakespeare's grave; five flat
stones lying in a row across the narrow chancel cover his family, the
grave of Anne Hathaway, his wife, being next to that of the poet; his
monument is on the wall, and near it is the American memorial window,
representing the Seven Ages of Man. In the chancel upon the western
side, within a Grecian niche, is the well-known half-figure monument of
Shakespeare that has been so widely copied, representing him in the act
of composition. The most imposing building in Stratford is the
"Shakespeare Memorial," a large and highly ornamental structure,
thoroughly emblematic, and containing a theatre. Stratford is full of
relics of Shakespeare and statues and portraits in his memory. There is
a life-size statue of the poet outside the Town-Hall which was presented
to the city by Garrick in the last century, while within the building is
his full-length portrait, also a present from Garrick, together with
Gainsborough's portrait of Garrick himself. At the modest hamlet of
Shottery, about a mile out of town, is the little cottage where Anne
Hathaway lived, and where the poet is said to have "won her to his
love;" a curious bedstead and other relics are shown at the cottage.
Charlecote House, the scene of Shakespeare's youthful deer-stealing
adventure that compelled him to go to London, is about four miles east
of Stratford, near the Avon: it is an ancient mansion of the Elizabethan
period. In the neighborhood are also a mineral spring known as the Royal
Victoria Spa and some ancient British intrenchments called the Dingles.