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speare, now of Stratford-upon-Avon, in the counte of Warwick, gent. whose parent, great grandfather, and late antecessor, for his faithefuil and approved service to the late most prudent prince, king Henry VII. of famous memorie, was advaunced and rewarded with lands and tenements, geven to him in those parts of Warwickshere, where they have continewed by some descents in good reputa*cion and credit; and for that the said John Shakspeare having maryed the daughter and one of the heyrs of Robert Arden of Wellingcote, in the said U countie, and also produced this his auncient cote of arms, heretofore assigned to him whilest he was her Majesties officer and baylefe of that towne; In consideration of the premisses, and for the encouragement of his posteritie, unto whom suche blazon of arms and achievements of inheritance from theyre said mother, by the auncyent custome and lawes of arms, maye lawfully descend; We the said Garter and Clarencieulx have assigned, graunted, sand by these presents exemplefied unto the said John Shakspeare, and to his posteritie, that shield and cote of arms, viz. In a field of gould upon a bend sables a speare of the first, the poynt upward, hedded argent; and for his crest or cognisance, A falcon with his wyngs displayed, standing on a wrethe of his coullers, supporting a speare armed hedded, or steeled sylver, fyxed uppon a helmet with mantell and tassels, as more playnely maye appeare depected on this margent; and we have likewise uppon on other escutcheon impaled the same with the aun

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his auncient cote of arms, heretofore assigned to him - whilest he was her Majesties officer and baylefe of that towne;] This grant of arms was made by Cook, Clarencieux, in 1569, but is not now extant in the Herald's Office.

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MALONE.

cyent arms of the said Arden' of Wellingcote; signifieng therby, that it maye and shalbe lawfull for the said John Skakspeare gent. to beare and use the same shield of arms, single or impaled, as aforsaid, during his natural lyffe; and that it shalbe lawfull for his children, yssue, and posteryte, (lawfully begotten,) to beare, use, and quarter, and show forth the same, with theyre dewe differences, in all lawfull warlyke facts and civile use or exercises, according to the laws of arms, and custome that to gentlemen belongethe, without let or interruption of any per. son or persons, for use or bearing the same. wyttnesse and testemonye whereof we have subscrebed our names, and fastened the seals of our offices, geven at the Office of Arms, London, the in the xlii yere of the reigne of our most gratious Sovraigne lady Elizabeth, by the grace of God, quene of Ingland, France, and Ireland, defender of the faith, &c. 1599.

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- and we have likewise-impaled the same with the auncyent arms of the said Arden - It is said by Mr. Jacob, the modern editor of Arden of Feversham, (first published in 1592 and republished in 1631 and 1770) that Shakspeare descended by the female line from the gentleman whose unfortunate end is the subject of this tragedy. But the assertion appears to want support, the true name of the person who was murdered at Feversham being Ardern and not Arden. Ardern might be called Arden in the play for the sake of better sound, or might be corrupted in the Chronicle of Holinshed: yet it is unlikely that the true spelling should be overlooked among the Heralds, whose interest it is to recommend by ostentatious accuracy the trifles in which they deal. STEEVENS.

Ardern was the original name, but in Shakspeare's time it had been softened to Arden. See p. 58, n. 5. MALONE.

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Chaifpt

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Shakispeare's Autograph, if it had been written on Paper, would have appeared thus.

Chakspeare

MADE BY SHAKSPEARE,
A. D. 1612-13.

THE following is a transcript of a deed executed by our author three years before his death. The original deed, which was found in the year 1768, among the title deeds of the Rev. Mr. Fetherstonhaugh, of Oxted, in the county of Surry, is now in the possession of Mrs. Garrick, by whom it was obligingly transmitted to me through the hands of the Hon. Mr. Horace Walpole. Much has lately been said in various publications relative to the proper mode of spelling Shakspeare's name. It is hoped we shall hear no more idle babble upon this subject. He spelt his name himself as I have just now written it, without the middle e. Let this therefore for ever decide the question.

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It should be remembered that to all ancient deeds were appended labels of parchment, which were inserted at the bottom of the deed; on the upper part of which labels thus rising above the rest of the parchment, the executing parties wrote their names. Shakspeare, not finding room for the whole of his name on the label, attempted to write the remaining letters at top, but having allowed himself only room enough to write the letter a, he gave the matter up. His hand-writing, of which a fac-simile is annexed, is much neater than many others, which I have seen, of that age. He neg. lected, however, to scrape the parchment, in con. sequence of which the letters appear imperfectly formed.

He purchased the estate here mortgaged, from

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