This ebook was transcribed by Les Bowler.
SUMMER DAYS IN
SHAKESPEARE LAND
SOME DELIGHTS OF THEANCIENT TOWN OF
STRATFORD-UPON-AVON AND THE COUNTRYROUND
ABOUT; TOGETHER WITH A SKETCH OF THELIFE
OF MR. WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
IN WHICH MANY THINGSBOTH NEW AND ENTER-
TAINING ARE TO BE FOUND, PRETTILY SETFORTH
FOR THE PLEASURE OF THE GENTLE READER;AND
WHEREIN CERTAIN FANATICS AREHANDSOMELY
CONFUTED.
WRITTEN BYCHARLES G. HARPER, AND
FOR THE MOST PART ALSO ILLUSTRATED BYHIM
WITH A PEN
OTHER ILLUSTRATIONS ARE FROMPHOTOGRAPHS
NewYork
JAMES POTT & COMPANY
London: CHAPMAN & HALL, Ltd.
1913
p. ivRichardClay & Sons, Limited,
BRUNSWICK STREET, STAMFORD STREET,S.E.,
AND BUNGAY, SUFFOLK.
p.vPREFACE
By “Shakespeare Land,”as used in these pages, Stratford-on-Avon and the country withina radius of from twelve to twenty miles are meant; comprisingparts of Warwickshire and Gloucestershire, and some portions ofWorcestershire which are mentioned by Shakespeare, or must havebeen familiar to him. So many thousands annually visitStratford-on-Avon that the town, and in some lesser degree thesurrounding country, are thought to be hackneyed and spoilt forthe more intellectual and leisured visitor; but that is very farfrom being the case. Apart from such acknowledged centresof Shakespearean interest as the Birthplace at Stratford-on-Avon,the parish church, and Anne Hathaway’s Cottage at Shottery;and excepting such great show-places as Kenilworth and Warwickcastles, Shakespeare Land is by no means overrun, and is in everyway charming and satisfying. Stratford town itself, thevery centre of interest, is unspoiled; and the enterprise of themajority of Shakespearean pilgrims is of such a poor quality, andtheir intellectual requirements as a rule so soon satisfied, thatthe real beauties of the Warwickshire villages and the towns andvillages of the Cotswolds are to them a seale