Instant Words : Stratford upon Avon

Visited the spirit of the Bard William Shakespeare at his birthplace in Stratford upon Avon.

He was born on April 23, 1564 in a wealthy family. His father was a glove manufacturer. He did not lead an impoverished lifestyle. He became a successful playwright and having a stake in the Globe Theatre, made a neat packet.

We were told by the official guide of William Shakespeare’s home that at a time when the average earning in Stratford upon Avon was 20 pounds, the Shakespeare family earned 200 pounds!

John (William Shakespeare’s father) was skilled in both leatherworking and the curing and processing of fine leather to make ladies gloves and purses for the nobility and traded as a Glover and Whittawer. He bought a house in Henley Street, Stratford , which was conveniently near the market. It was probable that a shop was attached as this, as was the usual practice. He also started in the dubious business of money lending. He obviously started to do very well with all of his various interests as he then purchased another house in Greenhill Street, Stratford in 1552, five years before he married Mary.

It is interesting to note that John ( father of the Bard ) was making himself noticed and the same year of his marriage in 1557 was given his first public appointment as ale-taster of the Borough of Stratford. This might sound strange to us but in the Elizabethan era basic hygiene was practically unknown. People washed infrequently, men urinated in the living room and most houses had a refuse heap outside their front doors. The water was dangerous to drink at the best of times, so ale or wine depending on your class, was the safest option. The position of ale-taster was an important one and it was essential that Stratford maintained a long-reaching reputation for its brewing.

Am sure if Black Dog existed then, it would have been the preferred tipple of the Shakespeare clan who