2<»'i S. VII. April 23. '69.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



337 



old English doivel, derived from the French douille, 

 a socket, and the meaning — you can hurt neither 

 feather nor socket in my wing (plume ?) A. A. 



Poets' Cornel'. 



Passage in " Tivelfth Night.'" — I send you a 

 reading of a passage in the Shakspeare plays 

 otherwise unintelligible : — 



" Clown. Many a good hanging prevents a bad mar- 

 riage ; and, for turning away, let summer bear it out." 

 Twelfth Night, Act I. Sc. 5. 



"Turning away" should be pronounced "turn- 

 ing aw-ay." And, for turning o'hay, " let summer 

 bear it out." William H. Smith. 



"A point of loai'." — It is curious that the cur- 

 rent number of the Quarterly Review, speaking of 

 Mr. Dyce's reading of the line, 



" To a loud trumpet and a, point of war," 

 which Mr. Collier, following his corrector's ver- 

 sion of " report of war," says " can have no mean- 

 ing," should think it necessary to attribute this 

 opinion to " ignorance of the language of Shak- 

 speare's day." The phrase " point of war," is used 

 to this day constantly to express certain soundings 

 of drums and trumpets in salute, &c. Thus, for 

 instance, the ruffle beat on the parade in St. 

 James's Park, when the colours are unfurled, is 

 called a " point of war." M. T. L. 



THE BIETHDAY OF SHAKSPEEE. 



The announcement of a public dinner at Strat- 

 ford-upon-Avon, in commemoration of the birthday 

 of Shakspere, reminds me of certain particulars 

 which seem to call for discussion. The occasion, 

 at least, is opportune. It is a hazardous theme, 

 however, that I propose to touch — and I shall 

 await, with much curiosity, the judicial sentence 

 of the Stratford club. 



Was Shakspere born on the 23 April, 1564? 

 Did he die on his birthday ? 



The most important evidence on this question, 

 though not in itself decisive of the fact, is the re- 

 gister of baptisms at Stratford. The item is thus 

 given in print : — 



" William, son of John Shakspere, was baptized April 

 26,1564," i[Malone, 1790.] 



" 1664. April 26. Gulielmus filius Johannes [sic] Shak- 

 spere." [Collier, 1844.] 



But there is further evidence on this question — 

 evidence which every one has read — which no one 

 seems to have applied in illustration of it. I al- 

 lude to the monumental inscription, which is as 

 follows : — 



" OBIIT ANO. DOT. 161G. ^ETATXS 53. DIE 23. AP." 



[Wheler, 1806.] 

 The monument was in its place before 1623 ; 



perhaps in 1616—- for Gerard Johnson, the tombe- 

 malier, was then an old man. 



If Shakspere was born on the 23 April, 1564, 

 he just completed his Mty -second year on the day 

 of his decease. But it is recorded that he died 

 in his Mty-third year. Now, Mrs. Shakspere 

 survived till the 6 August, 1623. Susanna, witty 

 above her sexe, and her husband John Hall, me- 

 dicus peritissimus, who were joint-executors of the 

 will of the deceased poet, lived to a much later 

 period. So did Judith. Did they authorise a 

 deceptive inscription on the monument ? Would 

 they, on such an occasion, sanction an equivoque ? 

 I entirely reject the supposition ; and believe, 

 on the above evidence, that he was born before 

 the 23 April, 1564. If so, he did not die on his 

 birthday. Should the inferences be doubted — no 

 one, I am sure, can produce the smallest evidence 

 of an opposite tendency. 



I consider the current assertions — " He was 

 born on the 23 April, 1564 " — " He died on his 

 bij'thday in 1616" — as improbable conjectures; 

 and I submit the case to the Stratford club, to 

 the unprejudiced consideration of future editors 

 of biographical dictionaries and encyclopedias, and 

 and of all future editors of the Works of Shak- 

 spere. Bolton Cobney. 



The Terrace, Barnes. 



PROPOSED EMENDATIONS OF THE TEXT OP 

 SHAKSFEABE. 



The figures in the margin refer to the pages of 

 Dyce's Shakespeare, which has been made the 

 groundwork of the following emendations : — 

 The Tempest. ^ 

 Act I. 

 5. " He'll be hanged yet, [Sc. 2. 



Though every drop of water swear against it, 

 And gape at widest to englut him." 



5. " The sky, it seems, would pour down kindling pitch, 



But that the sea, mounting to the welkin's cheeks,* 

 Dashes the fire out." 



6. " I have with such provision in mine art 



So safely ordered, that there is no soil, 

 No, not so much perdition us a hair 

 Betid to any creature in the vessel." 



8. " Like one 



Who having unto truth, by quelling of it, 

 Made such a sinner of his memory, 

 To credit his own lie, hedid believe 

 He was indeed the Duke." 

 15. " Thou shalt be pinched [Sc. 2, 



As thick as honeycomb, each pinch more stinging 

 Than bees that make 'em." 



Act 11. 



21. " Every day some sailor's wife, [Sc. 1. 



The master of some merchant, and the merchant, 

 Have just our theme of woe." 



* See Richard II., Act III. Sc. 3. 



