WHERE SHAKESPEARE WAS ENGLISH 141 



The thief enjoyed the spring with a gusto not exceeded 

 by the maid whose lovely list also begins with daffodils 

 that are sung open by solely English birds in the days 

 before the migrants come. On those days the blackthorn 

 began to bleach on the hedge ; and the thrush sang 

 how it did sing ! and the jay shrieked. The days were 

 bound to Shakespeare s days by the unbreakable tradi 

 tion of English fields, that subdued Bohemia and Sicilia 

 to their native quality. 



Snitterfield, the ante-room to Stratford (whose only un- 

 ruined approach is along the Warwick road), meant, it is 

 alleged, the clearing in the wood. The trees were more 

 and bigger in Shakespeare s time. They were, indeed, 

 more and bigger two years ago ; but still the impression 

 is left that you are always approaching a forest but never 

 reaching it. This feeling about England was expressed 

 by General Botha on his first visit to England ; and it 

 adds to our knowledge of England. As soon as you top 

 the rise and survey that Warwickshire hollow you know 

 the scattered trees are leading you straight and surely to 

 the romance of the Forest of Arden, as real to-day as if it 

 had never been cleared. 



7- 



A number of hoopoes have arrived in England in two 

 successive years and their &quot; crested and prevailing name &quot; 

 is full of myth and association to many who do not greatly 

 regard birds in the ordinary way. Like the cuckoo, or 

 the blue bird of March that we call the kingfisher, it has 

 a salience belonging to some exceptional feature and 

 habit ; and, after all, birds* names are very affectionately 

 absorbed into our language. Goose, eagle, hawk, owl, 

 cuckoo, vulture, gull, and parrot, all connote human (or 



