fpeare, now of Stratford-upon-Avon, in the counte of Warwick, gent. whofe parent, great grandfather, and late anteceffor, for his faithefull and approved service to the late moft prudent prince, king Henry VII. of famous memorie, was advaunced and rewarded with lands and tenements, geven to him in those parts of Warwickfhere, where they have continewed by fome defcents in good reputaçion and credit; and for that the faid John Shakfpeare having maryed the daughter and one of the heyrs of Robert Arden of Wellingcote, in the faid countie, and alfo produced this his auncient cote of arms, heretofore affigned to him whileft he was her Majefties officer and baylefe of that towne;9 In confideration of the premiffes, and for the encouragement of his pofteritie, unto whom fuche blazon of arms and achievements of inheritance from theyre faid mother, by the auncyent cuftome and lawes of arms, maye lawfully defcend; We the faid Garter and Clarencieulx have affigned, graunted, and by these prefents exemplefied unto the faid John Shakspeare, and to his pofteritie, that shield and cote of arms, viz. In a field of gould upon a bend fables a speare of the first, the poynt upward, hedded argent; and for his creft or cognisance, A falcon with his wyngs displayed, flanding on a wrethe of his coullers, fupporting a speare armed hedded, or fteeled fylver, fyxed uppon a helmet with mantell and taffels, as more playnely maye appeare depected on this margent; and we have likewife uppon on other efcutcheon impaled the fame with the aun

9 his auncient cote of arms, heretofore assigned to him whileft he was her Majefties 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.

MALONE,

I

cyent arms of the faid Arden of Wellingcote; fignifieng therby, that it maye and fhalbe lawfull for the faid John Shakspeare gent. to beare and use the fame shield of arms, fingle or impaled, as aforfaid, during his natural lyffe; and that it fhalbe lawfull for his children, yffue, and pofteryte, (lawfully begotten,) to beare, use, and quarter, and fhow forth the fame, with theyre dewe differences, in all lawfull warlyke facts and civile ufe or exercises, according to the laws of arms, and cuftome that to gentlemen belongethe, without let or interruption of any perfon or perfons, for ufe or bearing the fame. In wyttneffe and teftemonye whereof we have fubfcrebed our names, and fastened the feals of our offices, geven at the Office of Arms, London, the

day of in the xlii yere of the reigne of our moft gratious Sovraigne lady Elizabeth, by the grace of God, quene of Ingland, France, and Ireland, defender of the faith, &c. 1599.

I

1 and we have likewife-impaled the fame with the auncyent arms of the faid Arden-] It is faid by Mr. Jacob, the modern editor of Arden of Feversham (firft published in 1592 and republished in 1631 and 1770) that Shakspeare defcended by the female line from the gentleman whofe unfortunate end is the fubject of this tragedy. But the affertion appears to want fupport, the true name of the person who was murdered at Feverfham being Ardern and not Arden. Ardern might be called Arden in the play for the fake of better found, or might be corrupted in the Chronicle of Holinfhed: yet it is unlikely that the true fpelling fhould be overlooked among the Heralds, whose interest it is to recommend by oftentatious accuracy the trifles in which they deal. STEEVENS.

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

Shakespeare's Autopuph, if it had been written

on

Paper, would have appeared thus.

MADE BY SHAKSPEARE,

A. D. 1612-13.

THE following is a tranfcript 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 poffeffion of Mrs. Garrick, by whom it was obligingly tranfmitted to me through the hands of the Hon. Mr. Horace Walpole. Much has lately been faid in various publications relative to the proper mode of fpelling Shakspeare's name. It is hoped we fhall hear no more idle babble upon this fubject. He fpelt his name himself as I have juft now written it, without the middle e. Let this therefore for ever decide the queftion.

It should be remembered that to all ancient deeds were appended labels of parchment, which were inferted at the bottom of the deed; on the upper part of which labels thus rifing 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 himfelf only room enough to write the letter a, he gave the matter up. His hand-writing, of which a fac-fimile is annexed, is much neater than many others, which I have feen, of that age. He neglected, however, to fcrape the parchment, in confequence of which the letters appear imperfectly formed.

He purchased the eftate here mortgaged, from