5/12/11 Day 4 Gretna Green & Stratford Upon Avon

So far I feel much more at home in England. I suppose draining my iPod of most of its power on the bus ride here helped. The countryside in Southern Scotland and Northern England is beautiful. The trees and hills reminded me a lot of Yamhill County.

Gretna Green

This village is a border town between England & Scotland. It has more English people than Scottish, because England forbade people under 18 to marry without parental permission. In Scotland you could marry as early as 16, so Gretna Green turned into an early Las Vegas, minus the slot machines.

We arrived in the middle of lambing season: all the lambs were three weeks old or younger

Stratford upon Avon--Holy Trinity Church

In Stratford upon Avon, we stopped at the church Shakespeare was baptized, married, and buried in, along with most of his family. I loved the look of it, woody enough to be comfortable, but not too drab either. It had beautiful colored stones as well.

I got to see the curse inscribed on Shakespeare's grave, and I also got to see the graves where most of his family is buried, save a daughter that married someone William Shakespeare didn't like. His family commissioned a bust within a few years of his death, so it's probably a good likeness of him. He helped fund the matinence of the church in exchange for his family being buried there.

Shakespeare's Birthplace & Childhood Home

Next we stopped at his birthplace, and his early residence. People in Stratford lived in two-room cottages, but Shakespeare's family cottage was three times as big. It may have been William and Anne's first house together, since his father bought it shortly before they married. We can also discern Shakespeare's wealth because he had a stone floor instead of a dirt floor. Instead of a flat-screen tv, his family showed off their wealth with a big guest bed. (Everyone else slept on mats with thin mattresses.) His father worked as a tanner, and was elected mayor of Stratford upon Avon. I wish we could have taken pictures inside of the dressed-up tour guides, but like most museums it wasn't allowed. There were many things in the gift shop I would buy if I had a job right now. Perhaps it's for the best.

Shakespeare was the third child of eight children, and he lived through the plague. He learned Latin and Greek in Stratford upon Avon's grammar school, later making fun of it in the Merry Wives of Windsor.
At the age of 18 he had to marry Anne Hathaway because she was pregnant with his child. They had three children, two of them twins, one of which died at the age of 11. His first career was as a headmaster at the grammar school, earning 20 pounds per year. Here I thought my income last year was low. The school day started at six in the morning and ended at five at night. Classes met six days a week, with only four holidays per year. Children learned by ear, not by text.

William Shakespeare moved to London and joined a theater company. His first play Two Gentlemen of Verona was his first and last time working with animals. He was so successful at playwriting that he was part of the procession at James I's coronation.

After his death, Shakespeare's family and friends published his first folio, selling copies for a pound each.

Some of us stopped at a fish & chips place that reminded me of Skippers, but a lot nicer looking. We were going to go into town, but everything closes in Stratford around 5:30 p.m, kind of like Salem!