Arthur BROOKE drowns in GREYHOUND wreck

[Arthur Neuendorffer]

-----------------------------------------------
The Mysterious Sir Christopher BLOUNT was:
.....................................................
1) possibly the murderer of Leicester
2) co-conspirator & step-father of Essex (i.e., Robert Devereux)
3) step-father of Penelope (Devereux Rich) BLOUNT (first love
. of Sir Philip Sidney & wife of Charles BLOUNT, 8th Lord Mountjoy)
4) brother of Edward BLOUNT - MOUNTJOY's servant (& F.F. publisher?)
5) nephew of Boar's Inn owner Jane {POLEY}
6) nephew of Stratford's John Combe III
7) 1st cousin to Deptford co-conspirator {Robert POLEY}
8) nephew of Anne/Agnes Wentworth
. (aunt to Oxford's brother-in-law William Wentworth)
--------------------------------------------------------
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_POLEY

<<Robert POLEY, or Pooley (fl. 1568– aft. 1602) was an English double agent, government messenger and agent provocateur employed by members of the Privy Council during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I; he was described as "the very genius of the Elizabethan underworld". POLEY is particularly noted for his central role in uncovering the so-called Babington plot to assassinate the Queen in 1586, and for being a witness of, and even a possible party to, the reported killing in self-defence by Ingram Frizer of the famous poet/dramatist Christopher Marlowe in May 1593.

In 1582 he married someone referred to as "Watson's daughter", by whom he had a daughter, Anne, who was baptised on 21 April 1583. At around that time, he started a campaign to work for Sir Francis Walsingham as a Catholic informer, the only result of which seems to have been his imprisonment in the Marshalsea on Walsingham's orders until May the next year. During this imprisonment he refused to see his wife, but regularly entertained a married woman called Joan Yeomans to "many fine banquets" there.

Following his release he continued his attempts to find employment in the government's service, both with Sir Francis Walsingham (via Walsingham's young relative Thomas Walsingham) and with the Earl of Leicester. The latter approach seems to have met with some success, since in June 1585 he was working with Christopher Blount under Leicester's aegis. He was sent as a 'special messenger' (i.e., a Catholic sympathiser) to Paris to contact Thomas Morgan, one of the main conspirators working on behalf of Mary, Queen of Scots, and to deliver a letter from Blount. He returned around 10 July.

In late 1585 POLEY was placed, apparently by Blount, with Sir Philip Sidney who had recently married Sir Francis Walsingham's daughter Frances and, as a part of the marriage settlement, was living in Sir Francis's house in Seething Lane. This meant that POLEY (whether it was planned or not) could claim to have regular access to Sir Francis without there being any suspicion that he was actually working for him. On 18 January 1586 Morgan wrote that POLEY "is placed with the Lady Sidney, the daughter of Secretary Walsingham, & by that means ordinarily in his house".)

It was in the course of one of these trips that the killing of Christopher Marlowe occurred in the house of a widow, Eleanor Bull, in Deptford. POLEY had left England on 8 May 1593 with messages for The Hague. The warrant for his payment, dated 12 June, tells us that he had delivered the reply to the court at Nonsuch Palace on 8 June and that he had been "in her Majesty's service all the aforesaid time." In 1925, however, Leslie Hotson discovered details of the inquest on the death of Christopher Marlowe, the famous poet/dramatist, at which POLEY was one of the three witnesses. The report itself tells us that Ingram Frizer killed Marlowe in self-defence, by stabbing him over the right eye in a scuffle started by Marlowe in a dispute over payment of the bill (the "reckoning") for the room and board provided for them. POLEY and another man, former government agent Nicholas Skeres, were sitting on either side of Frizer when Marlowe allegedly attacked him from behind.

The Marlovian theory even argues that the most logical reason for those people to have been there at that time was to fake Marlowe's death, allowing him to escape almost certain trial and execution for his seditious atheism. Why, after the inquest, there was a week's delay before POLEY delivered to the Privy Council the replies to the letters concerning "special and secret affairs of great importance" he had carried, is one of the several mysteries concerning this event.

In the Summer of 1597, it seems that POLEY was placed in the Marshalsea to spy on the playwright Ben Jonson whose play, The Isle of Dogs, written with Thomas Nashe had upset the authorities. Jonson attacked POLEY and a second informer, named Parrot, as "damned villains" and later wrote a poem praising convivial company without spies, including the line "we shall have no POLEY or Parrot by".

On 5 September 1601, POLEY was paid £10, by Sir Robert Cecil, for carrying post from and to Paris. This is the last heard of him except for a letter he wrote to Cecil on 18 July the following year. He sends information concerning Jesuits and their means of entering the country, but also indicates that his relationship with Cecil is now rather strained, saying, "How, half offended, you said to me I never made you good intelligence, nor did you service worth reckoning, is the cause I have not since presented myself with offer of my duty, although I much desire my endeavours might please you, my necessities needing your favour." The place and date of his death is unknown.>>
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http://www.degolmovie.com/liveshakespeare/williamdavenantspoem.htm
.
<<In 1638, Sir William Davenant's Madagascar contained the following
. poem, entitled "In Remembrance of Master William Shakespeare."
...................................................
. Beware (delight[ED] {POETS!}) when [Y|O}u sing
. To w[E|L}come Natu[R|E} in the earl{Y} *SPRING*;
................................................
. . . . . <= 10 =>
.
. B e w. a r. .e d e l i
. g h t [E D] {P O E T S}
. w h e n [Y] {O} u s i n
. g T o w [E] {L} c o m e
. N a t u [R] {E} i n t h
. e e a r .l. {Y} S P R I
. N G*;
.
{POLEY} 10 : Prob. in first couplet ~ 1 in 4300
[E/DYER] 10 : Prob. in first couplet ~ 1 in 200
................................................
. Your num'rous Feet not tread
. The Banks of Avon; for each Flowre
.(As it nere knew a Sunne or Showre)
. Hangs there, the pensive head.
.
. Each Tree, whose thick, and spreading growth hath made,
. Rather a Night beneath the *BOUGHS* , than Shade,
.(Unwilling now to grow)
. Looks like the *PLUME a Captain WEARES* ,
. Whose rifled Falls are steept i'th teares
. Which from his last rage flow.
.
. The piteous RiVER wept it selfe away
. Long since (Alas!) to such a swift decay;
. That read the Map; and looke
. If you a RiVER there can spie;
. And for a RiVER your mock'd Eie,
. Will find a shallow BROOKE.>>
------------------------------------------------------------
QUEEN GERTRUDE: There is a WILLOW grows aslant a BROOK,
. That shows his hoar leaves in the glassy STREAM;
. There with fantastic garlands did she come
. Of crow-flowers, nettles, daisies, and long purples
. That liberal shepherds give a grosser name,
. But our cold maids do dead men's fingers call them:
. There, on the pendent *BOUGHS* her *CORONET WEEDS*
. CLAMBERING TO HANG, AN ENVIOUS SLIVER BROKE
. When down her weedy trophies and herself
. Fell in the weeping BROOK.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dave Roper: "{SO TEST} Him, *I UOW* He Is Edward [DE] [UERE]"
.....................................................................
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . <= 34 =>

. H E N . R . Y. W R . . I . O T HE. SLEYEA R . . . L E O F S O . U .T. HAMPTO. N
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
. T E R . R . A. T E .. [G] .I T,PO. PULUSM Æ . . . R E T O L Y . M .P. USHABE. T
................................................................................
. S T A . Y . P. A S .. [S] .E N GE. RWHYGO E . . . S T T H O U . B {Y) SOFAST. R
. E A D . I . F. T . (H)[O] .V C AN. STWHOM . [E] [N] V I O U S] .D {E) ATHHAT. H
.*P L A. <S> .T* W . (I){T} <H{I}NT> HISMON . [U](M)[E] N T. *S H A (K) SPEARE* W
. I T. <H W H> . O . (M){E} .Q{U}IC. KNATVR . [E D](I)[D] E. *W H O .S. ENAMED* O
. T H D. <E> .C. K Y... {S} .T{O}MB. EFARMO . [R E] t (H) E . N C O .S. TSIEHA. L
. L Y T. <H> .E. H A-.. {T} .H{W}RI. TTLEAV . [E] S L I V] . .I N G .A. RTBVTP. A
. G E T . O. .S. E R.... V. .E H IS. WITT
..........................................................................
................. . . . . . . . . . . . "[ENVIOUS S L I V/ER] broke"
.......................................................
[DE] [UERE] 34
{SO TEST} . 34
{I UOW} . . 34
<HEWS> . . -34 : https://tinyurl.com/5ryf94sf
(KEY). . . -34
------------------------------------------------------------
Feast Day of Epona: 18 December
------------------------------------------------------------
Arthur BROOKE was admitted to Inner Temple December 18, 1561
sponsors: Grandmaster Thomas Sackville
& Thomas Norton, authors of *Gordobuc*(1560)
Brooke wrote *Romeus and Juliet* in 1562
. and then drowned in 1563
.
. Shoemaker William Shaxpere in the Avon, June 6, 1579.
.
Katherine HAMLETT drowned in the Avon December 18, 1579
. while fetching a pail of water.
. (during Venus/Mercury/Sun/Moon conj.)
-------------------------------------------------------------------
. Arthur BROOKE drowns in GREYHOUND wreck: Sat. March 21, 1562.
. Cranmer COOKS right hand on Sat. March 21, 1556.
. Mildred COOKE marries William Cecil on Sat. March 21, 1545.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sir {F}rancis [VERE] died on *St. AUGUSTINE(of Hippo)'s day* Aug. 28, 1609
and was buried in the chapel of *St. JOHN* in Westminster Abbey.
.........................................................
Edward de VERE died on *St. JOHN's day* 1604 [MDCIV] and
was buried in the church of *St. AUGUSTINE(of Canterbury)* in Hackney.
----------------------------------------------------------
1st Archbishop of Canterbury AUGUSTINE died May 26, 604
......................................................
. Witty SUS-ANna Shak. 'born' on May 26, 1583
. Witty SUS-ANna VERE 'born' on May 26, 1587
------------------------------------------------------------------
<<Sir Francis Vere (1560-1609) & his brother *HORACE* (1565-1635)
are buried in the chapel of St John the Ev[ANGEL]ist in the Abbey.

https://tinyurl.com/ycnb5eh9
https://tinyurl.com/y7e524z9
https://tinyurl.com/y9avjpja

Francis has a large monument of alabaster and black marble showing
him lying on a carved rush mattress in civilian dress under a slab
on which is laid out his suit of armour. The slab is supported on
the shoulders of four life-sized knights in armour who kneel at
each corner. The monument seems to have been inspired by that of
*Count ENGEL(bert I)I* of Nassau-Dillenburg in the church at Breda.>>
....................................................
. This is CLEARLY the tomb of *HAM(l)ET*
. NOT that of some *Count ENGEL-BERT* :
.
. http://tinyurl.com/ycraswu
http://www.westminster-abbey.org/library/burial/vere.htm
--------------------------------------------------
*ENGEL* : *ANGEL* (Danish, Dutch, German)
..............................................
. Quarto 2 (1604) Act 5, Scene 2
.
*HORATIO/HORACE* : Good night sweete prince:
. And flights of *ANGELS* sing thee to thy rest!
.
. Now cracks a noble hart, good night sweete Prince,
. And flights of *ANGELS* sing thee to thy rest.
.
. W[H]y dooes the dr[U]m come hether?
.[E]nter Fortenb[R]asse, with the [E]mbassadors.
...............................................
____ <= 12 =>

. W [H] y d o o e s t h e d
. r [U] m c o m e h e t h e
. r?[E] n t e r F o r t e n
. b [R] a s s e,w i t h t h
. e [E] m b a s s a d o r s.

[H.UERE] 12
--------------------------------------------------
. Quarto 2 (1604) Act 5, Scene 2
.
*FORT(enbr)ASSE* : Let foure Cap(T)aines
. B[E]are Hamlet like a (SO)uldie[R] to the stage,
. For h(E) was lik[E]ly, had he beene pu(T) on,
. To ha[V|E} prooved most royall; and [F{O}r] his passage,
. The souldiers musicke and the right of warre
. Speake loudly for him:
....................................................
________ <= 22 =>
.
. L e t f o u r e C a p (T)a i n e s B [E] a r e
. H a m l e t l i k e a (S O)u l d i e [R] t o t
. h e s t a g e,F o r h (E)w a s l i k [E] l y, h
. a d h e b e e n e p u (T)o n,T o h a [V]{E} p r
. o o v e d m o s t r o .y a l l;a n d [F {O} r] h
. i s p a s s a g e,
.
[F{O}r.VERE] -22 : Prob. in quote ~ 1 in 290
-------------------------------------------------------------
17th-century References to Shakespeare's Stratford Monument
http://shakespeareauthorship.com/monrefs.html

https://tinyurl.com/y876k4kq
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/e0/80/97/e08097ed025b30d41cb3a277f730bcb5.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Weever
.
<<In 1631, a year before his death, John WeEVER published the massive
Ancient Funerall Monuments, which recorded many inscriptions from
monuments around England, particularly in Canterbury, Rochester,
London, and Norwich. Shakespeare's monument does not appear in the
published book, but two of WeEVER's notebooks, containing his drafts
for most of the book as well as many unpublished notes, survive as
Society of Antiquaries MSS. 127 and 128. In one of these notebooks,
under the heading "Stratford upon Avon," WeEVER recorded the poems
from Shakespeare's monument and his gravestone, as follows:
..........................................................
. Good (F)rend for Iesus sake [F(O)r]beare
. To digg th{e d[U|S)}t enclosed heare
. Bl[E|S)t bee ye man that spa[R|E)s *THESE STONES*
. And c[U]rst bee hee that move[S] *MY BONES*.
.........................................................
In the margin opposite the heading "Stratford upon Avon",
WeEVER wrote "Willm Shakespeare the famous poet",
.
and opposite the last two lines of the epitaph
he wrote "vpo[n] the grave stone".>>
...........................................
____________ <= 18 =>
.
. G .o o .d (F) r e n d f o r I e s u s s
. a .k e [F (O) r]b e a r e T o d i g g t
. h {e d [U](S)}t e n c l o s e d h e a r
. e .B l [E](S) t b e e y e m a n t h a t
. s .p a [R](E) s T H E S E S T O N E S A
. n .d c [U] r. s t b e e h e e t h a t m
. o .v e [S] M. Y B O N E S

[F(O)r. UERUS] 18 : Prob. ~ 1 in 40,000
(FOSSE) 18 : A grave (Old French)
-----------------------------------------------------------
[Only *THESE STONES*/*MY BONES* rhyme in Shakespeare!]:
..........................................................
. The life and death of King Iohn. (Folio 1, 1623)
. Act IV, scene iii
.
. Enter Arthur on the walles.
.
Arthur: The Wall is high, and yet will I leape downe.
. Good ground be pittifull, and hurt me not:
. There's few or none do know me, if they did,
. This *SHIP-BOYES* semb{LANCE} hath *(D)I[S]GUIS'D M(E)* q[U]ite.
. I am (A)f[R]aide, an(D) y[E]t Ile vent[U]re it.
. If I g[E]t downe, and do not breake my limbes,
. Ile finde a thousand shifts to get away;
. As good to dye, and go; as dye, and stay.
. Oh me, my Unckles spirit is in *THESE STONES*,
. Heauen take my soule, and England keep *MY BONES*.
......................................................
. . . . <= 9 =>
.
. . . . . . . T h i s
. *S H I P- B O Y E S*
. .s e m b {L A N C E}
. .h a t h*(D) I [S] G U
. .I S'D M (E)*q [U] i t
. .e I a m (A) f [R] a i
. .d e,a n (D) y [E] t I
. .l e v e .n. t [U] r e
. .i t.I f .I. g [E] t d
. .o w n e,
.
(DEAD) 9
[E.UERUS] -9 : Prob. in speech ~ 1 in 6,360
---------------------------------------------------------------------
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Brooke_(poet)

<<Arthur *BROOKE* (died 19 March 1563) was an English poet who wrote and created various works including The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet (1562), considered to be William Shakespeare's chief source for his tragedy Romeo and Juliet (1597). Brooke was admitted to the Inner Temple, at the request of Gorboduc's authors, Thomas Norton and Thomas Sackville. He may have written the masque that accompanied the play.

On 19 March 1563, [*SHIP-BOY*] Brooke died in the *SHIPWRECK* that also killed Sir Thomas Finch, bound for Le Havre, besieged in the French Wars of Religion. In 1567 George Turberville published a collection of poetry entitled, Epitaphs, Epigrams, Songs and Sonnets; it included An Epitaph on the Death of Master Arthur Brooke Drownde in Passing to New Haven.>>
---------------------------------------------------
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eebo/A03435.0001.001?rgn=main;view=fulltext

THE TRAGICALL HIStorye of Romeus and Iuliet,
writ∣ten first in Italian by Bandell,
and nowe in Englishe by Ar. Br. (1562)

THere is beyonde the Alps, a towne of auncient same,
Whose bright renoune yet shineth cleare, VEROna men it NAME.
Bylt in an happy time, bylt on a fertile soyle:
Maynteined by the hea[V]enly *FATES*, and by th[E] townish toyle.
The f[R]uitfull hilles abo[V]e, the pleasant vale[S] belowe,
The *silVER streame* with chanell depe, that through the towne doth flow:
The store of *SPRINGES that sERVE* for vse, and eke for ease:
And other moe commodities which profite may and please.
.........................................
. . . . . . <= 17 =>
.
. M .a. y n t e i n e d b y t h e h e
. a [V] e n l y*F A T E S*a n d b y t
. h [E] t o w n i s h t o y l e.T h e
. f [R] u i t f u l l h i l l e s a b
. o [V] e,t h e p l e a s a n t v a l
. e [S] b e l o w e,T h e*s i l V E R
. s t r e a m e*w i t h c h a n e l
.
[VERVS] 17 : Prob. at start ~ 1 in 425
...................................................................
...................................................................
But she that from her youth was fost[R]ed eu[E]rmor[E]
With [V]ertu[E]s foo[DE], and taught in schole of wisdomes skilfull lore:
By aunswere did cutte of thaffections of his love,
That he no more occasion had so vayne a sute to move.
.
[DE VEER] -5
...................................................................
...................................................................
That now his wekened hart, weakened with tormentes past,
Vnable to abyde this pang, the sharpest and the last:
Remayn[E]d quit[E] depri[V]ed, of s[E]nse an[D] kindly strength,
And so the long imprisond soule, hath freedome wonne at length.
.
[DE VEER] -6
...................................................................
...................................................................
The nurce that knew no cause, why she absented her,
Did doute lest that some so[D]ain gre[E]fe too m[U]ch torm[E]nted her.
Eche wh[E]re but where she was the carefull Beldam sought,
Last, of the chamber where she lay, she haply her bethought.
.
[DE UERE] 7 : Prob. of 3[DE UERE]s in poem ~ 1 in 82
--------------------------------------------------------
. Ovidius Naso, Metamorphoses Book 8 (ed Arthur Golding)
.
And there the nerenesse of the Sunne which burnd more hote aloft,
Did make the Wax (with which his wings were glewed) lithe and soft.
As soone as that the Wax was molt, his naked armes he *SHAKES*,
And wanting wherewithall to wave no helpe of Aire he takes.
But calling on his father loud he drowned in the wave:
.
And by this chaunce of his those Seas his name for [EVER] have.
His wre{T}ched Father (but as then {N}o father) cride in feare:
{O} Icarus, O Icarus, where a{R}t thou? tell me where
Tha{T} I may finde thee, Icarus. {H}e saw the fethers swim
U(P)on the waves, and curst h(I)s Art that so had spight(E)d him.
At last he tooke hi(S) bodie up and laid it in a grave,
And to the Ile the name of him then buried in it gave.
.........................................................
. . . . . . . . . . . . . <= 20 =>
.
. A n d b y t h i s c. h a u n .c. e o .f h i
. s t h o s e S e a s *H I S N .A. M E* f o r
.[E V E R]h a v e.H i. s w r e {T} c h .e d F
. a t h e r(b u t a s. t h e n {N} o f .a t h
. e r)c r i d e i n f. e a r e:{O} I c .a r u
. s O I c a r u s,w h. e r e a {R} t t .h o u?
. t e l l m e w h e r. e T h a {T} I m .a y f
. i n d e t h e e,I c. a r u s.{H} e s .a w t
. h e f e t h e r s s. w i m U (P) o n .t h e
. w a v e s,a n d c u. r s t h (I) s A .r t t
. h a t s o h a d s p. i g h t (E) d h .i m.A
. t l a s t h e t o o. k e h i (S) b o .d i e
. u p a n d l a i d i. t i n a .g. r a .v e,A
. n d t o t h e I l e. t h e n .a. m e .o f h
. i m t h e n b u r i. e d i n .i. t g .a v e.
.
{T.NORTH (PIES)} 20
.........................................................
And as he of his wretched sonne the corse in ground did hide,
The cackling *PARTRICH* from a thicke and leavie thorne him spide,
And clapping with his wings for joy aloud to call began.
There was of that same kinde of Birde no mo but he as than
In times forepast had none bene seeneIt was but late anew
Since he was made a bird: and that thou, Daedalus, mayst rew:
For whyle the world doth last thy SHAME shall thereupon ensew.
For why thy sister, *IGNORANT* of that which after hapt,
Did put him to thee to be taught full twelve yeares old and apt
To take instructionHe did marke the middle bone that goes
Through fishes, and according to the paterne tane of those
He *FILED* teeth upon a piece of yron one by one
And so devised first the SAW where erst was nEVER none.
Moreover he two yron shankes so joynde in one round head,
That opening an indifferent space, the one point downe shall tread,
And tother draw a circle round The finding of these things,
The spightfull HEART of DaEDALUS with such a malice stings,
That headlong from the holy towre of *PALLAS* downe he thrue
His Nephew, feyning him to fall by chaunce, which was *NOT TRUE* .
But PALLAS (WHO DOTH FAVOUR WITS) did stay him in his fall
And *CHAUNGING* him into a Bird did clad him over all
With FETHERS soft amid the Aire The QUICKnesse of his WIT
(Which erst was *SWift*) did shed it selfe among his wings and feete.
And a[S] he *PARTRICH* hight before, so hights he *PARTRICH* still.
Yet mo[U]nteth not this Bird aloft ne seemes to have a will
To build hi[R] nest in tops of trees among the boughes on hie
But flecketh n[E]re the ground and layes hir egges in HEDGES drie.
And forbica[U]se hir former fall she ay in minde doth beare,
She EVER since all lofty things doth warely shun for *FEARE*.

[UERUS] -50
---------------------------------------------------
. Metamorphoses, by Ovid, tr John Dryden, [1717]
.
*A PARTRIDGE* , from a neighb'ring stump, beheld
The sire his monumental marble build;
Who, with peculiar call, and flutt'ring wing,
Chirpt joyful, and malicious seem'd to sing:
The only bird of all its kind, and late
*TRANSFORM'd in pity to a FEATHER'd state* :
From whence, O Daedalus, thy guilt we date.
His sister's son, when now twelve years were past,
Was, with his uncle, as a scholar plac'd;
The unsuspecting mother saw his parts,
And genius fitted for the finest arts.
This soon appear'd; for when the spiny bone
In fishes' backs was by the stripling known,
A rare *INVENTION* thence he learnt to draw,
*FIL'D TEETH* in ir'n, and made the grating SAW.
He was the first, that from a knob of brass
Made two strait arms with widening stretch to pass;
That, while one stood upon the center's place,
The other round it drew a circling space.
*Daedalus *ENVY'd this* , and from the top
Of fair MINERVA's TEMPLE let him drop;
Feigning, that, as he lean'd upon the tow'r,
Careless he stoop'd too much, and tumbled o'er.
The Goddess, who th' ingenious still befriends,
On this occasion her asssistance lends;
His arms with FEATHERs, as he fell, she *VEILS* ,
And in the air a new made bird he sails.
The QUICKness of his GENIUS, once so fleet,
Still in his wings remains, and in his feet:
Still, tho' *TRANSFORM'd* , his ancient name he keeps,
And with low flight the new-shorn stubble sweeps,
Declines the lofty trees, and thinks it best
To brood in HEDGE-rows o'er its humble nest;
And, in remembrance of the former ill,
Avoids the heights, and precipices still.
------------------------------------------------------------
*VERANDEREN* : *TO CHANGE* , *TO ALTER*, *TO TRANSFORM* (Dutch)
*VERANDERDE* : *CHANGED* , *ALTERED*, *TRANSFORMED* (Dutch)
--------------------------------------------------------
http://shakespeare.palomar.edu/life.htm

<<Dr Schoenbaum, in his famous Shakespeare's Lives, described
the section of his book devoted to anti-Stratfordian authorship
("Part VI: Deviations") as " ...the cruelest *ENDEAVOR* I have
*EVER CONFRONTED* ....The voluminousness of output is matched
only by the intrinsic insubstantiality of most of it,
two characteristics which together produce an
*OVERPOWERING* effect." (Oxford UPress, 1991, p449).>>
.
___ *ENDEAVOR*
___ *ON A DE VER*
.
___ *EVER CONFRONTED*
___ *CONFRONT DE VERE*

___ *OVERPOWERING*
___ *VERE : POOR WING*
-------------------------------------------------------------
POvidius Naso, Metamorphoses Book 8 (edArthur Golding)
.
The finding of these things,
The spightfull HEART of DaEDALUS with such a malice stings,
That headlong from the holy towre of *PALLAS* downe he thrue
His Nephew, feyning him to fall by chaunce, which was *NOT TRUE* .
But PALLAS (WHO DOTH FAVOUR WITS) did stay him in his fall
And *CHAUNGING* him into a Bird did clad him over all
With *FETHERS soft amid the Aire* The QUICKnesse of his WIT
(Which erst was SWift) did shed it selfe among his wings and feete.
......................................................
*FLEDGE* , afurnished with FEATHERS or wings; able to fly.
--------------------------------------------------------------
. TOTH [E] O [N] LIEB[E]GETTEROFTHESEIN
. SVIN [G] S [O] NNET[ß]MRWHALLHAPPINES
. SEAN [D] T [H] ATET[E]RNITIEPROMISEDB
. YOVR [E] V [E] RLIV(I)NGPOETWISHETHTH
. EWEL [L] W (I) SHIN[G]ADVENTURERINSET
. TING [F] O [R] TH
.
probability of *FLEDGE* : 1 / 25,500
http://www.stromsborg.com/swanmyths/greeks.htm
-------------------------------------------------------
http://www.webcom.com/shownet/medea/bulfinch/bull20.html
.
<<DaEDALUS was so proud of his achievements that he could not bear
the idea of a rival. His sister had placed her son *TALOS* under
his charge to be taught the mechanical arts*TALOS* was an apt
scholar & gave striking evidences of ingenuity WALKING ON
THE SEASHORE he picked up the spine of a fishImitating it,
he took a piece of iron and notched it on the edge,
and thus invented the *HANDSAW*
.
He, put two pieces of IRON together, connecting them at
one end with a rivet, and sharpening the other ends, and made
a pair of *COMPASSES* DaEDALUS was so ENVIOUS of his nephew's
performances that he took an opportunity, when they were
together one day on the top of a high tower to push him off.
But *MINERVA* , who favours ingenuity, saw him falling, and
arrested his FATE by changing him into a bird called after
his name, the *PARTRIDGE* This bird does not build
his nest in the trees, nor take lofty flights,
but nestles in the HEDGES, and avoids high places.>>
------------------------------------------------------------
probability of *TALOS* (Greek: *SUFFERER* ) acrostic~ 1/1,235
..........................................
[T]o draw no *ENVY* (Shakespeare) on thy name,
[A]m I thus ample to thy Booke, and Fame;
[W]hile I confesse thy writings to be such,
[A]s neither Man, nor Muse, can PRAISE too much.
[T]is *TRUE* , and all men's *SUFFRAGE* But these wayes
. Were not the paths I meant unto thy PRAISE;
. For SEEliest *IGNORANCE* on these may light,
. Which, when it sounds at best, but *ECCHO's right* ;
.........
[T]o life againe, to heare thy Buskin tread,
[A]nd SHAKE a stage : Or, when thy sockes were on,
[L]eave thee alone, for the comparison
[O]f all, that insolent GREECE, or haughtie Rome
[S]ent FORTH, or since did from their ASHES come.
.........
And such wert thouLooke how the fathers face
Lives in his issue, even so, the race
Of Shakespeares minde, and manners brightly shines
In his well toned, and *TRUE-filed lines*:
In each of which, he seemes to *SHAKE a LANCE* ,
As brandish't at the eyes of *IGNORANCE* -- Ben Jonson
---------------------------------------------------------
HAMLET: I know a HAWK from a HANDSAW.
______ *HANDSAW* = *TRUE-filed Lance*
--------------------------------------------------------------
Telling a HAWK ("DaEDALUS/Arthur Golding's" Ovid translation)
from a HANDSAW (nephew TALOS/Vere 's Ovid translation)
-----------------------------------------------------------
. Francis Meres *Palladis Tamia* (1598).
. http://daphne.palomar.edu/shakespeare/meres.htm
.
"so the sweet wittie soule of *OVID* lives
in MELLIFLUOUS & honytongued Shakespeare,
witnes his Venus and Adonis, his Lucrece,
his sugred Sonnets among his private frinds, &c.
.
I say that the Muses would speak with Shakespeares
*FINE FILED phrase* , if they would speake English."
...........................................................
POvidius Naso, Metamorphoses Book 8
edArthur Golding (i.e., nephew Edward de Vere)
.
Did put [ *TALOS* ] to thee to be taught full twelve yeares old
and apt To take instructionHe did marke the middle bone that
goes Through fishes, and according to the paterne tane of
those He *FILED teeth* upon a piece of yron one by one
And so devised first the SAW where erst was nEVER none.
----------------------------------------------------------
http://home.att.net/~tleary/GIFS/MINERVA.GIF

_The MINERVA BRITANNA_ Banner Folding clearly demonstrates
how the Equidistant Linear Sequence decoding is to be performed:
............................................................
http://f01.middlebury.edu/FS010A/students/Minerva/title.jpg
.
. [V] I . .\V\ I T U R
. [I] N G . \E\ N I O
. [C] Æ|T| E \R\ A M
. [O] R|T| I S\E\ R
. [U N T]
.
"all thinges perish and come to theyr last end, but workes
of learned WITS and monuments of Poetry abide *for EUER* ."
...................................................................
1577 Dedication in John *BROOKE's _The Staff of Christian Faith_*

. To the Right honourable and his singular good Lorde
. and maister Edwarde de \VERE\, Lorde d'Escales, and
. Badlesinere, [VICOUNT] Bulbecke, Earle of Oxenforde,
. and Lorde great Chamberlayne of Englande,
. Iohn Brooke wisheth long lyfe,
. with the increase of honor.&c.

ALTHOUGH VER(tu)E the roote of well doing (Right honorable Lorde) hath
of it selfe, sufficient force to withstande, repell, and ouerthrowe,
both the open m{ALICE}, and secrete slaunders of euill tongues, yet
notwithstanding considering howe dangerous, yea howe vnpossible a
thing it is to escape that poysoned sting of Zoilus, and also that
nothing hath eue[R] ben s[O] well [D]one, b[U]t tha[T] this Scorpion
hath eyther openly or priuily stong, I nede not to doubt, nay I may
be right sure, that these my labors shal come into the hands of some,
more curious than *WYSE* , more ready to nippe and tant
(yea euen withoute fault) then frendly to admonsihe or amende.

{ALICE} 1
[TUDOR] -5
---------------------------------------------------
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eebo/A03435.0001.001?rgn=main;view=fulltext

THE TRAGICALL HIStorye of Romeus and Iuliet,
writ∣ten first in Italian by Bandell,
and nowe in Englishe by Ar. Br. (1562)
...................................................................
...................................................................
So forced I was at length to yelde vp witles will,
And promist to be orderd by the friers praysed skill,
Wherfore, albeit I had rashely long before,
The bed and rytes of mariage, f{O}r many yeres fo{R|S]swore,
Yet moth{E}r now behold, yo{U}r daughter at your will,
Ready ({I}f you commaunde her ought) you{R} pleasure to fulfill.
Wherfor{E} in humble wise. dere madam I yo{U} pray
To goe vnto my lord and syre, withouten (L)ong delay,
Of h(I)m fyrst pardo(N) craue of faultes already past,
And shew him (if it pleaseth you) his child is now at last
Obedient to his iust and to his skilfull hest.
..............................................
. . . . . <= 12 =>
.
. f {O} r. m. a .n .y .y. e .r e s
. f .o {R}[S] w .o .r .e, Y .e t m
. o .t .h {E} r .n .o .w. b .e h o
. l .d, y .o {U} r .d .a. u .g h t
. e .r .a .t .y .o .u .r. w .i l l,
. R .e .a .d .y [I] f .y. o .u c o
. m .m .a .u .n .d .e .h. e .r o u
. g .h .t) y .o .u [R] p. l .e a s
. u .r .e .t .o .f .u .l. f .i l l.
. W .h .e .r .f .o .r [E] i .n h u
. m .b .l .e .w .i .s .e. d .e r e
. m .a .d .a .m .I .y .o [U] p r a
. y .T .o .g .o .e .v .n .t .o m y
. l .o .r .d .a .n .d .s .y .r e,w
. i .t .h .o .u .t .e .n (L) o n g
. d .e .l .a .y, O .f .h (I) m f y
. r .s .t .p .a .r .d .o (N)
...................................................................
. . . . . . . . . <= 25 =>
.
. f{O} r m a n y y e r e s f o{R}[S] w o r e,Y e t m o
. t h {E}r n o w b e h o l d,y o {U} r d a u g h t e r
. a t .y o u r w i l l,R e a d y [I] f y o u c o m m a
. u n .d e h e r o u g h t)y o u [R] p l e a s u r e t
. o f .u l f i l l.W h e r f o r [E] i n h u m b l e w
. i s .e.d e r e m a d a m I y o [U] p r a y T o g o e
. v n .t o m y l o r d a n d s y .r. e,w i t h o u t e
. n(L) o n g d e l a y,O f h(I)m .f. y r s t p a r d o(N)
.
[UERIUS] -25
{UERO} . -13
(NIL). . -12
---------------------------------------------------
Dr. Michael Delahoyde, Washington State University
..................................................
THE TRAGICAL HISTORY OF ROMEUS AND JULIET

<<This narrative poem, first published in 1562 and the key "source" for Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, can be found complete as:

https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eebo/A03435.0001.001?rgn=main;view=fulltext

The original publication title page reads only The Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Iuliet, written first in Italian by Bandell, and nowe in Englishe by Ar. Br. Very little is known about Arthur Brooke, who is later credited with the work: although see Nina Green, "Who Was Arthur Brooke?" The Oxfordian 3 (2000): 51-70. An Arthur Brooke existed, born about 1544 and drowned early in 1564 on his way to help Protestant forces in France, but many Oxfordians consider this poem a youthful composition by de Vere, who later expanded and revised the story for the stage. See Paul H. Altrocchi, MD, "Shakespeare, Not Arthur Brooke, Wrote Tragicall Historye of Romeus & Juliet." Shakespeare Oxford Newsletter 43.1 (Winter 2007): 22-26.

Ponderous amounts of source study and comparisons can be found; most pertinent involves Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde (stylistically also detectable in uses of such archaisms as the verb prefix "y-" and words such as "eke," "eyne," "cleped," "maugre," "hight," etc.).

The poem is a "cautionary tale for young lovers" (Farina 177) and is faulted for its (a) excessive alliteration; (b) frequent classical allusions; (c) a curious form of 'unnatural' natural history ... ; (d) didactic harangues; (e) lengthy soliloquies; (f) balanced antithesis; (g) extravagant description and artificial sentiment" (l-li). The "dullness" of this "long, moralising poem" is supposedly "undisputed" (Farina 175).

It is written in poulter's measure (rhyming couplets of first six and then seven beats), the from used in the "Golding" translation of Ovid's Metamorphoses and in other suspected early de Vere works.>>
----------------------------------------------------------------
The Readers Encyclopedia of Shakespeare (Campbell & Quinn)

The preface to the poem is highly moralistic
and *heavily tinged with Protestant polemics*:
...........................................................
. . . ROMEUS AND JULIET: To the Reader

The God of all Glory created, universally, all creatures to set forth His praise; both those which we esteem profitable in use and pleasure, and also those which we accompt noisome and loathsome. But principally He hath appointed man the chiefest instrument of His honour, not only for ministering matter thereof in man himself, but as well in gathering out of other the occasions of publishing God's goodness, wisdom, and power. And in like sort, every doing of man hath, by God's dispensation, something whereby God may and ought to be honoured. So the good doings of the good and the evil acts of the wicked, the happy success of the blessed and the woeful proceedings of the miserable, do in divers sort sound one praise of God. And as each flower yieldeth honey to the bee, so every example ministereth good lessons to the well-disposed mind. The glorious triumph of the continent man upon the lusts of wanton flesh, encourageth men to honest restraint of wild affections; the shameful and wretched ends of such as have yielded their liberty thrall to foul desires teach men to withhold themselves from the headlong fall of loose dishonesty. So, to like effect, by sundry means the good man's example biddeth men to be good, and the evil man's mischief warneth men not to be evil. To this good end serve all ill ends of ill beginnings. And to this end, good Reader, is this tragical matter written, to describe unto thee a couple of unfortunate lovers, thralling themselves to unhonest desire; neglecting the authority and advice of parents and friends; conferring their principal counsels with drunken gossips and superstitious friars (the naturally fit instruments of unchastity); attempting all adventures of peril for th' attaining of their wished lust; using auricular confession the key of whoredom and treason, for furtherance of their purpose; abusing the honourable name of lawful marriage to cloak the shame of stolen contracts; finally by all means of unhonest life hasting to most unhappy death. This precedent, good Reader, shall be to thee, as the slaves of Lacedemon, oppressed with excess of drink, deformed and altered from likeness of men both in mind and use of body, were to the free-born children, so shewed to them by their parents, to th' intent to raise in them an hateful loathing of so filthy beastliness. Hereunto, if you apply it, ye shall deliver my doing from offence and profit yourselves. Though I saw the same argument lately set forth on stage with more commendation than I can look for -- being there much better set forth than I have or can do -- yet the same matter penned as it is may serve to like good effect, if the readers do bring with them like good minds to consider it, which hath the more encouraged me to publish it, such as it is.

--Ar. Br.
----------------------------------------------------------
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Brooke,_10th_Baron_Cobham

Sir William Brooke, 10th Baron Cobham, KG (1 November 1527 – 6 March 1597) was Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, and a Member of Parliament for Hythe. Although he was viewed by some as a religious radical during the Somerset Protectorate, he entertained Queen Elizabeth I of England at Cobham Hall in 1559, signalling his acceptance of the moderate regime.
----------------------------------------------------------
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Brooke,_11th_Baron_Cobham

<<In 1597 Henry Brooke, 11th Baron Cobham (22 November 1564 – 3 February 1618) succeeded his father as Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports under Queen Elizabeth. Shortly after the accession of James I, he was implicated in the 'treason of the main' in 1603. His brother George was executed, and Henry was imprisoned in the Tower of London by James I, probably in an attempt to obtain the Cobham estates for the Duke of Lennox.

He may have been the subject of a number of Elizabethan satires such as Thomas Nashe's Lenten Stuffe, Ben Jonson's Every Man in his Humour, and may have been the model of Shakespeare's Falstaff, who was originally given the name "Oldcastle". Sir John Oldcastle was an ancestor of Lord Cobham. Though Falstaff is more likely modelled on his father William Brooke, 10th Baron Cobham (also descended from John Oldcastle) who was married to Frances Newton, whose family name was originally Caradock; referenced in 2 Henry IV when Falstaff sings "The Boy and the Mantle," a ballad in which Sir Caradoc's wife comes away with her fidelity and reputation intact (McKeen 1981). This could point to William Brooke, being married to a Caradock such as the Sir Cacadoc in the ballad sung by Falstaff, as the model for Falstaff rather than Henry, being the son of a Caradock.
-------------------------------------------------
. The Merry Wives of Windsor, Quarto 1, 1602
. Act II, scene I
.
Host: Hast thou no shute against my knight,
. My guest, my cauellira:
.
For. None I protest: But tell hi[M] my n[A]me
. I[S] Bro[O]ke, o[N]lie for a *IEST*.
...................
. . <= 4 =>
.
. . t e. l .l
. . h i [M] m
. . y n [A] m
. . e I [S] B
. . r o [O] k
. . e,o [N] l
. . i e. f .o
. . r a *I .E
. . S T*.
.
[MASON] 4
------------------------------------------------------------------
. The Merry Wives of Windsor, Folio 1, 1623
.
Host. Hast thou no suit against my Knight?
. my guest-Caualeire?
.
Shal. None, I protest: but Ile giue you a pottle of
. burn'd sacke, to giue me recourse to him, and tell
. hi[M] my n[A]me I[S] Bro[O]me: o[N]ely for a *IEST*.
...................
. . <= 4 =>
.
. . t e. l .l
. . h i [M] m
. . y n [A] m
. . e I [S] B
. . r o [O] m
. . e,o [N] l
. . i e. f .o
. . r a *I .E
. . S T*.
.
[MASON] 4
------------------------------------------------------------------
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_IV,_Part_1#Oldcastle_controversy

<<Henry IV, Part 1 caused controversy on its first performances in 1597, because the comic character now known as "Falstaff" was originally named "Oldcastle" and was based on John Oldcastle, a famous proto-Protestant martyr with powerful living descendants in England.

Although the character is called Falstaff in all surviving texts of the play, there is abundant external and internal evidence that he was originally called Oldcastle. The change of names is mentioned in seventeenth-century works by Richard James ("Epistle to Sir Harry Bourchier", c. 1625) and Thomas Fuller (Worthies of England, 1662). It is also indicated in details in the early texts of Shakespeare's plays. In the quarto text of Henry IV, Part 2 (1600), one of Falstaff's speech prefixes in Act I, Scene ii is mistakenly left uncorrected, "Old." instead of "Falst." In III, ii, 25-6 of the same play, Falstaff is said to have been a "page to Thomas Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk"—which was true of the historical Oldcastle. In Henry IV, Part 1, I,ii,42, Prince Hal calls Falstaff "my old lad of the castle." Iambic pentameter verse lines in both parts are irregular when using the name "Falstaff", but correct with "Oldcastle". Finally, there is the blatant disclaimer at the close of Henry IV, Part 2 that discriminates between the two figures: "for Oldcastle died [a] martyr, and this is not the man" (Epilogue, 29–32).

There is even a hint that Falstaff was originally Oldcastle in The Merry Wives of Windsor too. When the First Folio and quarto texts of that play are compared, it appears that the joke in V,v,85–90 is that Oldcastle/Falstaff incriminates himself by calling out the first letter of his name, "O, O, O!," when his fingertips are singed with candles—which of course works for "Oldcastle" but not "Falstaff." There is also the "castle" reference in IV,v,6 of the same play.

The name change and the Epilogue disclaimer were required, it is generally thought, because of political pressure: the historical Oldcastle was not only a Protestant martyr, but a nobleman with powerful living descendants in Elizabethan England. These were the Lords Cobham: William Brooke, 10th Baron Cobham (died 6 March 1597), was Warden of the Cinque Ports (1558–97), Knight of the Order of the Garter (1584), and member of the Privy Council (1586–97); his son Henry Brooke, 11th Baron Cobham, was granted the paternal post of Warden of the Cinque Ports upon his father's death, and made a Knight of the Order of the Garter in 1599. Even more so, Frances Brooke, the 10th Baron's wife and 11th Baron's mother, was a close personal favourite of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth I.

The elder Lord Cobham even had a strong negative impact upon the lives of Shakespeare and his contemporaries in the theatre. The company of actors formed by Shakespeare, Richard Burbage, Will Kempe and the others in 1594 enjoyed the patronage of Henry Carey, first Lord Hunsdon, then serving as Lord Chamberlain; they were, famously, the Lord Chamberlain's Men. When Carey died on 22 July 1596, the post of Lord Chamberlain was given to William Brooke, Lord Cobham, who definitely was not a friend to the players, and who withdrew what official protection they had enjoyed. The players were left to the mercies of the local officials of the City of London, who had long wanted to drive the companies of actors out of the City. Thomas Nashe, in a contemporary letter, complained that the actors were "piteously persecuted by the Lord Mayor and the aldermen" during this period. This interval did not last; when Cobham died less than a year later, the post of Lord Chamberlain went to Henry Carey's son George, 2nd baron Hunsdon, and the actors regained their previous patronage.[20]

The name was changed to "Falstaff", based on Sir John Fastolf, an historical person with a reputation for cowardice at the Battle of Patay, and whom Shakespeare had previously represented in Henry VI, Part 1. Fastolf had died without descendants, making him safe for a playwright's use.

Shortly afterward, a team of playwrights wrote a two-part play entitled Sir John Oldcastle, which presents a heroic dramatisation of Oldcastle's life and was published in 1600.

In 1986, the Oxford Shakespeare edition of Shakespeare's works rendered the character's name as Oldcastle, rather than Falstaff, in Henry IV, Part 1 (although not, confusingly, in Part 2), as a consequence of the editors' aim to present the plays as they would have appeared during their original performances. No other published editions have followed suit.>>
---------------------------------------------------------------------
https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Annotations_to_James_Joyce%27s_Ulysses/Eumaeus/615

Annotations to James Joyce's Ulysses/Eumaeus/615
...................................................
anno ludendo hausi, Doulandus (Errata) Gabler emends this to: annos ludendo hausi, Doulandus.

annos ludendo hausi, Doulandus (Latin) I used up my years in playing — Dowland.

The words are taken from an emblem presented to Dowland by his friend Henry Peacham (1578-1644).
Peachum describes the gift thus in The Compleat Gentleman:

Of my good friend Master Doctor Dowland, in regard he had slipt many opportunities in advancing his fortunes and a rare Lutenist as any of our Nation, beside one of our greatest Masters of Musicke for composing: I gave him an Embleme with this;
IOHANNES DOVLANDVS
Annos ludendo hausi.

The astute reader will have noticed that annos ludendo hausi is an anagram of Iohannes Doulandus. By omitting Iohannes, Stephen has lost the anagram. According to Thomas Fuller, the anagram was composed by *Ralph Sadler*, Esq, of Standon, Hertfordshire, who was with Dowland in Copenhagen.
-------------------------------------------------------------
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Sadler

<<Sir Ralph Sadler (1507 – 30 March 1587) was an English statesman, who served Henry VIII as Privy Councillor, Secretary of State and ambassador to Scotland. Sadler went on to serve Edward VI, although having signed the device settling the crown on Jane Grey, was obliged to retire to his estates during the reign of Mary I. Sadler was restored to royal favour during the reign of Elizabeth I, serving as a Privy Councillor and once again participating in Anglo-Scottish diplomacy. He was appointed Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in May 1568.Sadler is one of the major characters in Hilary Mantel's 2009 novel Wolf Hall, which gives a fictional portrayal of Sadler's youth and early manhood in the household of Thomas Cromwell.>>
-------------------------------------------------------------
BROOKE HOUSE (King's Place) OWNERS
.............................................................
-> July-Aug 1547: Sir William Herbert

The First Folio is, of course, dedicated to Herbert's sons.

-> Aug-Oct 1547: Sir Ralph Sadler & John Hales of Coventry
-> Oct 1547 - Feb 1548: Sir Ralph Sadler
(Shakspere's neighbor: Hamnet Sadler)

-> Feb 1548 - July 1578: Sir Wymond CAREW;
-> 1548: Brooke House was sold by Richard CAREW,
-> antiquary and author of _The Survey of Cornwall_.

. Elizabeth angrily rejected Essex's suggestion
. of Sir George CAREW as Lord Deputy of Ireland.
. (Essex almost pulls a sword on Liz after she strikes him
. on the ear and tells him to go get hanged.)
------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.masterofshakespeare.com/master_of_shakespeare.htm

Ungentle Shakespeare, Katherine Duncan-Jones, Arden Shakespeare (2001), p.35

<<My conjecture is that the earliest patron of [John Heminge and William Shakespeare] may have been the affable and generous Sir Fulke Greville of Beauchamps court ... the elder Greville was deeply involved in local affairs. From 1591 until his death in 1606, he was the Recorder of Stratford-upon-Avon ... Shakespeare ... perhaps came to the notice of Sir Fulke Greville of Beauchamps Court and for a couple of years served him in some capacity, probably as a player, possible also as a clerk or secretary>>
------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.masterofshakespeare.com/master_of_shakespeare.htm

The Master of Shakespeare, Volume I, by A. W. L. Saunders (2007),

<<Fulke Greville's alleged remark: 'I am the master of Shakespeare', first appeared in print in David Lloyd's biography of him in The Statesmen and Favourites of England since the Reformation (1670). Lloyds most likely source for the remark is Greville's page, William Davenant, who is famous for his claim to have been Shakespeare's son. The one time prompter of Drury Lane (founded by Davenant), William Chetwood, wrote that Greville's page 'was, by many, supposed the natural son of Shakespear'. If the Stratford Recorder did make such a remark to his young page, was he telling the truth? Greville had the reputation among his contemporaries of being a gentle, honourable and honest man.

Greville's biographers have proved remarkably shy of investigating his 'tantalizing' claim. Professor Rebholz, in his Life of Fulke Greville, makes no mention of it at all, which seems very strange. Professor Rees in her Fulke Greville, Lord Brooke (42, 218), says only that his claim 'whets the curiosity'. Some Stratfordian biographers such as Ralegh (1907), Brown (1951), Alexander (1964), Holden (1999) and Greenblatt (2005), make no mention of Greville or his claim in their books but, on the whole, Stratfordian scholars have been very willing to incorporate Greville into their theory and give him a staring role in the life of his fellow townsman.

E. K. Chambers held that Shakspere had been first employed by Greville's father, the old Stratford Recorder, who 'maintained domestic players at Beauchamps Court'. Katherine Duncan-Jones also believed that 'Shakspere's earliest patron' was Fulke Greville senior. Ackroyd in his Shakespeare - The Biography (477), was certain that as a 'poet and dramatist', as well as a fellow townsman, Greville 'knew Shakespeare very well indeed'. Dame Francis Yates believed that the young William Shakspere 'had access to Greville's house and circle' and Rosemary Sisson suggested that he had once been 'Fulke Greville's page'.

The great Shakespearean scholar Charles Lamb was deeply interested in Greville's claim to have been Shakespeare's 'master' and the author of Antony and Cleopatra. When he was asked at a dinner party which personages from history he would most like to meet face to face, he astonished his friends, including Hazlett (Essays, 1821-2, 'Of persons One Would Wish to have Seen'), by choosing, not Shakespeare, but Fulke Greville, Lord Brooke, as one of the 'ghosts' he would most like to question. Lamb described Greville as 'a truly formidable and inviting personage; his style apocalyptical, cabalistical, a knot worthy of such an apparition to untie; and for the unravelling of a passage or two, I would stand the brunt of an encounter with so portentous a commentator.' Obviously referring to Greville's 'mysterious' claim, Lamb said 'I should like to ask him 'the meaning of what no mortal I should suppose, can fathom.'
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http://www.masterofshakespeare.com/fulke_greville.htm

<<There is probably more evidence about the life of the soldier, courtier, statesman and poet, Fulke Greville, Lord Brooke (1554-1628), than about the life of any other English writer of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. These records show that the Stratford poet was one of the most extraordinary men of his age. He was the son of Sir Fulke Greville, de jure 4th Lord Willoughby de Broke, of Beauchamps Court, the family seat situated a few miles from Stratford-upon-Avon. Physically, Greville is reported to have been a thin, athletic and extremely handsome man. He was a

After being educated at Shrewsbury (where he met his lifelong friend Philip Sidney), and Jesus College, Cambridge, he was successfully (and in many cases simultaneously): an 'intelligencer' who traveled all over Europe and recruited spies for Walsingham and Essex (Marlowe, Gwinne and Coke); a soldier (he was captain of a hundred lancers and fought for Henry of Navarre at the Battle of Coutras in 1586); a sailor (master and commander of the Foresight, 1580 and, in 1599, Rear-Admiral commanding The Triumph, the largest ship in the British Navy). He was a renowned horseman and a 'famous Champion of the tiltyard'.

During his long career the Recorder of Stratford-upon-Avon managed to repair his family estates and 'died reputed to be the richest man in England'.

Greville never married and spent much of his great fortune on many diverse interests. He was an art collector (the Warwick Collection, particularly the tapestries). A builder (rebuilding the ruined Warwick Castle), and an early patron of Inigo Jones (Brooke House, Holborn and The Banqueting House, Whitehall). He designed three of the most famous gardens in England, (Warwick Castle, Brooke House, Holborn, and Kings Place, Hackney). He was a great promoter of America (The Virginia Company), and, with Philip Sidney and Francis Drake, he planned 'The Invasion of America' in 1585. Greville's lasting fame is as a patron to men of literature (including three Poets Laureate, Samuel Daniel, Edmund Spencer and Ben Jonson); history (William Camden, Dorislaus); trade (the East India Company); science (Giordano Bruno and John Speed); politics (Francis Bacon and Sir John Coke); and the Church (Bishops Andrews and Overall).

Modern scholars agree (What the Critics said about Fulke Greville), that the poet and dramatist from Stratford-upon-Avon was a superlative poet and a 'rare and singular genius'. According to Gorley Putt:

Geoffrey Bullough summed it up ... What is conceivable is that Fulke Greville the man, freed from the restrictions of Fulke Greville the courtier and administrator, might well have found the true medium for his metaphysical debating mind not in closet-dramas but in the popular theatre of his day. What Chapman achieved by sheer power of intellectual will and Tourneur vainly strove to equal, Greville was equipped to equal or surpass.>>
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Art Neuendorffer