'Fables, he would read the Eclogues of Mantuanus, parts of Ovid, 'some of Cicero's Epistles, and probably one of his shorter treatises; in his fifth year he would continue the reading of Ovid's Meta'morphoses, with parts of Virgil and Terence; and in the sixth Horace, 'Plautus, and probably part of Juvenal and Persius, with some of 'Cicero's Orations and Seneca's Tragedies. In going through such a 'course, unless the teaching at Stratford was exceptionally inefficient, 'the boy must have made some progress in several of these authors, 'and acquired sufficient knowledge of the language to read fairly well 'at sight the more popular poets and prose writers such as Ovid and 'Cicero. [The Greek grammar, if any, in use at Stratford, would most likely be Clenard's 'Institutiones, absolutissimae in Graecam linguam.'] 'The masters of the school during the time Shakespeare attended it 'would seem, however, to have been at least of average attainments 'and ability as they rapidly gained promotion. No fewer than three 'held the post during the decade from 1570 to 1580. In the first 'two years Walter Roche, for the next five, the most important in 'Shakespeare's school history, Thomas Hunt, and during the last three 'years Thomas Jenkins were headmasters in the school.' Of geography, history, etc., probably a smattering was given, but I know no authority on the point. The chief subject of a grammar-school was Latin, and the principal book the Latin grammar. Hence the name 'grammar-school'.

Shakespeare probably learnt singing as a member of the Stratford church choir. The Bible and the Common Prayer-Book are very familiar to him. (See a separate chapter on this subject.)

On Baynes's essay Dr. Furnivall gives the following comment: 'He makes out a fair case'. But, adds Dr. F., 'what would Stratford 'provincials do, in Shakspere's day, with the large doses of Latin that 'the profest curriculums of larger town schools provided?' Dr. Furnivall does not appear to me to hit the nail on the head. Prof. Baynes continually refers to towns, such as Rotherham and Ashby-de-la-Zouche, which were certainly not large towns. But after all, Dr. Furnivall's list of Shakespeare's school-books (Leopold Sh., p. XI) does not materially differ from Baynes's list.1

1 While the present chapter is passing through the press, the first part of Mr. J. C. Collins's article "Had Shakespeare read the Greek Tragedies?" is appearing in the Fortnightly Review (April 1., 1903). Collins refers us to the curriculum drawn up for the Ipswich Grammar School in 1528, where the following authors and books were prescribed: Lily's Grammar, Æsop, Terence, Virgil, Cicero, Sallust, Cæsar, Horace, Ovid, Donatus's Commentaries.

WHAT TRACES OF THE ABOVE MENTIONED SCHOOL-BOOKS do we find in Shakespeare's works?

with its 'ba', consonants, and the five vowels, we have an interesting reference to it in Love's Labour's Lost, V, 1, 47 ff.:

What is a, b, spelt

Armado [To Holofernes]: Monsieur, are you not lettered? Moth. Yes, yes; he teaches boys the horn-book. backward, with the horn on his head?

Hol. Ba, pueritia, with a horn added.

Moth. Ba, most silly sheep with a horn. You hear his learning.

Hol. Quis, quis, thou consonant?

Moth. The third of the five vowels, if you repeat them: or the fifth, if I. Hol. I will repeat them,-a, e, i,—

Moth. The sheep: the other two concludes it.-o, u.

The alphabet, as we have seen, was preceded by a cross. Hence it was called Christ-cross-row, or criss-cross-row, or simply cross-row. Compare Richard III., Act I, 1, 54:

He hearkens after prophecies and dreams;

And from the cross-row plucks the letter G,
And says a wizard told him that by G

His issue disinherited should be.

THE ABC BOOK WITH THE CATECHISM

is referred to in King John, I, 1, 192 ff.

Why then I suck my teeth and catechize My picked man of countries: 'My dear sir', Thus, leaning on mine elbow, I begin, 'I shall beseech you'-that is question now; And then comes answer like an Absey book: 'O sir', says answer, 'at your best command; 'At your employment; at your service, sir:' 'No, sir', says question, 'I, sweet sir, at yours:' And so, ere answer knows what question would, It draws toward supper in conclusion so. Compare, too, The Two Gentlemen, II, 1, 23:

....

to sigh, like a school-boy that had lost his ABC. But this may refer to the horn-book.

1 Comp. ante, p. 9.

2 See pp. 9 and 48.

2

LILY'S LATIN GRAMMAR.

2

William Lily (1468?--1522) was one of the earliest Greek scholars in England, a friend of Thomas More, Erasmus, and John Colet, who appointed him the first high master of St. Paul's School. About 1509 Colet wrote an Accidence of the Latin language ('Coleti Aeditio' with the rules in English), to which was added a short Syntax by Lily, also in English. About 1540 this Grammar underwent a thorough revision. A copy of the year 1568, when Shakespeare was four years old, bears the following title; 'A Shorte Introduction of Grammar 'generally to be used: compiled and set forth for the bringing up of 'all those that intende to attaine the knowledge of the Latine tongue'.' The title of the copy of the year 1577, in the Britsh Museum, is the same, excepting some differences of spelling. From this edition I shall quote. I have also compared the text of earlier and later editions. The 1577 copy is partly in black letter and partly in Roman type. After a few pages of preliminaries, begins the Accidence or 'Introduction 'of the eyght partes of Latine Speache', which answers to Colet's 'Aeditio'. On folio 19. commences the Syntax ("The Concordes' and 'The Construction of the eyght partes of speache') which ends on leaf 27. This is based on Lily's Syntax added to Colet's Accidence. After some pages of Latin precepts and prayers we come to the Second Part, the title page of which is wanting in our copy. From other copies of the Grammar we know it ran thus; 'Brevissima Institutio seu 'Ratio Grammatices cognoscendae', etc. This part, to some degree a complete grammar of itself, is written entirely in Latin, while part 1. is in English. Nothing corresponding to this second part is found in the early editions of Colet and Lily's Grammar before 1540. This 'Brevissima Institutio' is compiled from Lily's 'de generibus nominum, ac verborum praeteritis et supinis regulae', to which T. Robertson made additions; from Lily's Syntax, with rules in Latin, entitled 'Absolutissimus de octo orationis partium Constructione libellus', a work entirely different from the Syntax referred to above, and in the composition of which Erasmus had a hand; and from other writings.3

The further history of Lily's Grammar does not concern us here. Suffice it to say that it long remained the national grammar of England, Having passed through various phases it finally developed into the Eton Latin Grammar of to-day.

1 Title given by Halliwell-Phillipps, in Notes and Queries, 6th Ser., II, p. 462.

2 Compare post, page 47, note.

3 Compare John Ward's Preface to Lily's Grammar, published in 1752.

Shakespeare's acquaintance with Lily's Grammar, commonly known as the Accidence, is satisfactorily proved by the catechetical scene in The Merry Wives of Windsor, Act IV., sc. 1. Sir Hugh Evans asks the boy, William, 'some questions in his accidence'. The answer to Evans's query, 'how many numbers is in nouns?' will be found on the first page of the grammar proper: 'In Nounes be 'two Numbers, the Singular, and the Plurall. The Singular Number 'speaketh of one: as Lapis, a stone. The plurall number speaketh 'of mo than one; as Lapides, Stones'. Compare The Merry Wives, ll. 32: What is lapis', William?

Evans

Will. A stone.

Evans. And what is a stone', William?

Will. A pebble.

Evans. No, it is 'lapis': I pray you, remember in your prain.
Will. Lapis.

Mrs. Quickly. Polecats! there are fairer things than polecats, sure— refers to the same page, where 'Bonus, Good; Pulcher, Fayre' are given as instances of adjectives.

On page 2. of Lily's Grammar we read:

ARTICLES.

Articles are borowed of the Pronoune, and be thus declined.

Compare with this The Merry Wives, ut sup., 11. 39 ff:

Will. Articles are borrowed of the pronoun, and be thus declined, Singulariter, nominativo, hic, haec, hoc.

Evans. Nominativo, hig, hag, hog; pray you, mark: genitivo, hujus. Well, what is your accusative case?

Will. Accusativo, hinc.

Evans. I pray you, have your remembrance, child: accusativo, hung, hang, hog.

Quick. 'Hang-hog' is Latin for bacon, I warrant you.

Evans. Leave your prabbles, 'oman. What is the focative case. William?

Will. 0,-vocativo, O.

Evans. Remember, William; focative is caret.

Quick. And that's a good root.

Evans. 'Oman, forbear.

Mrs. Page. Peace!

Evans. What is your genitive case plural, William?

Will. Genitive case!

Evans. Ay.

Will. Genitive.-horum, harum, horum.

Quick. Vengeance of Jenny's case! fie on her! never name her, child, if she be a whore.

Evans. For shame, 'oman. etc.

William's hesitative answer, "O,-vocativo, O", finds its explanation on page 2. of the Grammar, where we read: "The Vocative 'case is knowne by calling or speaking to: as O magister, O mayster'. Thus we find in the paradigms: 'Vocativo ô musa'; 'Vocavito ô lapis', and the like. Some pages further we have the declension of the pronoun: qui, quæ, quod, referred to by Evans, 11. 76–81.

In 1. Henry IV., Act II, 1, 104, there is the following quotation from the Grammar (p. 1.):

homo, is a common name to all men.

On folio 19. there is a section on Interjections, of which the grammar gives examples like the following: 'Some are of myrth: as 'Evax, vah. Some are of . . . Laughing: as Ha ha he . . . Calling: 'as Eho, oh, io', etc.-Compare Much Ado Ab. Nothing, Act IV., I, 22:

How now! interjections? Why, then, some be of laughing, as, ah, ha, he! The phrases, Diluculo surgere, saluberrimum est, and Vir sapit, qui pauca loquitur, to be found on leaf 20. of Lily's Grammar, are referred to in Twelfth Night (II, III, 2) and in Love's Labour's Lost (IV, 11, 82) respectively.

The line, Redime te captum quam queas minimo, in The Taming of the Shrew (I, 1, 167) is not taken from Terence direct, but from Lily (see Part. II., Abl. post verb.), where the quotation is given in the altered form which we find in Shakespeare, the original words in Terence's Eunuchus (I, 1, 30) being:

1 This witty reference to the Grammar may have been suggested by George Lyly's Endymion, where we find the following allusive passage:-'an interjection, 'where of some are of mourning, as eho! vah!' Cp. also 'Mother Bombie', III, 11: 'interjections like winde, as eho, ho, to'.