'284 NOTES AND QUERIES. [i2s.vm.AP R iL9,i92i. Can any one inform me of any earlier instance in English writing of this kind of versification than that afforded by the -above-mentioned " ambiguitie " in ' Ralph Roister Doister ' ? J. S. UDAL, F.S.A. AMONG THE SHAKESPEARE ARCHIVES. f <See ante, pp. 23, 46, 66, 83, 124, 146, 181, 223, 241, 262.) THE DEATH OF JOHN BRETCHGIRDLE. In the midst of his fight with the Plague at Stratford John Bretchgirdle was worried by his landlord at Witton, Sir Thomas Venables. For reasons as to which we can only speculate, Sir Thomas, who was "not favourable to True Religion," having got into his hands the deeds of Bretchgirdle 's lease of the house and land adjoining Witton Chapel-yard, determined to evict him. About Whitsuntide 1564 he entered upon the premises, turned out Bretchgirdle 's servants and impounded his horse, worth 40s., which "died for famine." Such at any rate is Bretchgirdle 's complaint in a bill in Chancery dated Oct. 12. This was aboiit a fortnight after John Brownsword's settlement as schoolmaster in Warwick. John Brownsword, it will be remembered, was Bretchgirdle 's pupil at Witton. Among his Latin poems are three addressed to his Master cne produced while he was a boy at Witton ; the second composed at Poynton soon after his leaving Witton, when he may have been chaplain and tutor in Lady Warren's household at Poynton Park, about the beginning of 1560 ; and the third written at Wilmslow, shortly before Christmas, 1560. They contain scraps of biography and are full of respect and affection for Bretchgirdle. At the very time of Bretch- girdle 's presentation to the Stratford vicar- age, Brownsword was appointed Master of the school at Macclesfield, January, 3561. The records of Macclesfield School are silent about any break in what has been hitherto accepted as a continuous tenure of office by Brownsword from that date to April, 1588*; but from the archives of Warwick and Stratford comes irrefutable evidence that he was schoolmaster in both these towns and must have left Macclesfield for at least three years. He was at Warwick, teaching boys at the old Gild Hall (subsequently called Leicester's Hospital) from Michael- mas, 1564, to Lady Day, 1565. We wonder whether on his arrival in Warwickshire he brought intelligence to Bretchgirdle of his landlord's high-handed doings at Witton. We certainly may believe that the prospect of being near his old and loved teacher brought him into the neighbourhood of Stratford. At Stratford the school was doubtless closed for some months on account of the Plague, and the Master, William Smart, probably devoted himself to parish work in aid of the Vicar. When Bretchgirdle died Smart succeeded him as Vicar. Bretch- girdle may have been ill for some time before his death in June. At any rate, Smart had left the school at Lady Day, 1565, when Brownsword was appointed Master. On Sunday, Apr. 1, Brownsword signed his agreement with Master Richard Hill, Bailiff, and the Burgesses of Stratford, to " serve in their Free School as a good and diligent schoolmaster ought to do for the term of two years in consideration of the sum of 20 yearly and his dwelling-house." To John Shakespeare as Chamberlain had fallen the duty of bringing him and his wife and goods from Warwick and putting his dwelling-house in order. In his Account are items fcr tiles, laths, nails, slate-pins, lime, sand, eaves' poles and carriage of four loads of timber for work in the Chapel and School and for tiling the Schoolmaster's House. The Vicar's House and the Schoolmaster's House were side by side in the Chapel pre- cincts. After five years master and pupil were together again, almost under one roof, happy in each other's company and prob- bably looking forward to many years of fellowship and co-operation. But within three months Bretchgirdle was dead. The Plague, probably, had been too much for him. On June 20, 1565, he made his will, and next day he was buried within the Parish Church. His will in many ways is interesting :* " I bequeath [he said] Qs. 8d. among the poorest folk of the lordship of Baguley, where
- We owe to Mr. Richard Savage of Stratford-
upon-A von the unearthing and transcription of this extraordinarily interesting document. It has opened up a whole new field of research in a country hitherto thought singularly devoid of Shakespearean interest. Baguley, Northwich Witton, Great Budworth, Poynton, Wilmslow and Macclesfield are now linked up with Warwick and Stratford through Bretchgirdle arid his pupil, John Brownsword. See articles on these men in The Hibbert Journal for July, 1920, and April, 1921.
