s the mother of Shakespeare's
patron, the Earl of Southampton, to whom he dedicated "Venus and Adonis"
in 1593, and "The Rape of Lucrece" in 1594. In both of these poems,
probably corrected by himself, his name is spelt _Shakespeare_. In 1594
the Countess married Sir Thomas Henneage, the Vice-Chamberlain of the
Household, and that same year Shakespeare was invited to act at Court.
Sir Thomas died the following year, after a lingering illness, and his
widow had to superintend the making up of his official books, and check
the bills. And thus it happened that it was she who introduced the
_first official record of Shakespeare's name_, and probably spelt it
correctly, according to the contemporary usage.

Page 5.--Mr. Nanson, the town clerk of Carlisle, has in his possession
the deed which concerns the Shakesperes of Penrith, 21 Richard II.

Page 22.--Shakespeare's shield bore an ordinary _canting_ pattern, or
one that was based upon the supposed meaning of the name. But the use of
the falcon in the crest requires explanation. French says: "The falcon
was one of the badges of Edward IV., father of Henry VII.'s Queen
Elizabeth. No person would venture to adopt this without special favour"
("Shakespeareana Genealogica," p. 523). There is something keenly
suggestive of expected objections in the motto, "Non sanz droict." Some
day, perhaps, it may be discovered why this crest and motto were
assumed.

Page 27.--Aston Cantlow, with the castle of Abergavenny, was settled on
Sir William de Beauchamp, second son of Thomas, Earl of Warwick, 12
Henry IV. It descended to his son, Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Worcester,
whose daughter Elizabeth married Sir Edmund Neville, and brought it to
him (Dugdale's "Warwickshire").

Page 27.--Another opinion of the derivation of Thomas Arden has been
discussed. It has been supposed possible that he might have been
descended from Thomas Arden of Leicestershire, son of Ralph Arden of
Alvanley, by his wife Catharine, daughter of Sir William Stanley, of
Hooton. This would account for the grant of the Cheshire arms, and would
not thrust him out of the Arden pedigree; but the theory is not
satisfactory on other grounds. One main objection is that there was no
known Thomas of suitable date in that family. But in the Park Hall
family there was a Thomas known to be alive during the period between
1502 and 1526, who has _never been traced_, if he did not go to Aston
Cantlow. Members of the Arden family a