It was a beautiful morning on Saturday 7th May when a large crowd gathered in the churchyard of Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-upon-Avon to celebrate the recent planting of two saplings in memory of Hamnet and Judith Shakespeare. The graves of their parents, William and Anne Shakespeare, and their elder sister, Susannah Hall nee Shakespeare, are all in the chancel of the church but, although records tell us that the twins were buried in the churchyard, they do not tell us the actual location within the burial ground.
Since Maggie O’Farrell wrote her brilliant and very successful novel “Hamnet” visitors are proving very curious to know where Hamnet was laid to rest and a definite answer cannot be given so Maggie has generously funded the planting of two rowan trees, one for Hamnet and one for Judith. The crowd in the churchyard was there to celebrate the appearance of those two new trees.
Maggie was joined by Reverend Patrick Taylor, the vicar, who dedicated and blessed the trees and by Hannah Young, an RSC actor and Stratford resident who gave two readings from Shakespeare’s plays. The first was from King John in which Constance, the mother of Prince Arthur, grieves so movingly for the death of her son. The second was from Midsummers Night’s Dream in which Helena reminds Hermia just how close they had been in childhood. “So we grew together, Like to a double cherry, seeming parted; But yet a union in partition; Two lovely berries moulded on one stem; So with two seeming bodies , but one heart:”
Maggie chose to plant rowan trees which are also known as mountain ash and have a long tradition in the British Isles of being able to protect against witchcraft and enchantment.
Their vibrantly coloured berries, in various shades of red and pink, have long been used to dye fabric and to make alcoholic drinks. She picked different varieties so that Hamnet’s tree will have red berries and Judith’s will have pink.
The rowan’s wood is very strong and resilient and well suited to carving.(It apparently makes excellent walking sticks.) Another feature of this tree is that the twigs are very good for divining and, although Stratford is not likely to be short of water any time soon, rowan branches will also divine metals. That’s something to bear in mind when looking for the next great Saxon hoard!
