The College of Arms
The connection to Shakespeare is that Williams father, John, applied for a coat of arms when William was a small boy. John was a glove maker who had other sidelines (unlicensed dealing in wool) which also earned him a fair amount of money. He had a number of roles on Stratford upon Avon council, constable, alderman and bayliff and had married into the minor Stratford gentry, the Ardens, who already had a coat of arms.
John obviously felt that he should have a coat of arms too, so he could call himself a 'Gentleman' and sign himself thus. However, the application was not progressed. It is not known why, although it could be because of the cost (it would have been about £30) or it could have been because John got into trouble for his unlicensed wool trading.
When William had made a name (and some money) for himself in 1596, the application was renewed. This time it was successful and the arms were granted.
The motto is old french, and means Not Without Right. The colours are black and mustard yellow.
There is some controversy about the motto. In the original herald's notes the motto is written Non, sanz droict, which could be interpreted as 'No, without right', in other words a reason for rejection.
Certainly, it looks like William Shakespeare was the butt of a joke by Ben Jonson, about his aspirations to become a gentleman. Ben Jonson wrote a comedy called 'Every man in his humour', in which it is known that WS appeared, because he is listed in Ben Jonson's Folio as doing so. Jonson then followed this up with a play called 'Every man out of his humour' where a character called Sogliardo, wishing to be a gentlemen, gets a coat of arms. The arms show a pig without a head, and the motto 'Not Without Mustard'.
Walk across the Millenium Bridge. At the other side of the river, go down the slope and walk along the river towards the Globe. Stop at the corner where New Globe Walk goes right (17 on the map).
The Globe is discussed in the next stage.
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