Having some dinner with Will Shakespeare. Ask us anything.

[Aristus]

Debating whether to post an edition of WSTFTD this weekend. I'm going out of town, and Will is headed to Stratford.

The Globe is closed for the winter, of course, and business at the Blackfriars is cool right now. So relaxation time for everyone...

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. What are some of Will's favorite foods, my dear Aristus?

I'll leave it up to you and Will about the weekend posting...

It's good to relax now and then.

[Aristus]

4. Beef and chicken.

Will ate a lot of turnips when he was coming up, but now that he's made his bones: "Zounds, mate! Never again!"

Beef, lamb, fowl of any sort, toasted cheese, you name it. It's good to be rich, says Will.

[elleng]

2. Tea?

[Aristus]

6. They didn't have tea in Will's day. He doesn't trust it.

"Boiled leaves? Ta, mate, thank you, no. A sip of ale will do me quite well."

[elleng]

11. Yes, of course, Sir!

but a SIP???


surely

[Aristus]

12. No. By the barrel-ful, if possible.

British understatement, you know...

[Honeycombe8]

14. There wasn't tea in England? It existed, and didn't England trade with China? nt

[Aristus]

16. Not until the late-18th and early 19th Centuries.

Before that, BREW! Even the children drank it. "Small beer", it was called, for its low-alcohol content.

[Honeycombe8]

18. Wow. I had no idea. Very interesting. Thanks, Aristus! You are a smart cookie! nt

[Aristus]

19. Aw...

[RILib]

21. because the water was like contaminated

or something. I'm not sure how using it as an ingredient in beer overcame that.

[pscot]

22. You boil the wort

Anyway the water was a lot cleaner than it is now.

[RILib]

26. I'm not sure of that

weren't people always keeling over in London from diseases from contaminated water.

[ellisonz]

3. When Shakespeare went to the loo

Which loo did Shakespeare go into or is a unisex joint?

[struggle4progress]

7. He skipped to my loo

[ellisonz]

8. That's dirty.

[Aristus]

9. The privies were unisex back then.

One-holers for the poor, four-holers for the middle-class, water closets for the rich, and "the stool" for royalty.

[Honeycombe8]

15. They didn't have loos then, did they? They threw the sewrage out into the woods, or streets...

depending on where you lived.

[struggle4progress]

5. How come my feet smell and my nose runs?

[Aristus]

10. You have a virus, and poor foot hygiene.

That was me, not Will...

[struggle4progress]

20. What a relief! I was afraid I was built upside-down!

[Ptah]

13. What would Will do if I sent a loaf of SF Sourdough?

[Aristus]

17. Eat it, and thank you kindly for such a nice gift.

[frogmarch]

23. I’ve always wondered if

when Will and his friends emptied their chamber pots out the window, and shouted, “’Ware (Beware) the stool!” they were actually shouting, “Wear the stool!”

Seriously. I’ve wondered about it ever since my high school World History teacher said that’s what they shouted.

Well, you did say we could ask you anything.

[Aristus]

24. Yeah, but I didn't promise I'd answer!

Actually, Will just said: "Crikey, mate! You colonial blokes think up the oddest things!..."

[frogmarch]

27. Ah, well,

I expected as much.

Regards to you both.

[Grantuspeace]

25. Did you ever get pissed off when you heard, "Avon calling"?

[Lady Freedom Returns]

28. Having dinner? And maybe no WSTFTD?

“Give sorrow words. The grief that does not speak whispers the o'er-fraught heart, and bids it break.”


FYI= Macbeth-- Act 4, Sc. 3

[Aristus]

29. LFR, you are always invited!

I didn't think to make a standing offer. I was beating my head against the table, when Will said:

"What though her frowning brows be bent,
Her cloudy looks will calm her night,
And then too late she will repent,
That thus dissembled her delight."

I think he thinks you're faking your sorrow. But good on you for expressing it in his words.

Uh-oh, here goes: he's lifting his glass in toast to you.

He's really got a thing for you, LFR. Pull up a chair and have coffee and dessert with us...