Did The Bard Partake of the Herb?

[n2doc]

State-of-the-art forensic technology from South Africa has been used to try and unravel the mystery of what was smoked in tobacco pipes found in the Stratford-upon-Avon garden of William Shakespeare.

Residue from clay tobacco pipes more than 400 years old from the playwright’s garden were analysed in Pretoria using a sophisticated technique called gas chromatography mass spectrometry.

Chemicals from pipe bowls and stems which had been excavated from Shakespeare' garden and adjacent areas were identified and quantified during the forensic study. The artefacts for the study were on loan from the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.

The gas technique is very sensitive to residues that can be preserved in pipes even if they had been smoked 400 years ago.

more

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/features/william-shakespeare-high-cannabis-marijuana-stoned-plays-hamlet-macbeth-romeo-juliet-stratford-10446510.html

Maybe….

[shenmue]

1. No wonder some of the plays are so long!

[jtuck004]

2. Hmmm. Stratford-upon-Avon Haze? n/t

[ChazInAz]

3. Intriguing idea.

In the past few decades, we've gotten a good idea of what Shakespeare was doing as businessman, aside from the theater he owned in London. He comes across as a canny, rather ruthless man. In London, he was busy earning a fortune with real-estate speculation, rentals and loan sharking. In Stratford, his wife was running the more agricultural side of things. When he retired from the theater and returned to Stratford, he expanded the small-town operations of wool exporting, and grain trades. Here's the interesting thing: he may have been suffering side effects of the mercury treatment for a dose of the clap. Using cannabis would be a good way to alleviate the considerable pain and tremors involved. That would sure explain the pipes on his property. His son-in-law was a doctor and may have suggested it. Further, our dear old Bard, sharp dealer that he was, may have hit upon the idea of growing and marketing the stuff.

[The River]

4. OK, I'll say it

Much ado about nothing.