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ehrnst

(32,640 posts)
Tue Aug 11, 2015, 10:35 AM Aug 2015

Cannabis discovered in tobacco pipes found in William Shakespeare's garden



<snipt>South African scientists have discovered that 400-year-old tobacco pipes excavated from the garden of William Shakespeare contained cannabis, suggesting the playwright might have written some of his famous works while high.

Residue from early 17th century clay pipes found in the playwright’s garden, and elsewhere in Stratford-Upon-Avon, were analysed in Pretoria using a sophisticated technique called gas chromatography mass spectrometry, the Independent reports.

Of the 24 fragments of pipe loaned from the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust to University of the Witwatersrand, cannabis was found in eight samples, four of which came from Shakespeare's property.</snip>

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/william-shakespeare/11792533/Cannabis-discovered-in-tobacco-pipes-found-in-William-Shakespeares-garden.html

A close reading of Shakespeare shows it's right there in the text:

"Come thou no more for ransom, gentle herald:
They shall have none, I swear, but these my joints;
Which if they have as I will leave 'em them,
Shall yield them little." - Henry V


"A hit, a very palpable hit." - Hamlet

"Tis true; she rides me and I long for grass.
'Tis so, I am an ass; else it could never be
But I should know her as well as she knows me." - A Midsummer Night's Dream


(edited to add link)
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Cannabis discovered in tobacco pipes found in William Shakespeare's garden (Original Post) ehrnst Aug 2015 OP
It all makes sense now!!! Heather MC Aug 2015 #1
Tis' true not... Lochloosa Aug 2015 #9
" Look not to the ground, Ye favourites of a king: are we not high? " ehrnst Aug 2015 #2
Some people have claimed proof in sonnet 76 GusBob Aug 2015 #3
Cannabis had been condemned by the church before Shakespeare's time Brother Buzz Aug 2015 #4
This thread deserves 500 recs malaise Aug 2015 #5
"Let gallows gape for dog; let man go free. And let not hemp his wind-pipe suffocate:" ehrnst Aug 2015 #6
To be or not to be… stoned. NV Whino Aug 2015 #7
Load up some Shake Blue Owl Aug 2015 #8
The lady doth protest too much, methinks Rex Aug 2015 #10
Too bad ol' Bill ain't alive today. We could put him in Federal Prison! Romulox Aug 2015 #11
Then those are 400-year-old pot pipes, ain't they? Iggo Aug 2015 #12
The quality of chronic is not strain'd KamaAina Aug 2015 #13
Explains Pericles. Orsino Aug 2015 #14

GusBob

(7,286 posts)
3. Some people have claimed proof in sonnet 76
Tue Aug 11, 2015, 10:52 AM
Aug 2015

"keep invention in noted weed"

But that line has nothing to do with pot

Interestingly, this sonnet is also pointed to by those who think Edward De Vere to be the real Shakespeare

The line above translates to hiding poetic creation in a costume
And the Line which follows

When every word tells you my name
Was thought to refer to De Vere

Brother Buzz

(36,213 posts)
4. Cannabis had been condemned by the church before Shakespeare's time
Tue Aug 11, 2015, 11:17 AM
Aug 2015

"Writers who were explicit about Cannabis could have their books burnt", Professor Francis Thackeray added.

I'm most curious about the trade route for the henbane of Peru (cocaine derived from smoking coca leaves) found in the other pipes.

 

ehrnst

(32,640 posts)
6. "Let gallows gape for dog; let man go free. And let not hemp his wind-pipe suffocate:"
Tue Aug 11, 2015, 11:27 AM
Aug 2015

- Henry V

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