It has been considered strange that, after the application and even after the grant (preserved in MS. "Coll. of Arms," R. 21), no use thereof can be proved, though the heralds added to the former grant: "and we have lykewise uppon an other escucheon impaled the same with the auncient arms of the said Arden of Wellyngcote, signifying thereby that it maye and shalbe lawfull, for the said John Shakespeare, gent., to beare and use the same shields of arms, single or impaled, as aforesaid, during his natural lyfe, and that it shalbe lawful for his children, issue, and posterity, to beare, use, quarter, and shewe the same with their dewe difference, in all lawfull warlyke faites and civill use" (_Ibid._, G. XIII.). John Shakespeare did not live long after his application, dying in 1601. Whether or not the grant of the impaled Arden arms was completed before his death, there is no record of his using them. Whether his son ever used the impalement we do not now know, but it does not appear on any of the tombs or seals that have been preserved. But the Shakespeare arms have been certainly used. William Shakespeare was mercilessly satirized by his rivals, Ben Jonson and others,[81] about his coat of arms; but it was the recognition of his descent that secured him so universally the attribute of "gentle." As Davies, addressing Shakespeare and Burbage in 1603, says: "And though the stage doth stain pure gentle blood, Yet generous ye are in mind and mood."[82] We must not forget there would be possible ill-feeling among the families of the Arden sisters, when the youngest, whom they had probably always pitied and looked down on, because of her comparatively unfortunate marriage, should have the audacity to think of using the arms of their father, to which they had never aspired. [Illustration: OLD HOUSE AT WILMECOTE, BY SOME SUPPOSED TO BE ROBERT ARDEN'S. _To face p. 35._] FOOTNOTES: [60] He tried in every way to prove Camden wrong, but his bitterness only hurt himself. His strictures were confuted before the highest authority. [61] August 10, 1895, p. 202. [62] "Herald and Genealogist," vol. i., p. 510, 1863; and _Notes and Queries_, Series III., vol. v., p. 493. [63] Dugdale's "Warwickshire," p. 925. [64] Preserved at Somerset House, 8 Porch. [65] Dugdale places the sons in another order. [66] Pat. Henry VII., second part, mem. 30, February 22. [67] Same series, mem. 35, September 9. [68] Pat. 23 Henry VIII., September 24, first part, mem. 12. [69] "Arden of the court, brother to Sir John Arden of Park Hall." "Itinerary," vi. 20, about 1536-42.