Rendered in modern parlance, it reads: “Good friend, for Jesus’ sake forbear, to dig the dust enclosed here. Blessed be the man that spares these stones, And cursed be he that moves my bones.” That’s the curse, written by the Bard himself, the greatest writer to have ever lived, etched into his tombstone (a plaque, actually) over where he lies in repose at the Church of the Holy Trinity in Stratford-upon-Avon, England. Now if memory serves me correctly, thinking back to my college English Lit class, Shakespeare’s grave WAS moved at one point, early on, to a position of greater prominence at the church. (Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong, Ms. Chadwick!) If that is, or was, the case, I wonder if the Bard was willing to accept that particular disturbance to his dust, as it was done to honor him rather than being the work of graverobbers, or if a curse, once put into motion, is beyond the control of the curser.
The fiend who, at some point in history, made off with ol’ Billy’s skull would probably have felt the undiluted wrath of the curse, regardless. Yes, that’s right. Shakespeare’s skull is missing. Archaeologist Kevin Colls and colleagues used ground penetrating radar to scan the grave recently, proving the rumors that have been circulating for over a century are true. Someone stole the man’s skull. Who did it, and what inevitably happened to that person afterwards, would make for grand subjects for a play. To that if to nothing else, I’m sure Shakespeare would approve.