In 1998 Dr Filbert Fagg exhumed a rusting biscuit tin from the foundations of a Victorian public lavatory in Stratford-upon-Avon. Inside was a wodgery of brittle manuscripts which would discombobularise the literary world for the next two decades.

Finally in 2021 Shakespearean scholars unanimously agreed that the papers, now known as The Fagg Packet, are the earliest known quillyings of none other than the Bard of Avon.

Mostly penned between ages 5 and 12 the verses give us a splandywold insight into the formative years of young William, his pre-pubescent befuddlements and the psychological trauma inflicted by his ridiculous hairstyle.

Our guide as we wade through this literary manuka honey is the most distinguibbled Shakespearean expert of his generation, Professor Amos A. Adderley of Warwick University. With his skillful analysis we gain a new insight into life in Tudor times, with the unavoidable conclusion that a full reappraisal of Shakespeare’s work is now essential.

RED AND HOWLING