THE tour of Anne Hathaway's cottage was more authentic than is usually enjoyed by visitors to Shakespeare's place of birth in Stratford-upon-Avon.

A power cut had robbed the thatched farmhouse of electricity, leaving the place in semi-darkness, illuminated only by natural sunlight streaming through the windows. Just as in William Shakespeare's day when, as a callow youth of 18, he courted Anne on the old wooden seat you can see in the kitchen.

At least, that's the story told by our jolly guide, a woman who bore an uncanny resemblance to Julie Walters performing one of her Brummie characters.

She was honest enough to admit that nobody knows if the tale is true, but it's been passed down over the years and is too good not to repeat.

That sums up the dilemma of Shakespeare's Stratford. There's a lot of guesswork involved about the Bard of Avon's life in the Warwickshire town.

He was born and died there but spent most of his adult life in London, gaining a reputation as a playwright and poet. "He left to be creative," as actor Nicholas Woodeson, a current Royal Shakespeare Company actor, puts it.

Others think his departure had something to do with a charge of deer poaching brought against him.

That misdemeanour hasn't stopped the town claiming him as their own. With the RSC buildings as the centrepiece on the banks of the River Avon, the town is one of the country's top out-of-London tourist attractions.

For RSC actress Carol McCready, this is her home town but she's dismayed by the commercialisation. "It's Disneyland now," she says.

What Stratford's done is adjust to the times, following the trend for living history and establishing a brand name. Shakespeare corkscrew, anyone? Or perhaps a tea-towel bearing his image?

The exhibition at Shakespeare's birthplace (with its 'faithfully recreated' family rooms) tells the playwright's life and career in displays. The wording is full of mights, maybes and probablys when relating what Shakespeare could have got up to.

Young Wills attended the local grammar school and probably left at 14. It's not known what he did before going to London except that he married farmer's daughter Anne, eight years older than him, after she fell pregnant.

He found fame and fortune in London, returning home to spend his final years in Stratford.

Locals were quick to exploit Shakespeare's reputation after his death in 1616. A festival organised by actor David Garrick and satirised in Peter Barnes' RSC play Jubilee brought visitors flocking to the town.

They were an unruly lot who hacked off bits of the poet's chair and sold them as souvenirs. This and other vandalism led to a public appeal which raised £3,000 to buy the birthplace in 1847.

This was the beginning of the trust that now adminsters the five Shakespeare properties.

One of them, Anne Hathaway's Cottage, situated in Shottery a mile outside Stratford, has long been a tourist attraction enjoyed by many.