HAMLET         How long will a man lie i’th’ earth ere he rot?

GRAVEDIGGER          Faith, if ’a be not rotten before ’a die (as we have many pocky corpses that will scarce hold the laying in) ’a will last you some eight year – or nine year – a tanner will last you nine year.

HAMLET         Why he more than another?

GRAVEDIGGER          Why, sir, his hide is so tanned with his trade that ’a will keep out water a great while. And your water is a sore decayer of your whoreson dead body.           (5.1.154-162)

A cheerful little exchange; Hamlet is being morbidly curious and also bracingly frank, now that he’s able to quiz a real expert: how long will a man lie i’th’ earth ere he rot? Go on, tell me, straight up. The gravedigger is entirely cool and relaxed, and also nuanced in his response, pleased that someone’s interested: faith, if ’a be not rotten before ’a die (that is, riddled with syphilis) (as we have many pocky corpses that will scarce hold the laying in—a LOT of it around these days, bodies that’ll barely last the funeral)—that not being the case, ’a will last you some eight year, or thereabouts—or nine year, yes—a tanner will last you nine year. Leatherworkers last longer. Hamlet’s intrigued: why he more than another?What is this apparently arbitrary distinction even in death? Why, sir (think it through!) his hide is so tanned with his trade that ’a will keep out water a great while. A tanner is basically leather. (Leather buckets and bottles were absolutely standard at this time; it was the most waterproof material available.) And your water is a sore decayer of your whoreson dead body. Keep the water out, it’ll slow everything done. Yep.

(Shakespeare’s Stratford contemporary Richard Field, who went on to print some of his earliest works and to be one of the leading printers of the day, was the son of a tanner. Shakespeare, as the son of a glover who would have processed his own hides, also knew his leather.)