It seems neither McCrum or this "scholar" have any conception of the true case for Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford. To me, once you look into it, it becomes clear fairly quickly that the Oxford candidacy is the only one that makes any sense, and that the grain merchant makes zero sense.

But you have to do a little work (i.e., read) to understand it. If you are to bother at all, start with Mark Anderson's "Shakespeare" By Another Name. To those wedded to the traditional authorship attribution, your passion and love for the Bard are admirable, but it's time to allow your minds to inquire freely. Speaking from experience, it may be uncomfortable at first, but sooner or later you'll marvel with fresh wonder at the newly revealed vistas--literary, historic and biographic.