Chapter 6 of 9 · 10784 words · ~54 min read

Part i

must already have existed (Greg, _Henslowe_, ii. 155).

_The Taming of A Shrew c. 1589_

_S. R._ 1594, May 2. ‘A booke intituled A plesant Conceyted historie called “the Tayminge of a Shrowe”.’ _Peter Short_ (Arber, ii. 648).

1594. A Pleasant Conceited Historie, called The taming of a Shrew. As it was sundry times acted by the Right honorable the Earle of Pembrook his seruants. _Peter Short, sold by Cuthbert Burby._ [Induction.]

1596. _Peter Short, sold by Cuthbert Burby._

1607. _V. S. for Nicholas Ling._

_Editions_ by J. Nicholls (1779, _Six Old Plays_, i), T. Amyot (1844, _Sh. Soc._), W. C. Hazlitt (1875, _Sh. Libr._ vi), E. W. Ashbee (1876, facs.), F. J. Furnivall (1886, _Sh. Q_), F. S. Boas (1908, _Sh. Classics_), and J. S. Farmer (_S. F. T._).

The Admiral’s and Chamberlain’s revived ‘the tamynge of A shrowe’ for Henslowe on 11 June 1594, shortly after the entry in S. R. (Greg, _Henslowe_, ii. 164). Presumably it belonged to the Chamberlain’s, who had acquired it from Pembroke’s, and the 1594 performance may have been either of the original, or of Shakespeare’s revision, _The Taming of The Shrew_, for which 1594 is a plausible date. An early reference to the printed book is in Harington’s _Metamorphosis of Ajax_ (1596), 95, ‘For the shrewd wife, read the book of Taming a Shrew, which hath made a number of us so perfect, that now every one can rule a shrew in our country, save he that hath her’. It is to be noted that, unlike _Leire_ (q.v.) and _King Lear_, the two versions counted, from the copyright point of view, as one, so that the transfer of _A Shrew_ to Smethwick made an entry of _The Shrew_ in S. R. for the purposes of F_{1} of Shakespeare unnecessary. Probably Pembroke’s in their turn got the play from the earlier Admiral’s or Strange’s. Its date has been placed in or before 1589, because certain lines of it appear to be parodied both in Greene’s _Menaphon_ of that year, and in the prefatory epistle to _Menaphon_ by Nashe. Some such date is confirmed by its direct imitations from Marlowe’s _Tamburlaine_ (_c._ 1587) and to a less extent from _Dr. Faustus_ (_c._ 1588), which are collected by Boas, 93. For author, Marlowe, Kyd, Greene, and Peele have all been suggested, but, so far as we know, Marlowe did not repeat himself, and the others did not plagiarize him, in this flagrant manner. Shakespeare also is still often credited with a hand in the old play, as well as in the revision, and the problem can best be discussed in connexion with Shakespeare. Sykes gives part to S. Rowley (q.v.).

_The Thracian Wonder c. 1600_

1661. Two New Playes: Viz. A Cure for a Cuckold: A Comedy. The Thracian Wonder: A Comical History. As it hath been several times Acted with great Applause. Written by John Webster and William Rowley. _Tho. Johnson, sold by Francis Kirkman._ [Separate t.p. The Thracian Wonder ... _as above_. Epistle to the Reader, signed ‘Francis Kirkman’.]

_Editions_ by C. W. Dilke (1815, _O. E. P._ vi), and in collections of Webster (q.v.).--_Dissertations_: J. le G. Brereton, _The Relation of T. W. to Greene’s Menaphon_ (1906, _M. L. R._ ii. 34); J. Q. Adams, _Greene’s Menaphon and T. W._ (1906, _M. P._ iii. 317); O. L. Hatcher, _The Sources and Authorship of T. W._ (1908, _M. L. N._ xxiii. 16).

The ascription of the title-page is rejected by Stoll, _Webster_, 34, and modern writers generally, although Stork, _Rowley_, 61, thinks that Rowley may have added comic touches. The use of Webster’s name may be due to the identity of the plot with that of William Webster’s _Curan and Argentile_ (1617). But William Webster took it from Warner’s _Albion’s England_ (1586), iv. xx. From the same source Greene took it, with a change of names, for _Menaphon_ (1589), and it is _Menaphon_, with another change of names, that the play follows. Brereton ascribes it to Greene himself; Hatcher thinks that the direct plagiarisms from the source and the archaistic phrase ‘old Menaphon’ (iv. 2), whereas Greene’s hero is a youth, point to an early sixteenth-century admirer of Greene. Adams supports the suggestion of Fleay, i. 287, that this is the _War Without Blows and Love Without Suit_ written by Heywood for the Admiral’s in 1598, but this is a mere guess based on Heywood’s title (Greg, _Henslowe_, ii. 199). Fleay then supposed that it was revised for Queen Anne’s about 1607; elsewhere (ii. 332) he supposes it a dramatization of Webster’s story for Prince Charles’s about 1617.

_Timon c. 1581 < > 90_ (?)

[_MS._] _Dyce MS._ 52. [Epilogue. The MS. is a transcript in two hands.]

_Editions_ by A. Dyce (1842, _Sh. Soc._) and W. C. Hazlitt (1875, _Sh. Libr._ ii. 2).--_Dissertation_: J. Q. Adams, _The Timon Plays_ (1910, _J. G. P._ ix. 506).

Greek quotations and other pedantries suggest an academic audience, but there is little indication of place or date, beyond parallels with _Pedantius_, which lead Moore Smith (_M. L. R._ iii. 143) to suggest Cambridge and _c._ 1581–90. Adams thinks that the piece may have been performed by London schoolboys, and known to Shakespeare.

_Tom Tyler and his Wife > 1563_

_S. R._ 1562–3. ‘These ballettes folowynge ... an other of Tom Tyler.’ _Thomas Colwell_ (Arber, i. 210).

1661. Tom Tyler and His Wife. An Excellent Old Play, As It was Printed and Acted about a hundred Years ago. The second Impression. [Prologue and ‘concluding Song’. There is no imprint, but as most of the extant copies have a variant t.p. with the additional words ‘Together, with an exact Catalogue of all the playes that were ever yet printed’, and as Kirkman’s catalogue of 1661 is appended, he was doubtless the publisher.]

_Editions_ by F. E. Schelling (1900, _M. L. A._ xv. 253), G. C. Moore Smith and W. W. Greg (1910, _M. S. R._), and J. S. Farmer (1912, _T. F. T._).

The S. R. entry may refer to a ballad based on the play, or may possibly be a loose description of the play itself. In any case there is no reason to doubt the existence of a print of about that date. The evidence of the 1661 title-page is confirmed by the entry of ‘Tom tyler’ in Archer’s play-list of 1656 (Greg, _Masques_, cxii). Chetwood, who cannot be relied on, gave the date as 1598, and an inaccurate reproduction of this seems to be responsible for the 1578 of other writers. The text of 1661 has been shown by C. P. G. Scott (in Schelling’s introduction) to be a rendering into seventeenth-century orthography of a play whose vocabulary may be put, with decreasing certainty, within the limits 1530–80, 1540–70, and 1550–60. The prologue says that the play is ‘set out by prettie boyes’, and the ‘concluding Song’ has a prayer for the preservation of the queen, ‘from perilous chance that hath been seen’. Fleay, ii. 295, somewhat arbitrarily thinks the Chapel ‘more likely’ to have presented it than Paul’s. A misinterpretation of Kirkman’s list of 1661 led E. Phillips, _Theatrum Poetarum_ (1675), to assign the authorship to W. Wager (_M. S. C._ i. 325).

_The Trial of Chivalry c. 1600_

_S. R._ 1604, Dec. 4 (Pasfield). ‘A book called The life and Deathe of Cavaliero Dick Boyer.’ _Nathaniel Butter_ (Arber, iii. 277).

1605. The History of the tryall of Cheualry, With the life and death of Caualiero Dicke Bowyer. As it hath bin lately acted by the right Honourable the Earle of Darby his seruants. _Simon Stafford for Nathaniel Butter._

1605. This Gallant Caualiero Dicke Bowyer, Newly acted. [Another issue.]

_Editions_ by A. H. Bullen (1884, _O. E. P._ iii) and J. S. Farmer (1912, _T. F. T._).--_Dissertation_: C. R. Baskervill, _Sidney’s Arcadia and the T. of C._ (1912, _M. P._ x. 197).

Bullen thinks this may be _Love Parts Friendship_, written by Chettle and Smith for the Admiral’s in 1602; Fleay, ii. 318, that it may be the _Burbon_ brought to the Admiral’s by Pembroke’s in 1597, as the Duke of Bourbon is a chief personage, and also the _Cutting Dick_ to which Heywood wrote additions for Worcester’s in 1602 (Greg, _Henslowe_, ii. 187, 221, 231). There is, of course, no particular reason why a play by Derby’s should appear in Henslowe’s diary at all. They were in London in the winters of 1599–1600 and 1600–1. The only link between them and Henslowe is Heywood, if he was the author of their _Edward IV_ (q.v.). Fleay, i. 289, thinks that the present play may be by the same hands. Probably the Earl of Derby himself wrote for the company.

_The Trial of Treasure > 1567_

1567. A new and mery Enterlude, called the Triall of Treasure, newly set foorth, and neuer before this tyme imprinted. _Thomas Purfoot._ [Arrangement for 5 actors; Prologue and Epilogue, headed ‘Praie for all estates’.]

_Editions_ by J. O. Halliwell (1850, _Percy Soc._ xxviii), in Dodsley^4, iii (1874), and by J. S. Farmer (1908, _T. F. T._--_Dissertation_: W. W. Greg, _The T. of T._, 1567--_A Study in Ghosts_ (1910, 3 _Library_, i. 28).

Greg shows that there was only one edition, not two, of 1567. The play is a non-controversial morality, and may very well date from about 1567.

_1 Troilus and Cressida. 1599_ (?)

[_MS._] _Add. MS._ 10449. [A fragmentary ‘plot’ without title, probably from Dulwich.]

The text is given by Greg, _Henslowe Papers_, 142, who infers from the names of the characters that it may have been the _Troilus and Cressida_ written by Chettle and Dekker for the Admiral’s in April 1599. The few names of actors are not inconsistent with this (cf. ch. xiii).

_The Valiant Welshman. 1610 < > 15_

_S. R._ 1615, Feb. 21 (Buck). ‘A play called the valiant welshman.’ _Robert Lownes_ (Arber, iii. 564).

1615. The Valiant Welshman, Or The True Chronicle History of the life and valiant deedes of Caradoc the Great, King of Cambria, now called Wales. As it hath beene sundry times Acted by the Prince of Wales his seruants. Written by R. A. Gent. _George Purslowe for Robert Lownes._ [Epistle to the Reader; Induction; Epilogue.]

1663. _For William Gilbertson._

_Editions_ by V. Kreb (1902) and J. S. Farmer (1913, _S. F. T._).

Borrowings from Ben Jonson’s _Alchemist_ (1610) require a late date, and the assertion of Fleay, i. 26, that this is _The Welshman_ revived by the Admiral’s on 29 Nov. 1595 may be disregarded (Greg, _Henslowe_, ii. 178). There is nothing, beyond the initials, to connect the play with Robert Armin, and Kreb would assign it to some young University man.

_A Warning for Fair Women > 1599_

_S. R._ 1599; Nov. 17. ‘A warnynge for fayre women.’ _William Aspley_ (Arber, iii. 151).

1599. A warning for Faire Women. Containing, The most tragicall and lamentable murther of Master George Sanders of London Marchant, nigh Shooters hill. Consented vnto By his owne wife, acted by M. Browne, Mistris Drewry and Trusty Roger agents therin: with their seuerall ends. As it hath beene lately diuerse times acted by the right Honorable, the Lord Chamberlaine his Seruantes. _Valentine Sims for William Aspley._ [Induction.]

_Editions_ by R. Simpson (1878, _S. of S._ ii) and J. S. Farmer (_S. F. T._).

References to ‘this fair circuit’ and ‘this Round’ are inconclusive as to whether the play was produced before the Chamberlain’s went to the Globe in 1599, as their earlier houses were probably also round. E. Phillips, _Theatrum Poetarum_ (1675), 113, and A. Wood, _Athenae_ (1691), i. 676, assign the authorship, incredibly, to Lyly. Fleay, ii. 54, conjectures Lodge; Bullen, _O. E. P._ iv. 1, Yarington.

_The Wars of Cyrus King of Persia > 1594_

1594. The Warres of Cyrus King of Persia, against Antiochus King of Assyria, with the Tragicall ende of Panthæa. Played by the children of her Maiesties Chappell. _E. A. for William Blackwal._

_Editions_ by W. Keller (1901, _Jahrbuch_, xxxvii. 1) and J. S. Farmer (1911, _T. F. T._).

The play, clearly influenced by _Tamburlaine_, may rest on one by Farrant (q.v.) _c._ 1578. There is no record of any court performance by the Chapel between 1584 and 1601. Fleay, ii. 322, guesses that an allusion in Nashe’s _Summer’s Last Will and Testament_ (q.v.) points to a performance of this play at Croydon twelve months earlier. The text is disordered. A prologue ‘To the audience’ is inserted in Act II at 621 and refers to a chorus, but there is none. At 367 is ‘Finis Actus primi’, but ‘Actus Secundus’ is at 502.

_The Weakest Goeth to the Wall > 1600_

_S. R._ 1600, Oct. 23 (Pasfield). ‘A booke called, the Weakest goethe to the Walles.’ _Richard Oliff_ (Arber, iii. 175).

1600. The Weakest goeth to the Wall. As it hath bene sundry times plaide by the right honourable Earle of Oxenford, Lord great Chamberlaine of England his seruants. _Thomas Creede for Richard Oliue._ [Dumb Show and Prologue.]

1618. _G. P. for Richard Hawkins._

_Editions_ by J. S. Farmer (1911, _T. F. T._), W. W. Greg (1912, _M. S. R._), and with _Works_ of Webster (q.v.).

The ascription of the play to Dekker and Webster by E. Phillips, _Theatrum Poetarum_ (1675), 116, was rejected by Langbaine (1691) and, so far as Webster is concerned, has nothing to recommend it (E. Stoll, _Webster_, 34). Ward, iii. 56, finds Dekker’s humour, and Hunt, _Dekker_, 42, thinks it Chettle’s, revised by Dekker. Fleay, ii. 114, gives it to Munday, as the only known writer for Oxford’s, except Oxford himself. But he is thinking of Oxford’s boy company of 1580–4, not of the later company of 1601 or earlier, to whose repertory the play probably belonged, and with whom Munday is not known to have had anything to do.

_Wily Beguiled. 1596 < > 1606_

_S. R._ 1606, Nov. 12 (Hartwell). ‘A booke called Wylie beguilde &c.’ _Clement Knight_ (Arber, iii. 333).

1606. A Pleasant Comedie, Called Wily Beguilde. The Chiefe Actors be these: A poore Scholler, a rich Foole, and a Knaue at a shifte. _H. L. for Clement Knight._ [Induction, Prologue, and Epilogue.]

N.D.; 1623; 1630; 1635; 1638.

_Editions_ by T. Hawkins (1773, _O. E. D._ iii), in Dodsley^4, ix (1874), and by J. S. Farmer (1912, _T. F. T._) and W. W. Greg (1912, _M. S. R._).--_Dissertations_: J. W. Hales, _Shakespearian Imitations_ (1875, _Ath._ 1875, 17 July, 4 Sept.); F. J. Furnivall, _Parallels_ (1875, 5 _N. Q._ iv. 144); P. A. Daniel, _On W. B._ (1875, _Brooke’s Romeus and Juliet_, xxxv, _N. S. S._); E. Landsberg, _Zur Verfasserfrage des anonymen Lustspiels W. B._ (1911, _E. S._ xliii. 189).

The register of Merton College, Oxford, has for 3 Jan. 1567 the entry, ‘Acta est Wylie Beguylie Comoedia Anglica nocte in aedibus Custodis per scolares, praesentibus Vicecustode, magistris, baccalaureis, cum omnibus domesticis et nonnullis extraneis; merito laudandi recte agendo prae se tulerunt summam spem’ (Boas, 157). No connexion is traceable between this and the extant play, which Greg and Boas regard as of Cambridge origin. But it does not seem to me markedly academic. The character Lelia does not particularly suggest the Cambridge Latin _Laelia_ of 1595, and the epilogue was spoken in a ‘circled rounde’. The description of himself by Churms (l. 68), as ‘at Cambridge a scholler, at Cales a souldier, and now in the country a lawyer, and the next degree shal be a connicatcher’, does not go far in the way of proof. This same passage fixes the date as not earlier than the Cadiz expedition of 1596; obviously the use of the phrase ‘tricke of Wily Beguily’ in Nashe’s _Have With You to Saffron Walden_ of 1596 (_Works_, iii. 107) proves nothing one way or other as to date, although Dekker naturally knew the play when he described rogues and their ‘knavish comedy of Wily-Beguily’ in his _Belman of London_ of 1608 (_Works_, iii. 125). If the date is 1596, the authorship of Peele, suggested by the description of the prologue-speaker as ‘humorous George’, although he is clearly distinct from the ‘fiery Poet’, and urged by Fleay, ii. 158, and Landsberg, becomes just possible, chronologically, before his death in November of that year. But the Shakespearian imitations, although most marked of _M. V._ and earlier plays, seem also to extend to _Hamlet_, _M. W._, and _T. N._, and the right date may be _c._ 1602–6. If the production was in the ‘circled rounde’ of Paul’s, the quasi-academic note is explicable. Sykes suggests S. Rowley (q.v.) as part author. Fleay, _Shakespeare Manual_, 272, makes an amazing attempt to interpret the play as a satire on Lyly, Lodge, Marston, Chettle, Dekker, Drayton, Middleton, Chapman, Jonson, Henslowe, the Admiral’s, the Chamberlain’s, the Chapel, and Paul’s. In the Induction, a juggler finds the title _Spectrum_ exhibited, and later, ‘_Spectrum_ is conueied away: and _Wily beguiled_, stands in the place of it’ (l. 46).

_The Wisdom of Doctor Dodipoll. 1599 < > 1600_

_S. R._ 1600, Oct. 7. ‘A booke called The Wisdom of Doctor Dodepole Plaied by the Children of Paules.’ _Richard Oliff_ (Arber, iii. 174).

1600. The Wisdome of Doctor Dodypoll. As it hath bene sundrie times Acted by the Children of Powles. _Thomas Creede for Richard Oliue._

_Editions_ by A. H. Bullen (1884, _O. E. P._ iii) and J. S. Farmer (1912, _T. F. T._).--_Dissertation_: E. Koeppel, _Sh.’s J. C. und die Entstehungszeit des anonymen Dramas The W. of D. D._ (1907, _Jahrbuch_, xliii. 210).

Fleay, ii. 155, assigned the play to Peele, chiefly on the ground that a snatch of song is from his _Hunting of Cupid_ (q.v.). But Peele died in 1596, and Koeppel points out that the phrase (Bullen, p. 129), ‘Then reason’s fled to animals, I see’, presupposes the existence of _Julius Caesar_ (1599), III. ii. 109:

O judgement! thou art fled to brutish beasts, And men have lost their reason.

_The Wit of a Woman > 1604_

1604. A Pleasant Comoedie, Wherein is merily shewen: The wit of a Woman. _For Edward White._ [Prologue and Epilogue.]

_Editions_ by J. S. Farmer (1912, _T. F. T._) and W. W. Greg (1913, _M. S. R._).

Nothing is known of the history of this prose comedy with Italian names. ‘Sweet and twenty’ (l. 753) recalls _Tw. N._ II. iii. 52.

_Work for Cutlers c. 1615_

_S. R._ 1615, July 4 (Taverner). ‘A little thing called Worke for Cutlers.’ _Richard Meighen_ (Arber, iii. 569).

1615. Worke for Cutlers. Or, a merry Dialogue betweene Sword, Rapier, and Dagger. Acted in a Show in the famous universitie of Cambridge. _Thomas Creede for Richard Meighen and Thomas Jones._ [Epilogue.]

_Editions_ by T. Park (1813, _Harleian Miscellany_^2, x), C. Hindley (1872, _Old Book Collector’s Miscellany_, ii), A. F. Sieveking (1904).

This short dialogue is described in the epilogue as ‘a Schollers Prize’. Sieveking suggests the possibility of Heywood’s authorship, but an academic author is more likely.

_A Yorkshire Tragedy c. 1606_

_S. R._ 1608, May 2 (Wilson). ‘A booke Called A Yorkshire Tragedy written by Wylliam Shakespere.’ _Thomas Pavier_ (Arber, iii. 377).

1608. A Yorkshire Tragedy. Not so New as Lamentable and true. Acted by his Maiesties Players at the Globe. Written by W. Shakspeare. _R. B. for Thomas Pauier._ [Head-title: ‘All’s One, or, One of the foure plaies in one, called A Yorkshire Tragedy.’]

1619. Omits ‘Acted ... Globe’. _For T. P._ [See ch. xxiii.]

_Editions_ of 1735 (J. Tonson), by W. Knight (1843, _Pictorial Sh._ vii), J. P. Collier (1878, _Works of Sh._), J. S. Farmer (1910, _T. F. T._), and in _Sh. Apocrypha_.--_Dissertations_: J. P. Collier (_Ath._ 1863, i. 332); P. A. Daniel, _Notes on Sh.’s Y. T._ 1608 (_Ath._ 4 Oct. 1879); S. Lee, _Walter Calverley_ (_D. N. B._); B. Dobell, _The Author of A Y. T._ (1906, 10 _N. Q._ vi. 41); H. D. Sykes, _The Authorship of A Y. T._ (1917, _J. G. P._ xvi. 437, reprinted in _Sidelights on Shakespeare_, 77).

This ten-scene play from a four-play bill has merit, but most modern critics are unable to regard that merit as of Shakespearian type, although Ward, ii. 231, finds Shakespeare’s hand in some passages, and Fleay, after wantonly guessing at Edmund Shakespeare (_Shakespeare_, 303), remained impressed (ii. 206) by the external evidence, and thought that the play must be Shakespeare’s original ending to an earlier version of _The Miseries of Enforced Marriage_, subsequently altered by his collaborator, George Wilkins (q.v.), to end happily. This is ingenious, but too conjectural. The play, like that of Wilkins, takes its material from the history of Walter Calverley, executed for murder on 5 Aug. 1605, which is told in Stowe’s _Annales_ and was the subject of contemporary pamphlets. Dobell and Sykes argue a case on internal evidence for the authorship of Wilkins himself.

B. MASKS

_Gesta Grayorum. 1594_

[_MS._] _Harl. MS._ 541, f. 138, contains the speeches in the Shrovetide mask, probably in the hand of Francis Davison. The opening hymn is not included, and the final hymn seems to have been added by another hand.

1688. Gesta Grayorum: or, the History Of the High and mighty Prince Henry Prince of Purpoole, Arch-Duke of Stapulia and Bernardia, Duke of High and Nether Holborn, Marquis of St. Giles and Tottenham, Count Palatine of Bloomsbury and Clerkenwell, Great Lord of the Cantons of Islington, Kentish-Town, Paddington and Knights-bridge, Knight of the most Heroical Order of the Helmet, and Sovereign of the Same. Who Reigned and Died, A.D. 1594. Together with A Masque, as it was presented (by His Highness’s Command) for the Entertainment of Q. Elizabeth; who, with the Nobles of both Courts, was present thereat. _For W. Canning._ [Epistle to Matthew Smyth, of the Inner Temple, signed ‘W. C.’ The publication is recorded in Trinity Term 1688 (Arber, _London Term Catalogues_, ii. 230).]

_Editions_ in Nichols, _Elizabeth_^{1, 2}, iii. 262 (1807–23), and by W. W. Greg (1914, _M. S. R._) and B. Brown (1921).

This is a narrative of the reign of a Christmas Prince, or Lord of Misrule (cf. _Mediaeval Stage_, i. 417), appointed at Gray’s Inn for the Christmas of 1594. The Prince was a Norfolk man, Henry Helmes, and a list of the members of the Inn who held positions at his court is given in the tract. The revels began on St. Thomas’s Eve, 20 Dec., continued until Twelfth Night, were resumed at Candlemas, and again at Shrovetide, when the Prince’s reign terminated.

On Innocents’ Day, 28 Dec., at night, the Inner Temple were entertained, and a stage set up, but the crowd was too great for the ‘inventions’ contemplated, and ‘it was thought good not to offer any thing of account, saving dancing and revelling with gentlewomen; and after such sports, a Comedy of Errors (like to _Plautus_ his _Menechmus_) was played by the players. So that night was begun, and continued to the end, in nothing but confusion and errors; whereupon, it was ever afterwards called, _The Night of Errors_’. On 30 Dec. an indictment was preferred against a supposed sorcerer, containing a charge ‘that he had foisted a company of base and common fellows, to make up our disorders with a play of errors and confusions; and that that night had gained to us discredit, and itself a nickname of Errors’. Presumably the players of Shakespeare’s _Comedy of Errors_ were the Chamberlain’s men, and the Treasurer of the Chamber’s record (App. B) of a play at court by these men, as well as the Admiral’s, on 28 Dec. is a slip for 27 Dec. (_M. L. R._ ii. 10).

On 3 Jan. many nobles were entertained with a show illustrating the amity of Graius and Templarius. It was followed by speeches from six ‘Councellors’, advising respectively ‘the Exercise of War’, ‘the Study of Philosophy’, ‘Eternizement and Fame, by Buildings and Foundations’, ‘Absoluteness of State and Treasure’, ‘Vertue, and a Gracious Government’, and ‘Pass-times and Sports’. These are ascribed by Spedding, i. 342, to Francis Bacon (q.v.), a view which finds some confirmation in the fact that the Alnwick MS., many of the contents of which are by Bacon, once contained a copy of some ‘Orations at Graies Inne Revells’ (Burgoyne, xii). It is amusing to note that on 5 Dec. 1594 Lady Bacon, his mother, wrote to his brother Anthony, ‘I trust they will not mum nor mask nor sinfully revel at Gray’s Inn’ (Spedding, i. 326). The speeches of three of the ‘Councellors’, with one by the Prince, are also preserved, without ascription, in _Inner Temple Petyt MS._ 583, 43, f. 294.

On 6 Jan. appeared six Knights of the Helmet ‘in a very stately mask, and danced a new devised measure; and after that they took to them ladies and gentlewomen, and danced with them their galliards, and so departed with musick’.

On 1 Feb. the Prince visited Greenwich, and promised to return at Shrovetide. On his way back, he was met with a Latin oration by a boy at St. Paul’s School.

At Shrovetide, the Prince took his mask to the court at Whitehall. The maskers were the Prince of Purpoole and his Seven Knights; the torchbearers eight Pigmies; the presenters Proteus, Thamesis, Amphitrite, and one of the Prince’s Esquires; the musicians two Tritons, two Nymphs, and a Tartarian Page.

The performance was upon a stage. After a hymn, the presenters made speeches setting out how the Prince and Knights were in an Adamantine Rock, to be released by Proteus, on the discovery of a Power (the Queen) of more attractive virtue. The maskers issued from the Rock, and danced ‘a new devised measure, &c.’; then took ladies, and danced ‘their galliards, courants, &c.’; then danced ‘another new measure’. The Pigmies brought in eight escutcheons, with the maskers’ impresses, which the Esquire presented to the Queen. The maskers then entered the rock, while another hymn was sung.

The maskers were Henry Helmes (Prince), William Cooke, Jarvis Tevery, John Lambert, Molineux, Grimes, Paylor, and Campnies.

After the mask, the courtiers danced a measure, and Elizabeth said, ‘What! shall we have bread and cheese after a banquet?’

The maskers were presented to the Queen ‘on the next day’ and praised by her. The narrative goes on to record that ‘the same night’ was fighting at barriers, in which the Prince took part as a defendant with the Earl of Cumberland against the Earl of Essex and other challengers, and won the prize; and concludes, ‘Thus on _Shrove-Tuesday_, at the Court, were our sports and revels ended’. The dating is not quite clear, but it seems probable that the mask and barriers were both on the Tuesday, and the presentation on Ash Wednesday, presumably as the Queen went to chapel. Conceivably, however, the mask was on Monday, and the presentation and barriers on Tuesday. The Gray’s Inn records (Fletcher, 107) note a disbursement on 11 Feb. 1595 to William Johnson and Edward Morrys, who served as the Prince’s Lord Chancellor and Lord Treasurer, of 100 marks for ‘the gentlemen for their sports & shewes this Shrovetyde at the court before the Queens Majestie’. There was also a levy on 8 May for the ‘shewes & desports’ of sums varying from 4_s._ to 10_s._ according to status, while the public stock of the house was to contribute £30.

The speeches in the mask were apparently by Francis Davison, one of the Prince’s Gentlemen Pensioners, who included in his _Poetical Rapsody_ (1602), sign. D 3 v^o, amongst Sonnets, &c., ‘To his first Loue’, one ‘Vpon presenting her with the speech of Grayes-Inne Maske at the Court 1594, consisting of three partes, The Story of Proteus Transformations, the wonders of the Adamantine Rocke, and a speech to her Maiestie’. The _Poetical Rapsody_, sign. K 8, also contains the opening hymn of the mask, which begins ‘Of Neptune’s Empyre let us sing’, and ascribes it to Thomas Campion (q.v.). Whether ‘The Song at the ending’, which according to Dr. Greg has been inserted in _Harl. MS._ 541 by a later hand, is also Campion’s must remain doubtful. The MS. as originally written is just such a present as Davison may have sent to his mistress. A list of ‘Papers lent’ by Davison in _Harl. MS._ 298 includes ‘Grayes In Sportes under S^r Henry Helmes. Eleaz. Hogdson’.

_The Twelve Months. 1608–12_

[_MS._] Formerly _penes_ Collier, but not now among his papers in _Egerton MS._ 2623.

_Editions_ by J. P. Collier, _Five Court Masques_ (1848), 131, with title ‘The Masque of the Twelve Months’.

The maskers are the twelve Months; the antimaskers Pages; the presenters Madge Howlet, Pigwiggen a Fairy, Beauty, Aglaia, the Pulses, Prognostication, and Somnus; the musicians the twelve Spheres.

The locality is not given, but the presence of a king is contemplated. The text is disordered, but can easily be reconstructed, as follows: Madge Howlet, ‘going up towards the King’, and Pigwiggen speak the opening dialogue (Collier, 137). The Spheres sing the first song calling Beauty from her fort, the Heart (140). This is the scene; on it are plumes, ‘the ensignes of the darling of the yeare, delicious Aprill’. Beauty, Aglaia, and the Pulses, ‘beating before them up towardes the King’, speak a dialogue (131). The Pages dance an ‘antemasque’ (133). Beauty and Aglaia speak a dialogue (134). The maskers appear, and are presented by Beauty (134). The second ‘antemasque’ is danced (134). Beauty and Aglaia speak a dialogue (134). Prognostication enters, and prognosticates (135). The maskers descend, and Beauty describes April, a prince ‘lov’d of all, yett will not love’, with a ‘triple plume’ (135). After a second song, ‘they dance their entrie’ (141). Beauty and Aglaia speak a dialogue (136). There is a third song (141). ‘They dance their mayne dance: which done, Bewty invites them to dance with the Ladies’ (137). There is a fourth song (142). ‘They dance with the Ladies, and the whole Revells follows’ (137). Beauty calls on Somnus (140). There is a last song (142). ‘They dance their going off’ (140).

Brotanek, 346, suggests 1 Jan. 1612 as a probable date. I agree with him that ‘charming all warre from his mild monarchie’ (136) suggests James I, although I do not think that ‘our fairy King’ (137) is necessarily a reminiscence of the _Mask of Oberon_, especially as this fairy king is James and not Henry. In any case ‘the heart of the yeare’ (132), ‘prime of this newe yeare’ (135), ‘this winter nighte’ (141) do not require a performance on 1 Jan. In fact, April and not January leads the months in the mask. I would add to Brotanek’s notes that April is clearly danced by a Prince of Wales, and that ‘lov’d of all, yett will not love’ fits in with the uncertainty as to Henry’s matrimonial intentions which prevailed in 1612. But he is not very likely to have given two masks in the winter of 1611–12, nor is there any evidence of any mask that winter except the _Love Restored_ of 6 Jan. Of course _The Twelve Months_ may never have been actually performed. I have thought that it might have been the mask abandoned by Anne on account of the death of the Queen of Spain in Dec. 1611 (cf. Jonson, _Love Restored_). Beauty, ‘our fairy Queene’, is said to be ‘Great president of all those princely revells’ in honour of the ‘fairy King’. But the mask is danced by men, not women, which seems to put a Queen’s mask out of the question. No mask has yet been traced in the winter of 1609–10. I am afraid I must leave the date open. If Henry led the dance, his death in Nov. 1612 gives one limit. The ‘antemasque’ is more likely to have been introduced after than before 1608. The use of Pigwiggen as a fairy name recurs in Drayton’s _Nymphidia_, published in 1627.

_Mask of Flowers. 6 Jan. 1614_

_S. R._ 1614, Jan. 21 (Nidd). ‘The maske of flowers by the gent. of Graies Inne vppon Twelfe Night 1613.’ _Robert Wilson_ (Arber, iii. 540).

1614. The Maske of Flowers. Presented By the Gentlemen of Graies-Inne, at the Court of Whitehall, in the Banquetting House, vpon Twelfe night, 1613. Being the last of the Solemnities and Magnificences which were performed at the marriage of the right honourable the Earle of Somerset, and the Lady Francis daughter of the Earle of Suffolke, Lord Chamberlaine. _N. O. for Robert Wilson._ [With Epistle to Sir Francis Bacon by I. G., W. D., T. B. These initials, presumably of Gray’s Inn men, have not been identified.]

_Editions_ in Nichols, _James_ (1828), ii. 735, and H. A. Evans, _English Masques_ (1897).

The maskers, in white embroidered with carnation and silver and vizards, were thirteen transformed Flowers; the antimaskers in ‘the anticke-maske of daunce’ Pantaloon, Courtesan, Swiss and his Wife, Usurer, Midwife, Smug and his Wench, Fretelyne, Bawd, Roaring Boy, Citizen, Mountebank, Jewess of Portugal, Chimney-Sweeper and his Wench; the musicians twelve Garden Gods, also described as Priests, and in the ‘anticke-maske of the song’ Miller, Wine Cooper, Vintner’s Boy, Brewer, Skipper, Fencer, Pedlar, Barber; the presenters Invierno, Primavera, Gallus the Sun’s Post, Silenus, Kawasha, and attendants.

The locality was the Banqueting House, at the lower end of which was a ‘travers painted in perspective’, as a city wall and gate, with temples of Silenus and Kawasha on either side. The antimasks represented a challenge, directed by the Sun, between wine and tobacco. ‘The travers being drawne’ disclosed an elaborate garden sloping up to a mount and arbour (33 ft. long × 21 ft. high) with a bank of flowers before it. Upon a charm the flowers vanished to give place to the maskers, who danced their first and second measure, then took ladies, for ‘measures, corantoes, durettoes, morascoes, galliards’, and then ‘daunced their parting measure’, which was followed by compliments to the king and the bride and groom.

For general notices of the Somerset wedding masks, cf. s.v. Campion, _Mask of Squires_. On 23 Dec. Chamberlain wrote to Carleton (Birch, i. 282), ‘Sir Francis Bacon prepares a masque to honour this marriage, which will stand him in above £2000; and though he have been offered some help by the House, and specially by Mr. Solicitor, Sir Henry Yelverton, who would have sent him £500, yet he would not accept it, but offers them the whole charge with the honour. Marry, his obligations are such, as well to his majesty as to the great lord and to the whole house of Howards, as he can admit no partner’. On 5 Jan. (Birch, i. 288) he briefly notes, ‘Mr. Attorney’s masque is for to-morrow, and for a conclusion of Christmas and these shows together’.

The records of Gray’s Inn confirm Chamberlain’s account, by giving no signs that any expense fell on the Inn. On a letter by Bacon which may refer to this occasion, cf. s.v. Bacon.

Osborne, _James_, 82, a not very accurate writer, speaks of a Gray’s Inn mask at court, following an Anglo-Scottish quarrel between Mr. Hawley of Gray’s Inn and Mr. Maxwell. Probably he has this mask, which was to honour a Scot, in mind. The quarrel was in fact over in June 1612 (Birch, i. 173). I doubt whether either this mask or the joint Gray’s Inn and Inner Temple mask of 1612–13 had anything to do with it.

C. RECEPTIONS AND ENTERTAINMENTS

_Coronation Triumph. 1559_

_S. R._ 1558–9. ‘The passage of the quenes maiesties Throwoute the Cytie of London.’ _Richard Tottle_ (Arber, i. 96).

1558[9], Jan. 23. The Passage of our most drad Soueraigne Lady Quene Elyzabeth through the citie of London to westminster the daye before her coronacion. _Richard Tottill. Cum privilegio._

N.D. [1604.] The Royal Passage of her Majesty from the Tower of London to her Palace of Whitehall, with all the Speaches and Devices, both of the Pageants and otherwise, together with her Majesties severall Answers, and most pleasing Speaches to them all. _S. S. for Jone Millington._

N.D. [1604.] _S. S. for John Busby._ [Another issue.]

_Editions_ in Nichols, _Eliz._ i. 38 (1823), and A. F. Pollard, _Tudor Tracts_ (_England’s Garner_^2), 365.

There are also accounts in Machyn, 186, and in Holinshed (1808), iv. 158. For a list of the pageants cf. ch. iv.

_Bristol Entertainment. August 1574_

1575. The whole Order howe our Soveraigne Ladye Queene Elizabeth was receyved into the Citie of Bristowe, in August, and the Speeches spoken before her presens at her Entry; with the residue of Versis and Matter that might not be spoken (for distance of the place), but sent in a Book over the Waetter. _Thomas Marshe._ [In ‘_The Firste Parte of Churchyardes Chippes, contayning Twelve seueral Labours_. Devised and published, only by Thomas Churchyard, Gentilman’. Epistle to Christopher Hatton.]

1578. _Thomas Marsh._

_Editions_ in Nichols, _Eliz._ i. 393 (1788, 1823), and by J. P. Collier (1867).

Probably Churchyard was the deviser of the entertainment, as he calls the _Chippes_ ‘a book of all my English verses in meter’. He says, ‘Some of these Speeches could not be spoken, by means of a Scholemaister, who envied that any stranger should set forth these Shows’. _A worthie Dittie, song before the Queens Majestie at Bristow_, by D. S[and], not in the Entertainment, is in _The Paradise of Daynty Devises_ (1576). Elizabeth was at Bristol 13–21 Aug. 1574 and lay at John Young’s. Fame, a boy with a speech in English verse, met her at the High Cross. At the next gate were Salutation, Gratulation, and Obedient Good Will, with their verses. On 14 Aug. the Queen attended divine service at the College. On 15 and 16 Aug. the Forts of Peace and Feeble Policy were arrayed, and there were sham fights by land and sea, with speeches by Dissuasion, Persuasion, and John Roberts, who apparently wrote his own. Was he the envious schoolmaster?

_Kenilworth Entertainment. 1575_

There are two descriptions:

A. By _Gascoigne_

1576. The Princelye pleasures, at the Courte at Kenelwoorth. That is to saye, The Copies of all such verses Proses, or Poeticall inuentions, and other Deuices of pleasure, as were there deuised, and presented by sundry Gentle men, before the Quenes Maiestie: In the yeare 1575. _Richard Jones_. [The unique copy is believed to have been burnt in the Shakespeare Library at Birmingham. The printer’s Epistle is dated March 26, 1576.]

1587. [Part of _Collection_.]

_Editions_ in Nichols, _Eliz._^2 i. 486 (1823), and elsewhere (cf. Schelling, 121).

B. By _Robert Laneham_

1575. A letter: Whearin part of the entertainment untoo the Queez Majesty at Killingwoorth Castl, in Warwick Sheer in this Soomerz Progress, 1575, is signified: from a freend officer attendant in the Coourt untoo hiz freend a Citizen, and Merchaunt of London. [_No imprint or colophon._]

_Editions_ in Nichols, _Eliz._^2 i. 420 (1823), by F. J. Furnivall, _Captain Cox, his Ballads and Books_ (1871, _Ballad Soc._; 1890, _N. S. S._), in _Sh.-Jahrbuch_, xxvii, 251 (1892), and elsewhere (cf. Furnivall, ix, clxxvi).

Elizabeth was at Kenilworth 9–27 July 1575. The diary of entertainments is given in ch. iv. The contributions of specific authors were as follows:

9 July. Speeches of Sibylla, by William Hunnis; the Porter Hercules, by John Badger; the Lady of the Lake, by George Ferrers; a Poet, in Latin, by Richard Mulcaster, or Mercury (?) Paten. It is uncertain which was used; Gascoigne prints Mulcaster’s, Laneham Paten’s.

11 July. Dialogue of a Savage Man and Echo, ‘devised, penned, and pronounced’ by Gascoigne.

18 July. Device of the Delivery of the Lady of the Lake, by William Hunnis, with verses by Hunnis, Ferrers, and Henry Goldingham, who played Arion.

20 July. Device of Zabeta prepared by Gascoigne, but not shown.

27 July. Device of the Farewell of Silvanus, by Gascoigne.

_Woodstock Entertainment. 1575_

See ch. xxiii, s.v. SIR HENRY LEE.

_Suffolk and Norfolk Entertainments. August 1578_

There are two contemporary descriptions:

_S. R._ 1578, Aug. 30. ‘The ioyfull Receavinge of the Quenes maiestie into Norwyche.’ _Henry Bynneman_ (Arber, ii. 336).

N.D. The Ioyfull Receyuing of the Queenes most excellent Maiestie into her Highnesse Citie of Norwich: The things done in the time of hir abode there: and the dolor of the Citie at hir departure. Wherein are set down diuers Orations in Latine, pronounced to hir Highnesse by Sir Robert Wood Knight, now Maior of the same Citie, and others: and certain also deliuered to hir Maiestie in writing: euery of the turned into English. _Henrie Bynneman._ [Epistle by Ber[nard] Gar[ter] to Sir Owen Hopton.]

_Edition_ in Nichols, _Eliz._ (1823), ii. 136.

_S. R._ 1578, Sept. 20. ‘The enterteignement of the Quenes Maiestie in Suffolk and Norffolk; gathered by Thomas Churchyard.’ _Henry Bynneman_ (Arber, ii. 338).

N.D. A Discourse of the Queenes Maiesties entertainement in Suffolk and Norffolk: With a description of many things then presently seene. Deuised by Thomas Churchyarde, Gent. with diuers shewes of his own inuention sette out at Norwich: ... _Henrie Bynneman_. [Epistle by Churchyard to Gilbert Garrard. Adnitt (cf. s.v. Churchyard) says there were two issues with varying prefatory matter.]

_Extracts_ in Nichols, _Eliz._ (1823), ii. 115, 128, 130, 133, 179.

A ballad and a sonnet, presumably from their titles based on A, were registered by J. Charlwood and R. Jones respectively on 24 and 31 March 1579 (Arber, ii. 349, 350).

Elizabeth was at Norwich 16–22 Aug. 1578. The diary is as follows:

16 Aug. 1578. Oration by Mayor at Hartford Bridge; Speech, prepared but prevented by rain, of King Gurgunt in Town Close near Blanch Flower Castle; Pageant of the Commonwealth, with representations of local loom industries, and speech by Garter in St. Stephen’s Street; Pageant of the City of Norwich, Deborah, Judith, Esther, and Queen Martia, with the City Waits and songs by Garter and Churchyard, at entry to Market-place; Speech of a Turkish Boy by Churchyard, at Mr. Peck’s door.

18 Aug. Speech of Mercury in an elaborate coach, by Churchyard.

19 Aug. Show of Chastity, with dialogue and song of Chastity, Cupid, a Philosopher, Wantonness, Riot, Modesty, Temperance, Good Exercise, and Shamefastness, by Churchyard; Oration by Minister of Dutch Church.

20 Aug. Oration by Stephen Limbert, Master of the Grammar School.

21 Aug. Shows of Water Nymphs, with speeches, and of Manhood and Desert, a contention of Manhood, Good Favour, Desert, and Good Fortune, for Lady Beauty, prepared but prevented by rain, both by Churchyard; Mask by Henry Goldingham in Privy Chamber after supper of Jupiter, Juno, Mars, Venus, Apollo, Pallas, Neptune, Diana, Mercury as presenter, Cupid, torchbearers and musicians, who marched about the chamber and made speeches and characteristic gifts, but apparently did not dance.

22 Aug. Speech and Song at St. Benet’s Gate by Garter; Show of Fairies with their Queen and seven speeches, outside the gate, by Churchyard; written Oration by Mayor at departure over City boundary.

Churchyard also mentions ‘speeches well sette out and a speciall device much commended’ in the park of the Earl of Surrey at Kenninghall on 12 Aug.; also divers ‘triumphes and devises’ in Suffolk, of which he only specifies ‘a shew representing the Phayries (as well as might be) ... in the whiche shew a rich jewell was presented to the Queenes Highnesse’ at Sir Thomas Kidson’s house, Hengrave Hall, during 28–30 Aug. In _Churchyards Challenge_ (1593) he claims ‘The whole deuises pastimes and plaies at Norwich, before her Maistie’, and also ‘The Commedy before her Maestie at Norwich in the fielde when she went to dinner to my Lady Gerninghams’ at Costessy (19 Aug.).

_Fortress of Perfect Beauty. 15–16 May 1581_

_S. R._ 1581, July 1. ‘The Tryumphe Shewed before the Quene and the Ffrenche Embassadors.’ _Robert Walgrave_ (Arber, ii. 396).

N.D. A brief declaratiō of the shews, deuices, speeches, and inuentions, done & performed before the Queenes Maiestie, & the French Ambassadours, at the most valiaunt and worthye Triumph, attempted and executed on the Munday and Tuesday in Whitson weeke last, Anno 1581. Collected, gathered, penned & published, by Henry Goldwel, Gen. _Robert Waldegrave._ [Epistle by Goldwell to Rowland Brasebridge of Great Wycombe.]

_Edition_ in Nichols, _Eliz._^2 (1823), ii. 310.

This was a tilt, before François of Bourbon, dauphin of Auvergne, Artus de Cossé, marshal of France, and other commissioners from France, for the treaty of marriage between Elizabeth and the Duke of Anjou. The challenge was delivered by a boy in red and white, as the Queen came from Chapel on 16 April 1581. The tilt, first fixed for 24 April, was put off to 1 May, 8 May, and finally 15 May. The gallery at the end of the tilt-yard was named the Castle or Fortress of Perfect Beauty, and the challengers, the Earl of Arundel, Lord Windsor, Philip Sidney, and Fulke Greville, called themselves the Four Foster Children of Desire. They entered from the stable, with trains of followers and a Rowling Trench of printed canvas, to besiege the fortress. From this boys spoke and sang, and cannonades of perfumes were shot off, while flowers and other fancies were flung from scaling ladders. Then came twenty-one defendants, each with his ‘invention’ and speech. They were Henry Grey, Sir Thomas Perot, Anthony Cooke, Thomas Ratcliffe, Henry Knolles, William Knolles, Robert Knolles, Francis Knolles, Rafe Bowes, Thomas Kelwaie, George Goring, William Tresham, Robert Alexander, Edward Dennie, Hercules Meautus, Edward Moore, Richard Skipwith, Richard Ward, Edward Digbie, Henry Nowell, Henry Brunkerd. Perot and Cooke were ‘both in like armour, beset with apples and fruit, the one signifying Adam and the other Eve, who had haire hung all down his helmet’. Their page was an Angel. Ratcliffe was a Desolate Knight, with a page who presented his shield. The four Knolles brothers were Sons of Despair, with Mercury for a page. The speeches of the pages are given. Each defendant ran six courses with the challengers. ‘In the middest of the running came in Sir Henrie Leigh, as unknowne, and when he had broken his six staves, went out in like manner againe.’ At the end of the first day the boy who gave the challenge announced a second on the morrow.

On the second day the challengers entered in a chariot ‘forewearied and half overcome’ with a lady representing Desire, and a consort of music. A herald made a speech for them. The defendants entered, and the tournay and barriers followed. At the end a boy clad in ash colour and bearing an olive-branch made submission of the challengers to the Queen.

Foulkes, lxiii. 49, says that a set of blank cheques for this tilt are in _Ashm. MS._ 845, f. 166.

_Tilbury Visit. 1588_

There are or were three accounts:

_S. R._ 1588, Aug. 10. ‘The quenes visitinge the campe at Tilberye and her enterteynement there the 8 and 9 of August 1588, with condicon yat yt may be aucthorised hereafter.’ _John Wolf_ (Arber, ii. 495).

N.D. The Queenes visiting of the Campe at Tilsburie with her Entertainment there. _Iohn Wolfe for Edward White._ [At end, ‘T. D.’, doubtless the initials of Thomas Deloney.]

_Editions_ in A. F. Pollard, _Tudor Tracts_ (_England’s Garner_^2), 492, and F. O. Mann, _Deloney’s Works_ (1912).

_S. R._ 1588, Aug. 10 (Stallard). ‘A ioyfull songe of the Roiall Receaving of the quenes maiestie into her Campe at Tilbery: the 8 and 9 of August 1588.’ _John Wolf for Richard Jones_ (Arber, ii. 496). [It does not seem likely that this entry relates to Aske’s book.]

1588. Elizabetha Triumphans. By James Aske. _Thomas Orwin for Thomas Gubbin and Thomas Newman._

_Edition_ in Nichols, _Eliz._ ii. 545 (1823).

The two extant narratives are discussed by M. Christy in _E. H. R._ xxxiv. 43.

_Tilt-yard Entertainment. 17 Nov. 1590_

See ch. xxiii, s.v. Lee.

_Cowdray Entertainment. 1591_

1591. The Speeches and Honorable Entertainment giuen to the Queenes Maiestie in Progresse, at Cowdrey in Sussex, by the right Honorable the Lord Montacute. _Thomas Scarlet, sold by William Wright._

1591. The Honorable Entertainment.... _Thomas Scarlet, sold by William Wright._ [A different text, with a fuller description, but without the words of the songs, and inaccurately dated.]

_Editions_ by J. Nichols, _Eliz._^2 iii. 90 (1823), and R. W. Bond, _Lyly_, i. 421 (1902).

The host was Anthony Browne, first Viscount Montague. Gascoigne’s mask of 1572 was also written for him. Bond assigns the present entertainment, conjecturally, to Lyly. McKerrow, 20, records that William Barley, the stationer, was brought before the High Commission for selling at Cowdray, on some date before 1598, a twopenny book relating to Her Majesty’s progress.

The diary is as follows:

14 Aug. 1591. Speech by a Porter at the bridge on arrival at night.

15 Aug. Sunday: a day of rest.

16 Aug. Hunting in Park, and delivery of bow with a ditty by a Nymph.

17 Aug. Dinner at the Priory, where Lord Montague lodged, and speeches in the walks by a Pilgrim and a Wild Man, at an oak hung with Sussex escutcheons, and a ditty before hunting.

18 Aug. Speeches and ditty by an Angler and offering of fish by a Netter at a pond in the walks before hunting.

19 Aug. Dance of country people with tabor and pipe.

20 Aug. Knighting, and departure to Chichester for dinner.

_Elvetham Entertainment. 1591_

_S. R._ 1591, Oct. 1. ‘The honorable entertaynement gyven to the quenes maiestie in progresse at Elvetham in Hampshire by the righte honorable the Erle of Hertford.’ _John Wolf_ (Arber, ii. 596).

1591. The Honorable Entertainement gieuen to the Queenes Maiestie in Progresse, at Eluetham in Hampshire, by the right Honorable the Earle of Hertford. _John Wolfe._ [There appear to be two editions or issues, (_a_) without and (_b_) with a woodcut of the pond.]

1591.... Newly corrected and amended. [This has a woodcut of the pond, different from that in (1) (_b_).]

_Editions_ by J. Nichols, _Eliz._ ii. (1788), iii. 101 (1823), and R. W. Bond, _Lyly_, i. 431.

Elizabeth was at Elvetham 20–23 Sept. 1591. The host was Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford. A Three Men’s Song of Phillida and Coridon, which formed part of the Entertainment, is ascribed in _England’s Helicon_ (1600) and _MSS._ to Nicholas Breton. Bond ascribes the Entertainment to Lyly. An account of the amusements is in ch. iv.

_Bisham, Sudeley, and Rycote Entertainments. 1592_

1592. Speeches deliuered to her Maiestie this last progresse, at the Right Honorable the Lady Russels, at Bissam, the Right Honorable the Lorde Chandos at Sudley, at the Right Honorable the Lord Norris, at Ricorte. _Joseph Barnes, Oxford._ [There appear to be two issues, with slight variants.]

_Editions_ by J. Nichols, _Eliz._^2 iii. 130 (1823), Sir S. E. Brydges (1815), and R. W. Bond, _Lyly_, i. 471 (1902).

_Bisham_

The hosts were Sir Edward Hoby and his mother, Elizabeth, Dowager Lady Russell.

21 Aug. 1592. On arrival, at the top of the hill, speech by a Wild Man; at the middle of the hill, dialogue of Pan and two Virgins, Sybilla and Isabella; at the foot of the hill, ditty by Ceres and Nymphs in a harvest-cart, followed by speech and gift of crown of wheat-ears and jewel.

_Sudeley_

The host was Giles Brydges, third Lord Chandos.

10 Sept. 1592. Speech of old Shepherd at entry to castle.

11 Sept. Show of Apollo and Daphne, with gift of tables of verses.

12 Sept. Contemplated Presentation of High Constable of Cotswold, and Choosing of King and Queen by Shepherds, with song and dialogue of Melibœus, Nisa, and Cutter of Cotswold--prevented by weather.

_Rycote_

The host was Henry, Lord Norris.

28 Sept. 1592. On arrival from Oxford, speech by an Old Gentleman [Lord Norris].

2 Oct. Music in garden, with speech by Old Gentleman, and letters containing jewels by messengers as from his sons in Ireland, Flanders, and France.

3 Oct. At departure, letter with jewel as from daughter in Jersey.

Between Sudeley and Rycote, the Queen was entertained at Oxford (cf. ch. iv) and Woodstock (cf. ch. xxiii, s.v. Sir Henry Lee).

_Tilt-yard Entertainment. 17 Nov. 1595_

See ch. xxiii, s.v. Peele, _Anglorum Feriae_.

_Harefield Entertainment. 1602_

Elizabeth was at Harefield Place, Middlesex, the house of Sir Thomas Egerton, Lord Keeper, and his wife Alice, Countess Dowager of Derby, from 31 July to 2 Aug. 1602. At the same house Milton’s _Arcades_ was performed before Lady Derby in 1634. Seven fragments of the entertainment have been preserved, and are printed by Nichols, _Eliz._ iii. 570, 586, and Bond, _Lyly_, i. 491. Accounts of expenditure involved, and a list of the gifts in kind contributed by Egerton’s friends on this occasion are in _Egerton Papers_, 340, but the account in 342–4 is a forgery (_vide infra_).

(i) Dialogue between a Bailiff and Dairymaid, and presentation of a rake and fork to the Queen, as she entered the demesne near the dairy house.

(ii) Dialogue at the steps of the house, and presentation of a heart, by Place ‘in a partie-colored roobe, like the brick house’ and Time ‘with yeollow haire, and in a green roabe, with an hower glasse, stopped, not runninge’.

(iii) Verse petition accompanying gift of a robe of rainbows on behalf of St. Swithin by Lady Walsingham on Monday morning [2 Aug.].

(iv) Farewell of Place, ‘attyred in black mourning aparell’ on the Queen’s departure, with presentation of an anchor.

(v) Verse ‘Complaint of the Satyres against the Nymphes’.

(vi) Song and speech by a Mariner, who entered the ‘presence’ with a lottery box, ‘supposed to come from the Carricke’.

(vii) ‘The Severall Lottes’, a list of gifts and blanks, with a poesy accompanying each, and the names of the ladies who drew them. These were the Queen, the Dowager Countess of Derby, the Countesses of Derby, Worcester, and Warwick, Lady Scroope, Mistresses Nevill, Thynne, Hastinges, and Bridges, Ladies Scudamore, Francis, Knevette, and Susan Vere, Mrs. Vavissour, Ladies Southwell and Anne Clifford, Mrs. Hyde, Ladies Kildare, Howard of Effingham and Paget, Mistresses Kiddermister and Strangwidge, the Mother of the Maids, Ladies Cumberland, Walsingham, and Newton, Mrs. Wharton, Ladies Digbye and Dorothy [Hastinges] and Mrs. Anselowe. One name, ending in ‘liffe’ is illegible. It may be Ratcliffe. One MS. adds three lots assigned to ‘country wenches’. Most of these ladies were maids of honour and others who came with the court; one or two, e.g. Mrs. Kiddermister, were country neighbours of the Egerton’s.

These pieces are derived from various sources:

(_a_) A transcript made by R. Churton in 1803 of a contemporary MS. found at Arbury, the house of Sir Roger Newdigate, to whose family Harefield passed in 1675, contains (i)-(v) and was printed by Nichols.

(_b_) A _Conway MS._, printed by P. Cunningham in _Sh. Soc. Papers_, ii. 65, contains (iii), the song from (vi), and (vii), with the heading ‘The Devise to entertayne hir M^{ty} at Harfielde ...’ and the date 1602.

(_c_) The second edition (1608) of Francis Davison’s _Poetical Rhapsody_ contains the speech from (vi) and (vii), with the incorrect indication ‘at the Lord Chancellor’s house, 1601’, which misled Nichols into supposing it to belong to some entertainment at York Place, the year before that of Harefield. The item comes between two pieces by Sir John Davies and has the initials J. D.

(_d_) The diary of John Manningham (_Harl. MS._ 5353, f. 95) contains amongst entries of Feb. 1603 some extracts from (i) and (vii), dating the latter in ‘the last Sumer at hir M^{ties} being with the L. Keeper’.

(_e_) A contemporary MS., printed as _Poetical Miscellanies_ (_Percy Soc._ lv), 5, has (vii) dated 1602.

(_f_) _Talbot MS._ K, f. 43, in the College of Arms, contains (iv) as given at ‘Harville’ with the date ‘Aug. 1602’ and is printed by Lodge, ii. 560.

(_g_) _B.M. Birch MS._ 4173 contains a similar copy of (iv).

On the strength of the _Poetical Rhapsody_, (vii) is generally assigned to Sir John Davies, which hardly justified Dr. Grosart in assigning all the pieces to him (_Works_, ii, clxxii). Bond transferred the whole to Lyly, primarily as a conjecture, but was confirmed in his view by finding in _Egerton Papers_, 343, a payment to ‘M^r Lillyes man, which brought the lotterye boxe to Harefield’. But the document in which this is found, and which also contains the item ‘x^{li} to Burbidges players for Othello’, is one of Collier’s forgeries (Ingleby, 261).

John Chamberlain (_Letters_, 164, 169) sent Dudley Carleton ‘the Quenes entertainment at the Lord Kepers’ on 19 Nov. 1602, and on 23 Dec. wrote that, as Carleton liked the Lord Keeper’s devices so ill, he had not cared to get Sir Robert Cecil’s (cf. ch. xxiii, s.v. Cecil).

_Progress from Scotland. 1603_

There were several contemporary prints:

_S. R._ 1603, May 9. ‘Kinge James his entrance into England.’ _Burby and Millington_ (Arber, iii. 234).

1603. The True Narration of the Entertainment of his Royal Majestie. _Thomas Creede for Thomas Millington._ [Epistle by T. M. to Reader.]

_Editions_ in Nichols, _James_ (1828), i. 53, and C. H. Firth, _Stuart Tracts_ (_English Garner_^2), 11.

_S. R._ 1603, May 14. ‘King James his entertainement at Theobaldes, with his welcomme to London.’ _Thomas Snodham_ (Arber, iii. 234).

1603. King James his entertainment at Theobalds: With his Welcome to London. By John Sauile. _Thomas Snodham, sold by T. Este._

_Editions_ in Nichols, _James_ (1828), i. 135, and C. H. Firth, _Stuart Tracts_, 53.

_S. R._ 1604, Mar. 27. ‘The tyme Triumphant.’ _Ralph Blore_ (Arber, iii. 256).

1604. The Time Triumphant, Declaring in brief the arrival of our Sovereign liege Lord, King James, into England, His Coronation at Westminster, ... [&c.]. By Gilbert Dugdale. _By R. B._

_Editions_ in Nichols, _James_ (1828), i. 408, and C. H. Firth, _Stuart Tracts_, 69.

Jonson’s _Althorp Entertainment_ (cf. ch. xxiii).

_S. R._ 1603, June 16. A ballad of ‘Englandes sweet Comfort with the kinges entertaynmente by the Maior of Yorke’. _William White_ (Arber, iii. 238).

There is also an account in Stowe, _Annales_ (1631), 819. For the stages of the progress cf. App. A. Besides the device at Althorp, speeches were prepared by Dekker for the entry to London, but not used (cf. s.a. 1604).

_Coronation Triumph. 1604_

There are four contemporary prints:

_S. R._ 1604, Apr. 2 (Pasfield). ‘The magnificent Entertainement ... the 15 of marche 1603.’ _Thomas Man junior_ (Arber, iii. 258).

1604. The Magnificent Entertainment: Giuen to King Iames, Queene Anne his wife, and Henry Frederick the Prince, vpon the day of his Maiesties Tryumphant Passage (from the Tower) through the Honourable Citie (and Chamber) of London, being the 15. of March, 1603. As well by the English as by the Strangers: With the speeches and Songes, deliuered in the seuerall Pageants. Tho. Dekker. _T. C. for Tho. Man the younger._

1604. The Whole Magnificent Entertainment.... And those speeches that before were publish’t in Latin, now newly set forthe in English. _E. Allde for Tho. Man the younger._

1604. _Thomas Finlason, Edinburgh._

_Editions_ in Nichols, _James_, i. 337, and _Somers Tracts_ (1810), iii. 1.

The speeches for three of the pageants were Jonson’s, and some of those for a fourth Middleton’s. Two others were in Latin. But Dekker himself probably contributed the rest. Prefixed is a dialogue intended, but not used, for James’s original entry into London in 1603, which may also be assigned to Dekker.

Jonson’s _Coronation Entertainment_ (cf. ch. xxiii).

1604. The Arches of Triumph Erected in honor of the High and mighty prince, James, the first of that name, King of England, and the sixt of Scotland, at his Maiesties Entrance and passage through his Honorable Citty and chamber of London, vpon the 15^{th} day of March 1603. Invented and published by Stephen Harrison Joyner and Architect: and graven by William Kip. _John Windet._ [Verses by Thomas Dekker and John Webster.]

1604.... _John Windet, sold by John Sudbury and George Humble._

G. Dugdale’s _Time Triumphant_. See s.a. 1603.

There is also an account in Stowe, _Annales_, 835, based on A. Some ballads are registered in Arber, iii. 255–7, and various verses and other illustrative materials are printed by Nichols. A list of the pageants is in ch. iv.

_Entertainment of King of Denmark. 1606_

There are four contemporary prints:

_S. R._ 1606, July 30 (Wilson). ‘The Kinge of Denmarkes entertainement at Tilberie Hope by the kinge &c.’ _Henry Robertes_ (Arber, iii. 327).

1606. The Most royall and Honourable entertainement, of the famous and renowmed King, Christiern the fourth, King of Denmarke, &c.... With the royall passage on Thursday the 31. of July, thorough the Citty of London, and honorable shewes there presented them, and maner of their passing. By H. R. _W. Barley for H. R._ [Epistle to Sir Thomas Smith, signed ‘Hen. Robarts’.]

_Editions_ in Nichols, _James_ (1828), ii. 54, and _Harleian Miscellany_, ix. 431.

_S. R._ 1606, Aug. 19 (Wilson). ‘A Booke called Englandes farewell to Christian the Ffourthe kinge of Denmarke With a Relacon of suche shewes and seuerall pastymes presented to his Maiestie, as well at Courte the ffirste of Auguste as in other places since his honorable passage through the Cytie of London &c.’ _William Welbye_ (Arber, iii. 328).

1606. Englands Farewell to Christian the fourth, famous King of Denmarke. By H. Roberts. _For William Welby._ [Epistle to Sir John Jolles, signed ‘H. Roberts’.]

_Editions_ in Nichols, _James_ (1828), ii. 75, and _Harleian Miscellany_, ix. 440.

Jonson’s _Entertainment of the King of Denmark_ at Theobalds (cf. ch. xxiii).

_S. R._ 1606, Aug. 8 (Hartwell). ‘A booke called the Kinge of Denmarkes welcomme into England &c.’ _Edward Allde_ (Arber, iii. 327).

1606. The King of Denmarkes welcome: Containing his arriual, abode, and entertainement, both in the Citie and other places. _Edward Allde._

_Extracts_ in Nichols, _James_ (1828), iv. 1072.

There are also an account in Stowe, _Annales_, 885, and a _Relatio oder Erzehlung wie ... Christianus IV, &c. im Königreich Engellandt angelanget_ (1607, Hamburg). For the itinerary cf. App. A. Bond, _Lyly_, i. 505, prints a song at Theobalds on 24 July and a pastoral dialogue in Fleet Street on 31 July as possibly Lyly’s.

_The Christmas Prince. 1607–8_

[_MS._] _St. John’s College, Oxford, MS._ ‘A True and Faithfull Relation of the Risinge and Fall of Thomas Tucker, Prince of Alba Fortunata, Lord of St. John’s,’ &c. The writer is said (_D. N. B._) to be Griffin Higgs, but the evidence is inadequate.

_Edition_ [by P. Bliss], An Account of the Christmas Prince (1816, _Miscellanea Antiqua Anglicana_). Another is planned in _M. S. R._

This is the narrative of a lordship of misrule at St. John’s during the Christmas of 1607–8. The MS. includes the text of a number of plays and shows. Unfortunately Bliss omits the text of these, with the exception of one called _The Seven Days of the Week_. The others were _Ara Fortunae_, _Saturnalia_, _Philomela_, _Time’s Complaint_, _Somnium Fundatoris_, _Philomathes_, _Yuletide_, _Ira seu Tumulus Fortunae_, _Periander_ (an English play). Others were planned, but not given; cf. _Mediaeval Stage_, i. 409.

_Chesters Triumph. 23 April 1610_

_S. R._ 1610, June 12 (Wilson). ‘A booke called Chesters Triumph in honour of ye Prince, as it was performed vpon Saincte Georges Day 1610 in thaforesayd Citty.’ _John Browne_ (Arber, iii. 436).

1610. Chesters Triumph in Honor of her Prince. As it was performed vpon S. Georges Day 1610, in the foresaid Citie. _For I. B._ [The name of Robert Amerie appears at the end. A preface and one poem are by R. Davies.]

_Editions_ in Nichols, _James_, ii. 291 (1828), and in _Chetham Soc._ publications (1844).

G. Ormerod, _Hist. of Cheshire_ (1882), i. 381, gives a description of the show from a shorter account or programme in _Harl. MS._ 2150, f. 186, indexed (f. 3^v) as ‘M^r. Amory’s new shew invented by him’. This is confirmed by the lines:

Amor is loue and Amory is his name, That did begin this pompe and princelye game.

_Camp-Bell. 29 Oct. 1609_

N.D. [1609?] Running title: Campbell, or The Ironmongers Faire Field. [The only known copy (B.M. C. 33, E. 7) lacks the t.p. and sig. A. Thomas Campbell was mayor in 1609. For his grandson, James Campbell, mayor in 1629, Dekker wrote _London’s Tempe, or The Field of Happines_.]

Greg, _Masques_, 21, assigns this to Munday, without stating his grounds.

_London’s Love to Prince Henry. 31 May 1610_

1610. Londons Loue, to the royal Prince Henrie, meeting him on the Riuer of Thames, at his returne from Richmonde, with a worthie fleete of her Cittizens, on Thursday the last of May, 1610. With a breife reporte of the water Fight, and Fire workes. _Edward Allde, for Nathaniel Fosbrooke._ [Epistle to Sir Thomas Campbell, Lord Mayor.]

_Edition_ by J. Nichols, _James_, ii. 315 (1828).

It appears from the city records that the device was by Munday, and that Richard Burbadge and John Rice of the King’s men delivered the speeches as Amphion and Corinea; cf. _Repertory_, xxix, f. 232^v, and Letter