THE STORY OF THE SCOTS STAGE c • • • , I • • • •• • • • •• • fC, «-«€♦• « ■c c c -c ; C r * « •• MA( KAV AS THK liAILIK IN KCW JsOY See page 144, THE STORY OF THE SCOTS STAGE BY ROBB LAWSON New York E. P. BUTTON & COMPANY 168 Fifth Avenue PRINTED IN SCOTLAND FOREWORD. As it seems needful to explain why this book came into existence, I may say that as an eager student of Drama, I was anxious to trace out for myself the history of the Scottish Stage. The enquiry, pleasurable a^ it was, became a somewhat tortuous one. Unluckily for the student, Scotland does not seem to be very proud of its stage connections, with the result that to link the story together one has to become an Autolycus, delving into all sorts and condi- tions of documents and unsuspected volumes. This role I willingly adopted, and thinking that if I strung my notes together in some historical order, the volume might not be unwelcome to brother Scots at home and abroad, I have pleasure in submitting the result. 2 FOREWORD. I have not attempted to go beyond the commencing date of the now popular Tour- ing Companies, mainly because their pro- ducts cannot be regarded as indigenous to the Scottish stage. If this attempt at laying the foundation should inspire the more exhaustive history really desired, my purpose will have been happily served. I am indebted to many friends for willing services rendered, but I cannot refrain from mentioning in this connection the names of Mr. J. M. Bulloch of The Graphic, Mr. Frank Boyd of The Dundee Courier, Mr. John Duncan of The Glasgow Herald, Mr. H. Thomson Clark, and Mr. J. A. Whamond- Mudie. RoBB Lawson. CONTENTS. CHAPTER PAGE I— Introductory, - . - . 9 Bards — Minstrels — Thomas the Rhymer — John Bar- bour—Andrew Wyntoun— Blind Harry — James I. — Henryson — William Dunbar — Gavin Douglas — Guisards— Archery — Robin Hood — Little John — Strolling Players— Forerunners of Music Hall Artists — Scottish Mystery Play — Abbot of Unreason — The Satire of the Thrne Estatis — The May Queen — Mor- alities — The Censorship — Pageants and Masques. II.— The Aberdeen Revels, - - 39 Abbot and Prior of Bon- Accord— T/w Holy Bluds — Mary Magdalene—The Craftsmen's share in Corpus Christi Plays— Candlemas Day functions— Robin Hood and Little John— Penalties for troubling the Lords of Bon-Accord— Parliamentary suppression— The King intervenes — Lawrence Fletcher's Com- pany of Players— Story of Aberdeen Playhouse. III.— The Origin of Drama in Edin- burgh, 63 James II. grants use of Greenside for sports — The Town Pipers— Harpers, Fiddlers, and Pipers— Page- ants — Masques and Tournaments— Dunbar, play- wright — Robin Hood Plays— Lyndsay's Satire — Parliament put down Robin Hood Plays and May Queen — Mob attack the Magistrates — Pageant for Queen Mary — The Pomp of the Gods— The Censor- Penalty for Actors, to be hung as thief. CONTENTS. IV.— Edinburgh's Early Drama, - 84 Pageant to James VI.— Reformation helped by Plays — King takes Players under his patronage — Shakespeare's Dancing Horse — Rope-walking — Kirk denounces Plays, and King intervenes — Eng- lish Players at Holyrood — James VI. demands re- vival of May games, etc. — Ben Jonson in Edinburgh — Siamese Twins — Dromedary, Quack Doctor, and Rope- Walker — The Fountains proclaimed Masters of the Revels — Dancing Schools licensed — Irish Players — Parliament patronise The Spanish Friar — Macbeth at Holyrood — Allan Ramsay — Aston 's Theatre— Plays at Taylor's Hall— Edinburgh Free- masons patronise the Players— John Ryan at Canon- gate Theatre — High Life Below Stairs Riot. V. — The Edinburgh Stage, - - 116 Fire at Canongate Theatre — Production of Home's Douglas — The Kirk takes action — A storm of abuse and ridicule— The Cape Club— The New Theatre Royal — George Whitfield objects — Samuel Foote, lessee — Digges and Bland, lessees — Mrs. Yates — John Jackson, lessee — Mrs. Siddons — Stephen Kemble, lessee — "The Circus" — Henry Erskine Johnstone — Barker's Panorama — Master Betty — Walter Scott and Henry Mackenzie granted patent of Theatre Royal— Henry Siddons fits Corri's rooms as Theatre— Command performance of Bob Roy by George IV.— The Pantheon— Adelphi Theatre— Henry Irving in "Stock." VI. —The Arbroath and Dundee Stage, 152 Scott describes Fairport Theatre— The New Theatre — Corbett Ryder's company in Arbroath — " Stars " ' CONTENTS. 5 who visited there — First Dundee dramatist — Shake- speare and Dundee — Dundee Freemasons in proces- sion to theatre — Dodging the Act — Edinburgh Comedians at Trades Hall — Council bans the Flayers — Yeaman Shore Theatre built — The Pretty Girl of Dundee — Opening of Theatre Royal — Mr. and Mrs, Henry Siddons — Stephen Kemble — W. H. Murray — Corbett Ryder's Company in Boh jRoj/— Mathews — Johnston — Clara Fisher, 9-year-old prodigy — Mac- ready— Mrs. Faucit—Brahara— David Bell, aged 13 — Paganini — Charles Kean — Samuel Phelps — The great Mackay— The African Roscius— Thistle Hall — G. V. Brooke — Dog-drama — A quintuple Richard ni.— Tom Powrie— Helen Faucit— " Wee Scott.' VII.— Early Glasgow Drama, - - 183 Town Drummers and Town Minstrels — Vain plays at Ruglen — The Council decide to imprison stroUing Players — The Temple of Beelzebub — Giddy young Glaswegians — Teaching of dancing — The Beggar's Opera— BwtreWs Close— The first Glasgow Theatre — George Whitfield gets angry — The mob burn the Theatre — Alston Street Theatre— Fanatical mob set fire to it — Mrs. Bellamy — Dunlop Street Theatre erected, 1781 — Mrs. Siddons— John Jackson, lessee — The School for Scandal — Master Betty — Jackson's economies. VIII.— The Glasgow Stage, - - 208 Erection of Queen Street Theatre— The Black Bull Inn — Harry Johnston— George Frederick Cooke— Edmund Kean— Charles Kean— Miss O'Neill— The- atre illumination by gas— First Scottish performance of Rob Roy — Sheridan Knowles— Ellen Tree — James Aitken — The rival lessees in Dunlop Street— Due- row's Sfxig Hunt — York Street Theatre — G. V. 6 CONTENTS. Brooke — Mr. and Mrs. Charles Kean — Adelphi Theatre — Samuel Phelps — Muraford's " Geggie " — Edmund Glover — Helen Faucit— Professor Ander- son's City Theatre — Calvert's *' Queen's " Theatre. IX.— Perth Dramatic Records, - 244 Guisards— Saint Obert's play— Church licenses Com- pany of Players— Spectacle at South Inch — Pageant to Charles I. — Perth Grammar School presents Plays —Theatre in a flat— Guild Hall Theatre— Glovers' Hall Theatre— The Theatre accident— St. Anne's Lane Theatre— Neil Gow — Mr. and Mrs. Henry Siddons — Corbett Ryder, actor-manager — Mackay as mimic— jRo6 Roy — Opening of Theatre Royal — Macready — First Pantomime— Edmund Kean— Cale- donian Theatre Company — C. Bass, lessee— A Penny GaflF — Hooper's Touring Company — John Wilson, the Scottish tenor — Paganini — Cooke's Circus — Wombwell's Menagerie — Sheridan Knowles — The African Roscius — Helen Faucit. Bibliography, 287 Index, 293 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. FACING PAGE The famous Mackay as "Bailie Nicol Jarvie " in Rob Roy (Isaac Pocock's dramatisation of Sir Walter Scott's novel), - - Frontispiece James 1. (1394- 143 7 a.d.), author of the love poem. The Kingis Quhair, - - - - 16 The Forerunners of our Music Hall Artists — The Stilt Act, Performing Monkey, The Hurdy-Gurdy, 24 The Forerunners of our Music Hall Artists — The Jugglers, Bagpiper, The Regal Player, 32 The Performing Horse, The Jougs for Robin Hood Miscreants, The Stool of Repentance for performers of May Queen, - - - 36 A Street Performance of a Mystery Play, - 48 Theatre Royal, Shakespeare Square, Edinburgh (1768-1859 A.D.), 136 Theatre Royal, Dundee, in t 81 6, - - - 168 Theatre Royal, Dunlop Street, Glasgow (1781- 1862 A.D.), ---_-- 200 Old Theatre Royal, Queen Street, Glasgow (1805-1829 A.D.), ----- 208 Mumford's " Geggie," Saltmarket, Glasgow, opened circa 1835 a.d., - - - - 232 THE STORY OF THE SCOTS STAGE. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY. .Whether as Picts or Saxons or by any other racial cognomen, one thing is certain, that Scotland was inhabited by men of the Norse race. The Norse Joel or Yule-tide formed the chief public event in the lives of this people and, taking place as it did in mid-winter, furnished the occasion for that tangible ex- pression of the joy which was the common heritage of both gods and men. Between tliose early manifestations of a drama, which followed out an evolutionary process similar to the Grecian and Roman 10 THE SCOTS STAGE. product, whose mimetic dances were regarded as part of their religious ceremonies, and the development of such, there is little, historically speaking, which may help us to breach the hiatus which necessarily exists. But although the gulf cannot be directly bridged by historical aid, the institution of the drama as a real entity may be considered as commencing with the use of poetry as a medium for the exploitation of the heroic feats, mythological and otherwise, which the first rhapsodists employed in singing the praises of their heroes. Indeed, in those primeval days poetry occupied a higher national position than it can ever hope to do in the present days of philistinism. Its early potency is well illustrated in Sir Walter Scott's Essay on Romance. '* Poets are the historians and often the priests of the tribe. Their command of language, then in its infancy, excites not merely pleasure, but enthusiasm and admira- tion. When separated into a distinct class — as was the case with the Celtic bards— they rank high in the scale of society, and we not only find kings and nobles Hstening to them INTRODUCTORY. 11 with admiration, but emulous of their art and desirous to be enrolled amongst their numbers. Several of the most renowned northern kings and champions valued them- selves as much upon their powers of poetry, as upon their martial exploits, and of the Welsh princes, the Irish kings, and the High- land chiefs of Scotland, very many practised the arts of poetry and music. Llywarch Hen was a prince of the Cymraig, Brian Boromhe a harper and musician — and without resorting to the questionable authenticity of Ossian — several instances of the kind might be produced in the Highlands." The Scottish minstrels are mentioned in the same Essay. The French language was still being spoken at the English court, and latterly, this common tongue formed itself into that mixed dialect known as Anglo-Norman. Thomas the Rhymer of Erceldoune (1226- 1297 A.D.), borrowing his subject-matter from the Welsh traditions and the events con- nected with King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, became the author of the first classical English romance, and is com- memorated as such by his great English con- 12 THE SCOTS STAGE. temporary, Robert de Brunne. This did not imply the non-existence of any English litera- ture, but is due to the fact that his predecessors and contemporaries had contented themselves by assuming the easier task of translating the French romances, such as Sir Thopas, Sir Isenbras, and Golagros and Gawaine, all of which have been traced to this source. Regarded as a prophet, the popular belief was that Thomas had been spirited away by the fairies and had remained in their land the space of seven years. Upon his death he returned to that sweet Elysium, and it is said now ** drees his weird " until the hour when he is permitted to re-visit the earth. All of which is circumstantially set forth in the Border Ballad. *' True Thomas lay on Huntlie bank, A ferlie he spied wi' his e'e, And there he saw a lady bright Come riding down by the Eildon Tree. " ' Now, ye maun go wi* me,* she said, ' True Thomas, ye maun go wi' me ; And ye maun serve me seven years. Thro' weal or woe, as may chance to be. INTRODUCTORY. 13 •* • But Thomas, ye maun hold your tongue, Whatever ye may hear or see, For if you speak word in Elflyn land Ye'll never get back to your ain countrie.' It was mirk, mirk nicht, and there was nae stern light, And they waded thro' red blude to the knee ; For a' the blude that's shed on earth Runs thro' the springs o' that countrie. " He has gotten a coat of the even cloth And a pair of shoes of velvet green, And till seven years were gane and past True Thomas on earth was never seen." According to Walter Bower, a zealous chronicler of the first half of the fifteenth century, the royal youth, Alexander III. was crowned at Scone, in the year 1249 A.D., with every circumstance of pomp and magnificence. Clad in his regal mantle, crowned and sceptred, they placed him upon the Stone of Destiny. Then there stood forward out of the stately throng a venerable, hoary-headed Highlander, attired in scarlet cloak, who proceeded to recite in the Gaelic tongue the genealogy of the young king, tracing his descent from the fabulous Gathelus. This 14 THE SCOTS STAGE. was one of the prominent events which served to shew the dignity with which the office of the Bard was regarded. The second poet with whom we have to deal is Archdeacon John Barbour ( 1 3 1 6- 1 3 9 5 ) . He was clerk of audit to the household of the English King Richard II. In the year 1375, at the request of King David, he commenced his epic poem, The Actes and Life of that most Victorious Conqueror, Robert Bruce, King of Scotland, wherein are contained the Martlall Deeds of those Valient Princes, Edward Bruce, Syr James Douglas, Erie Thomas Randal, Walter Stewart and sundrie others. Of this poem Dr. David Irving says: " Barbour seems to have been acquainted with those finer springs of the human heart which elude vulgar observa- tion : he catches the shades of character with a delicate eye, and sometimes presents us with instances of nice discrimination. His work ia not a mere narrative of events: it contains specimens of that minute and skilful delineation which marks the hand of a poet." The poem is written in octo-syllabic lines forming rhymed couplets, of which there are seven thousand. INTRODUCTORY. 15 The first printed edition was published about 1570. The lines quoted are taken from King Robert's address to the Scots on the eve of Bannockburn. ** For we hae thre great awantageis The fyrst is that we haf the rycht, And for the rycht ay God will fycht ; The tothyr is, that thai cummyn ar For lyppnnyng off thair gret powar, To sek us in our owne land : And has brought her, rycht till our hand Ryches in to sa gret quantite That the powrest of you sail bo Both rych, and mychty thar with all, Giff that we wyne, as weill may fall. The third is, that we for our lyvis, And for our childre, and for our wywis, And for our fredome, and for our land Ar strenyeit into bataill for to stand." Barbour has also been credited on somewhat uncertain grounds with a poem entitled The Brut, in which is related the history of the Stuarts, beginning with their descent from the fabulous King Brut ; and another entitled The Stewarts Oryglnalle, in which he derives the house of Stewart from Ninus, the founder of Nineveh. His undoubted poem on Bruce secured to him £10 Scots to be derived from the revenues of the city of Aberdeen, and 16 THE SCOTS STAGE. a pension of 20s. from the Burgh mail, a fact which brings Scotland into the early records of poet-laureateship . The name of Andrew Wyntoun ( 1 3 50- 1 420) brings us to the third of the Scots poets. Canon-regular of St. Andrews, about the year 1395 he was elected Prior of the Monastery of St. Serf in Lochleven. His contribution to Scots literature consisted of the great historical poem, An Orygynale Cronykil of Scotland, which illustrates many of the leading events in the history of the country. It begins by describing the return of King David II. from captivity. *• Yet in prison was King Davy, And when a lang time was gane bye Frae prison and perplexitie To Berwick Castle brought was he, With the Earl of Northamptoun, For to treat there of his ransoun." No history of the period would be complete without the inclusion of the name of Henry the Minstrel, or, to give him his more familiar title. Blind Harry. He was living and working during the last quarter of the fifteenth century, but for the most part his personal historyj JAMES I. (1304-1437 A.D.) Author of the love poem, The Kingis Qtihair. See page 18. INTRODUCTORY. 17 is shrouded in darkness. Supposed to be blind from birth, he eked out a living by; reciting ** gestes " before the nobility. His claim to record is based upon the epic poem. Ye Artis and Deidis of ye lUuster and Vailzeand Camploun Schir William Wallace, Knicht of Ellerslie. It is written in decasyllabic Hnes, a style of verse which became more common at a later date. The only MS. of the poem appears in the Advocates' Library, and is dated 1488. The lines depicting ** The Death of Wallace " are worthy of quotation in the modernised version. ** On Wednesday the false Southron forth him brought To martyr him, as they before had wrought, Of men in arms led him a full great rout. With a bold sprite good Wallace blink'd about, A priest he asked for God that died on tree. King Edward then commanded his clergy And said, ' I charge you upon loss of life, None be so bold yon tyrant for to shrive, He has reigned long in contrare my highness.* A blithe bishop soon, present in that place. Of Canterbury he then was righteous lord. Against the King he made this right record. And said, * Myself shall hear his confessioun If I have might, in contrare of thy crown Anst thou through force will stop me of this thing I vow to God who is my righteous King That all England I shall her interdict, And make it known thou art a heretic." 18 THE SCOTS STAGE. The name of the unfortunate King James I. (1394- 1437) forms another link in the list of Scotland's representative poets. A student of Chaucer, Cower, and Lydgate, the sweet spell of their muse had quite captivated his mind. At Windsor Castle he fell in love with the daughter of the Duke of Somerset, and niece to Henry IV., Jane Beaufort, who was the *' begetter " of the celebrated Kingis Quhair (quire or book), in which is told the story of his love. * ' Kest I doun myn eye ageyne Quhare as I saw walkyng under the Toure Full secretely, new camyn hir to pleyne The fairest or the freschest young floure That ever I saw, methoucht, before that houre. For quhich sodayne abate, anone astert The blude of all my body to my hert." Stopford Brooke speaks of this poem thus: "In six cantos, sweeter, tenderer, and purer than any verse till we come to Spenser, he describes the beginning of his love till its happy end. * I must write so much because I have come so from Hell to Heaven.* " By the irony of fate, the murder of James I. at the Carthusian Monastery forms the subject matter of another poem — Rossetti's The King's Tragedy, INTRODUCTORY. 19 Amongst minor works that have been attributed to the royal poet may be mentioned Christis Kirk on the Green and Peblls to the Play. The authorship of both of these has been disputed, and while Professor Veitch makes out a fairly strong case for James I., Professor Skeat holds that the poem is an imitation of one by thci King, and that when its language, style, and metre are considered, it is at least half a century, older than 1437. We must content ourselves with the bare mention of the names of Robert Henryson, or Henderson (1430- 1506), the Dunfermline schoolmaster, whose Testament of Fair Cresside forms the sequel to Chaucer's story of Troilus ; of William Dunbar (1460-15 17), who wrote that celebrated prothalamion, The Thrissil and the Rols, in honour of the Princess Margaret, sister of Henry VIII. and the affianced bride of James IV. *' Quhen Merche was with variand windis past And Apperyl had with her silver shouris Tane lief of Nature with due Orient blast, And lusty May, that muddir is of Flouris Had maid the hirdis to begyn thair houris, Amang the tender odouris reid & quhyt, Quhois harmony to heir it was delyt." 20 THE SCOTS STAGE. And last, though not the least, of that sweet singer, Gavin Douglas (1474-1522). Laying aside for the moment the question of literary interest, our purpose will best be served by a rapid survey of the habits of the people and the special regard with which they, cherished the pleasures of life. For the Scots have always suffered from a neighbour's too easy acceptance of the dictum that the Northerner is too serious-minded readily to accept the pleasures that lie nearest to him. The history of these times conveys quite a different impression. Warton, in his Scottish Poetry, regards the historical guisards as being ** composed of moral personifications "; they formed part of the festivities of Christmas time, and were performed by itinerant maskers. When Church service had ended, the Sabbath was not looked upon as being particularly sacred. It was the fashion to hold markets and fairs on that day, and after the rustic had attended Mass, he adjourned to the alehouse to sell his meal or dispose of his live stock. Sometimes the priest himself followed his parishioners to the kirk-yard to INTRODUCTORY. 21 witness their skill in archery, and join in the merry sports and frolics of Robin Hood and Little John. The purpose of those archery bouts was patriotic, as well as pleasurable. The Act of James I., Pari. I., cap. i8, provided: — ** That all men busk them to be archers from lo years {sic) of age and upwards, and that in each lo pounds of land there be made bow marks, especially near to parish churches, whereon upon holy days men come and at least shoot three about." To the playgoer, the inclusion in this history of such sports may be regarded as totally irrelevant, as bearing upon the subject in hand ; but the story of those rustic games is so inseparably interwoven with the very root principles of Scottish drama that it becomes an essential factor in helping us to trace out its later developments. Mention should here be made of what was really the forerunner of the present music-haU artist, the wandering player of the thirteenth and succeeding century. The strolling player might easily be found jogging along the open 22 THE SCOTS STAGE. road in company with the pedlar. That generic term used by historians to denote the wayfarers, minstrels or jongleurs, included musicians, singers, jugglers, dancers, tumblers, and buffoons. While the genuine bard or trouba- dour recited or chanted his versified romances and confined his performances to the '* big hooses," the strolling player was ever ready to accept what accommodation the gods gave, inn or market, wayside house, all was one. Con- sequently, he was a man of the people, satirising the political follies of the day or eulogising for paltry pelf the feats of any local hero. The licensed jester of the day, with a free entry anywhere, he performed his share in the evolution of social life by disseminating the sentiments of revolt in many a revolutionary lay. Sometimes, indeed, these minstrels were employed to instigate political revolutions, and often they were the carriers of private information. They were made free of hall, inn, tavern, or fair : no gathering was complete without its band of strolling players. The first drama of which we have any. satisfactory evidence was a Mystery-play called INTRODUCTORY. 23 The Haly Blade, which was acted at Aberdeen in 1445, ^^ account of which will be given in the chapter relating to that city. These Mysteries were promulgated, as was the case in all European countries, by the Roman Catholic priesthood for educational purposes, and they enjoyed a goodly vogue until the dawn of the Reformation. The theme was taken from the Scriptures and was reproduced in the more assimilative form of a play. The Scottish Mystery-play, following out the same course as elsewhere, gradually fell to the indignity of parody. Equally with the French fetes-des- foux, the occasion lent tlie opportunity for a, burlesque of Church ceremonies. One of the most popular forms of it was The Feast of Asses. The chief actor was Balaam's ass, or that which stood beside the manger, or the one upon which the Saviour rode. A donkey, garbed in grotesque canonicals, was brought into the most sacred part of the church, where the mob made high sport with the beast, and indulged in all manner of profanity. The Feast dedi- cated to the Innocents provided an excuse for the children to exercise their talent for mischief 24 THE SCOTS STAGE. amongst the vestments, ornaments, and shrines of the church. Curiously enough, these unseemly exhibitions were at first tolerated by the clergy, but in the year 1547 a macer of the Primate of St. Andrews appeared at Borthwick with letters of excommunication against the Lord of Misrule, which the curate was enjoined to publish at High Mass in the Parish Church. The inhabitants of the Castle happened at that moment to be engaged in the sport of acting the Abbot of Unreason. With this mock dignitary heading the procession, they laid violent hands upon the macer, ducked him repeatedly in the nearest mill-dam, and then compelled him to eat up his parchment letters, which by a merciful whim were made palatable through steeping in wine. Sometimes the lord, of the revels was called the Boy Bishop, or the President of Fools. Under his leadership the people entered the church, gave a mock imitation of the sacred rites and sung indecent parodies of the Church hymnal. The next step in the evolutionary process from the Mystery-play was that of the Morality, •J. c > INTRODUCTORY. 25 in which the characters of Holy Writ were changed into persons representing the Virtues. These latter often assumed a satirical form. One record at least tells how James Wedder- burn of Dimdee, in 1 540, converted the histories of John the Baptist and Dionysius the Tyrant into plays which were acted at that town, and in which he ** carped roughlie the abuses and corruptions of the Papists, counterfeiting their lying impostures and miracles." But this was a dangerous practice, as he foimd to his intense personal inconvenience. He was denounced as a heretic, and had to flee to France for safety, where eventually he died. Amongst the most celebrated of those satirical plays stands Sir David Lyndsay's Satire of the Thrie Estatis, which was performed before the King at Linlithgow on the first day after Epiphany, 1540. The best account we get of the play is that upon its performance at Cupar on 7th June, 1552. Some time before the performance, it was advertised in the market place by means of two or three actors who strolled into the market and played an interlude 3 26 THE SCOTS STAGE. to excite curiosity. A messenger appeared and, addressing the crowd, said: — *' Richt famous Pepill, ye sail understand How that an Prince richt wyiss and vigilant Is shortly for to cum into this land; And purposis to hold ane Parliament, His Three Estaitis thereto hes done consent In Cowpar Toun, in to thair best array With support of the Lord Omnipotent, And thairto hes afixt ane certane day." An old cottar next came upon the scene and declared his wish to be present : — " And drink a quart at Cowpar Toun ,Wi' my gossip, John .Williamson," but fears his ** devil of a wife " will prevent him. That worthy arrives and justifies his description by soundly rating her husband, whom slie orders to stay at home, and watch the kye while she attends the play. They are still squabbling when Fyndlaw of the Foolband, an arrant coward who had fled from Pinkie Cleuch, appears and boasts of his exploits, ending with the prayer that ** the great God of his grace " may INTRODUCTORY. 27 ** Send us weir and never peace That I may fecht my fill." After this braggadocio speech, according to the stage direction, the character lies down and falls asleep. A fool then plays a trick on the old man at the suggestion of his wife, and puts Fyndlaw's courage to the proof by presenting a sheep's head on a staff. Before this formid- able weapon the " fighting " captain flees in terror. The messenger ends the interlude by again announcing the date of the play: — *' As for this day I haf nae mair to say you On Whitsone Tysday cum see our play I pray you; That samise day is the sevinth of June, Thairfor get up right airly and disjune. (breakfast.) On the appointed day, accordingly, at the hour of 7 A.M., every man, woman, and child who could get there, gathered at the Castle Hill, and the ** Satire " began. It consisted of seven parts or interludes loosely strung together. Lyndsay acted upon the stage maxim adopted by Goethe — that the manager who brings much 28 THE SCOTS STAGE. upon the scene brings something for everybody. The first part is the tale of the temptation of King Humanity by Dame Sensuality: the second is the cheating of a poor man by a Roman pardon-monger ; the third a sermon by Folly: in the fourth, King Humanity again appears, and is misled by Flattery, Deceit, and Falsehood, who in the fifth part overcomes Verity and Chastity : the sixth is the Parliament of Correction, from which the drama takes its name of The Satire of the Thrie Estatis, whose acts were drawn with a view to reform the abuses then prevalent both in Church and State: and the whole matter ends with the punishment of the Vices. It took nine hours to perform, which certainly speaks volumes for the patience of the audience. Two meal hours were included in this time, and if the auditors fol- lowed out the advice of the messenger who announced the play, ** With gude stark wynne your flaconnis see ye fill,'* they probably did not limit this part of their refreshment to the stated intervals. INTRODUCTORY. 29 In connection with the Moralities, a quaint item exists in the records of the Town Council of Edinburgh of 1554, where the Treasurer is ordered to pay: — " to Walter Bynning five lib for making of the playground, painting the hand scenes and the players faces, and for preserving so as to be forthcoming to the town when required, 8 play hats, a king's crown, a mitre, a fooFs; head, a foxis, a pair of angel's wings, two angels' hair and a chaplet of triumph." Surely here is an outfit comprehensive enough to satisfy the most celestially-minded mortal I That farces did exist about this period can only remain matter for conjecture. In Sir David Lyndsay's Complaynt of the Papyngo, a record of the most distinguished poets of Scotland, he speaks of Sir James IngHs : — **Quho can say more than schir James Inglis sayis In ballates, farsis and in plesand playis." Upon this Warton writes: — ** I know nothing of Sir James Inglis or of his ballads, farces, and pleasant plays. 30 THE SCOTS STAGE. But one John Inglis was master of a company of players, as we have before seen at the marriage of James IV. Here is a proof, however, that theatrical representations were now in high repute in the court of Scotland." Returning to the Robin Hood plays, they gradually became a very popular institution. It was the custom on the first Sabbath of May for the public to assemble together under the patronage of their magistrates to assist at the frolics of the famous outlaw. In this month, too, the young maidens and children had their May Queen celebration, the occasion of much singing and dancing. Against these the Parlia- ment of 1555 issued a summary objection by which they declared (Mary, VI., cap. 61) that if any provost, bailies, council, or com- munity chose personages such as Robin Hood, Little John, Abbot of Unreason or Queen of May, they should lose their freedom for five years, and that if any women, by singing about summer trees made perturbation to the queen's lieges, they should be put upon the cuk-stool of the burgh or town. The thirty years that followed upon this INTRODUCTORY. 31 eventful one were fruitful in change. Mystery- plays fell into disrepute, and the Moralities became the common form of entertainment. The General Assembly of i 5 7 5, in an endeavour to stamp out what they considered godless entertainments, enjoined that no clerk-plays or comedies based upon the canonical Scriptures should be acted either upon Sabbath or work-days, and that profane plays should be examined before they were exhibited, and in no case on Sabbath. The Bailie of Dunferm- line (1576) craved leave from the Assembly to perform a play on Sunday, but permission was refused (vide Book of Universal Kirk). If one may conclude from authoritative evidence, the moral condition of the people was then at the lowest ebb. *' Universally," says the Assembly, ** throughout the realm there is neither religion nor discipline with the poor, but the most part live in filthy adultery, incest, fornication ; their children are unbaptised, and they themselves never resort to the church nor participate in the Sacrament." As an offset against this, we must remember that the peasantry of that period were miserably poor. 32 THE SCOTS STAGE. and, as a natural result, their poverty coloured their morality, or rather the hygienic and sanitary quality of their environment was not conducive to that morality which is the high prerogative of the comfortably-housed and clad. A pretty side-light is thrown upon the amuse- ments of the worthy Knox by an entry which appears in the Diary of James Melville, under date 1571. ** This yeir in the monthe of July Mr. Jhone Davidsone one of our Regents maid a play at the marriage of John Colvin quhilk I saw playit in Mr. Knox presence, wherein according to Mr. Knox doctrine the castell of Edinbruche was beseiged and takin and the Captain with an or twa with him hangit in effigie." The Davidson referred to was Regent in St. Leonard's College, Aberdeen, and had written a few plays of a similar character. His last satire had an unfortunate result. Having directed it against the Regent Morton, this dignitary took summary vengeance upon him by ordering his banishment from the realm. 2 c h-: W' j> INTRODUCTORY. 33 Whatever obstacles may have been placed in the way of public enterprise in this direction, no opposition was offered to private amuse- ments, provided the individuals interested were aristocratic enough. To cross over the Border for a moment, we are reminded of the entertain- ment which was given at Kenilworth Castle in honour of Queen Elizabeth, an interesting account of which is given by Scott in Kenil- worth. Robert Laneham in one of his letters describes it thus: — ** The pageant of * The Lady of the Floating Island ' was perfonned; the raft on which she came landed at Mortimer's Tower, where accompanied by her attendants she presented herself to the Queen, delivering an address of homage, duty, and welcome to the peerless Elizabeth. Next appears Arion on his dolphin from amongst the other maritime deities. The facetious Lambourne, who had taken up the part in the absence of Wayland, being chilled through remaining immersed for such a long time and having forgotten his speech, tore off his vizard and swore ' Cogs bones ! he was none of Arion or Orion either, but honest Mike Lambome, that had been 34 THE SCOTS STAGE. drinking her Majesty's health till midnight, and was come to bid her heartily welcome to Kenilworth Castle.' The Queen laughed heartily, and swore in her turn that he had made the best speech she had heard that day. Lamborne, who instantly saw his jest had saved his bones, jumped on shore, gave his dolphin a kick, and declared that he would never meddle with fish again, except at dinner.'* That the censorship created by Act of Assembly, 1575, did not lie dormant is evinced by an application which was made for a licence by a company of comedians at the Perth Kirk Sessions. This was granted by a decree of date 3rd June, 1589, provisionally that ** nae swear- ing nor nae scurrility shall be spoken," and that nothing should be added to the register of the play itself. Amidst the obvious laxity of the people in the matter of morals, as understood by the General Assembly, royalty was not altogether devoid of its lapses from the conventions so decreed. An extract from Sir Anthony Weldon's Secret History relating to the court of James IV. states: — INTRODUCTORY. 35 '* After the king supped, he would come forth to see pastimes and fooleries in which Sir Edward Zouch, Sir George Goring and Sir John Flint were the chief and master fools — and surely the fooling got them more than any others' wisdom — sometimes presenting David Droman and Archie Armstrong, the king's fool, on the back of other fools, to tilt one another till they fell together by the ears. Sometimes they performed antick dances. But Sir John Millicent, who was never known before, was commended for notable fooling and was indeed the best extempore fool of them all." With the regal countenance given to theatrical displays and pageantries, it became a very difficult matter for the Church to repress such practices. For more than thirty years after the Reformation, the General Assemblyi had vainly appealed to the Civil Authorities to interfere. The chief obstacle to the successful enforcement of such enactments lay in their midst, and consisted in the fact that the elders and deacons of the Kirk generally presided over them. Pageants, too, were very popular in those days. Royalty being received with 36 THE SCOTS STAGE. pompous displays in the principal towns. When James V. was married to Mary of Lorraine (or Guise) in the Cathedral of St. Andrews, by David Beaton, a triumphal arch was erected at the entrance of the Abbey, and at the New Gate a Masque was designed by Sir David Lyndsay. It represented a fair Lady descending from a cloud and handing the keys of the city to the bride, in token that all hearts in Scotland were open to her. The Queen made a pretty speech to her husband on the morrow in which she said " she never saw in France so many good faces in so little room, as she saw that day in Scotland." Pageants of this character did not always boast of perfect stage management. An in- teresting critique of one of those functions exists in Nugce Antiqce, I. (349-51). Of this. Sir John Harrington writes: — " I have much marvelled at these stage pageantries, and they do bring to my remembrance what passed of this sort in our queen's days, of which I was some time an humble presenter and assistant, but I did never see such lack of good order, discretion and sobriety as I have now done." •ERKOR.MINC. HORSK. (.MS. Bodh'hi, 264; See page 86. JOITCS. Culprit found playing Robin Hood i^tood at kirkyard gate with the iron collar padlocked round his neck. From Galashiels (i6th century). {Natio7tal Museum of Scottish Antiquities, J STOOL OF RKi'K.NTANCE. From Old (ireyfriars Church, Edinburgh. For women found playing May Queen (i6th century). Decree of Scottish Parliament, 1555 a.d. (National Museum of Scottish Antigttities.) See page 30, INTRODUCTORY. 37 Then follows his comment upon the rdception of the Royal Danes, the friends of James VI., whose wife was Anne of Denmark. ** One day a great feast was held, and after dinner the representation of Solomon, his temple, and the coming of the Queen of Sheba was made. The lady who did play the Queen's part did carry most precious gifts to both their majesties, but, forgetting the steps arising to the canopy, overset her caskets into his Danish majesty's lap, and fell at his feet although I rather think it was on his face. Much was the hurry and confusion: cloths and napkins were at hand to make all clean. His majesty then got up and would dance with the Queen of Sheba, but he fell down and humbled himself before her, and was carried to an inner chamber and laid on a bed of state. Now did appear in rich dress Hope, Faith and Charity. Hope did essay to speak, but wine rendered her endeavours so feeble that she withdrew, and hoped the king would excuse her brevity. Faith was then alone, for I am certain she was not joined with good works, and left the Court in a staggering condition. Charity came to the king's feet, and seemed to cover the multitude of sins her sisters had committed ; 38 THE SCOTS STAGE. in some sort, she made obeisance and brought gifts, but said she would return home again, as there was no gift which heaven had not already given to His Majesty. She then returned to Hope and Faith, who were both sick." The letter ends somewhat caustically. ** Now did Peace make entry and strive to get foremost to the king; but I grieve to tell how great wrath she did discover unto those of her attendants: and how, much contrary to her semblance, most rudely made war with her olive branch, and laid on the pates of those who opposed her coming.** THE ABERDEEN REVELS 3? CHAPTER n. THE ABERDEEN REVELS. Having thus cursorily dealt with many of the outstanding features incidental to the intro- duction of drama in Scotland, our purpose will best be served by tracing its growth through the history of some of the leading towns, such as Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, and Glasgow, places which, by reason of their position and importance, have been identified with the drama in its progress from its nondescript beginning to the present questionable position it occupies as a hybrid product defying description, and which is neither classical enough to be literary nor important enough to be intellectual. Two eminences on the outskirts of Aberdeen bore the name of the Windmill Hills : one still retains that title, but the other is known as the Porthill. Both provided a rising slope, which' was admirably adapted for the purposes of dramatic representation. Shortly after the 40 THE SCOTS STAGE. year 1440, plays were performed on the west (Side, known as the Playfield. Standing as it did, immediately to the west of Woolmanhill, and surrounded by hilly ground, it formed an excellent auditorium. In the year 1440 a leader was appointed to conduct the sports, and was named the Abbot and Prior of Bon-Accord. The fee paid to this individual was fixed by Municipal Statute (5th September, 1442) at £8 6s. 8d. Scots. In this connection, it is of interest to note that Mr. G. M. Fraser, Librarian to the Aberdeen Public Library, considers that the origin of the Burgh Arms motto, " Bon- Accord " (good fellowship) will be found in the Miracle -plays which came into vogue when the motto was adopted. These Miracle-plays^ which had degenerated into unseemly revels, were under the charge of the Abbot, who was appointed by the Town Council. The use of ** Bon- Accord " in this sense, and the adoption of it as the Burgh Coat of Arms about 1430, were practically simultaneous. The first drama of which we have any. satisfactory evidence was, as has already been THE ABERDEEN REVELS. 41 stated, the Mystery of The tfaly Blade, per- formed circa 1440 at the Porthill. Exhibitions of the Mysteries were sometimes given at the churches also. The play usually lasted eight or nine hours, and occasionally it would take two or three days to complete a representa- tion. The strain of dramatic suspense was relieved by the introduction of pious speeches and ribald dialogue. Amongst the principal of those early plays may be mentioned Candlemas Day, in which appear Herod, Joseph, Mary, Simeon, Anna, the angels, and soldiers. The Conversion of Saul included the Deity, Saul, Ananias, Caiaphas, Belial, Mercury, priests, poets, and knights. But the best of these forerunners of our modern drama was Mary Magdalene, of which a synopsis may be useful as depicting the char- acter of the Mystery-play. Lazarus, Martha, and Mary are the children of King Syrus, who, previous to his death, divided his possessions amongst them. Mary, who is endowed with such beauty and virtue as to endanger hell, inherits a castle, which is laid siege to by the Seven Deadly Sins. She sets out for Jerusalem 4 42 THE SCOTS STAGE. with a servant, who has assumed the name of Luxury but whose real name is Lechery. They arrive at a tavern, where the best of wine is set before them. To them enters a gallant named Curiosity, and, after a dance in which she joins with him, Mary falls into his power. At her fall, all the devils in hell rejoice: Then a good angel comes to her. She meets the great prophet Jesus in the house of Simon the leper, confesses her sin, and, in her depth of penitence, washes his feet with her tears, and wipes them with her hair. Jesus tells her to go in peace, upon which, according to the stage direction, the seven devils leave her, and the bad angels ** enter into hell with thunder.'* Thereupon Satan summons his deadly council, and, questioning the evil spirit as to why he suffered Mary to break her bonds, he inflicts upon him and the seven devils a severe castigation for their carelessness. The death and raising of Lazarus, and the death and resurrection of Christ are next dramatised, after which Mary is instructed by the angel Raphael to proceed to Marseilles to convert the king of the country. '* Here enters a ship with a THE ABERDEEN REVELS. 43 merrie song," and, while they are striking sails and weighing anchor, an indecent conversation takes place between the shipman and his boy. Mary bargains with them to take her to Marseilles, and they proceed thither. After many signs and miracles, the king is converted, and enjoined to proceed to the Holy Land to be baptised by Peter, which is finally accom- plished. Mary then retires into the wilderness, where she is guarded by angels and fed with manna; and, after several visits from an old priest, she is received up into heaven. In con- clusion, the priest appears upon the stage, and, after making a speech, calls on the clerks ** with voices clear " to sing a Te Deum, and so the curtain drops. From the number of characters introduced, the varied scenes in which they appear, and the detailed stage directions given, one would imagine that a very extensive ward- robe and a very complete scenic apparatus would be required for the representation of such a piece. The scenes open in Bethany, in Jerusalem, and in Marseilles : a vessel is tossed upon the sea; now we are in heaven, anon in 44 THE SCOTS STAGE. hell, and a multitude of other places beside. One direction reads: " Here shall enter the prince of devils in a stage and hell underneath,'* and it seems the mode of representation was by a monstrous mouth with a movable jaw, which, when opened, shewed flames within. Into this devouring maw the devils sank to " their fellows black." Another direction reads: ** Here shall two angels descend into the wilderness, and other 2 shall bring an oble (a kind of wafer- cake), openly appearing aloft in the clouds: the two beneath shall bring Mary, and she shall receive the bread, then go into the wilderness.*' Despite those directions, there is no evidence to show that the stage appurtenances were otherwise than of a crude nature, the effects being chiefly produced by the imagination of the auditors. I regret that it has been impossible to procure any illustration of the performance of an Aberdeen Mystery-play, but the accompanying; illustration is offered as typical of the manner of their presentation. It is an ingenious restora- tion of the pageant of the Smiths Company of Coventry, and may be dated about 1469. The THE ABERDEEN REVELS. 45 pageant in question was presented in various parts of the town by means of a travelling stage. The waggon was wheeled about from station to station. At the moment of the illustration, it has been set up near the Cross in the Cross- cheaping. The armed guard in front will be noted keeping the street crowd in order. Seated in the foreground will be noted the men who drew the vehicle from each station. Three minstrels and a carpenter are sprawling in front. Actors who complain of the self-impor- tance of the modem stage carpenter will note that his uppishness is not without some historical warrant. The play is a Passion- play, and Pilate is shown washing his hands. Annas and Caiaphas can be seen in mitres on the right hand side. This waggon had two stories, the lower serving as a dressing-room. The municipal edict of 1442 called upon all craftsmen to appear annually ** at the offerand of our Lady at Candlemas," and directed what each Guild should supply. " The littstaris (dyers) sail fynd The Emperour and twa Doctours and alsmony honeste squiares as thai may. The Smythis and Hamermen sail fynd 46 THE SCOTS STAGE. The Three Kings of Culane (Cologne)," etc., etc, A decree of 30th April, 1445, set forth that no fees be given to the Abbot of Bon-Accord, but that the Alderman and a Bailie whom he shall name will supply ** That faute." During" the subsequent years, a good deal of dissension seems to have existed upon the question of expenses, as may be gathered from such resolu- tions of the Town Council as the following : — 2 1 St May, 1479. — The Council and brethren of the Guild being present ordain the Alderman to make the expenses and cost of the common good upon the *' arrayment and uthris neces- saris of the Play at Corpus Christi." 1st February, 1484. — Alderman and Council ordain that all the Craftsmen bear their " takyinis of thare craft upon thare beristis ** on Candlemas Day. Whoever contravened this bye-law forfeited the freedom of the town for a year. 7th August, i486. — The Alderman, Bailies and Council grantit to John of Culane, in lieu of fee the time he was Abbot of Bon-Accord, to be admitted a burgess of guild. (This THE ABERDEEN REVELS. 47 privilege could be procured upon payment of £4 Scots.) 1 7th August, 1 49 1 .— Andro Culane, younger, Abbot of Bon-Accord, applies for his fee, and Alderman and Council in reply say they have no money to pay him. 8th May, 1496. — Thos. Leslie and Robert of Culane are chosen conjointly Abbot and Prior of Bon-Accord, and the Council promise to pay them five merks upon that date twelve months hence. An interesting item with regard to the minstrels who took part in the ceremony is found in the Council Register for 28th January, 1500- *' The said day it was statut, ordainit and grantit be the alderman, balyeis and maist part of the consal and communitie present for the tyme that Jonhe and Robert, thar comone menstralis, sal have resonabile diets sevralie throw the nichtbours of the towne: And gif ony persoun, or personis refuss to resave thame to thar dietis, it sal be lesum to thame to gif to the said menstralis xij the day bat (both) for meat, drink, and wagis for simple folks." 48 THE SCOTS STAGE. That the Candlemas Day functions did not always pass off without some contretemps the Council Records also testify. One item, under date 2nd February, i 502, tells how ** John Rob Wobstar " and eight others were convicted of having on Candlemas Day usurped the usual place of the tailors. But evidently this was not the only occasion upon which the rules of precedence had been broken. On 30th January, I 505, the Council found it necessary to make a record of the rules : — ** A decree in honour of God and the Blessed Virgin Mary, the craftsmen ' kepit and decorit ' the procession on Candlemas Day yearly — And thai sail in order to the Offering in the Play, pass tha and ij togidir socialie: in the first the flesshoris, barbouris, baxturis, cordinaris, skinneris, couparis, wrichtis, hat makers and bonat maker togidir, walcaris, litstaris, wobstaris, tailyeouris, goldsmiths, blacksmithis and hamermen; and the craftsmen sale furnys the Pageants, the cordinaris the Messing; the wobstaris and walcaris, Symeon ; the smyths and gold- smiths iij Kingis of Cullane ; the litstaris, the SHOWINC; HOW THE OLD MYSTERY PLAY WAS PERFORMED IN THE STREETS {Circa 1469 a.d.). See page 44. THE ABERDEEN REVELS. 49 Emperour ; the masons, the Thrie Knichtis ; the talyours, Our Lady, Sanct B rid and Sanct Elene; the skyners, the Tua Bischopis, and tua of ilka craft to pass with the Pageant that thai furnys to keip thair geir, and gif ony persone or persounes happinis to failye and brek ony poynte before writing, and beis^ convict thereof (he) sale pay xl sh. to Sanct Nicholas work and the balyeis unlaw unforgevin." A further decree of i6th May, 1507, was directed towards the training of the youthful citizens, and commanded that ** all manner of youth burgess and burgess sons should be ready every holiday to pass with Abbot and Prior of Bon-Accord." A highly interesting account of those ceremonies is furnished by Mr. Joseph Robert- son in his Book of Bon-Accord. He is speaking of the Candlemas Day pageants. '* The Emperor who appears in the spectacle of 1442, was probably Augustus, and he differed little, perhaps, from the monarch who, in the procession which wel- comed Queen Margaret in 1 5 1 1, was figured 50 THE SCOTS STAGE. * . . . rydand under croun Richt awfull, Strang and large of portra- tour. As nobill, dreidfull michtie campioun.' The ' Doctors,' it may be conjectured, were representatives of the Jewish sages with whom Christ disputed in the Temple. The * Three Kings of Culane ' are the same with the personages commemorated by Dunbar in The Queen's Reception. * And syne thou gart the Orient kingis thrie Offer to Chryst with benyng reverence Gold, sence and mir with all humilitie Schawand him King with most magnifi- cence.' The eldest, Melchior, who appeared bowed down with years, and wearing a long beard, offered gold: frankincense was the gift of Gasper, who was represented as a beardless youth, and Balthasar, who presented myrrh, was figured as a gigantic Moor or Negro, with a large flowing beard. I cannot offer any explanation of the group of The Virgin, St. Bride or Bridget, St. Helen and Joseph; the latter personage was beHeved to be advanced in age and of a crabbed temper. St. Bridget, who flourished in the 14th THE ABERDEEN REVELS. 51 century, was designated Sponsa Christi, and her book of revelation was held in great esteem. . . . Moses was generally depicted with horns — an irreverent absurdity, arising, from an error in the vulgate translation of the Scriptures. The Brethren of the Guild were charged with, it is likely, the most costly, part in the show, the Knights in armour; and the Bakers were burthened with the provision of the Minstrels who, as we gather from Dunbar, were dispersed through the pageants ' blowing to the sky.' " In I 508 the Abbot and the Prior gave way to Robyne Hood and Utile Johnne. In May of that year it was ordained that *' al personis that ar abill within this burghe salbe reddy with their arrayment made in grene and yallow, bowis, arrowis, and all other convenient things according thairto to pass with Robin Huyd and Litile Johnne all times convenient thairto, quhair thai be the saidis Robyne and Litile Johnne." The due observance of this was enforced by a law, which ordained that all defaulters should pay 2 OS. to ** Sanct Nicholas werk and viij sh. to the bailyesis unlaw unforgevin." 52 THE SCOTS STAGE. In Analecta Scotlca a good many references are made to the appointment of the two town minstrels. The duty of these dignitaries was to wake up the town at 5 A.M. and send them to rest between 8 and 9 P.M., and when it is known that these officials consisted of a drummer and a piper, the manner and effect of their office may be imagined but not described. Bon-Accord Day sometimes brought out its dissentients. On 21st May, 1538, John and Robert Arthur were sentenced to appear in the church of St. Nicholas with bare feet and wax candles in their hands, and publicly to beg pardon of the Provost and Magistrates of Aberdeen for having troubled the Lords of Bon- Accord by preventing dancing. The year 1555 (June 20th) saw the extinction of Robin Hood and Little John plays by Act of Parliament, but not without protest. Riots in connection with their sup- pression became very frequent in Aberdeen, as well as in other parts of the country. Despite this, the officials were determined to carry out the law. On 4th May, i 562, the drummer and THE ABERDEEN REVELS. S3 bellman were both convicted of contravening, this Act, and sentenced to appear in the Parish Church on the Sunday, and, after the preaching, grant that the said offence was done through ignorance, and upon their knees ask God's and the congregation's forgiveness. It is evident, however, that the presence of the King could provide sufficient warrant for a change in law, not to say morality, and that by one of those curious obsessions which history never explains. On 13th May, 1580, runs the decree: — ** The Inhabitants are informed that the King is soon to visit the Burgh, and that, as on such occasions it had been usual to show their joy by farseis, playeis, histories, antics and other decorations, 3000 merks be granted to make preparations of a similar character." A company of players, recommended by His Majesty's Special Letter, visited Aberdeen in. October of 1601. They performed comedies and other plays, and were presented by the Provost, Bailies, and Council with 33 merks — (35s. 6d.). On 22nd October, the freedom 54 THE SCOTS STAGE. of the Burgh was presented to Lawrence Fletcher, comedian to His Majesty. Reverting to the Playfield, the last account of this is given in the Council Register for May 13, 1635, where, under the title of •* Licence grantit to Jamesounce," permission is granted to George Jamieson to renew and repair the Playfield, better known as " The Garden Neuk Well," in which comedies were ** wont to be actit of auld," the annual rent to be 3s. 4d. Scots. An Edinburgh company of actors travelled up to Aberdeen in 1745 — the Canongate Theatre then being in process of re-building — but the Aberdeen clergy and magistrates for- bade their playing, so we must assume they trudged away, sorely hipped. In 1 75 1, the Edinburgh company made another bid for Aberdeen favours, Mrs. Ward bringing a section of the company from the Canongate Theatre, but again the magistrates and clergy refused permission to act within the city. Still undaunted in their determination to let Aberdeen see what players could do, they erected a wooden booth outside the city THE ABERDEEN REVELS. 55 boundary and somewhere in the Spittal, but the Aberdonians refused to come in numbers sufficient to make it pay. William Fisher, a daring actor-manager, evidently made another trial in 1768, fitting up, a hall as a theatre at the New Inn, corner of Castle and King's Streets. But he had soon to put up the shutters. Young Woodfall, then a stage-struck youth, who was to found the Morning Advertiser in the following year, travelled with Fisher, and later managed to astonish the English public by publishing the Letters of Junius. The would-be great John Jackson, in 1779, erected a theatre in Shoe Lane, where Fisher and his company acted. West Digges, the well- known player and brief lessee of the Edinburgh Theatre, was practically the first player of any distinction to appear at the Shoe Lane house. Digges, the dandy, was said to be a natural son of the second Earl Delawarr. He had begun life as an army officer in the North, but fell so badly into debt that he was never able to liquidate. Sheridan had given him a chance to prove his mettle as an actor in 1749, so that, 56 THE SCOTS STAGE. as the profession would phrase it, after thirty years' experience, he might be said to be fairly on the way to becoming a good actor. It was he who originally played Young Norval at the first performance of Douglas, when an attempt was made to imprison him for debt, though he managed to escape. He became the husband of the notorious George Anne Bellamy. Digges died seven years later at Cork, where his remains lie in the Cathedral there. His Wolsey and Macbeth were his most celebrated parts. The first real Aberdeen playhouse was a small one, built in 1780, at the back of an inn in Queen Street. It had no boxes, prices of admission being half-a-crown to the pit and IS. 6d. to the gallery — the earning capacity with a full house being £40, and it is rather creditable to the fare supplied to know that receipts never went below £20. Aberdeen had its gallery boys in these early days, thus forestalling London. In the centre of the second row of benches in the gallery a chair was placed for a daft dominie who was known as *' Mad Sinclair." Sinclair led the THE ABERDEEN REVELS. 57 '* gods " at will in applause^ or, in vaudeville parlance, "giving the bird." Latterly the Queen Street Theatre was converted into a chapel by the Rev. Charles Chandler, D.D., who taught ** ladies and gentlemen the English language, both at homei and abroad." Coachy's Playhouse, situate in Chronicle Lane, sprang up about this time. The pro- prietor introduced boxes, and started the " starring " system in Aberdeen, but he was too previous, and his speculation only led to his ruin. The story of the playhouse in Aberdeen does not commence consecutively till 1795. A house in Marischal Street was turned into a theatre, its first manager being Stephen Kemble, brother to Mrs. Siddons and to four actress sisters and three actor brothers, of whom the most distin- guished was the famous John Philip Kemble. Stephen Kemble started his career in Edinburgh in what proved financially stormy times, al- though Sir Walter Scott, that good patron of drama, did his best for him. At length he threw up his venture three years later, and took the 5 58 THE SCOTS STAGE. road North. That ambitious man, John Jackson, surely the originator of all theatre syndicates, wanted to operate a circuit that would include Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee, and Aberdeen, and so he began to build a theatre in Marischal Street — the West-end of that day — but his plans came to an end with his money, and for six years the place stood unfinished. Those who are curious about John Jackson, actor-manager and dramatist, can read the self-justification of his egotism and stuffy pride in that sadly mis- named book, The History of the Scottish Stages Stephen Kemble got into touch with several supporters of the drama in Aberdeen, who formed a syndicate. The details of the financial scheme may be gathered from this extract, derived from the management archives: — " Mr. Kemble, intending to purchase the property in Marischal Street belonging to Messrs. Brebner Gibb & Co., in order to finish and fit it up as a theatre. We, the subscribers, in so far as to enable him to accomplish this scheme, oblige ourselves each to advance the sum of £20 sterling, to be applied in the first place towards defraying the expense of roofing in the theatre, and the THE ABERDEEN REVELS. 59 surplus to be paid over to Mr. Kemble how soon the inside work of the theatre is, half finished. It being understood that Mr. Kemble shall give each subscriber a gratis ticket for admission to the theatre during each season of performance, trans- ferable at pleasure." Kemble, who owned a circus in Edinburgh, fol- lowed Burbage's plan at the Curtain Theatre, by; transferring the woodwork of that building to Aberdeen, charging the Trust £300; so they; chartered a freighting vessel from an Edinburgh agent, and had the wood sent on to Leith by sea. The building cost £3,000 to construct, and seated 600 persons, the price for boxes being 3s., pit 2s., and gallery is., the full house realising £65. Kemble is recorded as having paid his rent for seven weeks' occupation, at the rate of ten guineas per week, after which we hear no more of Kemble, who, we suspect, was sadly dis- illusioned about the possibilities of Aberdeen theatrical business. During the next few years there is little to record about the performances in this building — 60 THE SCOTS STAGE. the subsequent managers evidently had failed to pay their rents— and the syndicate, becoming tired of their theatre, gave instructions for its sale by auction in 1 8 1 1 . John Fraser came to the rescue next year, and succeeded in securing Corbett Ryder as a tenant. Ryder held the lease from 1817 till his death in 1842. His wife, Jessie Fraser, remarried, one, John Pollock, who continued the management until 1854, when it came into the hands of his two sons-in-law, M'Neill and Price. *' Aberdeen awa " has always had its enthusiastic set of playgoers, and from time to time during the periods mentioned, they made it financially possible for such stars as Kean, Helen Faucit, Macready, Vandenhoff, T. P. Cooke, G. V. Brooke, Calvert, and Barry Sullivan to visit the Marischal Street house. Having served its purpose by keeping the Thespian light burning in the chilly North, the building, sanctified by the memories of so many stars, was sold in 1875 to the Church of Scotland, at less than half its original cost. Aberdeen harboured one London dramatist THE ABERDEEN REVELS. 61 at least, for it had the honour of a visit frojrei George Colman (the younger), who spent some time at King's College, attending some of the lectures there, about the year 1780. In his Random Records, he makes the town the subject of some very caustic remarks. If there is one thing more than another that stands out prominently in the history of Aberdeen, it is the love of its citizens for all forms of pageantry. Any suspicion that may exist as to the prosaic character of the people is quite dispelled by an examination of The Book of Bon-Accord, and we could hardly bring this chapter to a fitter conclusion than by quoting the following extract: — " At the New Year's day procession the servants and apprentices of the artificers bore the banners and symbols of their trade. Every craft had its chaplain with Bible, flowing peruke, Geneva cloak and bands, and its champion, armed to the teeth : sometimes in ancient mail, but more frequently in tin- plate or leather. The Hammermen were preceded by a grim visaged Vulcan, grasping a thunderbolt and drawn in a chariot. The shoemakers were headed by their patron, 62 THE SCOTS STAGE. St. Crispin (whom they advanced to the dignity of a crown), attended by a number of pages becoming his high rank. Many of the young men wore fantastic dresses, amongst which the most favoured was that of a malignant Turk. An attempt to abolish this custom in the year 1785 occasioned much rioting, and several persons were incarcerated, but, wisely, admitted to bail, the mob having broken the windows of the Town Hall. On the 8th August, 1832, they were revived to celebrate the passing of the Reform Act. The omnipotent Vulcan brandished his tin thunderbolts, as if his office was not to forge but to wield them. The sainted Crispin, in a chariot drawn by six horses, sat in royal state with Earl Grey on one hand, and Lord Brougham and Vaux on the other. ** St. Catherine strutted in all the glory of a starched ruff, six maids of honour, and a guard of archers. The Viscount Althorp and my Lord John Russell rode sublime on an ancient hackney coach, behind which, mitre on head and in full pontificial robes, walked His Grace the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury, surrounded by the implements and emblems of the art of cobbling shoes." THE DRAMA IN EDINBURGH. 63 CHAPTER III. THE ORIGIN OF DRAMA IN EDINBURGH. A LEISURELY examination as to the progress of music and drama in the Scots capital is full of interesting restdts. That those entrancing* arts were looked upon as part of the amenities, as well as the duties of life, is abundantly proved by the rich harvest of material one can gather from a very casual gleaning in the regions of historical sui*vey. . And what is perhaps the most curious part of the study is to witness the constant struggle between the natural instinct of the people to seek out their own forms of pleasure, and the religious fanaticism which (what then stood for the Nonconformist conscience) sought to stifle the popular aspiration in that regard. In following out this study, the ethnographer will confirm his experience of a similar process of evolution in the drama of the other European races. Ever and anon he ^vill discover the Church 64 THE SCOTS STAGE. arising in jealous zeal, protesting in no un- certain manner against the popularity of its secular rival. Its beginnings may be traced to a religious source, which, in its further period of development, cuts adrift from ecclesiastical guidance, searching out a path native to its fullest desires. One has only to regard the beginnings of French drama, to find that what was once Scotland's ally pursued an almost similar course in the exploitation of its dramatic art. The early period of Scots history will never, at any time, be found barren in evidence of the existence of the drama in its primary form. We have already traced songs and ballads back to the thirteenth century. James I. was not only a poet, but was also well accomplished' in the art of music, besides being no mean performer on the harp. His Peblls to the Play (printed Edinburgh, 154^) describes many quaint dances. Wedderburne in his Complaynt of Scotland ( I 549) speaks of a ring dance where ** evyrie aid scheipyrd led his vyfe and evyrie zong scheiperd led her quhome he luffit best." Thirty THE DRAMA IN EDINBURGH. 65 different dances are mentioned. ** It was ane celest recreation to behold the licht lopene, galmonding, stendling, backwart and fordwart, dansand base dancis, panuans, galzardis, tardions, braulis and branglis, buffons, vitht mony uthir lycht dancis, the quhilk are ower prolixit to be rehersit." Amongst the earliest records, we find that in the year 1456, James the Second granted, under his great seal, to the Magistrates and community of the city of Edinburgh and their successors for ever, the valley and low ground lying betwixt the rock called Craigingalt in the east, and the common way and passage on the west (known as Greenside) for all manner of sports, a privilege which was fully taken advantage of in the years to follow. The records as to the Town Pipers date as far back as August, 1487. They were supported by the wealthier classes, who each gave them ** one day's meat." In the Acts of the Lord High Treasurer (Sir William Knowles, afterwards slain at Flodden), according to the testimony of Tytler, we have many quaint entries relating to payments made 66 THE SCOTS STAGE. to various Scots harpers, fiddlers, and English pipers who performed before the court of James the Sixth. Here is one : — ** July lo, 1489. — Item, to Inglish pyparis that came to the Castel yet, and playit to the king xiij lib xiij s." Another records ( 1488) a payment " to Patrick Johnson and his fellows that playt a play to the King in Lithgow." King James IV. was. no mean musician, if one may judge from the fact that on the occasion of his first marriage he played on the ** clavycordes and after on the lute." When he met his bride (8th August, 1503), the Princess Margaret, daughter of Henry the Seventh, who had come from Dalkeith Castle, the citizens enhanced the welcome with a grand pageant. In this were represented Paris and the three rival goddesses ; Mercury, the Virgin, and the angel Gabriel ; the four Virtues ; Justice treading on Nero ; Force bearing a pillar with Holfoernes beneath her, armed; Temperance holding a horse's bit and treading on Epicurus, THE DRAMA IN EDINBURGH. 67 and Prudence trampling over Sardanaplus. The tarbret players performed in the procession as it moved from West Bow to Holyrood. At the marriage, in the same year, the famous minstrels of Aberdeen had the honour of singing, and were provided with silver badges bearing the arms of their city. A company of English comedians (supposed to have been in the service of Henry the Seventh), headed by John English, played ** a moralitie ** before the King and Queen. Masques and tournaments followed, in which the King appeared, entering the lists as the savage knight. Indeed, His Majesty seems to have been quite dilettante in his tastes. The poet, William Dunbar, author of The Thistle and The Rose, written for this marriage, was the literary Master of the Revels, and composed many plays which were performed before the King and his courtiers, the company being sometimes sup- plemented with many noble foreign guests. Dunbar was awarded the post of Poet-Laureate. His work seems to have fallen into disfavour, for, in I 5 1 3, we find him complaining in one of 68 THE SCOTS STAGE. his short pieces that, although he still enjoyed the Royal favour, the King seemed to prefer the cxjmpany of jesters and light women. Perhaps the change was consequent upon the fact that in his later works the Rev. William Dunbar devoted his attention to religious subjects such as Divine and earthly love, and the character of our Lord. About this period the Robin Hood plays came into vogue. An order, dated i 5 1 8, by the Earl of Arran, the Provost of Edinburgh, refers to the making of sports and jocosities, and excuses one Francis Bothwell from taking the part of Little John. The actors in these plays were chosen from the most respected of the citizens, and they could only be excused on payment of a fine. Passion plays were a popular form of entertainment at the pre-Reformation time, and upon the eve of the Reformation they were supplemented by plays satirising the vices of the ecclesiastics. In regard to this latter, there is a record of a summary form of censorship having been employed. Kyllor, a monk of the Blackfriars Monastery, was burned at the stake THE DRAMA IN EDINBURGH. 69 on Castle Hill for certain free expressions employed in a play performed before the Court. In the accounts of the Treasurer to James the Fifth, under date 1530, appears an item that sounds somewhat Scriptural: — *' Item, to the Egyptianis that dansit before the King in Holyrud House, 40s." Returning to the Greenside, where the Robin Hood sports took place, Sir David Lyndsay's Pleasant Satire of the Three Estates was presented, but, as it exposed the lives of the Scottish clergy, by a Council of the Church, held at the Black Priory in March, 1558, Sir David's books were ordered to be burned by the public executioner. Its first performance is said to have taken place at Cupar in 1535, but of this no particulars have been preserved. According to Wilson, the " Pleasant Satire was played in 1544 before the Queen Regent, as is mentioned by Henry Charteris, the book- seller, who sat patiently nine hours on the bank to witness the play. It so far sur- passes any efforts of contemporary English 70 THE SCOTS STAGE. dramatists that it renders the barrenness of the Scottish muse in this department afterwards the more apparent." To the modem playgoer, the spectacle of a nine-hour auditor must be that of a veritable hero, when so few nowadays can stand the stress of a three-hour ordeal. In his Essay on The Drama, Scott differs materially from Wilson with regard to date and place of production of Lyndsay's Satire. " The difference between the Catholic and Reformed religion was fiercely disputed in some of these dramas, and in Scotland a mortal blow was aimed at the superstitions of the Roman Catholic Church by Sir David Lyndsay in a Morality acted in 1539 and entitled The Satire of the Three Estaltis, In a letter to Lord Priory Seal of England, 26th Jany., 1540, Sir William Eure (Envoy from Henry the Eighth) gives the following account of the play. * In the feast Epiphane at Lightgowe before the King Queene and the whole connsaile, spirituall and tempo rail. In the first entres comes in Solare (whose part was but to make mery, sing ballets with his fellowes, and drink at the interluydes of the play) whoe showed firste to all the THE DRAMA IN EDINBURGH. 71 audience the play to be played. Next came in a King, who passed to his throne, having nae speche to the ende of the play, and then to ratify and approve, as in Parliament, all things done by the rest of the players, which represented The Three Estates. With him came his cortiers, Placebo, Piethank, and Flatterye, and sic alike gard: One swering he was the lustiest, starkeste, best propor- tionit, and most valeyant man that ever was ; and ane other swore he was the best with long-bowe, cross bowe and culvern and so, fourth. Thairafter there came a man armed in harness, with a swerde drawn in his hande, a Bishop, a Burges-Man and Experience, cled like a Doctor, who set them all down on the dels under the King. After them comes a Poor Man, who did go up and down the scaffolde, making a hevie complainte that he was hereyet, throw the courtiers taking his fewe in one place, and his tackes in another; wherethrough he had sceyled his house, his wyfe and childrene begging thair brede, and so of many thousands in Scotland ; saying thair was no remedy to be gotten, as he was neither acquainted with controuUe nor treasurer. And then he looked to the King and said he was not King 72 THE SCOTS STAGE. in Scotland, fore there was ane other King in Scotland that hanged Johne Armstrang, with his fellowes, Sym the Laird, and mony other mai, but he had left ane thing undone. Then he made a long narracione of the oppression of the poor, by the taking of the corsepresaunte heists, and of the berrying of poor men by the consistorye lave, and of many other abusions of the Spiritualitie and Church. Then the Bishop raise and rebuked him. Then the Man of Armes alledged the contraire and commanded the poore man to go on. The poor man proceeds with a long list of the Bishop's evil practices, the vices of the cloisters, etc: — This proved by Ex- perience who, from a New Testament, shows the office of a Bishop. The Man of Armes and the Burges approve of all that was said against the clergy, and alledge the expediency of a reform, with the consent of Parliament. The Bishop dissents. The Man of Armes and Burges said they were two and he but one, wherefore should have most effect. Thereafter the King in the play, ratified approved and confirmed all that was rehearsed.' " The following is one of the speeches by the character. Correction : — THE DRAMA IN EDINBURGH. 73 ** Na realm, nor land, but my support may stand For I gar kings live into royalty. To rich and poor I bear an equal hand That they may live into their own degree. Quhare I am not, is no tranquility. By me traitors and tyrants are put down, Quha thinks no shame of their iniquity Till they be punished by me. Correction. Quhat is ane King? Naught but ane officer To cause his lieges live in equity And under God, to be ane punisher Of trespassours against His majesty." At the Tennis Court, Holy rood (situate on the opposite side of the Water Gate), in the year 1541 there was supposed to have been enacted a *' litill farsche and play maid be William Lauder," which was produced before the Queen Regent, Mary of Guise, on which occasion the author was presented with two silver cups. But the good men of Parliament, ever solicitous of the morals of their people, saw in the Robin Hood plays and May Queen games an increasing menace to national righteousness, and so in 1555 we find them passing an Act of the following tenor: — 74 THE SCOTS STAGE. ** Item. It is statute and ordanit that in all times cumming na maner of persoun be chosin Robert Hude nor Lytill Johne Abbot Unressoun Quenis of Maij, nor utherwyse nouther in Burgh nor to landwart in ony tyme to cum. And gif ony Provest Baillies counsall and communitie chosis sic ane Personage as Robert Hude Lytill John Abbotis of unressoun or Quenis of Maij within Burgh the chefaris of fie sail tyne thair fredome for the space of fyve yeiris and utherwyse salbe punist at the Quenis grace will and the acceptar of sicklyke office salbe banist furth of the Realme. And gif ony sic persounis sic as Robert Hude Little Johne Abbotis of Unressoun Quenis of Maij beis chosin outwith Burgh and uthers landwart townis the chefaris sail pay to our Soverane Lady x pundis and thair persounis put in waird thair to remaine during the Quenis grace plesoure. And gif ony wemen or uthers about simmer treis singand makis perturbation to the Quenis lieges in the passage throw Burrowis and uthers landwart townis the wemen perturbatouris for skafrie of money or utherwyse salbe takin handellit and put upon the Cukstulis of evexie Burgh or towne.*' THE DRAMA IN EDINBURGH. 75 Despite the passing of this Act, which the public seemed to respect in a mild way, as subsequent events proved, the Parliament had scotched the snake, not killed it. In the month of May, 1 561, an Edinburgh mob became so enraged at the disappointment they had received in *' making a Robin Hood " on the .Greenside, that they rose in mutiny, seized the City gates, committed various robberies upon strangers, and, upon one of the ringleaders being con- demned by the Magistrates to be hung, they forced open the jail, set at liberty the con- demned man, and broke up the gibbet which had been erected for him at the Cross. The culprit was one, James Dillon, a cordiner's servant, who had committed the heinous crime of being chosen Robin Hood and Lord of Inobedience. Following upon this action, the crowd assaulted the Magistrates as they sat in the Council Chamber, compelling them to seek the refuge of the Tolbooth, where they renewed their attack, battering the doors down and pouring in stones through the windows. An appeal was made to the Deacons of the Corporation to appease the mob, but they 76 THE SCOTS STAGE. refused to intervene, making the laconic answer, " They will be Magistrates alone, let them rule the multitijdes alone." That to the Constable of the Castle was also in vain, for the Magistrates were held in strict confinement until they had issued the following proclamation idemnifying the rioters, all of which is set forth by the old city chronicler: — *' That the said provost and baillies sail remit to the said craftschilder all actioun, cryme and offens that thai had committit aganes thame in any tyme bygane and band and oblast thame never to pursue thame thairfor, and als commandit thair masters to resave thame agane in thair services as thai did befoir. And this being proclamit at the Mercat Croce, thai scailit, and the said provest and baillies come furth of the same tolbouyth.*' When Queen Mary landed at Leith on 19th August, 1 561, she was welcomed by a grand pageant. Along the road from Leith to Restalrig, and thence to Holyrood, banners and bands of music lined the route. It scarcely met with the entire approbation of the Queen, THE DRAMA IN EDINBURGH. 77 for, according to the old chronicler, she sighed and remarked to one of her attendants, ** They, mean well and we must be content.*' The ceremony which followed in the evening met with just as little approval, according to the story of one of her French servants: ** There came under her windows five or six hundreds citizens who gave her a concert of the vilest fiddles and little rebecs, which are as bad as they can be in that country, and accompanied them with singing psalms, but so wretchedly out of tune and concord that nothing can be worse. Ahl what melody it was. What a lullaby for the night ! " On the 1st September, the City gave a banquet in her honour, for which the sum of 4,000 merks (£225 5s. 6d.) was raised by means of a tax upon the citizens. Amongst the masques which were performed was one shewing the doom of Korah, Dathan and Abiram, set forth by some of the more zealous Reformers as a picture lesson for the Queen's instruction and guidance in the paths of virtue. The efforts of the Reformers were by no niieans confined to such measures. In 1563 the 78 THE SCOTS STAGE. Assembly took the press under its direction, prohibiting all books concerning religion to be pubHshed till the printers had obtained, not only a license from the Magistrates, but also the approbation of the Kirk. The King's printer, too, had to receive assistance in the matter of a salary of £50 a year from the Church. Stringent as the measures were that had been taken for the moral health of the people, the Court hardly believed in the maxim that what was sauce for the goose was equally suitable for the other members of the family, for we read of a Latin masque entitled The Pomp of the Gods being performed in July, 1567. Birrell, in his Diary, under date 1 7th January, I 568, also speaks of '* a play maid by Robert Sempill " which was played before the Lord Regent and the nobility, and the author paid £66 13s. 4d. It is conjectured that the play was a comedy entitled Philotus, a copy of which has been reprinted by the Bannatyne Club. The entire story was said to have been borrowed from a work of Barnaby Rich, published under the title of Riche, his Farewell to Militarie THE DRAMA IN EDINBURGH. 79 profession : containing very pleasant Discourses fit for a peacable time. This tale is the second in the series. Philotus, a very rich and very old man, is enamoured of Emelia, the beauteous daughter of Alberto, but is unsuccessful in winning her regard. The old suitor makes an appeal to her father, who gives his consent, but is unable to command that of his daughter. To this enter Flavins, Emelia's lover. Disguised as a young man, Emelia leaves her father*s house. Mean- time Philerno, her brother, returns after a long absence, and is mistaken for his sister. Falling in with his sister's plan, he consents to marry Philotus, who commits his bride to the care of his daughter, Brisilla. This couple find each other's company so agreeable that, after certain invocations, Philerno pretends to be metamor- phosed into a man. The marriage of Philotus is celebrated, and Philerno, ** fearing to be discovered, maketh a brawling that same night with Philotus, abuseth him vyllie and to colour the matter the better agreeth with " a courtesan to go to bed with Philotus. Flavius, secretly married to Emelia, becoming suspicious 80 THE SCOTS STAGE. as to her real identity, dismisses her as an evil spirit who had assumed an earthly shape. She returns to her father's house and is there met by Philotus : the one complains of her husband, the other of his wife, and a comic situation is thus produced. The mystery being explained, Emelia returns to Flavius and Brisilla is married to Philerno. The play is not divided into acts or scenes, but follows out the easy- style of eight-lined verse.* In the department of itinerant performers, Calderwood mentions that, in 1 57 1, one named Kircaldy danced before the cock of the steeple at St. Giles. Against such. Parliament levelled their Act, dated 1574 (James VI., 873). *' It is declared that all ydill pfonis gazing about in ony countre of this reaJme using subtile crafty and unlauchfull playis, As jugleerie fast and loose and sic utheris. And all minstrallis sangstaris and taill tellaris not * As Barnaby Rich's book was not published till 1581, the fact of this being the play produced is flatly contradicted. The first edition of Philotus was not printed in Edinburgh till 1603. It was upon this story that Shakespeare founded his Twelfth Nighty which must have been produced late in the year 1600, or early in the following year. THE DRAMA IN EDINBURGH 81 avowit in speciall suice be sum of the lordis of Pliament or greit barronis or be the heid burro wis and cities for comoun menstrallis ... salbe takin adjugeit demed and puneist as Strang beggaris and vagaboundis.'* In the same year, the question arose before the General Assembly on August nth, when a Commission was appointed to enquire into the violation of the Sabbath day by profana plays. The following year they prohibited all dramas founded upon Scripture. The censors were the Kirk Session, before which body the piece was first read. One stipulation was that *' Nae swearing, banning, nor nae scurrility shall be spoken, which would be a scandal to our religion, and for an evil example to others." An interesting sequel to this decree will be found in the Assembly's proceedings for 23rd October, 1576. ** Anent the suppUcatioun given in be the toun of Dumferling for liberty to be granted them to play upon a Sunday afternoone a certain play which is noi made upon the Canonical parts of the Scriptures. The AssembHe refuses to give libertie to the 82 THE SCOTS STAGE. Bailzie of Dunfermling to play upon a Sunday afternoone a certain play quhilk is not made upon the Canonicall parts of the Scripture, in respect of the act of the Assemblies past in the contrair, exhorting the Bailzie of Dunfermling presenter of the bill to request to keep the ordinance of the Assemblie." A further attempt upon the liberty of the subject was tried in 1578, when the General Assembly, by an Act, of April 24th, concluded ** That an Universall Fast shall be keeped thro' all the Kirks of this realm . . . and that this Act be intimat to the King his Majestie and Counsell, and his Grace and Counsell be humbly required to discharge be proclamation all kinds of insolent playes as Robin Hood, King of May, and such like in all persons as well scholers (bairns at the schools) as others, under such paines as they shall think good." The punishment for vagabonds and beggars was detention in the stocks. The culprit was tried at the Assiaes six days afterwards, and, if found guilty, scourged and burned through THE DRAMA IN EDINBURGH. 83 the gristle of the right ear with ** ane het I me of the Compasse of ane inche about " : all this being done ** to th-e greit pleasure of almichtie God and commoun weiU of the realme." If discovered a second time within sixty days, the miscreant was to be hung as a thief (Act 1579 James VI.). There is a cheerful tone about this law that must have affordied infinite comfort to the soul of the judge whose duty it was to pronounce sentence. That the Kirk had some difficulty in persuading its own officials to obey their commands with^ regard to plays, is suggested by a question which arose at the July session of the Assembly, 1579. " Q. What aught to be done to sick persons, that, after admonition, will passe to May playis ; and speciallie elders and deacons and uthers quha beares office in the Kirk? " Responsis. They aught not to be admittit to the sacrament without satisfac- tion: in speciall elders and deacons." 84 THE SCOTS STAGE. CHAPTER IV. EDINBURGH'S EARLY DRAMA. When King James the Sixth made his first pubHc entry into the city in October, 1579, to assist at the opening of Parliament, he was made the subject of a very flattering reception. At the West Port the Magistrates received him under a purple canopy; then the allegory of Solomon's wise judgment was enacted before him; after which he was presented with the sword and sceptre. Upon reaching the next gate at the foot of the West Bow, the keys of the City were presented to him by a cherub. At the Tolbooth three ladies, personating Peace, Plenty, and Justice, addressed him in the Greek, Latin, and Scottish tongues. Religion next apf)eared, and addressed the Scottish Solomon in Hebrew. On her invitation, he entered St. Giles* Church, to find a special sermon directed towards him. By a peculiar appro- EDINBURGH'S EARLY DRAMA. 85 priateness, upon leaving the church, he found Bacchus on a high platform at the Cross, dispensing draughts of wine to all and sundry. In the face of such encouragement given to pageantry displays by city Magistrates, the ineffectiveness of any law passed against Robin Hood plays and other pastimes must have been accentuated, for a further protest is recorded in the General Assembly, Session July 2nd, 1 591. "It is cravit " that "the Acts of Parliament made for suppressing of the enormities following may be put to execution " against ** Profaners of the Sabbath day by Robein Hoodes Playis." As a set-off against this, there is at least one important testimony to the influence of the plays. M'Crie attributed the rapid spread of the Reformation principles to the preparation which the minds of the people had received from such plays as Sir David Lyndsay*s Satire. But they had served their purpose, so it was deemed, and now that the sacred power of the Church seemed to be in danger from the people's natural instinct for pleasure, strong measures were adopted for the repression of 86 THE SCOTS STAGE. these counter attractions. As history relates, however, such attempts were rendered abortive by the stubborn opposition of their adherents. That the King heeded their instructions not a whit, is proved by his having taken a company of English players under his patronage in i 592. Amongst the first of equestrian wonders in Edinburgh is one mentioned in Patrick Henderson's History of Scotland. ** There came an Englishman to Edin- burgh (April, 1 561?) with a Chestain coloured naig, which he called Marocco. He made him to do many rare and uncouth tricks, such as never horse was observed to do the like before in this land. This man would borrow from twenty or thirty of the spectators a piece of gold or silver, put all in a purse, and shuffle them together: there- after he would give every gent his own piece of money again. He would cause him to tell by so many pats with his foot how many shillings the piece of money was worth. He would cause him to lie down as dead. He would say to him, * I will sell you to a carter,' then he would seem to die. Then he would say, * Marocco, a gent hath borrowed you, EDINBURGH'S EARLY DRAMA. 87 and you must ride with a lady of court : ' Then he would most daintily hackney, amble and ride a pace and trot, and play the jade at his command when his master pleased. ... By a sign given him, he would beck for the King of Scots and for Queen Eliza- beth, and when he spoke of the King of Spain would both bite and strike at you and many other wonderful things. But the report went afterwards that he devoured his master, because he was thought to be a spirit, nought else." Shakespeare alludes to this horse in Love's Labour Lost. '* How easy it is to put years to the word three, and study three years in two words, the dancing horse will tell you ! " Banks, after taking his horse all over the Continent, was burnt along with his wonderful animal at Rome, on the plea that they were magicians both. An extract from the Diary of Robert Birch ( 1 532-1605) gives an account of a rope walking performance. 88 THE SCOTS STAGE. ** July lo, 1598. Ane man, some callit him a juggler, playit sic supple tricks upon ane tow whilk was fastenit betwixt the top of St. Giles* Kirk Steeple and ane stair beneath the Cross called Josia*s Closehead, the like was never seen in this country, as he rade doun the tow and playit sae mony pavies on it.** This performer received £20 from the King for the steeple trick. Two months later, £6 13s. 4d. was paid to David Weir, sporter, supposed to be the one and same person. King James seems to have been very fond of this style of performance, for in Melville's Diary there is an account of £333 6s. 8d. Scots money (the Scots pound, value is. 8d.) having been paid to Peter Bramhill, the French pavier. And, again, in 1600, Melville writes: ** Being in Falkland, I saw a funambulist, a Frenchman, play strange and incredible frolicks upon a stented tackle in the Palace close before the king, queen and the haill court." An English company of players visited the city in October, 1599, and was granted a special license to act by the King. The Kirk- EDINBURGH'S EARLY DRAMA. 89 Session passed a decree denouncing all players and their patrons, the former as unruly and immodest, the latter as irreligious and in- discreet. The opposition consequent upon this led to a conference between the Session and the angry King, at which the former were obliged to withdraw their denunciation (November lo, 1599), which had been advertised from all their pulpits; and they, authorised all men *' to repair to the said comedies and plays without any pain, reproach, censure or slander to be incurred by them." It was about a year after this that another English company, under the direction of Laurence Fletcher, made its way into Scotland. Their performances were given, amongst other places, at the Tennis Court, Holy rood. With this company, according to Fleay, Shakespeare himself was associated. From a theatrical point of view, the next eighty years that followed were altogether barren of interest. In the face of the ecclesi- astical and legislative opposition that existed, no company of players would risk the financial 7 90 THE SCOTS STAGE. uncertainty of a visit to Scottish domains. The people, too, fell into a state of indifiference in regard to the drama. The fear of incurring the displeasure of the Kirk, and the incon- venience connected with any breach of civil discipline, deterred them from seeking out those pleasures for which they had previously striven so zealously. That this would have its deteriorating effects upon the stamina of his people was the strong conviction of James the Sixth, and led to his issuing a proclamation, in June of 1618, with special reference to sports on Sundays. His belief was that, being prevented from indulging in these, they would think Papistry a better religion, since it allowed of sports. Another inconvenience was ** that this prohibition barreth the common and meaner people from using such exercise as may make their bodies more able for war, when we or our successors shall have occasion to use them, and, in place thereof, sets up filthy tipplings and drunkeness, and breeds a number of idle and discontented speeches in their alehouses, for when shall the common people EDINBURGH'S EARLY DRAMA. 91 have leave to exercise if not upon the Sundays and holidays, seeing they must apply their labour to win their living on other days." The King, therefore, willed that **no lawful recreation be barred to the people/' such as dancing, either men or women; archery for men, leaping, vaulting; nor from having of May games, Whitsun-ales and Morris dances, and the setting up of May-poles; seeing, however, that no one was allowed so to indulge who had not previously attended service in church. The year 1 6 1 9 is memorable for the visit of Ben Jonson. His grandfather was one of the Johnstons of Annandale. In the month of September, Taylor, the water-poet, found him in the house of John Stuart at Leith. Previously, Jonson had been the guest of William Drummond, the poet, at his residence in Hawthomden, on the river Esk, a distance of some seven miles from the city. Out of gratitude and respect, Ben inscribed a madrigal to his friend in the following strain: — « THE SCOTS STAGE. ** On a lover's dust made sand for an hour 'glass, ** To the Honouring Respect Born To the Friendship Contracted With The Right Virtuous and Learned Mr. William Drummond, and The Perpetuating The Same by all the Offices of Love Hereafter. I, Ben Jonson Whom He Hath Honoured with the Leave to be called His, Have, With Mine Own Hand, To Satisfy his Request, Written this Imperfect Song." Of Dnmimond's work as a poet, one critic has written that his poems present a striking resemblance to Milton's minor works. His chef d*oeuvre may be regarded as the History of the Five Jameses, the Scottish Kings. But although dramatic work had met with such little encouragement in the city, the people had not wholly lost their taste for pageantry. The visit of Charles I. to the capital, in 1633, gave them the opportunity of providing a spectacle characterised by all the old grandeur of classical and patriotic display. Turning aside for a moment to the curious in history, Spalding's Memorials of the Troubles EDINBURGH'S EARLY DRAMA. 93 in England and Scotland supplies us with a quaint narration regarding that physical freak, popularly known as the Sianaese twins: — "April, 1642. About this time travelled in Scotland an Italian aged 24, having from his birth, growing from the breast upwards, face to face as it were ane creature having a head and syde (long) hair like the colour of man's hair, the head still drooping back- wards and downward. He had eyes, but closed, not opened. He had ears, 2 hands, 3 fingers on ilk hand, ane body, ane leg, ane foot with six taes, the other leg within the flesh inclining to the left side. It has a kind of life and feeling, but void of all other senses: fed by the man's own nourish- ment. This great work of God was admired of by many in Aberdeen and through the country, as he travelled: yet such was the goodness of God that he would go and walk where he listed, carrying this birth without any pain, yea, unespied when his clothes was on." The case was not without parallel. The Parish Register for Heme (Kent), 1565, bears this entry: — 94 THE SCOTS STAGE. *' John Jarvys had two woemen children baptised at home joyned together in the belly, and havynge each the one of their armes lyeinge at one of their own shoulders, and in all other parts well-proportioned children, buryed August 29." The lawyer Nicoll (May, 1658) writes of a trained horse, brought from England, which amused the people of Edinburgh, Glasgow, and towns in the realm, '* wha being trained up in dancing and other concerts of that kind, did afford much sport and contentment to the people; but not without gain, for none was admitted to see the dancing without two pence the piece and some more.*' In 1659 he chronicles the appearance of a dromedary. *' It was very big, of great height and cloven footed like a cow and on the back ane seat, as it were a saddle to sit on. . . . Being kept close in the Canongate, none had a sight of it without threepence a person. There was brought with it ane little baboon, faced like unto an ape." A further contribution to the list of itinerants is given in the Chronicle of Fife, which relates EDINBURGH'S EARLY DRAMA. 95 that in 1662 a famous German quack doctor, John Pontheus, set up a stage in High Street, where he sold his drugs at 8d. a packet. For assistants he had one that played the fool, and another that danced on the tight- rope. The antics and rope-dancing, according to Nicoll, were continued for many days '* with an agility and nimbleness admirable to the beholders, one of the dancers having danced seven score times without intermission lifting himself and vaulting six quarters high above his own head, and lighting directly upon the tow (rope) as punctually as if he had been dancing on the plainstones." In a period so barren, even in its records of itinerant performers, it can readily be imagined that the dearth of theatrical events must have been proportionately greater. It is true that at long and stated intervals a company might appear at the Tennis Court in Holy rood (which, by the way, had been used for this game by James IV.), but so few were these performances, that Scotland might have claimed an entire immunity from what was clerically known as ** The Players Scourge." The preface to Sir 96 THE SCOTS STAGE. Thomas Sydceff's play, Marclano, or The Discovery (published in Edinburgh, 1668), likens the drama in Scotland to *' a swaggerer in a country church." This play was acted before His Majesty's Commissioners, and the nobility, at the Abbey of Holyroodhouse on the occasion of the Festival of St. John. The first patentees of an Edinburgh play- house were two brothers, Edward Fountain of Lochhill and Captain James Fountain, who obtained a formal proclamation as ** Masters of the Revels " throughout the kingdom. This gave them the exclusive right to license and authorise all balls, masks, or plays. They took occasion to assert this authority in a petition to the Privy Council, dated July 24, 1673, when the Fountains appealed against sundry dancing masters who took upon them to make ** public balls, dances, masks and other entertainments in their schools, upon mercenary designs without any license or authority from the petitioners." The Privy Council issued an order to all dancing masters, calling upon them to desist from this practice, and in particular EDINBURGH'S EARLY DRAMA. 97 prohibited " Andrew Devoe to keep any ball to-morrow, or at any time. ..." It is the Fountains' Theatre which is referred to in the Acts of Council, 1679, where it is* mentioned that a playhouse existed about the same time as a thousand prisoners from Both- well Bridge were confined in Greyfriars Church- yard. A further petition was presented to the Privy Council in September, i63o, by the Fountains, asking for redress against such as *' keep public games, plays and lotteries/* without that license which they, as Masters of the Revels, were alone entitled to grant. Andrew Devoe protested in the following year against such an arbitrary command that he should give no more balls in his dancing schools, in which he taught the children of the nobility, and the prayer of his petition was granted. As the years passed, the Fountains, seemed to become more jealous than ever of their monopoly, claiming monies from bowling greens, kyle-allies (as lotteries), dices, cards, both public and private, and these matters having been brought before the Privy Council, due caution was given to the interested parties. 98 THE SCOTS STAGE. At the Tennis Court, on 15th November, 1681, the then Lady Anne presented Nat Lee's cx)medy, Mlthridates, King of Ponius, when Lady Anne and her maids of honour were the only performers. Play-acting was a fashion- able pastime with the ladies of the Court. It will be remembered it was in the year 1633 that S. R. Prynne*s famous Histriomastix was published, in which he reverted to the appearance of Queen Henrietta and her ladies in Montague's Pastoral, the offensive quotation being from Dion Cassias. *' It is infamous for emperors or persons of quality to dance upon a stage, or acte a play." For this breach of etiquette, Prynne had both his ears mutilated, was fined £5,000, and expelled from Lincoln's Inn. William Tytler, in his Archcelogica Scotica, thinks that some of the Duke of York's company gave a number of performances in Edinburgh. He recollects somewhat dimly, seeing a playbill announcing a performance of Dryden's Indian Emperor at the Queen's Chocolate House in High Street. In the month of July, 1 68 1, an Irish company EDINBURGH'S EARLY DRAMA. 99 of players, hearing of the presence of the Duke and Duchess of York in the -Scottish capital, took the voyage across, landing at Irvine. They numbered thirty persons in all, and brought with them all their costumes, which were richly embroidered with gold and silver lace. The customs demanded the tax upon these dutiable goods; but with characteristic pertinacity the company petitioned against and were successful in obtaining exemption. Quite a unique instance of the law, as between master and servant, is furnished by a debate which took place before the Lords of the Privy Coimcil on the 13th of January, 1687, anent the sale of a dancing girl. One Reid, a mountebank, prosecuted Scott of Harden and his wife ** for stealing away from him a little girl called * The Tumbling Lassie * '* that danced upon a stage, ** and produced " a contract, by which he had bought her from her mother for 30 poimds (about £2 los. od.). "But we have no slaves in Scotland," reported Lord Fountainhall, "and mothers cannot sell their bairns; and physicians attested that the em- ployment of tumbling would kill her, her joints 100 THE SCOTS STAGE. were even now growing stiff, and she declined to return, though she was an apprentice and could not run away from her master." Some of the Privy Council quoted Moses* Law that, ** if a servant shelter himself with thee against his master's cruelty, thou shalt not deliver him up." The Lords, therefore, assoilzied Harden, who had been moved only by humanity and compassion. Following the same course as other national dramas, the period of the Revolution leaves no trace of any attempt at this art. The first record thereafter is that of a performance, at the Tennis Court, of The Spanish Friar, which was played before the members of the Union Parliament in 1705. That constant care which the public authorities exercised over the morals of their fellow citizens, is strikingly exemplified in the report of a meeting of the Town Council in June, 1 709, when the civic dignitaries expressed their regret that ** the Lord's Day is still profaned by people standing in the streets, and vaguing to fields and gardens and to the Castle Hill, also by standing idle gazing out at EDINBURGH'S EARL* DfiAiMfi^E, 101 windows, and children, apprentices, and other servants playing in the streets." No untoward conduct, such as the flagrant misdemeanor of attempting to whistle or even hum, was expected to disturb the dead calm that pervaded the streets. Indoors, the solemnity of the occasion was supposed to be observed in a rigorous religious meditation, the strength of whose abiding mood no worldly thought might dis- turb. Even in their company manners, out ancestors' youthful exuberance was held in check. In the Bell's Wynd Assembly, after 1 7 1 o, the gentlemen had to settle with a partner for the year, and this was done by ballot. At the dances, until the lady in charge had commenced, the two sexes had to remain seated at the opposite ends of the room. It was some four years after this that Shakespeare's Macbeth was played before the Scots nobility at the Tennis Court, after an archery meeting. During the play, the song, ** The King shall enjoy his own again," was called for by some of the more ardent spirits. An opposing body failing to acquiesce in this sentiment, a general melee ensued, resulting in W VHE SCOTS STAGE. the break-up of the meeting. Dibdin is inclined to doubt the truth of this tale. In the early part of 1 7 1 5, some public theatricals took place at the Tennis Court, but enjoyed a short-lived season. It is worthy of note that it was during the residence of the Duke of York that the Holyrood playhouse was re- fitted, and here it was that, for the first time in Scotland, women appeared on the stage, the future King having brought with him a company selected from the best London houses. Strong as the prejudice of the clergy wasi against play-acting, yet it did not prevent three of the deputation of ministers, who represented the Church in their visit of con- gratulation to George the First in 1 7 1 4, seeing the play Love for Love at Kendal. But perhaps their sole reason for attendance at this play may have been a disinterested attempt to form a judgment as to whether the works of the stage were suitable food for their erring flock. That the Presbytery of Edinburgh did not regard them in a favourable light is evinced from a statement made in Session, 23 rd EDINBURGH'S EARLY DRAMA. 103 March, 1 7 1 5, where, in adverting to the Canon- gate theatricals, it is remarked: — ** Being informed that some comedians have lately come to the bounds of the Presbytery and do act within the precincts of the Abbey, to the great offence of many by trespassing upon morality and those rules of modesty and chastity which our holy religion obligeth all its professors to a strict observance of, therefore the Presbytery recommends to all their members to use all proper and prudent methods to discourage the same." The " proper and prudent methods " had their due effect for, if we except the private performances of some young gentlemen who performed The Orphan and The Cheats of Scapln in 171 9, and for which Allan Ramsay provided the prologue, we do not happen on any record of theatricals till the year 1725, when Anthony Aston's comedians came to the city, and returned on a second visit the following year. The prologue, which was written by Allan Ramsay for their second visit, is worthy of quotation: — 104 THE SCOTS STAGE. " 'Tis I, dear Caledonian, blithesome Tony, That oft last winter, pleased the brave and horny. With medley, merry f'ong, and comic scene : Your kindness then has brought me here again After a circuit round the Queen of Isles, To gain your friendship and approving smiles. Experience l»ids me hope, tho* south the Tweed, The dastards said, * He never will succeed ; What, such a country look for any good in? That does not relish plays, nor pork, nor pudding.' Thus great Columbus, by an idiot crew. Was ridiculed at hrst (or his just view ; Yet his undaunted spirit ne'er gave ground Till he a new and better world had found. So I — Inugh on — the simile is bold ; But, faiih, 'lis just, for till the body's cold, Columbus like, I'll push for fame and gold." Aston's theatre is supposed to have been situated in a close on the north side of High Street, near Smith's land. The scheme was supported by subscription tickets taken up by lovers of the drama, and the theatre was well frequented by persons of substance and leisure. The Council passed an Act prohibiting Aston from acting within limits of their jurisdiction, and the Presbytery sent a deputation to the Magistrates, thanking them for '* the just zeaj they had shewn in the matter.** The Presbytery in their turn drew up an Act and exhortation against the encouragement or frequenting of EDINBURGH'S EARLY DRAMA. 105 stage plays, and this was appointed to be read from all pulpits in the district (November, 1727). Wodrow speaks of the players having large attendances, especially at the tragedies, The Mourning Bride having had an exceptional run of three nights. An appeal was made to the Court of Session against the Magistrates' decree, with the result that the interdict was suspended. Anent this decision, the Rev. Mr. Wodrow, in a letter to the Commissioner of Customs, wrote: — " However it go;, I think the magistrates of Edinburgh may have peace in the honest appearance they have made against those seminaries of idleness, looseness, and sin." Severe as the worthy authorities may havfe been upon stage plays, that zeal certainly did not extend to the suppression of other forms of amusement. Public combats with swords and rapiers continued to be very popular. As to the ethical principles by which such a demeanour towards the different entertainments were upheld, it would call forth a larger know- 8 106 THE SCOTS STAGE. ledge of casuistry than the mere modem possesses. In 1726, Andrew Bryan, an Irishman, issued a challenge. For several days he paraded the streets, beating a drum, when he was at last rewarded by an old Killicrankie soldier, Donald Bane, who signalised his acceptance of the challenge by putting his foot through the drum. Bane, who had reached the age of sixty-two, had been a serjeant in the Wars of William and Anne, and bore a high reputation for broadsword practice. Behind Holyrood Palace a platform was erected, on June 23rd, when the contest took place in the presence of a select assembly of the nobility and the military. After a hotly-contested fight, lasting several hours, and during which various weapons were used, Bryan fell, suffering from seven wounds. To return to the poet Allan Ramsay: his love of the fine arts and literature was un- bounded. In 1 72 5, he had opened a circulating library, the first in the kingdom. Again the Magistrates, with their jealous care for the mental welfare of the citizens, interfered, and, EDINBURGH'S EARLY DRAMA. 107 fearing the results this kind of reading would have upon the minds of the youth of the city, endeavoured (in 1728) to repress it. The notorious Erskine, Lord Grange, who led such a scandalous life, was one of those self-con- stituted guardians of morality, and suggested to the Magistrates that Ramsay's books of customers should be inspected. Wodrow, in mentioning this lamentable occurrence, states that Ramsay got down books of plays from London, and lent them out at an easy rate. The regrettable result was that *' boys, servant-girls and gentlemen (the juxtaposition of classes is delightful ! ) contributed thereto, whereby vice and obscenity were dreadfully propagated." It is difficult to reconcile the attitude of the Presbytery in session with the fact, also recorded by the same authority, that the Orthodox Club, composed chiefly of ministers, met occasionally about this time and, according to his testimony, " frequently their conversation was gay and jocose." Meantime, Anthony Aston had come into trouble with his company, in regard to financial matters. Ross, of the Bean's Coffee House, 108 THE SCOTS STAGE. had sold a quantity of tickets upon which he refused to accept a commission of one penny per seat, making a total of £ i o. Aston neglected to credit the company with this sum, and a quarrel ensued, which eventually led to part of the players migrating to Glasgow. There they received permission from Bailie Murdoch to perform in the Weigh House, where they enacted The Beggar's Opera (August, 1728). About the year 1715, a theatre was fitted up at the foot of Carruber's Close by one Signora Violante, an Italian player, who com- menced her entertainment with posturing exhibitions, to which, owing to their success, she added the production of plays. Again the Presbytery intervened and the Magistrates interdicted the performance, but the persistent Signora was successful in obtaining a permit from the Court of Session. During the next twenty-six years, Taylor's Hall in the Cowgate was frequently used by strolling companies. The holding capacity of this place was £40 to £45. Tony Aston had produced some plays in the Carruber's Close House, but the Society EDINBURGH'S EARLY DRAMA. 109 of High Constables set themselves to suppress his ** abominable stage plays," and the clergy, joining issue with the Court of Session, the plays accordingly ceased. After that date, performances were of an ititermittent character. A performance of the Beggar's Opera was given at Haddington on October 29, 1728, ** at the desire of several of the nobility and gentry of East Lothian.'* Altogether, the time was not a prosperous one for the humble followers of Thespis, at least so one is left to infer from an ominous paragraph in the Edinburgh Courant for March, 1729, where it mentions that the ** Scots Company of Comedians," with a fine sense of forgetfulness, had disappeared from the city, leaving their debts behind them. An English company of comedians visited Edinburgh in 1731, and met with a gratifying success. The faithful Wodrow chronicles it thus : — '* It is incredible what numbers of chairs with men are carried to those places. For some nights they made £50 every night, and that for 6 nights a week. . . . It's a dreadful corruption of our youth, and an eyelet to prodigality and vanity." no THE SCOTS STAGE. Two years afterwards, the Edinburgh com- pany of players appeared at the Taylor's Hall, on June 6th, giving a performance of The Beggar* s Opera for the benefit of the Edinburgh Infirmary. Their repertoire included Othello, Hamlet, Henry IV,, Macbeth, and King Lear. In the month of December they performed The Tempest, *' every part, and even what required machinery being performed in great order." (Caledonian Mercury.) The Grassmarket was the scene of some remarkable feats in the year 1733, when two Italians, father and son, gave an exhibition of tight-rope walking. A rope being fixed between the half-moon battery of the Castk and a place on the south side of the market, two hundred feet below, the father slid down the rope in half a minute, the son following suit and blowing a trumpet for most part of the way. Near the old Manor House of Pilrig, in Springfield Street, lay M'Culloch of Ardwell's house. Sam Foote was often his honoured guest. M'Culloch had once exploded an epigram at the comedian's expense, and, when EDINBURGH'S EARLY DRAMA. Ill Foote had discovered the author, they at once became fast friends. Ever afterwards, Foote shewed a partiality to the Scots in his comedies. The month of February, 1734, saw a per- formance of The Conscious Lovers, which was given for the benefit of Mrs. Woodward, doors opening at 4 P.M. and performance at 6 p.m. In March, a production of The Wonder was advertised, " the part of the Scots Colonel by Mr. Weir, and that of his servant Gibby, in Highland dress, by Mr. Wescomb, and all the other parts to the best advantage." The name of Allan Ramsay appears in the office copy of the Caledonian Mercury as having paid for the advertisement. August saw this company set out for a tour round Dundee, Montrose, and Aberdeen. At Dundee they received a generous welcome, the Freemasons having marched in a body to the playhouse to witness The Jubilee and The Devil To Pay. Returning to Edinburgh in December, they produced a Pantomime. To meet the exigences of space, they intimated that ** it was hoped do gent whatever will take it amiss if they are refused admittance behind the scenes." The Edin- 112 THE SCOTS STAGE. burgh Freemasons made a torchlight procession in full regalia to assist at a performance of Henry the Fourth. With the departure of this company came a barren year, which the irre- pressible Ramsay endeavoured to brighten by re-opening (on November 8th, 1736) the theatre in Carruber's Close. In a prologue, he addressed the enemies of the theatre as those who " From their gloomy thoughts, and want of sense, Think what diverts the mind, gives Heaven offence." But he was not allowed to indulge in this flaunting of civil power with impunity. An Act was passed against rogues and vagabonds, which hindered any persons acting plays for hire without license by Letters Patent from the King, or his Lord Chamberlain. This gave the Magistrates the necessary authority to deal with the matter, with the result that the theatre was closed. The Carruber's Close house was afterwards used by Debating Clubs and Churches as a meeting-place, and was one of the places in which the famous Edward Irving frequently spoke. Ramsay's dramatic pre^ EDINBURGH'S EARLY DRAMA. 113 dilections were accompanied by a deal of monetary loss, although it never seemed to damp his enthusiasm. That he was not without honour outside his own City may be gathered from the Caledonian Mercury, February 9th, '* The 4th inst. several young gents of this place (Montrose) acted Mr. Allan Ramsay's celebrated Pastoral comedy for the diversion of the ladies and gentlemen about this Town with all the dresses suitable, re-enapting the farce of The Mock Doctor two succeeding nights. The money taken, after deducting necessary charges, being very considerable, was distributed amongst the poor." The London actor, John Ryan, opened up a season in the newly-erected theatre at Canon- gate in 1746. This building was situate in a back area near St. John's Gross, which is now called Playhouse Close. It held £70, and in- cluded box seats at half-a-crown and pit is. 6d. During the subsequent seasons, it had a good following, with companies boasting the names of Lees, Digges, Mrs. Bellamy, and Mrs. Ward as principals. In 1 749, it had the questionable 114 THE SCOTS STAGE. honour of providing the scene of a memorable disturbance. Being the anniversary of the battle of Culloden, some English officers com- manded the orchestra to strike up an obnoxious air known as *' Culloden," but in its place they played " You're welcome, Charlie." The officers drew their swords and made an onslaught on both actors and musicians; but they had reckoned without the audience, who commenced a spirited attack on the disturbers, torn-up benches being used as weapons. Then the officers, changing their tactics, made for the gallery, only to find the doors securely barred. Outside, the Highland chairmen, having got wind of the riot, marched up the stairs, and attacked them in the rear with their chair-poles. Finally, the truculent officers were disarmed and ignominously expelled. Another riot took place at a performance of Garrick's High Life Below Stairs. The foot- men sent in a letter to the management threatening vengeance upon the players if it should be produced. On the second night they carried out their threat. The footmen being placed in the gallery, as was the custom, during EDINBURGH'S EARLY DRAMA. 115 the play * a prodigious noise was heard from that quarter." Their masters, assisted by the audience, endeavoured to quieten them by forcible means, and, a tough fight ensuing, the footmen were ejected, with subsequent loss of free entrance to the theatre. 116 THE SCOTS STAGE. CHAPTER V. THE EDINBURGH STAGE. About the year 1752, Mr. Lee purchased the Canongate Theatre from the original pro- prietors for the sum of £645. Its management, however, passed through a variety of hands. Dissensions arose amongst the performers themselves, factions were created, and the end was reached one evening when, during a performance of Hamlet, the auditors completed the tragedy of disaster by wrecking the theatre and setting it afire. A long spell of litigation followed ; but at length the house was refitted, and, amongst the first items of imf)ortance that may be cited was the production of Douglas, by the Reverend John Home, minister of Athelstaneford, on 14th December, 1756. The cast included— THE EDINBURGH STAGE, 117 Douglas, ... ... West Digges. Lord Randolph, ... Younger. Glenavon, ... Love. Old Norval, ... Hayman. Lady Randolph, ... Mrs. Ward. Anna, ... ... Mrs. Hopkin. A persistent candidate for dramatic honours, Home had, in 1749, taken up his Greek tragedy, Agls, to the '* great little Garrick," but was unsuccessful in placing it. Six years afterwards, he renewed his application with the new play, Douglas, and his second attempt failed to find any encouragement from Garrick. Doubtless the fact that Roscius had then reached his fortieth year may have had some effect in dissuading him from a portrayal of the stripling " Douglas." With the glamour of his play fresh upon him, Home returned to Edinburgh, and his staunchest friends advised its performance at the Canongate Theatre. Amongst the stories in connection with the play, there is one which tells of a private rehearsal where several notabilities took up the different 118 THE SCOTS STAGE. parts. The historian Robertson played Lord Randolph; David Hume, Glenavou; Dr. Carlyle, Old Norval; John Home, Douglas; Dr. Adam Ferguson, Lady Randolph; and Hugh Blair, Anna, before a select audience, which included Lord Elibank, Milton, Kames, and the eccentric Monboddo. At its first public performance, a crowded audience attested its welcome to the first Scottish tragedy, amongst whom were many of the clergy, who, in the language of the record, " skulked into corners.*' *' The town," wrote Rev. Dr. Carlyle, *' was in an uproar of exultation that a Scotsman did write a tragedy of the first rate, and that its merits were submitted to them." Amongst the players. Dr. Carlyle expresses his surprise and admiration of Mrs. Ward as Lady Randolph. The production of this play was not without results. To the Kirk, it was a dire awakening to the condition of mind of their people, and the popularity of the play was regarded as a menace to the progress of religion and morality. On the 5th of January, 1757, the Presbytery of Edinburgh issued an *' Admonition and Exhortation " to all within their bounds: — THE EDINBURGH STAGE. 119 " The Presbytery taking into their serious consideration the decHning state of reUgion, the open profanation of the Lord's Day, the contempt of pubHc worship, the growing luxury and levit>- of the present age — in which so many seem lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God — and being particularly affected with the unprecedented countenance given of late to the Playhouse in this place, when the state of the nation and the circupi- stances of the poor, make such hurtful enter- tainments still more pernicious, judged it their indispensable duty to express in the most open and solemn manner, the deep concern they feel on this occasion. The opinion which the Christian Church has always entertained of stage plays and players as prejudicial to the interest of religion and morality is well known, and the fatal influence which they commonly have on the far greater part of mankind, particularly the younger sort, is too obvious to be called in question. To enumerate how many ser- vants, apprentices, and students in different branches of literature in this city and suburbs, have been seduced from their proper business by attending the stage would be a painful, disagreeable task. 120 THE SCOTS STAGE. " The Presbytery, in the year 1727, when consisting of many pious, prudent, and learned ministers, whose praise is in all the Churches, being aware of these evils, did prepare a paper, which was read from the several pulpits within their bounds, warning their people against the dangerous infection of the theatre then erected here. (Carrubcr*s Close.) In the year 1737, the legislature in their great wisdom, did, by an Act, the loth of George the Second, enact and declare : — * That every person who should, for hire or reward, act or cause to be acted, any play, or other entertainment of the stage, without the special license and authority mentioned in the said Act, should be deemed a rogue and vagabond, and for every such offence should forfeit the sum of £50 sterling.' At that time a project was set on foot to obtain a licensed theatre in this city, but the masters and professors of the University, supported by the Magistrates, having prepared a petition setting forth the dangerous tendency of a playhouse here, with respect to the imjwrtant interests of virtue and learning, the project was laid aside. The players, however, being so audacious as to continue to act in defiance of the law, the Presbytery did at their own charge, prose- THE EDINBURGH STAGE. 121 cute them before the Court of Session and prevailed in the process. The players were fined in terms of law; and warrants being issued for apprehending them, they fled from justice. But others came in their place, who since that time have attempted to elude the law, by changing the name of the playhouse into that of Concert Hall. As such a slight evasion, the mere change of a name, could not make the smallest variation in the nature of the thing, the Presbytery continued to do all in their power and in their sphere, to prevent the growing evil; and think them- selves at this time loudly called upon in one body, and with one voice, to expostulate, in the bowels of love and compassion, with all under their care and instruction." Then follows the usual exhortation against the *' infection of the stage and its illegal and dangerous entertainments . ' ' On the 1 2 th January, Mr. White, minister of Liberton, was called before the Presbytery on this charge. He confessed his guilt, but pleaded that he had ** endeavoured to conceal himself in a corner. " (The defence is so beauti- ful that comment is unnecessary.) In respect 9 122 THE SCOTS STAGE. of this circumstance, some members moved that only a solemn rebuke should be administered, but Mr. White was suspended till 2nd February. The Presbytery of Dunse, after rebuking two of their members in accordance with the tenor of the aforesaid exhortation, proceeded to characterise this as arbitrary, pointing out that no mention is made of any Scriptural passages or Acts of General Assembly *' to which the conduct of our brethren was repugnant ; Whilst admitting that certain Acts of the Edinburgh Presbytery in 1737 were quoted," they do not regard that these should be regarded as standards by the Dunse Presbytery. According to information, the only Church law relating to the theatre read: — *• That no comedies or tragedies or such plays, should be made on any subject of canonical Scripture, nor on the Sabbath day. If any minister be the writer of such a play, he shall be deprived of his mmistry. As * for plays of another subject, they also should be examined before they be pro- pounded publicly." (Acts of Assembly, 1574.) THE EDINBURGH STAGE. 123 One of the arguments used in this famous controversy by the Church was ** the dissolute lives and infamous characters of the players.'* As a specimen of vituperation, the following, taken from a pamphlet of the period, is in- teresting : — *' It is agreed upon by sober pagans them- selves that playactors are the most profligate wretches and vilest vermin that hell ever vomited out: that they are the filth and garbage of the earth, the scum and stain of human nature, the excrement and refuse of all mankind : the pests and plagues of human society; the debauchers of men's minds and morals, unclean beasts, idolatrous papists or- atheists, and the most horrid and abandoned- villains that ever the sun shone upon." In the storm of ridicule that followed. Dr. Adam Ferguson produced a pamphlet entitled The Morality of Stage Plays Considered, in which he defended the dramatic corps, from the Scriptural examples of Joseph and his brethren, and pointed out that the only prohibition was against the use of Canonical Scriptures and performances on Sunday. Another contributor 124 THE SCOTS STAGE. to the satirical side of the question was Dr. Carlyle, minister of Inverness, who published his Reasons Why the Tragedy of Douglas should be burned by the Hands of the Common Hangman, and a second one for the delectation of the lower classes, A History of the Bloody Tragedy of Douglas as it is now performed at the Theatre in the Canongate. The only ostensible purpose this clerical opposition served was to advertise the play so extensively that full houses became the order of the day (or rather, evening) at the Canon- gate. Five ministers, who were auditors at the first performance, were called up before their several Presbyteries, and, having made their sub- mission, were accordingly rebuked. The excuse made by Mr. Steele, the minister of Stair, was that the theatre was so far distant from his house, that he considered he would not be known, and his presence would therefore give no offence. The Presbytery of Haddington dealt with Mr. Home, the head and front of the offending. At first he asked for a delay, and subsequently he tendered his resignation. THE EDINBURGH STAGE. 125 Dalkeith Presbytery brought Dr. Carlyle before them, but the worthy Doctor would neither admit his sin, nor submit his penitence. A libel was served upon him, charging him with being in company with players who were, in the eyes of the law, of bad fame: with rehearsing Douglas: with appearing openly in a box at Canongate playhouse, and having turned a gentleman out of it. (Needless to say, the gent referred to had been " twining the vine-leaves too freely in his hair.") The matter was dis- cussed for some months, and terminated with a rebuke being administered by the Synod of Lothian and Tweedale. Curiously enough, the Doctor was selected, two years afterwards, to preach before the High Commissioner: about eleven years later, he occupied the Moderator's chair, and at his death he had attained one of the highest positions in the Church. A quotation from Cunningham*s History on this question may not be altogether indpropos : '* The termination of the proceedings before the Church courts did not end the controversy they originated — nor is it terminated yet. The one party declared that. 126 THE SCOTS STAGE. never since the day when Galileo was thrown into the prison of the Inquisition for saying the earth revolved round the sun, had any- thing so disgraceful in the Church occurred. Home had written the noblest drama of which his country could boast, and for this he was compelled to evacuate his parish by the terrors of deposition. The Church had degraded the man whom all ages would delight to honour. Was there anything essentially sinful in dramatic composition? If there were bad plays, might there not be good plays, and was it not so with Douglas? Was not its morality faultless, and were not the feelings it delineated the noblest that can fill the breast — th^ love of a mother for a lost child, and the ambition of a youth to excel? And why this horror for the Theatre ; is not a man so framed by God that he must have amusement? And, if he is denied the amusement resulting from theatrical repre- sentation, is it not certain that he will seek for excitement of a coarser and more ruinous kind? Has it not been proved by experience, is it not written in the reports of the Police- Courts, that when theatres are shut, crime increases? It was agreed on the other side that the playhouse had ever been the favourite haunt of vice. The question was — THE EDINBURGH STAGE. 127 What was the duty of Christians looking at the stage simply as it was, notoriously immoral? Were not the great majority of the plays, even those of Shakespeare him- self, confessedly obscene? Were not things spouted on the stage that could not be repeated in the parlour? Were not many pure minds first familiarised with vice by seeing it represented on the boards of a theatre, many consciences so stunned that they never after recovered their tenderness? And how is the play of Douglas to be defended on high Christian principles? Did it not use language which looked very like swearing? Did it not give its sanction to something very like suicide?" As exhibiting the great advance in clerical opinion, a noteworthy fact is recorded by Scott, who states that, when the General Assembly sat in 1784, they experienced considerable difficulty in procuring a full attendance of members on the evenings upon which Mrs. Siddons performed. The sequel to Garrick's second refusal of Douglas, consequent upon its Northern success, happened when '* silver-toned " Barry produced 128 THE SCOTS STAGE. it at Covent Garden, where the play met with instant recognition. Garrick's choice of this author's work fell upon Agis, which proved a sorry failure, its rhetoric fulsomeness being fatal to any measure of success. In 1759 a dromedary and camel were exhibited at Craig's Close, where, according to the Edinburgh Herald and Chronicle, they were deemed " the two wonders of the world." In this Close was the tavern, the Isle of Man Arms, where foregathered those early Bohemians, ** The Cape Club." Tom Lancashire, the comedian, was the first sovereign of the Club, as Sir Cape, about the year 1 764. Amongst its list of members were included the names of Ferguson, the poet ; David Herd, Walter Ross, Sir Henry Raeburn, and the notorious Deacon Brodie. With the erection of the New Theatre Royal, the old Canongate house was deserted in 1767. Of it, Mr. James Grant says : — ** The front land, through which an access gives to the old Playhouse Close, is a fine specimen of Scotch Street architecture in the THE EDINBURGH STAGE. 129 time of Charles the First. It has a row of dormer windows, with another of storm windows in a steep roof that reminds one of those in Bruges and Antwerp. Over a door- way within the Close is an ornamental tablet, the inscription of which has become defaced, and the old theatre itself has long since given place to private dwellings. In one of those lived in 1784 a man named Wilson Gavin whose name appears in Peter Williamson's Directory as an ' Excellent Shoemaker and Leather Tormentor.' " The new theatre was erected in Shakespeare Square, which, at that time, formed part of the Orphan Hospitals Park, where George Whitfield used to preach, and where the General Post Office now stands. The famous Methodist, finding, upon his return to the scene of former labours, that a theatre had been erected thereon, was full of indignation to think that a place, which he had deemed to be rendered sacred by reason of the sermons he had delivered, should be turned to such base uses. In his judgment, " the ground was appropriated to the service of Satan." It was a positive indication of the increasing wickedness of society, ** a plucking 130 THE SCOTS STAGE. up of God's standard, and a planting of the devil's in its place." The Act for the New Town of Edinburgh contained a clause, which empowered the Crown to grant Royal Letters Patent for a Theatre. Prior to the reign of George the Third, not one of these houses was countenanced by the law of the land. On the i6th March, 1768, the foundation stone of the Theatre Royal was laid, and for ninety years it formed the scene of some of the most notable triumphs in Scots drama. Engraved on a silver plate of the stone was the inscription : — " The first stone of this new theatre was laid on the i6th day of March in the year of our Lord 1768 by David Ross, patentee and first proprietor of a licensed stage in Scotland. May this theatre tend to promote every moral and every virtuous principle, and may the representation be such To make mankind in conscious virtue bfild Live on each scene, and be what they behold." Ross was the late proprietor of the Canongate Theatre. The Scots Magazine for 1768 gives some details as to the financial position of the new house. THE EDINBURGH STAGE. 131 ** Mr. Ross had to raise £2500 by 25 £ 1 00 shares, for which the subscribers were to receive 3 0/0 and free access to all per- formances and every part of the house, except behind the scenes. The house is to be 100 feet in length by 50 broad. To furnish new scenes, wardrobe, and necessary decorations will, it is computed cost £1500 more and the whole building is to be insured for £4000 and mortgaged in security to pay the interest. As it would be impossible to procure good performers should the tickets continue at the low prices now paid, it is proposed to make the boxes 4s., the pit 3s., the first gallery 2s., and the upper is. * For these prices,' says Mr. Ross, ' shall vie with those of London and Dublin.' There shall be five capital men actors, one good man singer, one second singer, three capital women singers, one capital man dancer, and one woman dancer ; the rest as good as can be had : the orchestra shall be conducted with a good first fiddler^ as a leader, a harpsichord, and the rest of the band persons of merit." The total cost of the building was £5,000, and, with the ruling prices of 3s., 2s., and is., it held £140, the Canongate holding about £80 at prices of 2s. 6d., is. 6d., and is. The first 132 THE SCOTS STAGE. two seasons at the new house were in the nature of a failure, one cause being that the theatre was so difficult of access. During the next three years it was leased by Samuel Foote, of the London Haymarket, at an annual rental of 500 guineas. Opening in the year 1770, with Woodward and Weston in the caste, in his own comedy, The Commissary, he had a splendid season, rumour stating that he succeeded in clearing £1,000 for that period. Here, too, on the 24th November, he produced his comedy, The Minor, in which a burlesque of Whitfield and the other evangelists was given to an audience that included Robert Dundas of Arniston, Lord President of the Court. The following day Dr. Walker, at the High Church, made a bitter attack upon Foote for " the gross profanation of the theatre on the preceding evening." Towards the end of the year, Foote, finding it difficult to manage two theatres satisfactorily, conveyed his lease of the Royal to West Digges and Bland. Starting with the beauti- ful Mrs. Hartley in their company, they THE EDINBURGH STAGE. 133 managed to clear £1,400 in the first season. Digges and Bland were both ex-army men. The former had been a favourite at the Canongate house, and the latter was equally well known, having remained in public favour for over twenty-three years. Bland had the honour to be the uncle of the famous Mrs. Jordan, and was also related to Edmund Glover. In 1774, Foote came over from Dublin for a seven night engagement, for which he received the sum of £250, a not inconsiderable salary for a star in those days. During the manage- ment of the above, most of the London stars, including Bellamy, Sheridan, Barry, and Mr, and Mrs. Yates, appeared at the Theatre Royal. Although of London birth, Mrs. Yates was of Scottish parentage. If one may judge from a pecuniary pK)int of view, her talents were regarded as being upon a high level, for her husband and herself were paid 700 guineas at the end of one season by Digges, whilst the next lessee, Mr. Jackson, paid her 100 guineas per night. At this period, the profession enjoyed the patronage of the legal circles. 134 THE SCOTS STAGE. The fashion had been set, and gradually the aristocracy moulded their customs to suit their taste for the drama: indeed, dinner was usually served at 4 o'clock to enable the bon ton to attend the theatre, where the performance commenced at 6.30. The assumption of the managerial reins by Mr. John Jackson in 1781 brought the advent of Mrs. Siddons in Edinburgh. Her first appearance was made on 22nd May, 1784, in Venice Preserved, where she played Belvidera to the Jaffier of Wood, an Edinburgh man. That the engagement was a successful one is confirmed by an excerpt from the Edinburgh Weekly Magazine of that date: — " The manager took the precaution after the first night to have an officer and Guard of Soldiers at the principal door. But several scuffles having ensued through the eagerness of the people to get places, and the soldiers having been rash enough to use their bayonets, it was thought advisable to withdraw the guards on the third night, lest any accident had happened from the pressure of the crowd, who began to assemble round the doors at 1 1 in the forenoon." THE EDINBURGH STAGE. 135 Her first performance was not without its trials. The undemonstrative character of her audience was not an inspiring spectacle. Thomas Campbell, in speaking of her reception, and its apparent coldness, tells how Mrs. Siddons, having summoned all her powers in an effort to electrify the audience, she paused and looked at the sea of stony faces. The deep silence was at length broken by a voice exclaiming, " That's no' bad I *' The ludicrous parsimony of praise at once convulsed the audience with laughter. But the laugh was followed by such thunders of applause ** that, amidst her stunned and nervous agitation, she was not without fear of the galleries coming down." For this first visit her repertoire included The Gamester, Mourning Bride, Douglas, Isabella, Jane Shore, and The Grecian Daughter. Her earnings for the ten nights were £50 nightly, with an additional sum of £350 which she received on the night of her benefit, as well as a magnificent presentation of plate. On the second visit in 1 785 there was a decided increase in the figures, £120 per night being, the average earning, with £200 for a perform- 136 THE SCOTS STAGE. ance of The Gamester. As an example of the furore her appearance created, ** a certain set of gents, by subscribing £200 as a guarantee beforehand, considered themselves very for- tunate in securing private and early entrance to the pit." On one day alone, 2,557 applications were made for 630 places. Amongst the many alleged incidents which happened during her Edinburgh visit, there is one which may appeal largely to the superstitious. A young Aberdeen- shire heiress, Miss Gordon of Gicht, was borne out of her box in hysterics, screaming the last words she had caught from the great actress, **Ohl my Biron, my Bironl" In the course of a short time, she was married to the Hon. John Byron, and came down to posterity as the mother of Lord Byron. In 1788, a new patent was procured in the names of the Duke of Hamilton and Henry Dundas (afterwards Viscoimt Melville), with the consent of Mr. Jackson, at whose expense it was taken out. Jackson becoming bankrupt, Stephen Kemble secured a one year's lease of the theatre, his principal performances therein being Macbeth and Douglas. THE EDINBURGH STAGE. 137 That the rigorous attention to archaeological details, which is now the rule, was not so marked in those days is evident from a perusal of Donaldson's Recollections of an Actor ( i8 1 5), where he remarks, ** I have seen Mac- beth dressed in a red officer's coat, sash, blue pants, Hessian boots and cocked hat.'* The following year, Mrs. Esten, a favourite' actress, came into possession of the lease. Kemble, disappointed at having missed his opportunity, erected a rival house facing Leith .Walk, at the junction of Little King Street with Broughton Street, which he called ** The Circus." An injunction was obtained against Kemble to prevent his producing plays, but, although afterwards the house confined itself to equestrian displays, nevertheless it proved a somewhat serious rival. Latterly '* The Circus " adopted the title of " The Adelphi Theatre," and then occupied a site identical with that of the present Theatre Royal. The Scots Magazine for 1 793 states that, on January 2 ist, the New Theatre of Edinburgh (formerly ** The Circus ") was opened under the manage- ment of Mr. Stephen Kemble with the comedy 10 138 THE SCOTS STAGE. of The Rivals, Mr. Lee Lewes, a well-known comedian and entertainer, appearing as Sir Anthony Absolute and Mrs. Kemble as Julia. At the end of this season, Kemble managed again to secure the Theatre Royal, which! he held till the year 1800. An Italian named Corri took up ** The Circus,** but not with very gratifying results. A run of The School for Scandal gave him a fillip, but that was of too temporary a character to recoup his already heavy losses. The Theatre Royal became the scene of a memorable riot in 1794. The occasion was a performance of Charles the First. Some of the occupants of the boxes insisted that the orchestra should play ** God Save The King," and that, during its performance, the audience should stand and uncover. To do this, the more democratic of the auditors flatly refused, with the result that a tumult of a serious character ensued. The row was continued next Saturday, when the rival factions, having collected additional adherents, attended the theatre in force. Upon the refusal of the democrats to uncover during the National Anthem, the signal THE EDINBURGH STAGE. 139 was given for the attack, which was chiefly made by the officers of the Argyllshire Fencibles. The upshot of the mel^e was a profusion of broken heads and smashed jaws, many of the audience being carried home in a sanguinary condition. Sir Walter Scott, then a young man newly called to the bar, was one of the inter- ested combatants in this riot. Amongst the star actors who appeared at this house was Henry Erskine Johnstone, *' The Scottish Roscius," who occupied the boards in, 1 797. He was the son of a High Street barber, enjoying a certain measure of distinction. From the post of lawyer's clerk, he had drifted into the profession. His favourite parts were Hamlet and Douglas. As an example of his versatility, he appeared on the same evening as Hamlet, completing the night's work by a performance as Harlequin. But that was in the days when the dramatic habitue expected value for his money! At the close of the eighteenth century, manners had become pretty loose. For a gentleman to give a dinner which did not end in his guests being rendered hors de combat. 140 THE SCOTS STAGE. was considered a breach of hospitality. It was unfortunate that amongst many of these guests were members of the clergy, who seemed un- able to rise above the prevailing tone of the society in which they lived. The scenes at Sacrament were nothing short of being disgraceful. In the various districts the Sacrament was celebrated in the market town, to which the people thronged from the country around. For this function, as many as half a dozen clergymen were invited to take up the day's services, the sermonic rivalry between them forming a ready excuse for refreshment intervals. An account of one of these may be found in Burns' " Holy Fair," in which the Bard finds a ready excuse for his keenest shafts of satire : How mony hearts this day converts, O' sinners an' o* lasses ! Their hearts o' stane, gin night, are gane As saft as ony flesh is. There's some are fou o' love divine ; There's some are fou o' brandy ; An' mony j<»b8 that day begin, May end in houghmagandy Some ither day." THE EDINBURGH STAGE. 141 A spot opposite the Botanic Gardens, known as the Lover's Loan, Leith Walk, in 1802 formed the site of *' Barker's Famous Panorama " from Leicester Square, London, " wherein might be witnessed views of Dover, the Downs, and the coast of France, with the embarkation of troops, horse and foot, 10 till dusk, admission is. per head." Meantime, the Theatre Royal was passing through all the vicissitudes of theatrical life, success following fast upon the footsteps of failure, and failure upon that of success. About the year 1805 the notable boy prodigy. Master Betty, ** Young Roscius," occupied its boards. His performance of Norval elicited the testi- mony from Home that, until now, his conception of the character of Douglas had never been realised. When the twenty-one years' patent of the theatre expired, it was transferred to certain assignees, two of whom were Walter Scott and Henry Mackenzie, author of The Man of Feeling. In 1809, Henry Siddons, the son of Mrs. 142 THE SCOTS STAGE. Siddons, refitted Corri*s Rooms as a theatre, at an expense of £4,000. After spending two seasons there, at the suggestion of Scott, he applied for, and obtained, the patent of the Theatre Royal, where he transferred his company. The list of members included Henry Siddons (Belvoir, Archer, Charles Surface); Terry (Sir Peter Teazle, Sir Anthony Absolute, and Lord Ogilvy) ; William Murray, character actor; Berry, low comedian; and the three actresses, Mrs. Henry Siddons, Mrs. Nicol, and Mrs. W. Pierson. It was during Siddon's term that Joanna Baillie's play, The Family Legend (January 29, 18 10) was produced, the prologue being provided by Henry Mackenzie and the epilogue by Sir Walter Scott. In the month of March, i8io, Mrs. Siddons appeared in a round of her favourite parts. John Kemble followed in July with the Handsome Johnston, then Emery had a short season, and last, though not least, the beautiful Mrs. Jordan. When Henry Siddons died ( 18 i 5), the house was carried on by his widow and her brother, William H. Murray. Under their management, THE EDINBURGH STAGE. 143 Miss Elizabeth O'Neil appeared, her greatest successes being achieved in the parts of Juliet, Mrs. Haller, Jane Shore, and Mrs. Beverley. In the words of the historian, '* she seemed designed by nature to catch the tragic mantle as it fell from Mrs. Siddon's shoulders." The simile, for theatre-goers unfortunately, reached no higher degree than that of seeming. The year 1 8 1 6 brought Edmund Kean to the city, who appeared in Richard the Third, Othello, and Merchant of Venice. During the next three years, the stars who visited were the elder Mathews, Miss Stephens, Charles and Mrs. Kemble. Even those attractions were not sufficiently strong to keep the wolf from the door, for in 1 8 1 9 we find a form of arrestment being put in by a number of clamorous creditors. The saving of the situation lay in the hands of Scott. Rob Roy had already attained a gratifying success at Covent Garden. An excellent cast was re- hearsed, special scenery provided, and on the I 5th February the opening night came. The result over-reached the most extravagant hopes, public opinion declaring it one of the 144 THE SCOTS STAGE. greatest theatrical hits of the times, and indeed, in Scotland, it may still be regarded as such, if the testimony of perennial revivals be the ultimate criterion. The piece ran for forty-one nights, which, although apparently a short run according to modern experience, was considered a record in these days. The principals in the cast were : — Rob Roy, ... Capt. Thornton, Bailie, Dougal Cratur, Helen McGregor, Hamerton. Murray. Mackay. Duff. Mrs. Renaud. The remainder of the Waverley dramas followed upon the heels of this success, with excellent pecuniary results, financial troubles having now ceased. As an in- stance of the popularity of Rob Roy, it is worthy of mention that, up till 185 1, it had been acted about four hundred times at the Theatre Royal, and there is a record of its having had a fifty nights' run with Ryder's company at Perth in 1829. It was Rob Roy which George the Fourth chose for interpreta- THE EDINBURGH STAGE. 145 tion on his visit to Edinburgh in 1822, when it was played by command at the Theatre Royal on 27th August. The occasion was a memor- able one and spoke volumes for the loyalty of the Edinburgh citizens. In the early morning, the audience commenced to assemble at the doors, and at the opening hour it was feared the tremendous crush might end in a serious loss of life. But the good sense of the crowd asserted itself, and every- one managed to enter the theatre in safety. As a record of the period says: — ** All the wealth, rank, and beauty of Scotland filled the boxes, and the waving of tartan plaids and plumed bonnets produced hurricanes of ac- clamation long before the arrival of the King, who occupied a species of throne in the centre box, and behind him stood the Marquis of Montrose, the Earl of Fife, and other nobles. At his entrance the entire audience joined the orchestra in the ' National Anthem.' " Reverting to Corri's Rooms, which survived under the name of ** The Pantheon '* for many years, the house again made a bid for public favour in December, 1823, opening up as the 146 THE SCOTS STAGE. Caledonian Theatre under the management of Henry Johnston, who produced a series of melodramas, amongst others being The Orphan of Geneva. The former ill-fate pursued it, however, and after a sufficiently tiresome share of losses, Johnston was forced to resign himself to the inevitable, after which he left Edinburgh. Seven years afterwards he re- turned, playing four nights at this theatre, then under the management of Mr. C. Bass. After fulfilling this engagement, he acted for several years at the London theatres, but, fortune failing to shine too consistently upon his efforts, in 1838 he sailed for America, adopting that more congenial clime as his home. This theatre underwent all the vicissitudes of dramatic fortune. For some time it was under the management of R. H. Wyndham, with the designation of the Adelphi Theatre, but it was ultimately burned down in 1853. On its site was built the Queen's Theatre and Opera House. Again in 1865 the fire claimed it as a victim, several lives being lost by the fall of the walls. A third time it was re-constructed, and a third time it was burned down ( 1874). ^^ January, THE EDINBURGH STAGE. 147 1876, the present Theatre Royal was opened, the architect being Mr. C. J. Phipps. To the old Theatre Royal in Shakespeare Square many stars had come. Here Vanden- hoff the elder {circa 1825) appeared as Sir Giles Overreach, and as Sir William Wallace in The Battle of Falkirk; Denham, who played James VI. to Murray's "Jingling Geordie"; Mrs. Renaud, tragedienne ; Mrs. Nicol as leading old lady ; Miss Paton ; and Miss Noel. The scene painter was David Roberts, and the leader of orchestra, T. Fraser. The first dinner of the Edinburgh Theatrical Fund, instituted for the relief of decayed actors, took place in February, 1827. It is rendered all the more memorable from the fact that it is asserted that there Sir Walter Scott avowed himself the author of the Waverley Novels. The twenty-one year lease taken by Mrs. Henry Siddons expired in 1830, when she gave a farewell performance as Lady Townley in The Provoked Husband. After this, she retired into private life, carrying with her '* the good wishes of all in Edinburgh, for many had recognised in her not merely the accomplished 148 THE SCOTS STAGE. actress, but the good mother, the refined lady, and the irreproachable member of society." Her brother, William Murray, leased the house for another twenty-one years, retiring in 185 1 after a period of indifferent success. Lloyd, the comedian, Robinson, and Leslie had a spell of management, but, failing to make the theatre a paying concern, it fell into the hands of R. H. Wyndham. The last-named, a gentleman by birth and education, came to Edinburgh in 1845 iri support of Helen Faucit. He had previously managed the Adelphi, until its destruction in 1853, when he assumed the reins at the Theatre Royal, and under his able conduct it speedily became one of the best known houses in the three kingdoms. As an actor, he was at his best in light comedy. Mrs. Wyndham played with distinction such parts as Peg Woffington, Mrs. Haller, and Lady Macbeth. Under Wyndham*s regime, all the leading members of the profession appeared, including also the Italian operatic stars. Here are some names picked at random from THE EDINBURGH STAGE. 149 a long and interesting list. Kean, Helen Faucit, Paul Bedford, Wright, J. L. Toole, Gustavus Brooke, Madame Celeste, Alf Wigan, Mrs. Stirling, Sothern, Mesdames Ristori, Titiens, Mario, and Guiglini. The Government having purchased the site for £5,000 upon which to erect the General Post Office, after a career of ninety years the farewell performance was given, Lord N eaves con- tributing the valedictory address. Here is the programme : — THEATRE ROYAL, EDINBURGH. Sole Lessee, R. H. Wyndham. 9-^ Princes Street. Final Closing of the Theatre On Wednesday, May 25th, 1859- The performance will commence with the celebrated Comedy written by Tom Taylor and Charles Reade Esqs., Entitled "MASKS AND FACES." Sir Charles Pomander by Mr. Wyndham. Triplet by Mr. Edmund Glover, Theatre Royal, Glasgow. Ernest Vane by Mr. E. D. Lyons. Colley Gibber by Mr. Foote. Quin by Mr. Ersser Jones. Snarl by Mr. Fisher. 150 THE SCOTS STAGE. Call Boy, Mr. R. Saker. Soaper by Mr. Irving Hunsdon by Mr. Vandenhoif. {Ihnry Irvin§f). Burdock by Mr. Carroll. Colander by Mr. James. PEG WOFFINGTON by MRS. WYNDHAM. Kitty Clive by Miss M. Davies. Mrs. Triplet by Mrs. E. Jones. Roxalana bv Miss M. FOOTE. Maid by Miss Thompson. Mabel Vane by Miss Sophia Miles, AFTER WHICH MR. WYNDHAM WILL DELIVER A FAREWELL ADDRESS. To be followed by a laughable Farce, "HIS LAST LEGS." Felix O'Callaghan, a man of Genius, by Mr. Wyndham. Charles by Mr. Irving (Hanr// Irviny). Mr. Rivers by Mr. Ernest Jones. Dr. Banks by Mr. Foote. John by Mr. R. Saker, Thomas by Mr. Davis. Mrs. Montague by Miss Nicol. Julia by Miss Jones. Mrs. Banks by Mrs. E. Jones. Betty by Miss S. Davis. After which the National Drama of CRAMOND BRIG. JAMES VI. KING OF SCOTLAND by MR. G. MELVILLE. Jock Howieson by Mr. Fisher. Berkie, of that Ilk, by Mr. Rogerson, Murdoch by Mr. Wallace. OflScer by Mr. Bankes. Grime by Mr. Douglas. Tarn Maxwell by Mr. Davis. Tibbie Howieson by Miss Nicol. Marion by Miss Davis, in which character she will sing— •*A Kiss Ahint the Door." To conclude with a Moving and Removing VALEDICTORY SKETCH Mr. Wyndham by Himself. Mrs. Wyndham by Hersblf, Spirit of the Past, Miss Nicol. Spirit of the Future, Miss DaTis. The National Anthem by the Entire Company. THE EDINBURGH STAGE. 151 One of the most notable items in this programme, to a dramatic student, is the appearance of young Henry Irving, then nineteen years of age. He had just migrated from the stock company at the Lyceum Theatre, Sunderland, and joined up Wyndham's stock company in Edinburgh, where, during his sojourn, he played the parts of Horatio, Banquo, MacduflF, Catesby, Pisanio, and Claudius. He also appeared in burlesque and pantomime. The local critics praised him for his '* gentlemanly " air, his earnest ways, and the care he bestowed on his make-up and cos- tume, and occasionally chided him for some of those mannerisms which afterwards became historical. 152 THE SCOTS STAGE. CHAPTER VI. THE ARBROATH AND DUNDEE STAGE. Arbroath has always proved so tender-hearted a nurse to the Drama that, although the busiest part of its theatrical history took place after the founding of touring companies, it is worth recording a few of the incidents in its early career. For those who desire fuller details I can recommend no more enthusiastic guide than P. Charles Carragher, whose F airport from the Footlights ( 1 906) affords a dramatic epitome of its variegated story. To Sir Walter Scott in The Antiquary {circa 1750) we are indebted for a clue to Arbroath's share in theatrical history. Speaking of his fellow- traveller to the North, Monkbarns, he considers the possibility of Lovel being a young actor on the way to the opening of ** the little theatre at Fairport." As Scott gives some details which might well pass for a description of the new ARBROATH & DUNDEE STAGE. 153 place of entertainment at Horner's Wynd, it may be assumed that the novelist had sat as an auditor in the old play-house. Prior to this there is no evidence^ beyond the tradition, of the monks having played their Morality and Miracle-plays within the great Abbey, or upon the Abbey Green at Arbroath. Unluckily, historians, English as well as Scots, regarded the drama as the poor ** peely- waly " forbidden thing, so that even in Hay's History of Arbroath the principal theatrical event we learn is that King Lear was produced for the first time in the town, at the ** New Theatre'* on 21st May, 1793. It looks then as if Arbroath shared with Aberdeen its honour of first erecting a temple to Thespis, the Aberdeen record placing 1 7 5 i as its date. The ** New Theatre," Arbroath, whose lessee was a Mr. Hamilton, had been built complete with stage fittings and scenery, and probably was equipped on the model of the Edinburgh Theatre, erected twenty-four years before. As the step-bairn of the Arts, the Drama must give way to the sterner demand of com- II 154 THE SCOTS STAGE. merce, and so, when they wanted a stable at the George Inn, the theatre site had to be moved across the street. The tenement, of which this theatre formed part, afterwards became a tobacconist's shop. In the second decade of the nineteenth century, Arbroath commenced to savour the pleasures of regular drama. Arbroath was favoured with long visits from various stock companies : their stays were necessarily lengthy because of the difficulties of transport, of baggage, scenery, and other impedimenta, in- cluding the players. Old Ryder included Arbroath in his northern circuit. Having pro- duced Rob Roy at Perth on 22nd June, 18 18, Corbett Ryder, after touching Dundee, brought his company to Arbroath. The Diana of that performance was Mrs. Ryder, and Martha was played by the daughter of his scene-painter. The lady in question was better known after- wards as the wife of Macready. The Bailie was enacted by the famous Mackay. The appearance of Chippendale in The Rivals is also recorded in 18 19. Pritchard and ARBROATH & DUNDEE STAGE. 155 Edmund Glover were some of the older stars who appeared at Arbroath, while in later years such stars as Miss Heath, Miss Isabel Bateman, Mrs. Siddons, Shell Barry, Henry Talbot, Wilson Barrett, and Osmond Tearle appear among the records of the Arbroath Theatre. These performances were held in the old Trades Hall, which, built in the year of Waterloo, ultimately became the successor to the Arbroath Theatre. Dundee has always had a living interest in drama, and it will not be amiss if we summarise some of the leading events in its theatrical history. Strolling players frequently visited there, but they were stolen visits, frowned uponl by those in authority. Dundee may pride itself upon the fact that it produced the dramatist, James Wedderburn, who was the son of a merchant in the West Kirk Stile. Wedderburn had imbibed the new learning, having been educated in France, and was author of tragedies and comedies in the vernacular, the main trend of which was to satirise the doings and teachings of the clergy. His tragedy, John the Baptist, 156 THE SCOTS STAGE. was played at the West Port about 1540, and there is a record of his comedy entitled Dionyslus the Tyrant having been performed in the Playfield, which may be located some- where near the rising slope known as The Witches* Knowe. The Lawrence Fletcher company, which included among its partners both William Shakespeare and Richard Burbage, was sent to Aberdeen by the King in 1601, an incident referred to in the chapter on Aberdeen, and it is thought that probably this same company gave a performance in Dundee on its way north- ward. But there exists no record, and probably the local historian of that date, if he were a good citizen, would expunge the disgraceful item from his book. Later Dundonians, of a different and broader calibre, would fain believe that Shakespeare was of this memorable company, and try to relate the subsequent production of Macbeth ( 1605) to ** the Bard's " absorption of local colour on that visit. The Scottish clergy endeavoured later on to blot out the accursed thing as the enemy of all ARBROATH & DUNDEE STAGE. 157 morality and religion, and they succeeded for many years until the Restoration came to set the drama on its way again, letting loose the frank, virile, unashamed stream of wine-house wit, bawdy humour, and brilliant satire. Dundee depended upon Edinburgh for its representations of drama. Edinburgh, as the religionists of the time would say, set the bad example, for, at Allan Ramsay's instigation, Dundee had a company of players visiting them in 1734. How welcome the players were may be judged by the fact that the townsfolk made it a fete day I The players secured the patronage of the Freemasons who, according to the old record, marched in procession to the playhouse " in their proper apparel, with hautboys and other music playing before them." The theatre was probably a temporary erection, and the dramatic fare provided in- cluded Jubilee and the famous farce. The Devil to Pay, or the Wives Metamorphosed. Between this and the next Dundee theatrical performance there is a gap of twenty-one years. 158 THE SCOTS STAGE. Allan Ramsay, the pioneer of Edinburgh drama, had been badly beaten in his attempt to keep the theatrical flag flying, and, as is shown in the story of the Edinburgh stage, the theatrical folks led a furtive life, the most favoured way of evading the law being to produce a stage- play under the pretence that it was a concert of music, a ruse that the acting fraternity had picked up from their London brethren, as witness Giffard's announcement of 1 5th October, 1740 (Goodman's Fields Theatre): ** A Concert of Vocal and Instrumental Musick in 2 Parts. Between the Parts of the Concert will be presented gratis a Comedy called * The Stratagem ' by Persons for their diversion." Despite these depressing circumstances, a company of players set up a season in the Town House during the months of May and June, '755. The programme is presented as a curiosity. It will be noted that the Comedy and the Farce, which represented the major part of the show, were presented gratis and sandwiched between the first and last parts of the concert programme. ARBROATH 6? DUNDEE STAGE. 159 At the Town-house of Dundee On Monday EVENING Being the 26th of May, I7r>5, will be performed A CONCERT OF MUSIC. After the first part of which will be presented (Gratis) A COMEDY, called. The Recruiting Officer. Capt. Plume by Mr. Hey man, Capt. Brazen by Mr. Keasberry, Justice Ballance by Mr. Wright, Sergeant Kite by Mr. Salmon, Worthy by Mr. James, Two Recruits by Mr. Lancashire and Mr. Adams, Melinda by Mrs. Hamilton, Rose by Miss Welles, Lucy by Mrs. Wright, And Sylvia by Miss Hamilton, With a Farce, called The Mock DOCTOR, or the Dumb LADY Cured. Sir Jasper by Mr. Hey man, Leander by Mr Keasberry, Esqur Robert by Mr. James, James by Mr. Adams, Harry by Mr. Lancashire, Dr. Hellebore by Mr. Wright, The Mock Doctor by Mr. Salmon, Dorcas by Mrs. Hamilton, Charlotte by Miss Welles. The Doors to be opened at Five, and to begin precisely at Six o'clock. Tickets to be had at Baillie Crigh ton's CofFee-House. N.B. — Fore Seats 2 sh. The back Seats are railed off, to which people will be admitted for 1 sh. each. 160 THE SCOTS STAGE. Cynical readers, who complain of modern British Bumbledom in regard to licensing restrictions, will note that the modern official follows out hereditary instincts — as also do the various managements who, during the past decade, have formed ways and means of evading the law, particularly in the Metro- politan area. Among the plays performed by the company were George Barnwell^ The Foundling, The Beggar* s Opera, and Don Quixot in England. The comedian, Lancashire, a great favourite in Edinburgh, was the draw of the show. He kept a public-house in Edinburgh, and, as his historian writes, ** He drank and joked with his customers: laughed and grew fat : and at length died, respected by many and with the good word of all." The next company appeared in 1767 at the Town Hall — a ** Company of Comedians from Edinburgh Theatre Royal," and they confined their performances to Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. One of their announcements read: — *' There will be presented a celebrated and historical ARBROATH & DUNDEE STAGE. 161 Tragedy called Jane Shore (written in imitation of Shakespeare's stile, by N. Rowe, Esq.), the entertainment to conclude by desire with the farce, Lethe, or j^sop in the Shades " The Trades Hall harboured several com- panies, the first of which played in the large room of the building, and was under the management of Mr. and Mrs. Bailey, Edin- burgh Theatre favourites. Mr. Frank Boyd, who wrote that liveliest of stage records. The Dundee Stage, pictures to us very succinctly the Dundee playgoers of those days. ** One likes to imagine seeing the in- habitants of those days, the men roofed with their perukes, and in their square-cut coats, plush breeches, and silk stockings, and the ladies in hoops and dresses stiff with em- broidery, figuring as spectators in the play, and returning home in the sedan by torch- light, or in stately procession, first coming the maid, bearing a tall lantern with mould candle; behind marching the mistress, or, perchance two or three ladies, all holding up calashes (resembling the canopy of a gig) to guard their head gear. Maid and mistresses alike wore pattens that lifted them above whatever pools or kennels lay in their way." 162 THE SCOTS STAGE. In 1784, the Edinburgh Theatre Company announced a forthcoming performance in Dundee, whereat the Town Council, greatly perturbed, passed the following resolution, at the Council meeting on 9th August : — ** The Council and Trades, being informed that Mr. Jackson, Manager of Edinburgh Theatre, and his company intend to perform plays in this Burgh, they are of opinion that exhibiting plays here is not authorised, but in direct opposition to the laws of the country and prejudicial in many respects to the interests of Society." Wherefore the Council took legal means to prevent the performance, and Jackson's com- pany were banned from entering the Burgh. A pause of thirteen years had worn the rough edges off that prejudice, for in 1797 theatrical performances were given in the town without any opposition being raised. The celebrated playwright, Mrs. Inchbald, was a member of one company, for she is described at her benefit as giving '* a dramatic entertainment, interspersed with theatrical and provincial anecdotes, and imitations humourous, ARBROATH & DUNDEE STAGE. 163 vocal, and rhetorical in four parts called ' The World as It Goes.' " Mrs. Inchbald also de- livered her ** New Embellished Lecture on Hearts." In Dundee at length the theatre idea had evolved into a habit sufficiently strong to demand a permanent building. At least Moss and Bell, the proprietors of the regular Dundee Theatre, thought so, and v^ere courageous enough to erect one at Yeaman Shore in 1800. The edifice, which was *' fitted up in a very elegant and superior style,'* was opened with a performance of The Merchant of Venice, the prologue being written by ** a gentleman of Dundee." Moss played Shylock to the entire approbation of the audience; indeed, his performance was regarded as the best of its day. Moss was a pupil of the then famous Shylock, Macklin, and his conception of the part was founded on that of his illustrious master, whose creation had received Pope's im- primatur : — ** This is the Jew That Shakespeare drew." 164 THE SCOTS STAGE. Moss earned for himself a niche in the gallery of character creators of this period. Dublin and Edinburgh having acclaimed his Shylock, his fame travelled to London, and he was engaged for the Haymarket Theatre. Until 1803, Moss appeared periodically at the Yeaman Shore house. As far as the evidence goes, the Dundee house was not an overwhelming financial success, for two years later we find Moss acting as manager to the Dumfries Theatre. While performing at Dumfries Theatre, the story goes that a certain youthful low comedian of the company ex- claimed "If ever I should play Shylock, it shall be after the style of Mr. Moss." Nine years afterwards, that youth achieved his wish — at Drury Lane — when his name headed the bill as that famous star, ** Edmund Kean." A ** comic interlude '* written by *' a gentle- man of this town," and entitled The Pretty Girl of Dundee was announced for performance in 1802. Mr. Beaumont next took up the lease of the Yeaman Shore house — his wife being a favourite Scottish actress — and the succeeding years show ARBROATH & DUNDEE STAGE. 165 that such famous players as John Kemble, Edmund Kean, Henry Johnston, Dowton, and others appeared for short seasons, the variety; performances including Sexti, a famous tight- rope dancer, known as the '* Little Devil," Belcher and Mendoza, the prize fighters, in boxing exhibitions, and various other varieties. Latterly, the house had to close its doors, and during the thirty years that followed the Yeaman Shore Theatre was used as a store- house. Theatrical performances were also given in Dundee near the top of New Inn entry, in a former place of religious worship, which, when the Theatre Royal was built, " reverted to its original purpose." It dawned upon the stage folks that, if they wanted to hold Dundee for the drama, they would have to present it in a more attractive, place than the Yeaman Shore Theatre had ultimately proved to be. Accordingly, the new Theatre Royal was opened up in Castle Street on June 7, 18 10, with a miscellaneous concert given for the 166 THE SCOTS STAGE. benefit of the funds of the Western Regiment of Forfarshire Local Militia. The first dramatic performance was pre- sented on 13th August, when the Edinburgh Theatre Royal Company appeared in Cumber- land's comedy, The West Indian, and the farce of Fortune's Frolic, the manager of the new house being Mr. Henry Siddons, the patentee of the Edinburgh Theatre. Mrs. Henry Siddons, a clever actress of that period, appeared a fortnight later as Juliana in The Honeymoon. The leading man of the company was Daniel Terry, a versatile actor and man of parts, who enjoyed the intimacy of Sir Walter Scott's friendship. Stephen Kemble is noted as appearing on September 3rd as Falstaff in King Henry IV. Kemble has gone down the theatrical ages chiefly as the Falstaff who required no stuffing. This is unjust to his memory, as he was a tragedian of some standing. Mr. W. H. Murray, a capable actor, who was about this time one of the members of the visiting companies, had taken over the reins of management of the Edinburgh Theatre ARBROATH & DUNDEE STAGE. 167 Royal after the demise of Henry Siddons, who* left behind a heritage of debt. He opened the Dundee house for several short seasons, but relinquished management with the performance announced for his benefit on October 4th, 18 16. The programme included, besides a comedy and farce, an entertainment, including singing, dancing, etc., and a grand naval and national selection of ballads, called " British Tars, or. Saturday Night at Sea," the last scene of which represented a grand panoramic view of the city of Algiers with the destruction of the fleet and batteries by the Allied Squadrons. The " positively last night " of the company, came on 2$th October. A waxwork show followed the " Man Sala- mander" 's performance, and then a tenantless gap, when we find an auctioneer's notice an- nouncing for sale one-fourth share of the property, ** consisting of four excellent shops with vaulted roofs on the ground storey, and two stores above occupied as a Theatre." Mr. Corbett Ryder's Aberdeen company, re-opened the house in August, 1 8 1 8, with '* the new and justly celebrated national playi 168 THE SCOTS STAGE. of Rob Roy Macgregor, or Auld Langsyne.** Ryder was the original Rob and the most famous delineator of the part, while the Bailie Nicol Jarvie was the great Mackay. Later on, Guy Mannering was produced with Mackay in the cast, the Dominie Sampson being played by Terry. Mathews, ** the celebrated Irish comedian," appeared in January, 1 8 1 9, in his one-man entertainment, which consisted of a melange oi English, Irish, and Scottish recitations, with appropriate original comic and s.erious songs. In May, Miss Duncan, a comedienne of the principal London theatres, appeared with Ryley, the author of The Itinerant, for a few nights, while, in October, Matthews at Home and Matthews in his Trip to Paris was presented by Mathews the elder. On November 3rd, the ineffable ** Mr. M*Roy, late of the Greenock, Ayr, Dumfries, and Berwick - upon - Tweed Theatres," presented his " brilliant " {sic) company in Cherry's Soldier's Daughter, with a son of the author as the principal char- acter, but although, according to M'Roy, it was, with the exception of Edinburgh, '* the ARBROATH & DUNDEE STAGE. 169 best company in Scotland," the Dundonians were evidently not of that opinion, for they failed to turn up in numbers sufficient to make it a financial success. Corbett Ryder again opened up a season early in 1820, presenting Harry Johnston, the Scottish Roscius, and the favourite young Norval of Home's Douglas. On July 17th, the infant prodigy and lili- putian wonder, Miss Clara Fisher, who had enacted the crook-back tyrant at six and a half years at Drury Lane and was now nine years old, appeared in the parts of Richard HI., Falstaff, and Dr. Pangloss. Local critics, it is said, went into raptures about her performances. Evidently they believed in being kind to the bairns. Charles Mayne Young, of Covent Garden Theatre followed in Hamlet, but none of these attractions managed to provide a paying season. Macready was announced for August 23rd, making his first appearance at Dundee in a four night engagement, playing Virginius, Macbeth, 13 170 THE SCOTS STAGE. Coriolanus, and Sir Charles Racket— an attrac- tion which served to close the summer season. It is worth noting that Ryder's own company, then contained such embryo *' stars " as Tyrone Power, the most clever of stage Irishmen, Chippendale, who had been partly educated at the Edinburgh High School, and the singing man, Paddy Weekes, who soon after became famous for his delineation of Irish characters. After closing for a few weeks, for re-decora- tions and repairs, Ryder advertised the revival of Rob Roy (its 129th performance), in which Mackay was again the Bailie. Calvert came from Edinburgh, the tragedian Calcraft appeared for a few nights, and then came the production of King Henry VIII. on an unprecedented scale of splendour. But the season was evidently a very bad one for Ryder, for it was not till February, 1822, that we find another legitimate company occupying the boards, when E. Crook brought the Pantheon Company from Edinburgh, among the most notable nights of their season being the special one-night-only engagement of Dowton, the comedian, in Bickerstaffe*s The Hypocrite, ARBROATH & DUNDEE STAGE. 171 In August, Ryder had a final shot for Dundee favours, bringing along an excellent company, which failed to make a prolonged stay worth while. For several years the theatrical banner ceased to fly at the Theatre Royal, and it was not till September of 1824, if we except several scratch performances by M. Alexandre, the famous ventriloquist, that Ryder thought fit to try his Dundee fortunes again. On this occasion, he announced the special engagements of the well-known vocalists — Sinclair, the original Francis Osbaldistone and the Henry Bertram of Guy Mannerlng (Covent Garden pro- duction), and Miss Halland. Sinclair was somewhat irascible, and, as things failed to go well with him one night in performing in The Siege of Belgrade, he abruptly stopped, and the curtain was brought down. The season had certainly opened badly, but Ryder struggled on, bringing Paddy Weekes and Mrs. Faucit (mother of Helen Faucit) to Dundee, but still failing to draw the crowds, he returned to Edinburgh to open up a season at the Caledonian Theatre. 172 THE SCOTS STAGE. Bass was the next tenant to try his luck at the Theatre Royal, opening up in May, 1826, un- fortunately, during the Sacramental Fast Week. Pritchard was the star, but the company's stay was brief. In October, Bass, having taken up the lease, gave a revival of The Merchant of Venice and Rosina. The theatre was done up afresh, and Bass introduced* monthly box tickets, but that innovation did not prove a success. Bass was a capable actor, and his wife, Miss Munday, soon became popular. Pritchard was again put in the bill, and the low comedian Frimbley became a huge favourite. Miss S. Booth, granddaughter of the great Barton Booth scored a notable success as Rosalind, and Corbett Ryder was induced to stop at Dundee and give a revival of Rob Roy prior to his Aberdeen engagement. Guy Mannering was played for a short run in January, 1827, with the popular Scottish vocalist, Melrose, as the star. Lara, a new play written by Bass, which was afterwards performed at Drury Lane, was " tried out " at Dundee. Bass considered his prospects in Dundee ARBROATH & DUNDEE STAGE. 173 good enough to risk taking up the lease of the Perth Theatre. With a return visit of Rob Roy, Pritchard and Mackay being in the cast, and a visit from the renowned Knyvett, Vaughan, and Bellamy concert party, the Bass season ended in February. Vandenhoff, the elder, tried a five nights' ** stand " in March, 1828, but played to empty houses, and even T. P. Cooke, the model ex- ponent of the British tar, who succeeded him, met with little better success. A new notion for Dundee was tried when they re-opened on 28th October, Thursdays being advertised as fashionable subscription nights. Rob Roy again came as the initial performance, with Mackay as the Bailie and Miss Noel as Diana Vernon. The next year (1829) Bass took up a five years' lease, and re-opened the legitimate business on November 23. Among the features of that season were the introduction of Lloyd, ** a little conjuror," according to a Dundee critic, '* with the blended powers of Liston and William Murray,'* and Vandenhoff and Miss 174 THE SCOTS STAGE. Jarman, who had played Dcsdemona to the Othello of Edmund Kcan. The great Braham proved the piece de resist- ance of the season, appearing in February for five nights in Guy Mannering, The Slave, The Siege of Belgrade, and The Duenna. Plucky as he had been, Bass was compelled to face the inevitable in 1830, when, finding himself in money troubles, he started to economise, with the usual result. The regular drama declined. One night in November, 1830, they presented Master David Bell, aged thirteen, a native prodigy, who seems to have acquitted himself very creditably in the part of Young Norval. The proprietors of the theatre tried their luck with a stock company in the following year (1831), when the leading lady was Miss Estcourt Wells, but the experiment proved a failure. In the three years that followed, the Royal stage harboured a few miscellaneous entertainments, including ** Yates* Reminis- cences *' by Yates, the father of the late Edmund Yates of The World, Incidentally, Paganini should have appeared ARBROATH fir DUNDEE STAGE. 175 at the Royal, but a dispute between Bass, the lessee, and the proprietors, had the effect of transferring his two evening concerts to another place in the town. The next lessee of the Royal, Mr. W. Burroughs, brought Henry Johnston, Eli^a Paton, and a good company to the theatre on December 31st, and subsequently produced the first regular pantomime in Dundee — all to no purpose, the people preferred Ord's Circus, then performing in The Meadows. The visit of Charles Kean, supported by the great Mackay, for three nights beginning February 17, 1835, failed to draw, and the theatre had to be closed in March. Burroughs ought to go down to history as a public benefactor, for his company included a painstaking actor called Samuel Phelps, who* was afterwards to become famous, and who owed his success in the big parts of James VI. and Sir Pertinax MacSycophant to the command of the Scots dialect he had acquired in the Dundee Theatre. Two years later, he made his debut as Shylock at the London Haymarkct. 176 THE SCOTS STAGE. For nearly two years Dundee stage history had been a blank, when Thomas Ryder opened up a season in November, 1837, under the direction of his father, Corbett Ryder, when they were favoured with unusually good business. A second season in the September of 1838 brought attractions like the Misses Smith, vocalists, Paumier, the tragedian, Madame Chevallier, the ballet dancer, and the great Mackay. It is worth recording that some Dundonians believed enough in the play to attempt the erection of a new theatre, but the proposed issue of £5 shares failed to mature. Sheridan Knowles, supported by Miss Elphinstone and the Aberdeen company, re- opened the Theatre Royal for a seven-night season, apparently with success, for Thomas Ryder again ventured a season in November and December. It was at the Thistle Hall that Ira Alridge, the African Roscius, elected to appear in March, 1840, in the r61e of Othello, without make-up. Aid ridge, the descendant of a West African prince, was educated in New York for the church, but as the *' colour line " afifected his ARBROATH & DUNDEE STAGE. 177 success in America, he migrated to this side, and made a good many successful British tours. Besides Othello, his favourite parts included Shylock and Macbeth, A rival to the Theatre Royal lessee appeared in the person of Langley, who opened up the Thistle Hall as a theatre in July, 1841. A month later, Ryder brought his company, along to the Royal, with Mr. and Mrs. Crisp and Mr. and Mrs. Power in leading parts. Then followed a competition for audiences and a division of the already scant possibilities among Dundee theatre-goers. The Royal pre- sented CD. Pitt and the Irish comedian Daly, when the Thistle was offering as attraction that erratic genius, Gustavus Vaughan Brooke. Brooke's appearance was announced as for six nights, " previous to his engagement with Mr. Macready at Drury Lane." An accident in the duel scene of Richard III., at the Dundee performance, laid him up for some weeks. Gourlay, regarded as ** the best Bailie bar Mackay,'* was engaged to appear at the Royal as the " Dancing Scotsman/* after which the Thistle closed its doors. 178 THE SCOTS STAGE. The Royal followed suit a few weeks later in November. Langley, who had been in Ryder's company, did not give up Dundee as hopeless, for the Yeaman Shore Theatre having been again re- fitted, he brought a stock company there in the spring of 1842, with Mrs. Greig (Miss Maria Tyrer) as the leading lady. Among the extra attractions offered was a performance by Gouffe, the famous man nK)nkey, who appeared in Langley *s great Christmas spectacle. Still misfortune followed Langley*s footsteps, and the Yeaman Shore Theatre had to be closed. In March, 1843, J- Daly opened the Castle Street house, and although he brought an exceedingly strong stock company, including Johnston, Brooke, Gouffe, Lloyd, and Mrs. Leigh, he lost heavily, and three months later we find him figuring as the lessee of the Dum- fries Theatre. Hope, evidently, springs eternal mostly and chiefly in the breasts of mummers, for Langley again turned up at the Yeaman She re^ Theatre, re-opening in the spring of 1844, and subse- ARBROATH & DUNDEE STAGE. 179 quently introducing Helen Faucit to Dundee playgoers- For twelve months both Dundee theatres stood without a tenant, till Langley made another trial in March, 1845, ^^^ P<^or business was his saddening experience. The drama in Dundee then literally went to the dogs, for, in November of this year, we find Henry Smith occupying the stage with his dogs. Bruin and Hofer. This was an echo of the dog- drama craze in London, which started at the Royal Circus there, where a play had been expressly written to display their talents. Even Drury Lane had its dog-drama and managed to save Sheridan from bankruptcy, when Kemble and Siddons had failed to draw the town. On February 3rd, 1846, one of the stock company, Ellenden, took his benefit, the lessee presenting Ellenden 's new drama, Grizzel Jamphray, the last of the Witches ; or. The Sea Captain 0/ Dundee, with a full complement of local scenery. A novelty in quintuple representation was introduced on the 23rd of June, when the part of Richard III. was sustained by five actors in 180 THE SCOTS STAGE. succession. Langley took the first act, Coleman the second, Murray the third, Ellenden the fourth, and Tom Powrie, then a youngster, the fifth act. The farce was Do You ever Take your Wile to Brought y Ferry? evidently a localised version of Did You ever Take your Wife to Camberwell Green? Mr. and Mrs. Pollock were afterwards engaged, the latter a favourite at the Old Aberdeen Theatre Royal, and formerly the wife of Corbett Ryder. December saw the stage given over to Professor Heller and his troupe in "Les Poses Plastiques," and then came the Aldridge family including Miss Aldridge, the tight-rope walker. This was the last season of the Yeaman Shore Theatre. It is rendered notable by the fact that it presented to the public two famous figures in Scottish dramatic history, Tom Powrie and Edmund Glover. Powrie was born in Dundee on 28 th February, 1824, and from his earliest days had been stage struck, holding his first perform- ances in a stable in Tay Street, where, with his ARBROATH & DUNDEE STAGE. 181 own company of juvenile actors, he used to enact the stirring melodrama, M*Glashan. The starting price was three pins a head; when the actors had acquired some real properties, such as ** red paint ** and a real sword, the price of admission had to be increased. Miss Helen Faucit, supported by Mr. Adam's company, appeared at the Theatre Royal as Juliet to the Romeo of Barry Sullivan, on 31st May, 1845. The Wizard Professor Anderson gave a series of entertainments in December, and the theatre remained closed for many months. As we do not propose to follow up its theatrical progress further, we must take a reluctant leave of Dundee, with a word of com- mendation to the long line of playgoers who have made it possible to maintain therein the stage traditions. Just one reference may be permitted to a minor house, evidently a wooden booth whichj was set up in the Meadows, and rejoiced in the name of the Royal Victoria Theatre. The pro- prietor and manager was dubbed *' Wee Scott," and he managed to wile some of the Yeaman 182 THE SCOTS STAGE. Shore company to his establishment. Ellenden, Mr. and Mrs. M*Gregor were of the company^ and the leading lady was Mrs. Dunsmore. Apparently, Wee Scott was the pioneer of the two-houses-nightly theatre principle, for this was the special feature of his management, as well as popular prices, which, in contemplating modern theatre changes, simply emphasises thci proverb, ** The more a thing changes, the more it is the same.** EARLY GLASGOW DRAMA. 183 CHAPTER VIL EARLY GLASGOW DRAMA. In approaching the subject of the Glasgow stage, it will be well if we recapitulate some of the steps in its progress towards the civilising influence of the drama. It will equally serve our purpose if, while quoting from the Burgh records, we give some evidence of the zeal exhibited in maintaining its burghal dignity. Amongst the first of these indications is an extract from the records of Glasgow, which shows that that interesting personage, the town minstrel, existed at as early a date as 26th February, 1573. The item reads: "Thomas Downy, paid for making a drum to the common menstralc to play with." The next entry refers to the coming election of town minstrels: — '* 1st June, 1574. The menstrales con- tinewit quhill the Symmerhill quhen the haill conmiunitie salbe present to give thair votes 184 THE SCOTS STAGE. thairanent. (The election took place on 20th June.) The quhilk daye Archibald Bordland and Robert Duncane are admittit to be menstrales to the towne for the instant yeir, and to haif fra ilk freman allanarlie, but meyt (both meat), twa schillingis money at the laist, with the mair at the gevaris (giver's) pleasour.'* Besides these public minstrels, there appear to have been a good many itinerant musicians. During the Pest in Glasgow {circa 1574), it was forbidden for any pipers, fiddlers, minstrels or other vagabonds to remain in the town except by Provost's special license, under pain of scourging and banishment. An entry appears in the accounts for 1579, where an item of ten shillings is passed ** to the menstrals for their expenses to Hamilton.** In addition to the sense of dignity with which they were regarded by the Burgh, its authorities also held that they should be appropriately clad, so on the 2nd June, 1599, the Provost, Bailies, and Council passed an order to grant each of the eight officers and two minstrels *' sa meikill reid stamyng as wilbe (will buy) ilkane of thame ane mantill with stringes in the syde and EARLY GLASGOW DRAMA. 185 the townes armes on the schoulder thairoff in the best fassone thai can be hade." But it is from the Church that we get the first evidence of the existence of the player person. The Kirk Session of Glasgow, on 24th April, 1595, instructed the town's drummer to forbid all persons '* from going to Ruglen to see vainplays on Sundays." As to what these plays were, and who acted in them, history so far is silent. Returning to the itinerant entertainers, they had made themselves so notorious by their utter disregard of the law, that the decree of 26th January, 161 1, had to be passed for their correction : — ** The provost, baillies and counsale upone consideration of the grit abuse done to women be scallis and bardis quha can nocht be pwinst in thair gudis throw thair mister and povertie, for restraining and remeid quhairof it is ordainit that all sik scallis and bardis quha heiraftir hapens to abuse honest women with thair blasphemous langyage,; upon tryell of thair blasphemie be pwinst in' prisson viij days and thaireftir brankit upone ane mercat day frae X houris to Xii houris." 13 186 THE SCOTS STAGE. Whether it was similar conduct on the part of the strolling players that led to the Kirk Session taking notice of them also by enactment is left to conjecture; but their decree of 20th May, 1624, intimated that ** all revellers and comedians would be severely punished." That the musical taste, which has been so perfectly upheld, was early fostered by its citizens, may be proved from an entry in the Burgh Records under date 15th July, 1626: — " Agreed that James Saunderis should instruct all bairnes in school musik for ten schillingis ilk quarter to himself and fortie pennies to his man." And that the Council themselves patronised the musicians we find in an item paid by the Treasurer, Anno 1629: — ** Item. To twa menstrales quha did play in John Rouats on Witsonday . . . Lviijs." At a later date, another form of pestilence was prevalent in the Burgh, and the Council's decree (12th December, 1646, which contains EARLY GLASGOW DRAMA. 187 an iinconscious bull) ordered that ^' na man transport thaimselvis of the town except women and children and thair be na melting at lyke- wakes nor efter burialls." On 20th July, 1670, the Magistrates inter- dicted strolling players from performing plays, such as The Wisdom of Solomon, in private houses. A writer of this date (Arnot) says: ** The writings of their most popular divines represented the playhouse as the actual temple of the Devil, where he fre- quently appeared clothed in a corporeal substance and possessed the spectators, whom he held as his worshippers." In their view, '* The Temple of Beelzebub " was to be shunned. They assured the people that any place which gave shelter to the accursed thing or its exponents would be burnt. This put a wholesome dread of consequences in the minds of many who were in doubt. Even landlords were chary of affording play or players house-room, whether as a measure of self-protection, or from fear of offending the clergy, is matter for speculation. Further than 188 THE SCOTS STAGE. this, the good citizens were not allowed to be out of doors after tattoo time. Some difficulty seems to have arisen in the way of collecting the town minstrels' wages. To meet this, the Council (5th February, 1676) ordained that " ane bank be sent throw the toune to adverteis theis who has not payit their zuill wages to the drummers that they pay the same, uthirwayes the Magistrates will cause poynd them therfor." A record of the Council, under date 5th June, 1682, is interesting, as shewing the monopoly which the Fountains enjoyed as Masters of the Revels : — " The said day ordains the Provost to have a warrand for 240 pounds Scots payed to Edward and James Fountain, masters of the revells, for discharging the ventners in toune of the charges of horning given them, for keiping games or plays of quhatsomever kynd, in their houssis and for frieing them, of the lyke in tyme coming during their gift." But, alas for the aspirations of the ** unco guid," the mind of the young Glaswegian was naturally wicked and inclined to run into evil EARLY GLASGOW DRAMA. 189 paths, despite his knowledge of the dire consequences of sin. And so, on the 12th September, 1691, the Council state that: ** Considering whereas great and many abuses in the night tyme have been of late committed by several inhabitants of the toune, to the great scandall of religion, contempt of authoritie and hurt to severall persones, for preventing whereof these are hereby discharging and prohibiting whatso- ever persones upon whatsoever pretext to goe through the toune in the night tyme maskerading, or sirenading, or in companie with violls or other instruments of musick in any number. Certyfying all such who shall commit any such abuses, shall be fyned one hundredth pounds, toties quoties, and punished in their persones, and proceeded against by Church censure as persones notoriously scandalous and appoints a pro- clamation to be sent throw the toune to intimat the same." The citizens still retained their musical interest, for, on 24th September of this year, Mr. Lewis de France was licensed by the Council to teach music to the inhabitants at 14s. per month, for 190 THE SCOTS STAGE. one hour per day, and was also entitled to 14s. for writing the thirteen common tunes and a few psalms, the scholars furnishing the necessary books. The poor were to be taught free, and for this office De France received £100 Scots from the Burgh. Neither was Glasgow unmindful of the social graces. On the iith November, 1699, *' The quhilk day the Magistrats and Toune Council convened They, upon a supplicatione, given in be John Smith, dancing master allow and permitt the said John to teach dancing within this burgh and under the provisions and conditions under- written, viz: — •* That he shall behave himself soberly, teach at seasonable hours, keep no balls, and that he shall so order his teaching that there shall be noe promiscuous danceing of young men and women togither (The giddiness of it! ), bot that each sex shall be taught by themselves, and be out of the house before the other enter therein. And if the said John transgress in any of these, appoynts the Magistrats to putt him out of this burgh.'* EARLY GLASGOW DRAMA. 191 In the month of August, 1728, part of Tony Aston's company of comedians migrated from Edinburgh to Glasgow, and received permission from Bailie Murdoch to perform in the Weigh House, The Beggar's Opera. A good audience was there to meet them on the opening night, but the attendance on the following evening was very poor. The clergy brought the matter before the Magistrates, blaming them for this innovation, but they were informed that the ministers should have warned them beforehand. This omission was repaired afterwards, judging by an extract from a private letter of that date : '* Sabbath after the ministers preached against going to those interludes and plays, Mr. Robertson of Kilsyth went through all that was agoing about meeting houses, plays, errors and profaneness, and spared none, I hear." Previous to 1750, the entertainment of the Burgh had been entirely provided by bands of strolling players, acrobats, tumblers, singers, and dancers. Burrell's Close, a passage leading out eastward from Duke Street, had a public hall which formed their abiding place. 192 THE SCOTS STAGE. Its proprietor, Daniel Burrell, had been invited by the civic authorities to teach dancing-. His fees were 25s. for a seven month session, 5s. for ^ ball, and is. for each lesson. To this was added an annual Corporation salary of £20 in the shape of a guarantee. But, even with this, he found it difficult to make a decent living at his profession. So he decided to let his Hall to the variety shows, of which the following is a programme of the earliest which appeared there. It is taken from The Glasgow C our ant, 30th September, 1 7 5 i . ** Being positively the last night of our performance in this City. For the benefit of Mr. Dominique. At Mr. Burrell's Hall above the Cross, this present Monday, will be performed a Concert of variety and Instrumental Music. Boxes and Pit 2s. Gallery is. Between the two parts of the Concert will be given (gratis) Rope Dancing and Tumbling. Particularly Mr. Gorman will jump over the garter forward and back- ward on the stiff rope, such as was never done in this city before. Likewise, Walking on the Small Slack Wire, by the famous Russian Boy. Dancing both serious and EARLY GLASGOW DRAMA. 193 comic, by Mons. and Madam Granier. Like- wise, a new Humorous Dance called The Soldier and the Sailor, the Tinker and the Taylor, and Buxome Joan of Deptford. To the great surprise of the spectators, Mr. Dominique will fly over the Double Fountain. To conclude with a Pantomime Entertain- ment called Harlequin Captive, or the Dutchman Bitt. The Doors to be opened at five, and to begin exactly at six." The first theatre was erected in 1752, and consisted of a wooden booth, which stood against an old wall of the Bishop's Palace, in an area called the Castle Yard. To this home of the drama came many patrons, who were carried there in sedans, under a strong guard to protect them from the fanatics. This unruly mob gathered round the theatre to threaten those who dared enter " the Devil's Home," not only with the judgment of Heaven, but with what was worse, summary and immediate violence. The members of the company included Messrs. Love, West Digges, and Mrs. Ward, old Edinburgh favourites. Upon this interesting scene entered the great 194 THE SCOTS STAGE. dissenter, George Whitfield. Standing in the graveyard of the Cathedral, he invoked the wrath of God upon the play-house. It was not long before his prayer was answered. Full of the righteousness of his reasoning, and the spirit of destruction, a mob of religious fanatics rushed forthwith to the theatre, and the fervour of their righteous mood did not pass away until the place was totally destroyed. It was not till twelve years had passed that another house was raised. Five Glasgow gentlemen had been to Edinburgh, seeing the beautiful Mrs. Bellamy in Romeo and Juliet. Enchanted with her performance, they obtained an introduction, and, having gained an audience, they took every means to induce her to visit their native city, promising to build a theatre for her. John Jackson, the Edinburgh manager, accompanied by two brother managers. Love and Beatt, and acting in conjunction with the five afore- mentioned gentlemen, set out for Glasgow to crave the Council's permission to erect a theatre in the city. The names of the five guarantors were W. M'Dowall, of Castle Semple; Wm. Bogle, Hamilton Farm; John Baird, Craigton; EARLY GLASGOW DRAMA. 195 Robert Rogle, Shettleston; and James Garn- kirk, all members of the best social clubs. The chief difficulty was that of obtaining a site, for no one would provide ground for such an ungodly purpose. John Miller, maltman, of Westerton, was advertising steadings to form a new^ street from Argyle Street to Candleriggs Loan. Frustrated in their efforts to obtain any more suitable spot, they purchased ground from him in Grahamstown, beyond the Burgh bounds, and occupying a spot where Hope Street joins Argyle Street. The committee complained that the price wanted (5s. per square yard) was exorbitant and extraordinary. To this Miller's inexorable reply was, " Aye, but yell see, as it is intended for a temple of Belial, I'll expect an exorbitant and extraordinary sum for the purpose." In the spring of 1764, it was announced that the new theatre would shortly be opened by Beatt and Love. The date was then fixed, and it was arranged that Mrs. Bellamy would make her first appearance therein. On the previous evening the Revivalists were busy. In an open space at Anderston, a Methodist preacher was 196 THE SCOTS STAGE. addressing the crowd. The enormity of the offence made him eloquent. Pointing towards Alston Street, he continued: '* I dreamed last night I was in Hell, where a banquet was being held. All the devils in the pit were there, when Lucifer, their chief, gave them a toast : * Here is to the health of John Miller of Westerton, who has sold his ground to build Me a Mouse on.' " The spark had caught fire: the incentive was given. The temple of Beelzebub must be razed. With the speed of fanatic wrath, the, theatre was quickly reached, a light applied to the edifice, and before many hours had elapsed the zealots had succeeded in destroying the stage properties and costumes, as well as a considerable portion of the building. Mrs. Bellamy arrived next morning to find the managers in despair. But she was not so easily daunted. She sent for Beatt and told him to announce at the Exchange and the Cross that " Mrs. Bellamy would appear and act at the theatre to-night." Rehearsals were called at the Black Bull Inn, where she lodged. Arrangements were made for repairing the theatre and setting it in order for the same EARLY GLASGOW DRAMA. 197 night. Her indomitable pluck inspired the public in her favour. Offers of money were made by the city merchants, and the wardrobes of the ladies were placed at her disposal. Dressing at the Black Bull Inn, she was con- veyed to the theatre in a sedan chair, appearing that night in The Citizen, followed by the farce The Mock Doctor, with Reddish as lead, and Aitken, comedian. A goodly and enthusi- astic company welcomed her, and remained seated till they saw her safely out of the theatre, the Town Guard being under orders to escort her back to the city. The quality of her re- ception may be gathered from her own remarks in a letter to a friend: — '' The beauty of the place and of the country around it are extremely captivating. ... It reminds every one, who has ever seen the beautiful village, of Haarlem." Amongst the parts she played during this engagement was that of Lady Macbeth, for which she had to borrow a white satin dress, her own costume having been burned by the religious mob. 198 THE SCOTS STAGE. ** As I had no black vestment of any kind sent to me amongst the numerous ones of different colours, I made that an objection to playing Lady Macbeth, upon which I was assured by one of the inhabitants that her ladyship's ghost walked every night at the Castle of Dunsinane dressed in white satin." Beatt and Love kept the theatre for four years, after which Williams became a tenant in 1768 and continued for three seasons with stock companies. Digges, coming from Edin- burgh, gave it a season's trial, then relinquished the management in favour of Ross, who suc- ceeded him in 1773. Ross had won his spurs at Covent Garden some twenty years before as a light comedian, but the ravages of time (he was 65) and a marked tendency to embonpoint, did not help to make him a very acceptable actor. It was he who had been willed by his father the sum ** of one shilling to be paid Mr. Ross by his sister, to thereby put him in mind of the misfortune he (the son) had to be born." This did not quite satisfy Ross, who, upon taking the matter into Court, was awarded £6,000 as his share of the legacy. EARLY GLASGOW DRAMA. 199 We now come to the Dunlop Street house. Colin Dunlop, the Provost of Glasgow, had acquired St. Enoch's Croft, a pretty site facing the Clyde. A charming pleasure ground ran down to the Green, and the croft extended from about the present Morison's Court westw^ard nearly to that ground upon which Maxwell Street stands. Maxwell Street was then the happy hunting ground of the bon ton. John Jackson offered to purchase the ground for a theatre site, and obtained the Provost's consent. This brought down the wrath of the clergymen upon Mr. Dunlop's head, and they took measures to prevent its erection. Those who resided in St. Enoch's Court adduced a clause in their feu, " That it shall not be lawful to erect any tanwork candle work or manufactory upon any part of the grounds which may be, deemed a nuisance by the Magistrates of Glasgow." On this clause they set to work. Jackson had so far progressed that his arrange- ments were completed for laying the foundation stone on Saturday, 17th February, 1781. As he stood there with trowel in hand, a notice was handed to him, which read: " Dr. Gillies 200 THE SCOTS STAGE. and Mr. Porteous offer their compliments to Mr. Jackson and think it their duty candidly to inform him, before he proceeds further in the work, they intend to join with other pro- prietors in Dimlop Street to prevent " its erection, and so forth. To which Jackson (who was both a scholar and a gentleman, his father having been a clergyman, and he himself having been a divinity student) replied at great length, acting upon his lawyer's advice. He contended that the theatre was not a manu- factory, and therefore could not be a nuisance, that a church or a ball-room might with equal propriety be regarded as such, and that in no way would the building spoil the view of any of the landowners. The result was the with- drawal of the opposition, and that the property in the neighbourhood immediately rose in value, a fact of which his opponents were amongst the first to take advantage. This may claim to have been really the first Glasgow play-house, the former being situated in Grahamstown, beyond the city boundary. Dunlop Street Theatre cost £3,000 to erect, and held, at Edinburgh prices, £90 to £100. In length it EARLY GLASGOW DRAMA. 201 was 90 feet, and breadth 40 feet. The pit-door opened in the centre of the west gable, and the fa9ade was completed by a piazza supported by Doric columns. It was opened in January of 1782, and was worked for fifteen years by the Edinburgh stock company. It happened that, on 1 2th March, 1782, there came one of those familiar floods, in which the Clyde, assuming larger proportions than had ever been known before, rose some twenty feet, sweeping away many homes. By devoting the proceeds of a night's performance to the benefit of the sufi"erers, Jackson at once turned the popular tide in his favour. People began to recognise that, although a *' son of Belial," there was something akin to true religion about the player. Mrs. Siddons made her first appearance at the Dunlop Street Theatre in 1795. She was then at the zenith of her fame. Three years before, she had taken the London playgoers by storm with her Lady Macbeth. By one of those strange anomalies, which seem native to most types of genius, she had married an extremely opposite 14 202 THE SCOTS STAGE. creature. Of an unpoetic and egotistical disposition, he used to boast, " I can either play Hamlet or Harlequin." '* Sarah's pathos," said Mr. Siddons at a private party, " always makes me laugh. Small beer, I think, is good for crying. The day that my wife drinks small beer, she cries amazingly. If 1 was to give her porter, she wouldn't be worth a farthing." On the principle of exchange, we may as well retail an anecdote regarding Mr. Siddons. " I forbade you," said old Roger Kemble, when he heard of Sarah's marriage, " to marry an actor. You will not have disobeyed me when you marry Siddons. He is not, he was not, he never will be an actor." For over five years, Jackson managed the Dunlop Street house, bringing to it, amongst others, Henderson (Garrick's rival), Mrs. Jordan, Lee Lewis, Pope, King, and John Kemble. The stock company was one of the best that had been there, and included Stephen Kemble, Henry Siddons, and Mrs. Duncan. Sheridan's School for Scandal was produced on 31st July, 1790, Mr. King appearing in his original part as Sir Peter, and Miss Farren as EARLY GLASGOW DRAMA. 203 Lady Teazle. On nth August, Much Ado About Nothing was played with the following cast: — Benedick, Claudio, Dogberry, Hero, Beatrice, King. Wood. Wilson. Mrs. Wood. Miss Farren, Stephen Kemble, Young, Rock, Toms, Turpin, Lamlash, Grant, Duncan, Henry Siddons, Mrs. Kemble, and Mrs. Duncan, and the Misses Walstern, Kemble, and Duncan. ** Glasgow,'* wrote Mr. Strang in 1856, "has never had a company to equal that one." But Jackson had too many irons in the fire for financial comfort. Owner of the Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, and Dundee houses, the efforts he put forth in combined management finally brought him into a state of bankruptcy. His successor, that reputed chief of the declamatory school of acting, Stephen Kemble, took up the reins at Dunlop Street, and continued there till 1 799, when Jackson, having secured the support of Mr. Francis Aitken of 204 THE SCOTS STAGE. London, one of his aristocratic acquaintances, they purchased the Theatre Royal, and once again Shakespearean plays came into vogue, accompanied by the production of all the principal plays of the period, Jane Shore, Douglas, Venice Preserved, and the Sheridan, Coleman, and Goldsmith comedies. There, too, might Jack Bannister, " Handsome Jack," be found, the best of light comedians, to whom even ElHston " took off his hat." To this came, in 1804, Master West Betty, the infant Roscius. The son of Belfast gentle- folk, endowed with a handsome appearance and a remarkably quick memory, he speedily made his way to the front rank. He had taken Dublin by storm, and his fame had reached the Metropolis. There he was offered £50 a night, when the best Co vent Garden and Drury Lane men were content with £16 a week. Before this, his provincial salary had been at the rate of £100 a night. For fourteen performances at Liverpool he cleared £1,520. Painters sought the honour of his portraiture; poli- ticians, such as Fox and Pitt, sought his company, and the latter once moved an EARLY GLASGOW DRAMA. 205 adjournment to see him act. The University of Cambridge made him the recipient of a medal. Crowds attended his performances nightly, soldiers guarding the entrances and approaches. Appearing at Covent Garden Theatre, the opposition house, Drury Lane, with a weak programme, took over £300 from the overflow. His young Norval was loudly praised, and one local critic who had dared to raise a dissentient voice was compelled to leave the city. Macready describes him as a miracle of beauty, grace, and genius. On the contrary, Mrs. Inchbald thought his tone too preachy. " He is a clever little boy, and had 1 never seen boys act before, I might have thought him exquisite." For one part, his education was somewhat incomplete, and his pronunciation was notable for its elision of the aspirate. To, the tuition of Houghton, an old Irish prompter, he owed almost everything, Houghton having taught him all his most successful parts, a fact which could easily be confirmed by the stereo- typed nature of every tone and gesture. It is only just to say that he was a very modest boy, and did not suffer in the least from the 206 THE SCOTS STAGE. American trouble, " swelled head." And that he was not altogether ungrateful is testified by the fact of his settling an annuity upon old Houghton, his erstwhile tutor. Thomas Campbell, the poet, describes this juvenile star somewhat curtly: — "The popularity of this baby-faced boy was an hallucination in the public mind and a disgrace to our theatrical history. Critics may disagree. One thing is certain that, whether Master Betty was a transcendent genius or not, his father and mother were wise in removing the boy, as a boy, from the profession in which he would possibly have failed as a man." After about two years' starring, he left the stage, and enrolled himself as a student at Cambridge University. Upon completion of his studies, he returned to the scene of his former triumphs, only to find the same fate which has befallen so many other prodigies. The public, too, had forgotten him. Lacking the pro- gressive brilliance of youth, it was an act of wisdom on his part to withdraw from a pro- fession which, at the most, must have developed into a precarious living. Retiring into the EARLY GLASGOW DRAMA. 207 country, he lived the quiet life of a gentleman, and died at Cheltenham in 1876, aged 83. Meanwhile, Dunlop Street was moving on the downward grade. Jackson began to practise various economies, and the Glasgow theatrical journals complained of the scanty company and the doubling of many of the parts. To quote the Register of that date : — ** The theatre closed this evening a three weeks' very unsuccessful campaign. We think the managers need not ascribe their want of success to the badness of the times, but to their own bad management." As an instance of this, the final play was The> Merchant of Venice, in which the Senate was represented by four miserable looking, dirty, reddish figures wrapped in faded gowns. 208 THE SCOTS STAGE. CHAPTER VIII. THE GLASGOW STAGE. The Dunlop Street Theatre had now been in existence for twenty- two years. During that period, the city had changed its aspect. The ragged lanes and wasted patches were now the sites of villas and pleasure grounds. St. Enoch Croft had grown into a beautiful park, and Queen Street had become the fashionable centre of residence, handsome villas lining the street. Glasgow, with that taste for art which has made it so justly famous, felt that the time had arrived for the erection of some edifice worthy to represent the city's interest in dramatic art. From the commercial point of view, it was deemed a feasible scheme to build a new tlieatre, and accordingly, in 1804, at the extreme westward end of the city, in Queen Street, operations were commenced. The position occupied was close to the present , o THE GLASGOW STAGE. 209 Royal Exchange, the western boundary of the theatre running nearly in line with the North Court, off Exchange Square. The committee of merchants included the names of Laurence Craigie, John Hamilton, Dugald Bannatyne, William Penny, and Robert Dennistoun. At the top of Queen Street West, was an unsightly spot ot earth, on which stood a decayed farm- house. This building was purchased from the Magistrates, as also a piece of ground stretching northwards towards St. Vincent Place. The entire cost was estimated at £18,500, and subscription shares were sold at £25 each. In twelve months' time the building was completed, and for its description we may be pardoned the use of Mr. Baynham's account in his admirable epitome of The Glasgow Stage, ** The front was composed of an arcade basement, supporting six Ionic columns, 30 feet in height, with corresponding pilasters, entablatures and appropriate devices. The principal vestibule led to the boxes by a double flight of stairs, and was separated from the corridors by a screen interspersed with Corinthian columns. The proscenium 210 THE SCOTS STAGE. was thirty feet wide and decorated with antique ornaments, and the stage balconies were tastefully executed." Seating 1,500 people, the house was supposed to hold £260, the yearly rental being fixed at £1,200. Upon its boards, in due course, appeared some of the greatest stars of the day — the Kembles, the erratic Cooke, Kean, Macready, Munden, Mathews the elder, Mrs. Siddons, Miss Farren, handsome Jack Bannis- ter, Mrs. Jordan, Dowton, Fawcett, Elliston, Braham, Liston, Miss Stephens, Charles Mayne Young, Sinclair, Miss Tree, Catalini, Emery (grandfather of Miss Winifred Emery), and Mrs. Glover. In speaking of the Queen Street Theatre, any history would be incomplete that did not mention the Black Bull tavern, so famous for its rendezvous. The tavern stood in Argyle Street, at the corner of Virginia Street, on the site of Mann Byars & Co's warehouse. It remained there up till 1858, after an existence of eighty years, and during that time it had been the discussion club for city politics, city improvements, hunting, theology, and the THE GLASGOW STAGE. 211 drama. It was the home of all clubs of repute, and under its roof foregathered the leading lights of the political, commercial, sporting, and dramatic world, in the old days when men drank hard and were less respectable, but more reputable. Here, too, Jackson and Aitken, the old managers of the Dunlop Street house, must have negotiated their application for the management of the new theatre. And successfully, as it proved, for the theatre was let to them provisionally, upon their promising to secure the very best histriones for the new house. That famous comedy. The Honeymoon, the swan song of the unfortunate Tobin, was the opening play. After passing through all the drudgery of ** the unaccepted," tired out with waiting, and sick at heart, he had gone on a voyage for health. In his absence, his brother had been successful in placing it on a London stage, where it became the talk of the town. But, alas for the vanity of human wishes, when the news was carried to the ship as she arrived at a West Indian port, the un- fortunate Tobin was beyond the reach of any human agency. The play produced an equally 212 THE SCOTS STAGE. successful impression in Glasgow. The opening bill read: — " The Public is respectfully informed that the New Theatre will be opened on Wednesday, April 24, 1805. A New Occasional Address. After which the new and favourite Comedy now acting in London with universal applause called : — *THE honeymoon; with entire new dresses, Scenery and Decorations ; and the Farce of ' Raising the Wind ! ' Tickets to be had of Mrs. Wright, grocer, Argyle Street, and of Mr. McGregor at the Box Office of the Theatre, where places for the Boxes may be taken." The cast was that of the Edinburgh stock company : — The Duke Aranza, . . . Roland, Mr. Eyre. Mr. Evatt. Count of Mountalban, Mr. Howerden. Lampedo, Jacques, Balthazar, Zamora, Volante, Juliana, Mr. Berry. Mr. Turpin. Mr. HolHngsworth. Mrs. Turpin. Mrs. Young. Mrs. Eyre. THE GLASGOW STAGE. 213 There were only four performances given per week — on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. The first star to perform here was Miss Duncan (Mrs. Davidson), the original Juliana of The Honeymoon, who appeared on June 24th as Lady Teazle. Shortly after this, Harry Johnston occupied its boards. Previously, he had filled a short engagement with Jackson at the Dunlop Street house. Born at Lanark, and reared in London, he made his first appearance as an actor at the age of eighteen. His first; big success was made at Edinburgh in Home's Douglas, in which he appeared as young Norval. Just at that time the revolution in stage cos- tumes had commenced, and Johnston chose the occasion to dress somewhat differently from his predecessors in the part. Formerly it had been played in trews and Scots jacket. Johnston donned full Highland costume — kilt, breast- plate, shield, claymore, and bonnet, and, on his first appearance, was greeted with thunderous plaudits. The Edinburgh public considered him the best Scotsman they had ever seen on the stage. His style was largely moulded upon 214 THE SCOTS STAGE. that of G. F. Cooke, of whom he was not entirely unreminiscent. Aitken, having now seceded from the management, Jackson entered into partnership with an actor named Rock, only to find his invariable fate pursue him. Within twelve months of his taking over the management of the theatre, the end of all came, and poor Jackson, ruined in health and wealth, went over to the great majority. It was not till June of 1807 that the first real star came to Queen Street Theatre, when George Frederick Cooke, ** the greatest living actor of the day," was billed to appear. Opening in Richard III., he appeared as Pere- grine in John Bull, Petruchio in Taming of the Shrew, and Sir Pertinax MacSycophant in The Man of the World. Intense excitement pre- vailed during his visit. His reputation was unique: he was one of the greatest drinkers of his day. He had reached the age of forty- five before he took London by storm as a Shakespearean actor, and that in the character of Richard III. This took place at Covent Garden, where the directors gave him a free THE GLASGOW STAGE. 215 benefit, the profits of which amounted to over £ 5 60. Macready writes of him : — '* My remembrance of George Frederick Cooke, whose pecuKarities added so much to the effect of his performance, served to detract from my confidence in assuming the crook-back tyrant. Cooke's varieties of tone seemed Hmited to a loud harsh Croak des- cending to the lowest audible murmur: but there was such significance in each inflection^ look, and gesture, and such impressive earnestness in his whole bearing, that he compelled your attention and interest. He was the Richard of the day, and in Shylock, lago. Sir Arch. MacSarcasm, and Sir Pertinax MacSycophant, he defied com- petition. His popularity far exceeded that of Kemble." Cooke*s drinking habits often led him into amusing contretemps with his audience. Upon one occasion, when he was being constantly interrupted by a young officer in the stage box, Cooke, stopping the play for a moment, went close up to him, and addressed him thus: *' D you, sir. Sir, the King (God bless him) can make any fool an officer; but it is 216 THE SCOTS STAGE. only the great God Almighty that can make an actor." Once in a public house he quarrelled with a soldier. '* Come out/' roared Cooke, " and I'll fight you." " You're a gentleman," pleaded the soldier; "you've money, and everybody will take your side." " Look ye here," cried Cooke, turning out his pockets, ** here's £300, all 1 have in the world — there," and staggering towards the hearth, he threw the bank notes into the fire. " Now, I'm as poor as you: come out and fight, you villain." Time after time the public would read the announcement that Mr. Cooke could not appear in consequence of ** a sudden serious indis- position." Upon his appearance after these intimations, he would be greeted with cheers, groans, laughter, and cries of "Apology." Stepping forward with a solemn stride and a mournful look, he would bow very low, and, with hand upon his heart, make the invariable speech, " Ladies and gentlemen, I have had an attack of my old complaint." The appeal never failed to set his audience into a good humour again. He died in New York. At his final THE GLASGOW STAGE. 217 perfoiinance there, his memory having failed him in the Fair Penitent, he was forced to withdraw. When he came off the stage, he said, ** I knew how it would be. This comes of playing when I am sober." In 1 8 1 4, the management of the Queen Street house came into the hands of the ever-popular Harry Johnston, who had now become notorious as the man who thrashed the Prince of Wales. The incident is worthy of mention. The future George the Fourth had presumed to force his way into Mrs. Johnston's dressing- room at Drury Lane. Johnston followed him quietly, and administered a sound horse whipping. He was placed in custody, but managed to escape; then, disguised as an old soldier, he left London on foot for Newcastle. Later, having failed as a director of the Dublin Theatre Royal, he came over to the Queen Street Theatre, which he managed for a year. In his later days he was compelled, through persistent bad luck, to live upon the kindness of his brother actors, till he died at Lambeth. Twelve months after the Drury Lane escapade, his wife figured in the Divorce Court, the >5 218 THE SCOTS STAGE. co-respondent being the celebrated orator and Deputy Master of the Rolls, Richard Curran. On the 20th March, 1815, Edmund Kean made his first appearance here under John- ston's regime. The scene was a memorable one. All the boxes were taken a week before, and temporary ones had to be erected on the stage. The professors from the University and all the lltteratl of Edinburgh, including Francis Jeffrey, were present, and a phenomenal crowd, which completely barred all passage through, Queen Street, had been waiting for hours before the time of admission. Upon his second visits in April, his repertoire included Richard III., Othello, Sir Giles Overeach, Romeo, Pen- ruddock {Wheel of Fortune) ^ and Zanga in The Revenge. But his visit in 1820 was not attended with the same friendly auspices. Having figured in an action for divorce, as co-respondent, the plaintiff. Alderman Cox, secured damages against Kean. To do Kean every justice, it was alleged that the affair had been pre- arranged to extort heavy damages from the actor. The press had been unanimous in THE GLASGOW STAGE. 219 denunciation, and the public, taking up the cry, hissed him whenever he appeared. While resting at Bute Cottage, Rothesay, he was offered an engagement at Queen Street, and opened up there for a six nights' appearance with Richard, when a house crowded with men and boys greeted him, no women being present. Not a word of the play was heard, the piece being acted in dumb show. The performance of Othello met with as Httle success, and Brutus fared little better. Wednesday being his last night, he, in response to the cheering, made a speech : ** Ladies and gentlemen. When I used to visit this city, it was always a rich harvest to me, but this time, there has been a great falling off. That, I suppose, is owing to a certain event wliich has already cost me £999 more than it was worth. I am going to America (cries of ** No! No I") to perform again. If I ever return to this country I shall certainly « pay you a visit, for old kindness I never forget. For the present I bid you a respectful farewell." When he returned in September, he was well received, although no ladies were present in the audience. 220 THE SCOTS STAGE. His next engagement, in 1827, was memor- able to Kean, for the news that his son Charles would make his deb^it at Drury Lane on ist October. Previously he had said, "If Charles tries to be an actor, I will cut his throat. I will be the first and last actor of the name." He was playing Reuben Glenroy in Town and Country when he heard the news, and he was unable to finish his part. However, the tender heart of the parent came out, for he sent Lee up to London to see " how the boy got on," and received the gratifying message that Charles had been fairly successful. It was in 1828 that the new star, Charles Kean, came to Glasgow, but he did not meet with an altogether gratifying reception. Coming to personal matters, Charles did not approve of his father's selection of a disreput- able companion, who was living with Kean at Bute. Meantime, the manager, in his desire for good business, hit upon a plan to draw the crowd. He persuaded the elder Kean to accept a one night's engagement, studiously avoiding to tell him that it was for his son's benefit, or THE GLASGOW STAGE, 221 that they were playing together. Lee tells the story : — ** Kean got into a terrible passion upon making the discovery, and wanted to leave the house; but he was urged not to show spite against his own son, and persuaded to go on. The tragedy was Brutus, Kean play- ing the title r61e, and his son, Titus, when the Theatre Royal held the largest audience it had ever seen. In the wings and on the stage itself there were 250 persons. Only when the father was passing out on his way home did he speak. * I hope to see you, Charles, at Bute to-morrow. There will be a crust of bread and cheese for you there.' To which Charles politely replied, * Thank you, Father,' but never went, going to Belfast instead." Five years afterwards, they met on the boards of Covent Garden, Kean appearing as Othello to Charles' lago. The elder made some friendly advances, and everything went well till the third act, when he came to the celebrated speech, " Villain," at which words Kean's voice broke down, and, falling upon his son's shoulder, he whispered, *' Get me off, Charles, 222 THE SCOTS STAGE. I'm dying. Speak for me." He died two months afterwards at Richmond, 13th May, 1833. Springing out of bed, with the old fire upon him, he cried, " A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse ! " and his last words were taken from the dying speech of Octavia in The Foundling of the Forest. " Farewell, Flo Floranthe." The next big engagement was that of Miss O'Neil (21st August, 18 18) in Venice Preserved, in which she appeared as Belvidera . For this attraction the prices were raised, which caused a somewhat tumultuous audience to hiss Johnston, but in the end their better nature prevailed. A novelty was announced for i8th Septem- ber, 1818: — " Grand Crystal Lustre of the front Roof of the Theatre, the largest of any of this time in Scotland, will in place of the Wicks and the Candles and the Oil Lamps be Illuminated with Sparkling Gas." A phenomenal audience greeted this innovation, the house presenting a brilliant appearance with the elite and generality of the city arranged THE GLASGOW STAGE. 223 in its best finery. The band struck up the National Anthem, the audience joined in the chorus, when, as if by magic the gas was turned on, " leaving some of them to fancy that they had been ushered into a new world — a perfect Elysium on earth." The programme on this occasion consisted of Mozart's Don Giovanni^ with John Corri conducting, and a company of Italian artistes. Although the fact is not generally known, Rob Roy was produced in Glasgow nine months previous to its Edinburgh performance. This was for the benefit of W. H. Murray, of the latter city, on June loth, i8 18. Murray played the Bailie to the Rob of Yates (the father of the late Edmund Yates) . The event remained un- noticed by the local press, although the play enjoyed a run of four nights. In 1 8 1 7, Sheridan Knowles came to Glasgow with his father, and taught elocution at his classrooms in Reid's Court, off the Trongate. John Tait, the theatrical printer and bill in- spector, two years later introduced him to Macready. Knowles was never a thrifty man, and, though he was getting two guineas per 224 THE SCOTS STAGE. session from his pupUs, he was always in strained circumstances. Scenting a possible means of raising the wind, he got Tait to despatch his MS. of Virginias to Macready. The idea was a successful one. Macready, accepted it and paid him £400 for a twenty nights' run. Twelve years afterwards found Knowles still as impecunious. Then he wrote The Hunchback, sent it off to the same manager, and it was at once accepted. In rehearsing it, Farren was stricken down with paralysis. Kean was too old to act, and Macready himself de- clined the part. In despair, they sent for Knowles, who played the part of Master Walter, and the piece became the hit of the season. But Knowles was never fully appreciated by the Glasgow public. When, at the end of one season, he starred with Miss Ellen Tree, and the curtain rose on his William Tell, there were only fifty people in the auditorium. A Glasgow critic wrote of him: — *' He is an actor though not of the very highest class. He could not for a moment measure spears with Kean, but with most other living performers he need not fear comparison." THE GLASGOW STAGE. 225 James Aitken (the father of Miss M. A. -Aitken) made his debiit as Macbeth on 13th February, 1820. He was the son of a York Street upholsterer, and had been a divinity student, having in the course of his studies taken elocution lessons under Sheridan Knowles. Amongst those who were present at his first appearance were Dr. Chalmers and Edward Irving. Macbeth proved a big success, being repeated nine times during the following three weeks. The part in which Aitken was best re- inembered was Wanderin' Steenie in the drama of The Rose of Ettrick Vale. Through all the vicissitudes native to this profession, he gradually sunk into the part of walking gentle- man at Covent Garden. Then he quarelled with John Kemble, and returned to Glasgow to teach elocution. Combining this with frequent appearances as a public reciter, he finally passed away in obscurity. He died at Paisley on 19th September, 1845, having contracted a severe chill after a public engagement. A powerful rival to the Queen Street managers rose up in the person of Mr. Kinloch, who took a theatre in Dunlop Street, then 226 THE SCOTS STAGE. christened the Caledonian (1823), where he produced the hit of those days, a play founded on Pierce Egan's Tom and Jerry, making a clear profit on his season's work of £2,000. The year 1825 brought the eccentric J. H. Alexander before the Glasgow public. Having had a somewhat varied career as tragedian, low comedian, character actor, and heavy gent, he went into management at Carlisle, and in 1822 he took the minor theatre hitherto managed by Kinloch. In 1825, hearing the Caledonian Theatre was in the market, he resolved to secure it. Seymour, the stage manager at Queen Street, managed to forestall him, and obtained possession. When Alexander arrived, he dis- covered he was too late, but it was not long before he had completed his plan of campaign. The building was not wholly occupied. Under- neath was a cellar tenanted by a cotton dealer and potato merchant. Settling terms with this man of business, Alexander took up his abode therein. Seymour opened the Caledonian up- stairs with Macbeth. Meantime Alexander christened his cellar " The Dominion of Fancy," THE GLASGOW STAGE. 227 and opened up the same night with The Battle of Inch. In the words of Mr. Baynham: — ** Macbeth was acted nearly throughout to the tuneful accompaniment of the shouts of the soldiery, the clanging of dish covers, the clashing of swords, the banging of drums, with the fumes of blue fire every now and then rising thro' the chinks of the planks from the stage below to the stage above. The audience laughed, and this stimulated the wrath of the combative managers. Any new sensation will draw an audience, and the fact of getting extraordinary effects un- rehearsed, and certainly never seen before, drew large audiences." The rivals besought magisterial aid to save themselves from each other, with the result that Seymour was allowed to open four nights a week, and Alexander two nights, Saturday and Monday, the best of the whole week. An appeal to the Court of Session only brought a con- firmation of the Magistrates' decision. Then the struggle for supremacy took place. When " The Dominion of Fancy " opened, its per- formance was subordinated to the noise of a 228 THE SCOTS STAGE brass band playing upstairs in Seymour's house. Following upon this came another appeal, and the instructions that ** Neither party was to annoy the other, and, on any more complaints being brought, both places would be ordered to be closed.*' Seymour's people next lifted the planking and poured water on the audience below. The climax was reached at the production of Der Freischutz, wliich was staged by both houses. Seymour's party mustered in strong force and took full advantage of the gaps in the planks to spoil the performance below. In the incantation scene, the dragon could not spit out his fiery fumes, and he was held by the tail tiU his fire had burned out. The skeleton-hunters were disturbed in their wild career : the curtain could not fall, and the cast had to be told to come off the stage. The magic circle was broken ; Zaniel and his skeleton horseman had to walk off with the rest. To complete the devastation, the curtain came down with a crash, and the accompanying volumes of dust nearly suffocated the spectators. So ended this tale of rivalry. But it was not a failure, by any THE GLASGOW STAGE. 229 means. The public deserted the Queen Street Theatre and came to see the fun. Tom and Jerry ran for a month, being played at both houses simultaneously during one of the weeks. And after such events who shall say that the Scots lack any sense of humour ! The late proprietor of the Theatre Royal, Queen Street, having disappeared with the keys of that house, leaving behind a bill for six months' rent, the entry of Mr. Frank Seymour could not by any manner of euphemism be called an impressive one. This gentleman was compelled to go through the green-room window to open the door of the theatre. Opening with Liston in Kennedy's comedy, Sweethearts and Wives and the farce, X. Y. Z., the engagement proved so successful that he determined to renovate the place. During the progress of these repairs, the company played at the old quarters in Dunlop Street. When the re-decoration was completed, he opened with a strong bill consisting of that hardy perennial, Rob Roy. One of his most success- ful shows was the production of Aladdin, on loth May, 1826, for which the attractions were 230 THE SCOTS STAGE. eighteen new scenes, a military band, fifty supernumaries, magic properties, and a flying palace built on a platform thirty feet long by eight feet broad, one of the biggest hits of the Glasgow stage. Another notable engagement was that of Andrew Ducrow, who brought a double company of a hundred ladies and gentle- men, a stud of forty horses, pack of hounds, and a stage for the equestrian spectacle, " A Stag Hunt." The house was burned down on loth January, 1829. The proprietor's losses were largely covered by insurance, but a suin of £2,000 was lost through destruction of music, books, papers, etc. A ball was given at the Assembly Rooms, Ingram Street, at which £1,000 was realised for the benefit of Seymour. On 2nd October, 1829, Seymour opened a new house in York Street, for which he claimed the patent of the Theatre Royal. His opening star was Edmund Kean, in the part of Shylock ; Braham, Rae, Macready, and a host of others following in succession. The experiment was a failure, "however, the York Street house remaining open only during a period of eighteen months. THE GLASGOW STAGE. 231 Meantime J. H. Alexander had returned to Dunlop Street, and, after having made vast alterations in that house, opened his season with Dimond's Royal Oak, or the Days of Charles the Second, himself playing the part of the King. It was during this season that he again came into rivalry with his old opponent, Seymour, at the York Street Theatre. It was Alexander that scored this time. He managed to secure the stars, such as VandenhoflF, Miss Jarman, T. P. Cooke with his nautical dramas, Liston in Paul Pry, Mackay in the favourite parts of his repertoire. Bride of Lammermoor, Gllderoy, Cramond Brig, Guy Mannering, and in his memorable Bailie Nicol Jarvie. Harry Johnston, F. H. Lloyd, and the Siamese twins appeared at Dunlop Street during the same year. Kean played in Othello and several other plays. Concerning the last named, Mr. G. W. Baynham tells a rather interesting story: — ** The lago to his Othello was an old actor called Willie Johnstone. Johnstone was very rheumatic. Kean was also weak in the legs. In the business of the third act both actors knelt in front of the stage, and neither 232 THE SCOTS STAGE. of them found it possible to get up again. On lago saying to his general, * Do not rise yet,' Kean was heard to mutter, * D d if I think I ever shall rise again.' Both gentle- men remained, unable to move, until Kean managed to raise himself by clinging to his ancient friend, in which endeavour both nearly rolled over together, the gallery boys meantime applauding vociferously, and shouting, * Try it again, Willie, try the other leg. Now faut haun's and knees.' At last, Mr. Alexander, who was playing Roderigo, taking pity on poor Willie, came on the stage and placed him safely on his feet, amid a cry from the gods of ' Houp-la,' and a round of applause for his humanity." When one has noted in 1836 the appearance of G. V. Brooke (then a humble member of the stock company), the visit of Charles Mathew the younger, and the advent of a formidable rival in the person of Ducrow, who, emboldened with the success of his London show (Astley's old circus), opened an arena in Hope Street, ifntiTthe year 1 842, iK)thing of unusual promin- ence occurred. In February of that year, Mr. and Mrs. THE GLASGOW STAGE. 233 Charles Kean commenced a fortnight's engage- jtnent. Kean was somewhat undersized, his head was large, his legs rather thin, and his voice had an unfortunate huskiness of tone. In addition to this, he experienced some difficulty with the consonant M, which he sounded like B, and N like D. As an example of this, one of his opening sentences became, " Bost postedt g — r — rave and r — r — everend seidaors." But the grace of his gestures, and the effects he obtained by the use of his brilliant dark eyes, quite overcame these defects, and conquered the hearts of his audiences. It is of him the familiar story is told: — *' In Richard the Third his best point was, ' Off with his head, so much for Buckingham.' On one occasion he was disappointed in its delivery. In the scene where the capture of the Duke of Buckingham is announced, the messenger should say, ' My lord, they have captured Buckingham,' but the actor was somewhat nervous, and in his flurry said, ' My Lord, the Duke of Buckingham is dead* * Flummoxed ! ' exclaimed Kean, using his favourite expression. ' Then what the d are we to do with him now.* " i6 234 THE SCOTS STAGE. In this year D. P. Miller announced the opening, of the Adelphi Theatre, stating that he would retain so good an ordinary company that no stars would be required. He opened with Richard the Third, W. Johnston playing title role and John Grey the part of Richmond. The circumstances which led to Miller's adopting the theatrical profession were peculiar. In 1839 he was a showman at Glasgow Fair, conducting a conjuring booth which stood opposite to Anderson's, ** the Wizard of the North," who was then coining money with his Great Gun Trick. Miller copied the trick, charging one penny admission, where Anderson charged six- pence. The profit which he gained from this enabled him to commence the Adelphi. His greatest hit was a performance of As You Like It, with Miss Saker as Rosalind. This lady in the course of events became Mrs. R. H. Wyndham. The Touchstone on this occasion was Henry Lloyd. To the Adelphi belongs the honour of Phelps' first Glasgow appearance on 14th February, 1 843, when he essayed the part of Hamlet. His visits to Glasgow were very few, although he THE GLASGOW STAGE. 235 was always a favourite in that city. His last performances there were the Bailie and Sir Pertinax MacSycophant, the latter being considered one of the finest interpretations of the part. Perhaps at this juncture a reference to that historical institution, beloved of our grandsires, Mumford's Geggie, may not be inopportune. Its owner was a Bedfordshire man. As a child he was far ahead of his playfellows. He con- structed a dress for himself made solely of straw, and this led to his being regarded as the lion of his native town. Flushed with his success, he took the road to London, where he exhibited in the open air. After being con- stantly worried by the police, he set up a marionette show, and, at the end of his travels, he finally landed, in Glasgow, where the pristine youth of that city regarded him as a public benefactor. But a periodic worship of the * bottle fiend would sometimes lead to weeks of enforced absence. Upon his return, he would often give an open-air address on the tem- perance question. "If you knew," he hiccuped one day, as he supported himself by one of the 236 THE SCOTS STAGE. posts of his show, ** if you knew the advantages to be derived from abstaining from intoxicating drink, you would shun whisky (hie) as you would the very devil." " You're drunk your- self I" said one of the crowd. "I know it/* said Mumford, " but what did I get drunk for? Not for my own gratification, but (hie) for your profit, that you might see what a beast a man is when he puts an enemy to his lips. I got drunk (hie) for your good.'* Alexander, finding out that Mumford's Show Was interfering with the rights of his patent, obtained an injunction against him, which resulted in the closing of the *' Geggie." It was in the month of May, 1843, that Edmund Glover brought his Edinburgh com- pany, seventy in all, to the Dunlop Street house, where, amongst other things, he played Romeo and Petruchio. On December i ith of the same year, Helen Faucit made her debiit at the Theatre Royal. Her initial performance was Pauline in The Lady of Lyons, and, during her seventeen nights' engagement, she appeared in the parts of Juliet, Rosalind, Mrs. Haller, and Lady THE GLASGOW STAGE. 237 Macbeth. Her farewell performance was given on December 5th, 1870, when she played Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing. To Glasgow she was the favourite actress, and to the last she was entirely beloved, after an acquaintance of twenty- seven years with the audiences of this city. Returning to Alexander, his salary list was a proverbially niggard one, and, as the years passed, he became increasingly mean. During its existence, his stock company could boast the names of such sterling actors as Glover, Powrie, Paumier, Lloyd, Fitzroy, and Webster. It is said that, in The Hunchback, Miss Faucit as Juha, Glover as Master Walter, and Powrie as Clifford, were never equalled. Coming as she did from such a perfect stage manager as Macready, Miss Faucit was inclined to be autocratic, and, as a consequence, was never really loved by the professionals. Instances occurred where she would be about two hours late for rehearsals, and upon her arrival would insist upon the whole play being again rehearsed. Every attention had to be lavished upon her. A large draught screen was placed 238 THE SCOTS STAGE. behind her, a cushioned arm-chair was provided, and during the performance the green room, usually the common property of the cast, had to be completely reserved for her use. She was a willing worker in the cause of charity. Her last public appearance was at the St. Andrew's Hall, where she gave dramatic readings. in aid of the Fund for the assistance of the City Bank victims. At the Adelphi Theatre, Miller opened up his second season in 1844, ^^id now devoted him- self to the task of strengthening his stock company. His leading man was Tom Lyon, the London Adelphi favourite; Melloure, low comedian; and Stark and M'Gregor, Scotch comedians. On his list of stars appeared the names of Graham, Lloyd, Sheridan Knowles, and Mackay, the last named as the Bailie, a fact which was facetiously announced that he " now appeared for the first time in his ain locality, the Sautmarket." Christmas of 1844 saw the production of Cinderella, admittedly one of the best spectacles Glasgow had ever witnessed. The pantomime included the famous Leclercq family — M. THE GLASGOW STAGE. 239 Leclercq, the ballet master; Charles Leclercq (late of Daly's company) ; Arthur Leclercq, famous as a clown; Louise, the dancer; Carlotta and Rose Leclercq, with whose death some years ago passed away the last of the ** grandes dames," a special character line, peculiar to fin de slecle drama. In this year, Alexander's company included Miss Laura Addison, who became leading lady with Phelps at Sadlers Wells Theatre. When Alexander produced Rob Roy, with Paumier in the title role, he himself assumed the part of the Bailie, somewhat unsuccessfully, as it was pronounced to be a pale echo of Mackay's impersonation. An excerpt from the then existent Dramatic Review says: — " The whole time Mr. Alexander was on the stage he was directing everybody, players, scene shifters, and gas-men, saying, for in- stance audibly, ' Come down here, sir.' * Stand you there, sir.' " MacStuart, that's not your place.' * Keep time with the air as I do.' ' Hold up your head, sir.' ' Speak out.' Never for a moment did he allow the audience to forget that he was manager. He beat time to the orchestra; he spoke to the 240 THE SCOTS STAGE. musicians; he sang the music for other people, and he spoke their words. In theatrical parlance, his greatest delight was ' to show the company up.' " A more notorious episode occurred at a performance of Julius Ccesar. Alexander was playing Cassius, when a gentleman in the boxes commenced to titter at him. The manager paused and glared at the auditor, but ineffec- tively. Then Cassius stepped forward: ** I must request the gentleman to pay more atten- tion to good manners and to the feelings of the audience. I can't have the entertainment spoiled by the disgraceful conduct of a Puppy. For myself, I consider I am quite competent to play the part I am engaged in, and if that fellow in the boxes continues his annoyance, I shall feel myself compelled to personally turn him out." The play was then continued, but not for long. Again the laughter began, and Paumier, who played Brutus, got over the foot- lights, climbed into the box, and turned the offender out. In the year 1845, Anderson, "The Wizard of the North," made a bid for theatrical success THE GLASGOW STAGE. 241 by building a splendid theatre on The Green and calling it by the name of *' The City Theatre." Having opened it during the Glasgow Fair for the display of magic and for dancing, he afterwards applied for a dramatic license. Though at first refused, it was finally granted, and on 7 th May he commenced with an Operatic company which included J. S. Reeves (Sims Reeves). In an endeavour to emulate the grandeur of The City Theatre, Anderson had the Adelphi reconstructed at a cost of £2,000. His company went to Edin- burgh during these operations, appearing in the drama, Cherry and Fair Star. In his absence from Glasgow, Alexander put into force a form of arrestment, seizing the property and all available cash, in lieu of payment of the unpaid law expenses of a previous prosecution. Anderson's Theatre proved a great draw. Sims Reeves and Morley both appeared in The Bohemian Girl, in which it is reported ** the tenor created a furore." Here Mrs. Fitz- william from the London Adelphi charmed all beholders by her performance in The Belle of the Hotel and in The Flowers of the Forest. 242 THE SCOTS STAGE. To him also came, as a member of the stock company, young Barry Sullivan, whose articu- lation was very distinct, but who did not appear to understand any character he attempted. On the night of November i8th, 1845, The City Theatre was totally destroyed by fire. Upon the same evening, performances of Der Freis- chutz and The Jewess had been given. In the conflagration everything was lost. That there were *' superior " people in Glasgow in these days is evinced by the following extract taken from the Dean of Guild Report, 6th July, 1849: — ** Calvert, of the wooden Hibernian Theatre, obtained authority to erect a new brick edifice in Greendyke Street immedi- ately to the east of the Episcopal Chapel, and adjoining the Model Lodging Houses for the working classes. Now that the Adelphi Theatre, the City Theatre, and Cook's Circus have been all swept off the Green by fire in less than four years, we have no doubt that this Hibernian will have * ample room and verge enough ' for dishing up the penny drama for the delectation and improvement of the canaille and young Red Republicans THE GLASGOW STAGE. 243 of the Bridgegate, the Wynds, Saltmarket, High Street, the Vennels, and the Havannahs. Since the house is to go up, the Court wisely resolved to look to its security by appointing Mr. Andrew Brockett, wright, to inspect it during its progress, and see to its sufficiency." The building was Calvert's new theatre, which he christened " The Queen's Theatre." With the year 1845 commences the records of the travelling companies, and with that our history of the Glasgow stage should appro- priately end. The first company came from the Theatre Royal, Haymarket, and amongst its members may be mentioned the names of Howe, Holl, Brindal, Braid, Tilbury, Coe, Little. Clark, Miss Julia Bennett and Mrs. Heunley. Someone has said that the story of a people must be the history of its great men, and so with equal relevancy one might say that he who would read the latter history of dramatic Glasgow must read the records of Britain's theatrical stars of the past and present genera- tions, wliere the appreciation of the Glasgowi audiences reads as one of the chief conquests they have made. 244 THE SCOTS STAGE. CHAPTER IX. PERTH DRAMATIC RECORDS. Perth makes its demand for notice to the stage-historian as the Scottish city which, from its earliest days, has stubbornly upheld the claims of Drama to its part in the mental equipment of the perfect citizen. For the moment, those advocates who ask for a folk- drama, which shall express either the soul of a nation or the spirit of the folk, must perforce hold their peace. But when the time is ripe for further propaganda, they might take note how much Perth did, not only to further dramatic art, but to support that furtive growth, the Scots Drama. The fact, that it was a complete and self-contained community of intensive culture, may account for that good- fellowship which its fostering of the dramatic art drew forth. Such a consideration should not by any means derogate from the claim that PERTH DRAMATIC RECORDS. 245 commerce had not in any way made this art callous to the demand of the spirit — a trait which the author regrets seems to be absent in the dramatic history of other Scottish towns — too sorely hplden down with religious super- stitions. At any rate, Perth, judging from its records, seems from the beginning to have been kindly disposed to the mummer and have taken him readily to its bosom. What successive theatrical managers addressed as " the nobility, gentry, and inhabitants of Perth and its vicinity " were enthusiastic playgoers in the days when Perth was a county town in the fullest sense of the word. There was no rail- way — five public coaches provided the links between Edinburgh and Aberdeen; Perth and Edinburgh; Perth and Glasgow; Perth and Inverness ; and between Perth and Aberdeen via Dundee, Arbroath, Montrose, and the coast. There were many social societies who made public visits en masse to the theatre, and more than any other city the officials of Perth patronised the theatre. Perth indeed fulfilled its duty to the fullest in helping dramatic art along at a period when its followers were 246 THE SCOTS STAGE. regarded as the Ishmaels of Society. Those who are fortunate enough to happen upon Peter Baxter's illuminating volume, The Drama in Perth, have in store a rich fund of theatre-ania from which to construct a more detailed account of the Perth Stage than the scope of the present book warrants. Perth holds its own early records of the performances of Mysteries and Moralities, one of the most favoured mystery-plays in Perth being Corpus Christi. The guisards in Perth went about on the last night of the year asking for ** carls," and we have also stories of the presentation of Robin Hood, Little John, Queen of May, and the other historic pastimes referred to in previous chapters. It was after playing as ** Prince of the Revels " that the Duke of Rothesay incurred the displeasure of his father, King Robert III., when he was banished to Falkland Palace. Sir David Lyndsay's Satire was performed outside the walls of the city, in the amphitheatre of St. Johnstoun, in 1535, before a vast audience, which included James V. The Perth Kirk Session had to warn its people against play-acting in 1574. Such PERTH DRAMATIC RECORDS. 247 ungodly plays, they said, boded no good to the people, as witness when the Perth bakers celebrated their annual festival in 1581 by performing Saint Oberfs Play, the Kirk Session issued an " act against idolatrous and super- stitious pastimes, especially against the Saint Ohert's Play" Eight years later, the Church' dignitaries must have grown more tolerant, for, when a company of players applied for a license to the Consistory of the Church, it was granted, subject to the condition that it contained no swearing, etc. The Session Records do not provide the name of the company of players, but they may have been those of the Earl of Leicester, the Earl of Warwick, or the Lordi Chamberlain's company, with which Shake- speare was associated. When King James, in 1606, held his Red Parliament at Perth, a kind of pastoral play, or more properly a Coliseum spectacle, was enacted on the South Inch between the followers of the Earls of Eglinton and Glencairn. After a four hours' bloody fight, ** the Town rose in arms and separated the combatants " and pre- sumably performed the ambulance rites. 248 THE SCOTS STAGE. In 1 63 1, Perth honoured the visit of Charles I. by presenting a pageant, one of the features of which was a sword dance performed, by thirteen dancers, upon a floating platform moored alongside the Tay, opposite Cowrie House. Abundant evidence of the fondness of its citizens for the play is afforded in the records of the Perth Grammar School. The Council of Perth paid to Patrick Rynd, minister of Dron, on ist August, 1616, the sum of 20 merks for constructing a play which was probably acted by the scholars. On the Tuesday after Candle- mas, 1734, the pupils performed Cato before an audience of "300 ladies and gentlemen,'* and the presentation was evidently under public auspices, for we are told that afterwards '* the. Magistrates entertained the gentlemen at a tavern." The following year, although the Kirk Session signified to the Master of the Grammar School that ** the said tragedy gives offence," the Master put on two performances of George Barnwell, the Idle Apprentice, before large and distinguished audiences. The traces of the professional drama in Perth b PERTH DRAMATIC RECORDS. 249 do not make themselves sufficiently clear until the latter part of the eighteenth century, although it would appear that strolling com- panies visited Perth in the seventeenth century. If so, they must have had to content themselves with a portable building, for it is not till 1780 that we find they could literally obtain house- room. In this year, it is stated, a company of players opened up in *' a flat of one of these houses, a little below the North Secession Meeting House," on the north side of High Street, and played a three-night-weekly pro- gramme. As the drawings could not have amounted to more than 40s. a night, it can only be hoped the *' company " was small. The chronicler of the period says *' their personal appearance was the shabby genteel in the true sense of the word." On that amount of wealth it would be. After this the Old Guild Hall seemed to have given harbour to the players, but, evidently, the officials were not proud of their tenants, for neither the name of the companies nor the plays are mentioned. Simple statements are given of payments for a week or so many nights, one writer describing 17 250 THE SCOTS STAGE. the tenants as of a '* tag-rag description." Still the mummers must be grateful — the old Guild Hall provided a home for the Drama prior to 1785, upon which date we gather that the building of the Glovers' Hall in George Street gave haven to ** the Edinburgh company who came over to Perth." The Glovers' Hall was built in 1786, and subsequently fitted tempor- arily as a theatre, with pit and gallery, but no boxes. Here Sutherland's Edinburgh company appeared several times. Unluckily, the per- sonnel of the various companies and the pro- grammes presented are not available. The Perth Glovers' Incorporation books record one entry which is of interest (April 22nd, 1788): — ** The Deacon informed the Incorporation that a party of Players purposed taking the new Hall from week to week after Whit Sunday next, at the rent of two pounds stg., weekly, payable each Monday, and to pay any damage that may be done." As the Incorporation failed to record the names of the companies, we are left to conjecture whether it was Sutherland's company, or that I PERTH DRAMATIC RECORDS. 251 of Moss and Bell, who were the first to run a* stock cx)mpany in the Glovers' Hall Theatre. The first indication in the city records of the' plays produced there is the announcement, in 1792, of an original play, The Siege of Perth, or Sir William Wallace, by A. MacLaren of Perth, under the direction of Sutherland. The play was published later in book form, and included the favourite ballad, ** Macgregor Aruaro." Beaumont followed Moss and Bell as the next tenant, and was allowed to sub -let to Trueman and MacGregor of the Edinburgh Theatre Royal, at a rent of £75 per annum. The records concerning the companies and players are so scanty that no complete details can be gathered until i6th August, 1809, when Trueman and MacGregor announced on that date the opening of their season with the per- formance of "A Favourite Comedy and a Musical Entertainment by the Edinburgh Company of Comedians." Cooke, the well- known actor, •* starred " for six nights, beginning 22nd August, when he appeared in the roles of Shylock and Sir Pertinax MacSycophant. Fawcett, the comedian, from 252 THE SCOTS STAGE. Covent Garden, followed him, appearing in Colman's comedies, The Poor Gentleman, John Bull, and The Heir at Law, as well as The Road to Ruin and The Blind Bargain. O'Keefe's opera, The Castle of Andalusia (from Gil Bias), was performed on September ist, the entertainment concluding with a pantomime sketch. The Deserter of Naples. On September 6th, Rock, the comedian, appeared as Sir Peter Teazle in The School for Scandal, and during his two weeks* engagement was seen in The Rivals and other Sheridan plays, as well as the pantomime of Cinderella. Versatility was a jewel in those days of mixed programmes, just as it is to-day, when we are suffering from a surfeit of Revues. Fawcett, to whom we have just referred, could and did sing in opera, as well as in burletta. The Beggar's Opera seems to have been performed for the first time in Perth on September 29th. The season ended with a series of benefit nights numerous enough to indicate how large and representative a display of talents the Edin- burgh comedians could boast. Just as the Perth public were being won for the theatre, came PERTH DRAMATIC RECORDS. 253 the great disaster. Sutherland's company were one night performing Macbeth to an over-crowded house. Macbeth was pent on his soliloquy, *' This is a sorry sight," when a sudden rending of wood was heard, the supports of the gallery gave way, and the occupants came down with a dreadful crash on to the floor beneath. The house held three hundred nor- mally. With the pressure and consternation that arose, a scene of indescribable confusion followed. Men and women crawled out from the broken rafters and debris, and, although there were three entrances, only one exit was available. To this the crowd rushed and a panic ensued. Although a good many casualties resulted, no one was killed. But the event served to close the career of the Glovers* Hall Theatre. The Drama was not long without a home. When the Perth Grammar School, which dated from about the fifteenth century, became vacant, an effort was made to fit up the building as a playhouse, and on 2nd May, 1810, the St. Anne's Lane Theatre, officially known as, the New Theatre, Grammar School, Perth, 254 THE SCOTS STAGE. commenced its nine-year dramatic career by announcing the appearance of Mrs. Glover, from the Covent Garden Theatre, in Colman's comedy, The Jealous Wife, supported by Tayleur as Sir Harry Beagle. Mrs. Glover appeared for four nights, performing also in Wives as They Were ; reciting Collin's ** Ode to the Passions" ; and playing in the farces. Animal Magnetism; The Way to Keep Him; The Pro- voked Husband ; and The Citizen. The opening season was not auspicious, a contemporary playgoer recording that he was mortified by the thinness of the "houses." Evidently the Glovers' Hall accident was too fresh in the public memory to entice a larger audience. The following week brought a new programme, in- cluding the new drama, The African, Romeo and Juliet, and Mary Queen of Scots. It must not be forgotten that it was summer-time, and the long ** fore-nichts " were against theatre- going, so, after a few scratch performances of " the legitimate " and variety shows, including Signor Belzoni in " Feats of Strength " and Tunes on the musical glasses, and Herman Boaz's Thaumaturgical Exliibitions and Magical PERTH DRAMATIC RECORDS. 255 Deceptions, the theatre did not re-open until the autumn season. Morton's comedy, A Cure for the Heartache and the farce, Raising the Wind constituted the opening bill. Hunt Week at Perth gave the theatre a chance to redeem itself. On two successive days after the public dinner, most of the gentlemen, and many of the ladies, visited the theatre in St. Anne's Lane, and proceeded after to the dance, where the famous fiddler, Neil Gow, led his select little orchestra. Under the patronage of the Duchess of Atholl, there was a special night on October 4th, when the opera, Love in a Village, was presented, fol- lowed later in the week by Home's Douglas, and then by a performance of The Beg gar* s Opera. The pantomime. The Magic Cave, or The Harlequin in Scotland, was given during the same week, so that Perth had quite a mixed dish in the way of dramatic fare. The first appearance in Perth of the son of Mrs. Siddons and her daughter-in-law was billed for the week commencing October 22nd, when Mr. and Mrs. Siddons appeared for four nights in Much Ado About Nothing, 256 THE SCOTS STAGE. Hamlet (twice), and As You Like It, the latter part of the programme being devoted to various farces in which Mrs. Siddons appeared. For their benefit night on the Friday, the Siddons appeared in Henry Siddons' play. Time's a Tell Tale. It is worth noting here that the *' stars " of these days were supposed not only to be versatile histriones but capable dramatists, a remark to which the dramatic cynic will retort by stating that the modern actor-manager may well claim the same qualification after he has laid violent hands on the work of his playwright. The strong man, already referred to, Signor Belzoni, seems to have been an actor, too, for on October 29 he was announced to appear in Macbeth. The Napoleonic wars were now responsible for bad trade in Perth. The cloth merchants who sold the well-known Perth fabric became bankrupt, and the adage that '* the theatre follows the bag " (money-bag) was confirmed by the absence in Perth of any theatrical com- panies during the next eighteen months. The Town Council, under date March 12, 1 8 1 2, de- cided to buy the stage, seats, and appurtenances PERTH DRAMATIC RECORDS. 257 of the theatre for £60 and advertise the building for hire. Trueman rented it on a six months' lease, at a rent of £21, and ran a few shows. Subsequently the Town Council induced Mr. and Mrs. Siddons to take up a three years' lease at £60 per annum, but they did not open up till later, their first announcement reading, *' The Theatre will open for Six weeks with the Edinburgh Company on May 10, 18 13, with a 3 Act Comedy ' The Child of Nature,' the part of Amanthis by Mme H. Siddons whose health will not allow her the honour of appearing more than six evenings during the present season." The fare presented during this six-week season included the musical tragedy of Tom Thumb the Great, Master Mason, performed by a seven-year-old boy, who also introduced Braham's Bravura Song. Venice Preserved, Hamlet, The Merchant of Venice, farce, pantomime, and various novelties, formed the rest of the season's programme. The Siddons sub -let the theatre to Henry Johnston on March 11, 18 14, when that actor gave recitals from Cato, Henry IV., and Collin's " Ode to the Passions." The Siddons' lease 258 THE SCOTS STAGE. ran an uneventful course, and there is no mention of other entertainments until October 1 7, when the comic opera, The Soldier's Return, was presented. Corbett Ryder, the most notable manager of the Northern circuit, which then included Perth, Aberdeen, Montrose, Arbroath, and Dundee, was the next tenant to whom the Council let the St. Anne's Lane Theatre. Upon Ryder agreeing to accept a three-year lease at £50 yearly, the Council constructed a ventilating roof. Ryder goes down to history as the most astute, kindly, and philanthropic manager in the records. He was first in all acts of charity, and realised to the fullest his responsibilities as a public entertainer. His stock company re-opened the Perth house on May 1 2th, 1 8 1 7, with an appropriately - named play. The Stranger, the entire proceeds of the perform- ance being devoted to the relief of the labouring poor of Perth, although this public -spirited action was not without its critical Jonahs, who covertly attacked him in the press on the ground that he expected to receive twenty times as much from the public. Ryder very courteously PERTH DRAMATIC RECORDS. 259 replied that he had already assisted to raise £200 in other towns for a similar purpose. The fact that the entire proceeds of the first night amounted to £10 2s. is some indication of the holding capacity of the St. Anne's Lane house, the prices being — boxes, 3s. ; pit, 2s. ; and gallery, is. The commencing hour was 7,30, while half-price started at 9 o'clock. The first Ryder season was a short one, and in- cluded Richard III., Macbeth, Guy Manner ing, the new tragedy Bertram, the new comedy Smiles and Tears, Plzarro, The Jealous Wife, and, on the concluding night, for Ryder's benefit, The Forest of Bondy, or the Dog of Montargis, with the actor-manager's own trained dog in the title-role. Prior to the opening of his second season on 1 8th May, 1 8 1 8, the place had been redecorated and new scenery provided. For the initial performance. The School for Scandal was pre- sented, with the famous Mackay as Sir Peter Teazle, Ryder as Charles Surface, Henry John- ston as Joseph, and Mrs. Ryder as Lady Teazle. Mackay showed his powers as a mimic the same evening by giving imitations of John Kemble in 260 THE SCOTS STAGE. Lear, Hamlet, and Cato, Kean in Richard III., Shylock, and Macbeth, Munden in Polonius, Johnston in Archy M 'Sarcasm, and Sinclair in the song of " Auld Lang Syne." The week beginning May 29, it was announced that '* His Majesty's servants of the Theatre," as Ryder described his company, would enact Macbeth. The other Shakespearean revivals included Julius CcBsar, King Henry IV. , Othello, Hamlet, and ^45 You Like It, while the novelty of the season came in the shape of the new musical play, The Slave, specially mounted, and with new and appropriate scenery, dresses, and machinery. The presentation in Perth of Rob Roy, with Mackay in his famous part as the Bailie, seems to have upset all Ryder's carefully ordered arrangements. Produced originally at Covent Garden Theatre on 1 2th March, 1 8 1 8, the Sir Walter Scott novel (dramatised by the English playwright, Isaac Pocock) had already proved an obstinate success elsewhere. Three months later, it cropped up at Perth. On Monday, June 10, 1 8 18, a prior Scottish performance had taken place at Glasgow, with W. H. Murray PERTH DRAMATIC RECORDS. 261 as the Bailie. Johnston appeared in the Perth production as Rob Roy, Mrs. Ryder as Diana Vernon, and Mrs. M'Namara as Helen Macgregor. A contemporary journalist, in speaking of its success, averred that " Mr. Johnston as Rob Roy would have appeared to better advantage had he been a little more conversant with the Scottish dialect." (This, to the son of an Edinburgh man ! ) It is evident that Ryder had little notion of the possibilities of Rob Roy as a draw, for he announced that it would be repeated on Friday night for ** the third and last time." Before his season ended, the play had to be repeated for thirteen further performances, thus making the earliest Perth record of a " long run." Two of these were under the local patronage of Sir David MoncriefTe and the Perth Gaelic Society, re- spectively. The success of Rob Roy evidently troubled the Perth Grundyites of those days, for, in a letter to the Editor of a local news- paper, one correspondent complained that after the Saturday night's performance, some of the audience *' returned home next morning roaring out like madmen, * Rob Roy for ever,' instead 262 THE SCOTS STAGE. of preparing for the duties of the succeeding day!" In the interim, the noted actor, Booth, fulfilled a six nights' engagement at St. Anne's Lane, appearing in a repertoire which included Richard III, After a six weeks' closure, the theatre re-opened during the Perth Race Week, when Ryder presented as his *' star " the London actor, Meggett, in the great musical attraction, The Slave. The Heart of Mid- lothian seems to have been staged at Perth the next season, for under date August 6th, 1819, Mrs. Alsop, a London actress, is announced as appearing in the part of Jeanie Deans. Another Scott adaptation, Robert the Bruce, derived from The Lord of the Isles, was presented. The official close of the theatre was announced for I oth August, 1 8 1 9, the occasion of Ryder's benefit, " by desire," and under the immediate patronage of the Lord Provost and Magistrates, when The Heir at Law and The Heart of Mid- lothian were presented to a bumper house. Save for a few irregular engagements, the theatre stood empty for three or four years, when an unexplained fire reduced the place to PERTH DRAMATIC RECORDS. 263 ruins. So ended the career of the Perth house, which had first given haven to the immortalised Rob Roy. To Corbett Ryder, it was abundantly evident that the old theatre was an impossible house if he desired to continue his policy of providing the best in Drama for his Perth friends. There were times, when a special engagement took place, that he was unable to cope with the crowd. Those who booked seats, as was the custom, sent their servants in advance to retain them till their arrival, and it was with difficulty sometimes the servants could get out. Ryder conceived the idea of erecting a new theatre, and on 1 4th August, 1 8 1 8, an appeal was made for subscribers. The proposal was taken up enthusiastically by influential citizens, and the concrete result was the erection of the Theatre Royal, Perth, situate at the junction of AthoU Street and Kinnoul Street, which was opened on 28th August, 1820. Again, as in the case of Glasgow, Aberdeen, and Dundee, Kirk and Stage interchanged their amenities — the theatre was built on the foundation of the old Black- friars Monastery, actually upon the foimdation 264 THE SCOTS STAGE. walls— thus providing another version of the old h>Tnn, ** the stage's sure foundation," etc. Here is the opening play bill: — THEATRE ROYAL, PERTH. Mr. RYDER is proud to announce to the Nobility, Gentry, and Inhabitants in general in Perth and the surrounding country, that he will have the honour of OPENING the NEW THEATRE on MONDAY EVENING, Aug. 28, 1820. (For a limited visit, in the present instance, of one Fortnight.) On which occasion he has been so fortunate as to engage MR. WILLIAM MACREADY, Principal Performer of the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, who will, in SIX SUCCESSIVE NIGHTS, appear in a selection of his most favourite characters. The Theatre opens with Shakespeare's Tragedy of « MACBETH," The part of Macbeth by Mr. Macready. Terms of admission during Mr. Macready 's Nights, and other regulations, will appear in a future Advertise- ment and Bills of the day. MONDAY, - " Macbeth," - Macbeth by Mr. Macready. TUESDAY, - " Virginias," - Virginias by Mr. Macready. Virginia by Miss Atkins. WEDNESDAY, "Richard III.," Richard by Mr. Macready. THURSDAY, "Coriolanus," Coriolanas by Mr. Macready. FRIDAY, - " Virginias," - Virginias by Mr. Macready. SATURDAY, "Romeo and Juliet." Romeo by Mr. Macready. PERTH DRAMATIC RECORDS. 265 The theatre accommodated five hundred, consisted of a pit, nine dress circle boxes, an upper gallery and two gallery boxes, where the musicians were placed, there being no orchestral dock in the stage front. Macready, who was the opening '* star," was then twenty-seven years of age, and in his first performance of Macbeth, he kept the audience " spell-bound from start to finish." The fort- night's engagement was a huge success. Miss Atkins was the daughter of Ryder's scene painter, and it was she who subsequently be- came Mrs. William Macready. The piquant details of the romance of the austere tragedian and the unsophisticated maid are fully set forth in Macready's Reminiscences. " My oppor- tunities of conversation with this interesting; creature," wrote Macready, ** were very fre- quent, which, as they occurred, 1 grew less and less desirous of avoiding. Her strong senscj and unaffected warmth of feeling received additional charm from the perfect artlessness with which she ventured her opinions. The interest with which I regarded her 1 persuaded myself was that of an older friend, and partook i8 266 THE SCOTS STAGE. of a paternal character. All the advice my experience could give her in her professional studies she gratefully accepted and skilfully applied," and so forth. If William was so priggish at twenty-seven years of age — he must have been " gey ill " to live with. And yet they say the absence of a sense of htunour is a Scots trait ! Still Macready married the lass on 24th June, 1824, and they lived ** happily ever afterwards." For the week following this engagement, Ryder had booked Young of Covent Garden, who appeared for five nights in The Revenge, The Jealous Wife, and Hamlet. Ryder brought Mackay from Edinburgh to support him. Sporadically during the succeeding months, the perennial Rob Roy appeared in the Theatre Royal bill, once under the patronage of the Stewards of the Perth Races, and again of that of the members of the local Gaelic Society, and always to crowded audiences. On 6th October the musical drama, Guy Mannering was pro- duced by Ryder's company before an en- thusiastic house, the company ending the entertainment with the musical farce, The PERTH DRAMATIC RECORDS. 267 Highland Reel. To Mackay, the manager allowed a special benefit at the end of the season, when Rob Roy was presented for ** the 126th and last time." The " star " chosen by Ryder to initiate his second year was Terry, the eminent comedian, famous then for his Sir Peter Teazle. Terry, appeared in The School for Scandal on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday to allow of other towns witnessing the famous actor. Macbeth was chosen by Terry for his Friday, evening's bill, when he also appeared in The Critic, as an after-piece, and during the follow- ing week he assumed the role of Dominie Sampson in Guy Mannering. Terry was not a financial success — evidently his excellent work in London was not properly known. The Theatre Royal's first grand pantomime. The Forty Thieves, was produced on 12th January, 1 82 1, being preceded by the tragedy, Brutus: or the Fall of Tarquin. To those who consider the amusement of the bairns was neglected in the old days, it will be of interest to note that the pantomime was repeated '* For the Benefit of the Juveniles of Perth " on Wednesday, 268 THE SCOTS STAGE. 31st January, and was followed by Tarn o' Shunter and His Mare Meg. A production of Henry VI U. met with a great reception, and had to be repeated the following night. Sir Walter Scott's new play, The Antiquary, was staged on February 19th. Ryder chose Henry /V. as his benefit piece, appearing him- self in the part of FalStaff. In his absence, the theatre harboured a good many varied entertainments; concerts; a grand panorama, '* The Bombardment of Algiers " ; the three celebrated vocalists. Miss Wilson, Mr. Horn, and Mr. Welsh, in the comic opera. Love in a Village ; and it was not until September that the theatre resumed its regular programme of plays, when Talbot, the well-known player, opened up in Sheridan's Pizarro, appearing subsequently in The Orphan of Geneva, The Merry Wives of Windsor, The Suspicious Husband, The Clandestine Husband, and sundry other favourite pieces of the period. Talbot was regarded as an excellent actor, polished in manner, and with a good many, natural graces. The staging of Hallowe'en, or Vampire and Water Kelpie deserves mention PERTH DRAMATIC RECORDS. 269 on accoiint of the special scenery that had been prepared, and the care that was exercised in weaving the national airs into the thread of the story. Ryder finished up his season in November, and, finding business so good at his Aberdeen Theatre, did not return until 12th March, 1822. In his absence, several variety performances occupied the stage, among others Chalon, the Illusionist; and an Indian juggler; O'Brian, the Irish Giant, 7 feet, 9 inches; Mrs. Cook, giantess, 7 feet; and the Yorkshire Little Man, 30 inches high. The next item of importance was the first appearance of Kean in Perth Theatre Royal, where he opened up in Richard III. Owing to the great expense incurred, prices were ad- vanced to 5s., 3s., and gallery 2s., and no half- time price allowed. Evidently the " raising " had its effect on the attendance, for Kean played to rather sparse audiences on the first three nights. Thursday night found a crowded house — the fame of his acting had spread. With characteristic caution, the Scots ** gods " had decided that Kean was worth *' the extra shilling." The effect of his Othello upon the 270 THE SCOTS STAGE. audience was electrical, and roused them to the highest pitch of enthusiasm. Magnificent houses followed on Friday and Saturday evening to witness his Sir Giles Overreach and King Lear. Theatre-goers who lately have witnessed in the Revues the novelty of actors and actresses acting from the auditorium will be surprised to learn that Ryder's company produced a comic interlude before the curtain, in October, 1822, when the lessee took the part of the manager and the characters appearing in the ** house " included Sir Geoffrey Lounge (a gent in the boxes), Terence O'Bog (an Irishman in the pit), Sandy M*Craw (a Scotchman in the gallery), and Joe Clod (fra' Yorkshire, also in the gallery). Hitherto, Rob Roy was regarded as having only three principal r61es. It was left to the famous Miss Stephens and Mr. Leoni Lee to make Diana Vernon and Francis Osbaldistone outstanding parts, and place the famous solos and duets in their right relationship with the play. According to the reports of the audience of that date, the encomiums passed upon the PERTH DRAMATIC RECORDS. 271 singing of these two were exceptionally laudatory. The Perthshire County families made the occasion of Stephens-Lee visit quite an '* Opera " function. Love in a Village and The Beggar's Opera were produced, and Miss Stephens scored a distinct success also in Guy Mannering. The appearance of the Edinburgh Caledonian Theatre company proved the beginning of the end of Ryder's connection with Perth, for a year or two. An excellent round of plays was given, including the new drama, George Heriot, or The Fortunes of Nigel. One critic condemned this piece because ** no sooner did one character appear and make himself known than he was withdrawn to allow of another to come on the stage." Bothwell Brig proved the favourite play during the Perth Race Week, and threatened temporarily to out -rival Rob Roy. During the theatrical recess, Catalini, the famous Italian! vocalist, appeared at the Royal before large but select audiences — the admission was half-a- guinea. Ryder gave his farewell night to Perth on December 25th, 1824, and how keenly his 272 THE SCOTS STAGE. old friends felt his forsaking of them is evinced by a local historian: — *' Mr. Ryder opened the New Theatre in the close of 1820 and succeeded amazingly. for five years. But success made him ambitious, and, leasing the Caledonian Theatre (formerly Corri's Rooms) of Edin- burgh, in opposition to the Theatre Royal, he found it a ruinous speculation from which he never recovered." The next tenants of the Theatre Royal came in the persons of Jones, and Mackay — the famous Bailie — who performed on the opening night. In the language of our informant, the theatre was " opened with gas," thus displacing wax, as wax had previously displaced oil for lighting purposes. The company of Edinburgh comedians started operations on 22nd August, 1825, with Laugh When You Can and Raising the Wind, titles which bore significant mean- ings. As most of the players were Perth favourites, good business was the order of the day, and an additional attraction was the revival of the old ** half-time " arrangements. Among the pieces staged by Jones and Mackay were PERTH DRAMATIC RECORDS. 273 Mary Stuart (founded on The Abbot) and Waver ley, the latter a failure. Jones opened up his second season single-handed in August, 1826, and brought most of the leading per- formers from the Edinburgh Theatre Royal, including Mrs. Stanley as leading lady and Stanley as his leading comedian. Terry starred in The Devil and Dr. Faustus, and, for an Englishman, he tried the doubtful experiment of playing the Bailie in Rob Roy, although it is satisfactory to hear that he was *' no' bad for an Englishman." Cramond Brig proved a favourite, with Pritchard as an ideal James VI. ; and Miss Murray, as Marion Howe, *' scored heavily." The famous Miss Noel, the vocalist, from Drury Lane and Covent Garden, gained high praise in such parts as Rosetta, Rosina, Amcetta, and Diana Vernon. The Gowrie Conspiracy, a new play of local import, was produced by Jones, who closed a highly success- ful season on the 7th October with a perform- ance of The School for Scandal, in which he had secured the special services of Mrs. Henry Siddons as Lady Teazle. At the end of this third season, Jones announced in his valedictory 274 THE SCOTS STAGE. speech that he had rehnquished his manage- ment for two reasons — the unfavourable period of the season at which only he could visit Perth — ^and the fact that he could not imdertake the financial responsibility of attracting London "stars." Mr. C. Bass, of the Dundee Theatre, next took up the reins of management, and remem- bering the theatrical proverb, ** when in doubt play Rob Roy" his inaugural performance con- sisted of Perth's favourite piece, in which he was successful in obtaining the assistance of Mackay. Bass himself played the outlaw, and Mrs. Bass, Diana Vernon. An enthusiastic and crowded audience gave a splendid start-off for the season, and as the lessee had engaged a carefully selected stock company, which in- cluded Pritchard, an old favourite, the Misses Julia, Mrs. Nicol, Mrs. Power, Mr. and Mrs. Tyrer, Taylor, and a fairly large and capable orchestra, success was assured. The last pre- caution was necessary, as the stock companies were now supposed to add opera to their repertoire, and the current craze for melodrama also demanded a good deal of incidental PERTH DRAMATIC RECORDS. 275 *' fiddling." When Bass re-opened in the following January, he chose Macbeth, giving a good, sound interpretation of the part. The incidental music to Macbeth had, it was said, never been so finely rendered in the town. Succeeding programmes during the next few months were devoted to the ordinary " mixture as before " of drama, melodrama, farce, and the houses were accordingly thin. To make matters worse, a private house, known as the Minor Theatre, was doing business in a dilapidated building in Canal Street, and helped to take away some of the playgoers who affected this '* penny gaff." Its career was summarily ended by a police-court prosecution, which saw the last of the *' Barn Stormers." Still, theatrical business was generally very bad throughout the kingdom in 1828, and Bass had his fair share, poor as that was. In March the actor-manager secured Vandenhoff for a four- night engagement in Coriolanus, Othello, Macbeth, and Hamlet. Coriolanus was re- garded as Vandenhoff's masterpiece, but he played only to indifferent audiences in Perth. A month later, T. P. Cooke came along to 276 THE SCOTS STAGE. present his nautical dramas, and his opening audience consisted of ** fifteen people, in the pit." It was on 23rd September that Bass had the honour of producing his version of The Fair Maid of Perth, five months after the London publication of Scott's novel. An over- flowing audience applauded the drama, and the piece ran for nine nights. Scott's then recent drama. The Two Drovers, was staged during the Hunt Race Week. When Bass re-opened the Theatre Royal in February, 1829, he decided to give the citizens an opportunity of hearing the " stars " he had brought to his Dundee house. These included Mademoiselle Rosier, the London danseuse, and Amherst, the pantomimist, from Covent Garden, in The Dumb Girl of Genoa, a piece revived in 1 91 6 for film- work under the name of The Dumb Girl of Portico, with Mme. Pavlova in the name-part. About this time Bass gave Perth a rest from his labours — his seasons be- came less frequent — the Caledonian Theatre, Edinburgh, was occupying his attention. In January, 1830, he brought the London actress, Miss Jarman, to Perth, and arranged her PERTH DRAMATIC RECORDS. 277 appearance in Romeo and Juliet and The Soldier's Daughter. Vandenhoff was another visitor; and in February the celebrated Braham performed for three nights in The Devil's Bridge, Duenna, and The Waterman. The audiences were only moderate — advanced prices and the evangelical revival were put down as the reason why, but the most probable cause seemed to be the poor quality of the stock players. At any rate, Bass now dropped his tenancy. Hooper's Touring Company is recorded as occupying the boards of the Royal for a week, in comedy and musical farce, but we cannot trace what they performed. Mr. Jones, courageous as ever, gave Perth another trial, opening up with an excellent company, who appeared in Wild Oats on 2nd July, 1830. It may here be noted that Perth was evidently regarded by the Edinburgh managers as a stop-gap, otherwise they would hardly have chosen the theatrical dog-days in which to run a normal season. It speaks volumes for the theatrical enthusiasm of Perth playgoers that in the hottest days of the year they were prepared to support the Drama. To 278 THE SCOTS STAGE. Manager Jones remains the credit of giving John Wilson, the great Scottish tenor, the opportunity to qualify himself for his future operatic work. Wilson, from a position at the composing case in a printer's office, by dint of hard work, had been able to secure the precentor's post at St. Mary's Parish Church, Edinburgh . Then he decided to devote himself to the stage, and, having met with success in the first performance of Guy Mannering, he decided that the best way to qualify himself for the position of operatic star was to undergo the excellent histrionic training that could be, obtained in the repertoire of a stock company. His subsequent success in London and the English provinces proved the wisdom of his judgment, although it cannot be said that he was ever a notable actor. Still, his patient study of acting and singing finally gained for him the reputation of being the greatest vocalist that Scotland had given to the stage for fifty years. In fine, he was the Durward Lely of his day. The audiences were pretty sparse at the opening nights of the Jones Stock Company shows. But soon the fame of Wilson's singing PERTH DRAMATIC RECORDS. 279 brought the crowds along, and, as Jones had also engaged that excellent vocalist, Miss Tunstall, there was a double reason for play- going. Jones himself will chiefly be remem- bered for his exquisite performance of Lord Ogleby in The Clandestine Marriage, in which part the London press said he challenged com- parison with Farren. Romeo and Juliet and The Beggar's Opera gave Wilson a chance of appearing in standard parts, in which he acquitted himself admirably. It was on 12th September, 1830, that John Wilson chose to give his '* extra " benefit and say farewell to Perth Theatre Royal, where he had submitted himself to so strenuous an apprenticeship. In The Devil's Bridge he took the part of Count Belino, followed by the farce, Matrimony, and the musical sketch, The Festival of Apollo. The tenors of that day were decidedly more Trojan than the contemporary product. Here are a few of the songs sung at his benefit: solo from Weber's Der Frelschutz, ** The Picture Songs," ** The Flowers of the Forest," ** The Minstrel Boy," duet in Berl a mo tuttl iro, and ** The Bay of Biscay," in addition to 280 THE SCOTS STAGE. his sustaining principal solos in the three plays mentioned. With the year 1830, the passion for theatricals began to show a steady decline. There were many reasons adduced for this, the favourite, among others, being that immemorial one, the decay of Drama. As this complaint is fairly familiar to every student of dramatic history, recurring as it does every thirty or odd years in the critical documents of dramatic literature throughout Europe, it would be futile work to examine the evidence. The more probable reason was the change in the political outlook. Perth, like other Scottish cities, was beginning to feel its electoral feet. It was the period of gestation prior to the birth of the Reform Bill of 1832. Perth had its amateur politicians too, and with such a live subject as universal suffrage to discuss in its leisure hours, it would be unnatural to think a Scot could find much to interest in the fustian make-believe of play-acting. And theatrical managers were beginning to find that the Perth folk were "kittle kattle " to please. Still, Ryder re- turned for a season in 1830, opening up during PERTH DRAMATIC RECORDS. 281 the Race Week, when he introduced his son, Thomas Ryder, a promising comedian, who played Dougal in Rob Roy. During their stay, the company appeared in tragedy, melodrama, and comedy. When he played another season, which commenced on May 2nd, 183 1, Ryder brought over a strong company from Aberdeen, and chose the opera. The Marriage of Figaro, as his opening item, in which he presented the well-known vocalist, Miss Estcourt Wells, who was supported by several other promising singers, in addition to the members of an excellent stock company. The operas of Guy Mannering and The Duenna were also sub- mitted, but, despite all these attractions and a quite strong selection of tragedies and dramas, the houses were only fair — and not even *' set fair." In October of the year. Crisp's Touring Company fulfilled a week's engagement at the Theatre Royal in the successful Adelphi melo- drama, A Wreck on Shore, or a Bridegroom from the Sea. The greatest event in the musical history of Perth to be recorded is the visit of Paganini on 8th November, 1831, when, although the prices 19 282 THE SCOTS STAGE. had been raised more than trebly (boxes and pit 7s. 6d. and gallery 3s. 6d.), a packed house greeted him and accorded him a tumultuous reception. The following year was that of the cholera plague^ and, save for an occasional concert, the theatre stood empty, and there seemed so little prospect of a tenant that it was proposed to sell the property, one gentleman making an offer of £800 for a building which originally cost £3,000. Concerts and variety entertainments were the only and irregular bookings at the Royal during the succeeding years, one quaint programme announcing ** Guiseppe Pariss from Regent Street, London," with his *' Industrious Living Fleas," shewing what " educated fleas " could do. Old circus-goers will note with interest that Cooke's Royal Circus, in April of 1836, occupied an amphitheatre of ninety square feet, capable of accommodating 1,500 persons, at the south end of North Inch, and did very good business during its two months' stay, presenting, among pieces, characters, and sketches, Alex- ander the Great, Falstaff, Shylock the Jew, PERTH DRAMATIC RECORDS. 283 Richard III., Doncaster in miniature, etc. Wombwell's Grand National Menagerie and " greatest show on earth " paid Perth a week's visit, but the announcement read that it was ** the last time the menagerie " would visit the north of Scotland, as it could not travel twenty, miles without paying at least £io for toll money, owing to the number of horses and waggons carried. It was not till 27th September, 1836, that Ryder found courage to try Perth again, and when he did it was to re -open in Rob Roy for the 551st time. After a few weeks of playing, he reduced his prices, and in this way secured ample audiences. It was on November 18, 1836, that he announced his own benefit and last appearance in Perth in Rob Roy, when he was accorded a tremendous reception. To finish his Perth season with eclat, G. V. Brooke was engaged, and the young tragedian had the special support of Mrs. Newcombe, late leading actress at the Adelphi Theatre, Edin- burgh. On this occasion he appeared in Hamlet, The Honeymoon, and William Tell. Young Ryder opened the Theatre the 284 THE SCOTS STAGE. fiollowing year under his father's management, introducing Sinclair, the well-known vocalist, as a '* star," in The Bogle of the Clyde, or The Bailie Bewitched. The repertoire was wide in scope and included Shakespearean tragedy, drama, farce, and pantomime, a special feature being its generous supply of Scottish drama. When Sheridan Knowles and Miss Elphin- stone were announced for a six nights' engage- ment, to commence i8th April, 1839, ^^^Y had prepared a programme which included the new five- act play. The Maid Mariendorff , The Love Chase, The Hunchback, Woman's Wit, The Wrecker's Daughter, and William Tell. But although the performers in both cases bore high reputations, and it was considered that a greater dramatic treat had never been offered to Perth, the houses were not such as to encourage Ryder to incur further expensive engagements. It was urged, however, that this was hardly a fair test of the strength of Perth's playgoing en- thusiasm, as the visit of the Circuit Court had; provided a large proportion of the usual play- goers with a better thrill, in the form of criminal trials which often lasted well on into the night. PERTH DRAMATIC RECORDS. 285 In the years that followed, Perth seems to, have turned its attention to music, for lack of a sufficiency of dramatic talent upon which to exercise its taste. Young Ryder seems to have thought that Perth was only worth risking financially for short seasons, and these he timed, during the next few years, to start during the Perth Race Week. After noting a visit from the African Roscius, Ira Aldridge, in 1840, the re-appearance and farewell visit to Perth of Henry Johnston in 1 84 1, there remains only to record a six-night visit by G. V. Brooke in his repertoire. The great Braham, now getting on in years, had strengthened his entertainment with the in- clusion of his two sons, Charles and Hamilton Braham, and Perth was not slow to give thejm a rousing welcome when the family party came to the Theatre Royal on i6th March, 1844. More and more the musical enthusiasts found the theatre unfitted for concert work, and it was in 1845 steps were taken to erect the City Hall. So with the mention of the appearance of she. whom Perth folks regarded as ** the greatest dramatic female star that ever walked the 286 THE SCOTS STAGE boards of Perth/' this brief summary must end. Helen Faucit was engaged in May, 1845, ^^^ played to crowded houses during her short visit, when she appeared in The Lady of Lyons, Romeo and Juliet, Otway's Belvidere, and The Hunchback. In view of the statement with which this chapter opened, why, it may be asked, did Perth fall so badly from dramatic grace? The answer is simple. The playgoing instinct grows by what it feeds on. If you try to nurture it upon scraps administered at irregular intervals, the result will be the same as that in the human frame. It will dwindle away for lack of a sufficiency of nourishemnt. This is what happened to Perth, and had happened to so many other cities. With which moral, as all good Scottish books should have a moral, this volimie must end. \ BIBLIOGRAPHY. Morren's "Annals of the General Assembly/ of the Church of Scotland, from 1739-1766. Edin., 1838. Leading Poets of Scotland. By W. J. Kaye. 1891. Journal of James Hart. Edin., 1832. Petrie's Church History (Acts of Assembly). 1574. Phllotus: a Comedy. Printed by Bannatyne Club. Edin., 1835. John Hill Burton's History of Scotland. 1853. General Index to the Acts of the Parliament of Scotland. 1875. Domestic Annals of Scotland, 1858-187^1. Robert Chambers. Notes and Documents Illustrative of the Literary History of Glasgow during the greater part of last Century. Glasgow, 1831. Memorials of the Troubles in Scotland and England, 162^-164f. By John Spalding. The History of Edinburgh. By Hugh Arnot. 1816. History of Scotland. By Patrick Anderson. History of Scotland. By Thomas Wright, F.S.A. Percy's Eeliques. The Chronicle of Fife. Recollections of an Actor. By T. Donaldson. 288 THE SCOTS STAGE. Royal Progresses in Scotland. By Sir D. Lauder. 1843. Edinburgh, Past and Present. By J. B. Gillies. 1886. Old and New Edinburgh. By James Grant. Diary of Robert Birrel, 1532-1605. Diary of James Melvilh 1556-1601. Bannatyne Club, Edin., 1829. Works of Allan Ra^nsay. Annals of the Scottish Stage. By J. C. Dibdin. 1888. The Glasgow Stage. By W. Baynhani. 1892. History of the Burgh of Canongate, Edinburgh. 1886. Warton's History of Scotland. The Book of Bon- Accord. By Joseph Robertson. History of Scotland. By P. F. Tytler. Less-known British Poets. By Rev. Geo. GilfiUan. Analecta Scotica: Collections of Civil, Ecclesiastical^ and Literary History of Scotland. 2 vols. Edin., 1834. A History of Moray and Nairn. By Charles Rampini, LL.D. 1897. The Playhouse of Bon- Accord. By J. M. Bulloch. The Dundee Stage. By Frank Boyd. The Drama in Perth. By Peter Baxter. Fairport from the Footlights. By P. Charles Carragher. Glasgow: Past and Present. Illustrated in Dean of Guild Reports. 1884. A Scotch Playhouse. By J. Keith Angus. D. Wyllie & Son, Aberdeen. 1878. BIBLIOGRAPHY. 289 The History of Glasgow. By George MacGregor. 1881. The History of the Scottish Stage. John Jackson. Edin., 1793. 'Ancient Poetry. Warton. The Book of Universal Kirk. Calderwood. History of Scotland. Spottiswoode. Gibbon's History of Glasgow. Macdonald's History of Scotland. Me^norahilia of the City of Glasgow: Selected from the Minute Books of the Burgh. Maclehose, 1868. Ecclesiastical Records: Selections from the Registers of the Presbytery of Lanark, a.d. 1623-1709. Abbotsford Club. Edin., 1839. Extracts from the Records of the Burgh of Glasgow. Edited by James Marwick. Scottish Burghs Record Society. 1876. 'A History of the Border Counties. By Sir George Douglas, Bart., M.A. Nugce Scoticce, a.d. PiW-1795. Edited by J. Maid- ment. Edin., 1829. Church History of Scotland. By Rev. J. Cunningham, Minister of Crieff. Extracts from the Records of the Royal Burgh of Stirling, a.d. 1519-1666 and a.d. 1667-1752. Glasgow, 1889. Illustrations of Scottish History, 12th to 16th Century. Selected from Unpublished MSS. in the British Museum and the Tower of London. Maitland Club. Glasgow, 1834. 290 THE SCOTS STAGE. Records of the Presbyteries of Inverness and Ding- wall, WfS'iGSS. Edited by W. Mackay. Scottish Historical Society. Edin., 1896. Charters and Documents Relating to the Burgh of Peebles, a.d. 1165-1710. Scottish Burgh Records Society. 1872. Ecclesiastical Records: Selections from the Minutes of the Presbyteries of St. Andrews and Cupar, A.D. 16^1-1698. Published 1837. Ecclesiastical Records: Selections from the Minutes of the Synod of Fife, a.d. 1611-1687. Abbotsford Club. Published 1837. Memoirs of His Own Life. By Sir James Melville of Halhill. 1549-1593. Edinburgh, 1837. A History of the County of Inverness. J. Cameron Lee.s, LL.D., F.S.A. Blackwood, 1898. A History of Fife and Kinross. By Sheriff ^. J. G. Mackay. Blackwood, 1896. Merchant and Craft Guilds: A History of the Aber- deen Incorporated Trades. By Ebenezer Bain. 1887. A Diurnal of Remarkable Occurrents that have passed within the Country of Scotland since the Death of James IV. (1513) till the year 1575. Banna- tyne Club. 1833. Records of the Burgh of Prestwick, a.d. 1^70-1782. Glasgow, 1834. Extracts from the Council Register of the Burgh of Aberdeen, WiS-17^7. Scottish Burgh Records Society. 2 vols. 1872. BIBLIOGRAPHY. 291 Chronicle of Perth: A Register of Remarkable Occurrences, 1210-1668. Edited by James Maid- ment. 2 vols. Edin., 1831. The Spottiswoode Miscellany. Edited by James Maidmeut. 2 vols. Edin., 1844. Ancient Laws and Customs : The Burghs of Scotland. Edited' by C. Innes. Scottish Burgh Records Society. 1868. Miscellany of the Scottish History Society. Edin., 1893. The Bannatyne Miscellany, containing Original Papers chiefly relating to the History and Literature of Scotland. Edited by Sir Walter Scott. 3 vols. Edin., 1827-1855. NugcB Antiquce. Privy Council Records. 1673. Records of the Aberdeen Kirk Sessions. Sketches of Early Scottish History. Weldon's Secret History of Scotland. Maitland Club. The County History of Scotland. Edin., 1896. The Chronicle of Picts and Scots and Early Scottish Memorials. By W. F. Skene. Ancient Scots Poems. 1786. Scottish Church History. Walker. Scotland as It Was and Is. By the Duke of Argyll. Ancient Mysteries from the Digby MSS. Preserved in the Bodleian Library, Oxford. Edited by T. Sharpe. Abbotsford Club. 1835. Nodes Haudckianm; or, Ye Drama on ye Borders, being ye Feates and Adventures of a Dramatic Company. 1840. 292 THE SCOTS STAGE. A History of Dumfries and Galloway. By Sir Herbert Maxwell, Bart., M.P. 1896. 'Acts and Proceedings of the General Assembly of the Kirk of Scotland from the year 1560-1618. Bannatyne Club, Edinburgh. 1839. Burns' History of Parish Registers. Extracts frotn the Kirk Session Books of Glasgow. Edin., 1829. The Siege of the Castle of Edinburgh, 1689. Banna- tyne Club. Edin., 1828. Annals of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. Published 1838. Diary of Public Transactions, etc., in Scotland, 1650- 1667. John NicoU. Edin., 1836. Miscellany of the Scottish History Society. Edin., 1893. History of the Kirk of Scotland. By David Calder- wood. 8 vols. Edin., 1842-9. INDEX Abbot and Prior of Bon- Accord, 40, 46, 47, 49, 51. Abbot of Unreason, 24, 30, 74. Aberdeen, 15, 23, 39-62, 111, 156, 172. Theatre Royal, 180, 269, 281. Actor hung as thief, 83. Actor's ear burned, 83. Acts of General Assembly, 34, 78, 81, 82, 83, 85, 122. Acts of Parliament, 73, 80, 112, 130. Adam's Company, 181. Addison, Laura, actress, 239. Adelphi Theatre, Edinburgh, 137, 146, 148, 283. Adelphi Theatre, Glasgow, 234, 238, 241, 242. Advocates' Library, 17. African, The, 254. Agis, 117, 128. Aitken, Francis, lessee, 203, 211, 214. Aitken, James, actor, 225. Aladdin, 229. Aldridge Family, 180. Aldridge, Ira, the African Roscius, 176, 285. Alexander, J. H., 226, 227, 231, 232, 236, 237, 239, 240. Alexander III., 13. Alexandre, M., ventriloquist, 171. Alsop, Mrs., actress, 262. Alston Street Theatre, Glasgow, 194, 195. Amherst, pantomimist, 276. Analecta Scotica, 52. Anderson, Professor, Wizard of the North, 181, 234, 240, 241. Antiquary , The, 152, 268. Arbroath, 152, 153, 154, 155. Archcelogica Scotica, 98. Archery, 21, 91, 101. Armstrong, Archie, king's fool, 35. Arnot, Hugh, 187. Aston, Anthony, 103, 107, 108, 191. Aston 's Theatre, 104. As You Like It, 234, 236, 256, 260. Atkins, Miss, actress (Mrs. Macready), 264, 265. Bailey, Mr. and Mrs., 161. Baillie, Joanna, 142. Balls, 96, 97, 190. Banks, equestrian, 87. Bannatyne Club, 78. Bannister, Jack, 204, 210. Barbour, Archdeacon John, 14, 15. Bard, Office of, 14, 22. Barnwell, George, 160, 248. Barrett, Wilson, 155. 294 THE SCOTS STAGE. Barry, "silver-toned," 127, 133. Barry, Shell, 155. Bass, C, manager, 146, 172, 173, 174, 175, 274, 275, 276, 277. Bateman, Isabel, 155. Battle of Inch, The, 227. Baynham, G. W., 209, 210, 231. Beatt and Love, managers, 194, 195, 196, 197, 198. Beaufort, Jane, 18. Beaumont (of Dundee and Perth), 164, 251. Bedford, Paul, 149. Beggar's Opera, The, 108, 109, 110, 160, 191, 252, 255, 271, 279. Belcher, prize-fighter, 165. Bell, Master David, thirteen- year-old prodigy, 174. Bellamy, George Anne, 56, 113, 133, 193, 194, 195, 196, 197. Bell's Wynd Assembly, 101. Belvidere, Otway's, 286. Belzoni, strong man, 254, 256. Bertram, a tragedy, 259. Bertram, Henry, vocalist, 171. Betty, Master, 141, 204, 206. Birch's Diary, Robert, 87. Birrell's Diary, 78. Bishop's Palace, 193. Black Bull Inn, 196, 197, 210. Bland, actor, 132, 133. Blind Bargain, The, 252. Blind Harry, 16. Blude, The Haly, 23, 41. Bogle of the Clyde, The, 284. Bohemian Girl, The, 241. Bon- Accord Day, 52. Bon-Accord, origin of word, 40. Bon-Accord, Lords of, 52. Book of Bon- Accord, 49, 61. Book of Universal Kirk, 31. Booth, actor, 262. Booth, Miss S., actress, 172. Border Ballad, 12. Bothwell Brig, 271. Bower, Walter, 13. Boy Bishop, 24. Boyd, Frank, author of The Dundee Stage, 161. Brahara, 174, *210, 230, 277, 285. Brooke, G. V., 60, 149, 177, 178, 232, 283, 285. Bride of Lammermoor, The, 231. Brunne, Robert de, 12. Brut, The, 15. Brutus: or The Fall of Tarquin, 219, 221, 267. Buffoons, 22. Burbage, Richard, 59, 156. Burns' "Holy Fair," 140. Burrell's Close, Glasgow, 191, 192. Burroughs, W., lessee, 175. Calcraft, tragedian, 170. Calderwood, historian, 80. Caledonian Theatre, Edinburgh, 146, 171, 271, 272, 276. Caledonian Theatre, Glasgow, 226. Calvert, lessee of Hibernian Theatre, 60, 170, 242, 243. Campbell, Thomas, the poet, 135, 206. Candlemas Day, mvstery play, 41. Canongate Theatre, 54, 103, 113, 116, 117, 124, 125, 129, 130, 131 133 Cape Club", The, 128. Carls, 246. Carlyle, Reverend Dr., 118, 124, 125. CaiTuber's Close Theatre, 108, 112, 120. Castle of Andalusia, The, opera, 252. Catalini, vocalist, 210, 271. Cato, 248, 257. Celeste, Madame, 149. INDEX. 295 Censors, 81. Chalmers. Dr., 225. Charles I., 92, 248. Charles the First, 138. Cheats of Seapin, 103. Cherry and Fair Star, 241. Chevallier, Madame, dancer, 176. Child of Nature, 257. Chippendale, 154, 170. Christis Kirk on the Green, 19. Cinderella, 238, 252. Circus, The, Edinburgh, 59, 137, 138. Citizen, The, 197, 254. City Theatre, Glasgow, 241, 242. Clandestine Husband, The, 268. Clandestine Marriage, The, 279. Coachy's Playhouse, Aberdeen, 57. Colman, the younger, 61. Command Performance, Edin- burgh, 145. Commissary, The, 132. Comflaynt of the Pafingo, 29. Comflaynt of Scotland, 64. Concert, evasion, 121. Conversion of Saul 41. Cooke, George Frederick, 210, 214, 215, 216, 261. Cooke, T. P., 60, 173, 231, 275. Cooke's Royal Circus, 242, 282. Coriolanus, 170, 264, 275. Corpus Christi Play, 46, 246. Corri, Italian actor, 138. Corri's Rooms, 142, 145, 272. Covent Garden, 128, 143. Cramond Brig, 150, 231, 273. Crisp, Mr. and Mrs., players, 177. Critic, The, 267. Cronykil of Scotland, An Orygnale, 16. Crook, manager of Paniheon Company, 170. Cuk-stool, 30, 74. Cupar, 25, 69. Cunningham's History of Scot- land, 125. Cure for the Heartache, A, 255. D. Dah-, Irish comedian, 177, 178. Dancers, 22, 69, 191. Dancing, 64, 91, 99, 101, 189. Dancing Masters, 96, 189, 190, 192. Davidsone, John, dramatist, 32. Deacon Brodie, 128. Der Freischutz, 228, 242, 279. Deserter of Naples, The, 252. Devil a7id Dr. Faustus, The, 273. Devil to Pay, The, 111, 157. Devil's Bridge, The, 277, 279. Dibdin, James C, 102. Digges, West, 55, 56, 113, 117, 132, 133, 193, 198. Dionysius the Tyrant, 25, 156. Do You Ever Take Tour Wife? 180. Dog Drama, 179. " Dominion of Fancy, The," 226. Dominique, acrobat, 192, 193. Don Giovanni, 223. Don Quixot in England, 160. Donaldson's Recollections of an Actor, 137. Douglas, 56, 116, 117, 125, 126, 127, 135, 136, 141, 204, 255. Douglas, Gavin, 20. Dowton, actor, 165, 170, 210. Drama, Essay on The, Scott's, 70. Dromedary, 94, 128. Drummond of Havrthornden, 91, 92. Dryden, 98. Ducrow, Andrew, 230, 232. Ducrow's Arena, Hope Street, Glasgow, 232. Duenna, The, 174, 277, 281. Duke of Hamilton, The, 136. 296 THE SCOTS STAGE. Duke of York's Company, 98. Dumb Girl of Genoa, The, 276. Dumfries Theatre, 164, 178. Dunbar, William, 19, 50, 51, 67, 68. Duncan, Miss, comedienne, 168, 202, 203, 213. Dundee, 39, 58, 111, 154, 155, 157, 177. Royal Victoria Theatre, 181. Theatre Royal, 165, 171, 172, 174, 178, 179, 181. Dundee, Thistle Hall, 176, 177. Dunfermline, 31, 81. Dunlop Street Theatre, Glas- gow, 199, 200, 201, 229, 231, 236. Dunsmore, Mrs., actress, 182. Dwarf, 269. E. Edinburgh, 32, 39, 55, 58, 157, 160. Edinburgh actors, 54, 250, 251, 257. Edinburgh, Theatre Royal, 128, 129, 130, 133, 138, 141, 142, 144, 147, 148, 149, 272, 273. Edinburgh Theatrical Fund, 147. Edinburgh Town Council, 29, 104, 108. Elders at May plays, 83. Ellendeu, dramatist and actor, 179, 182. Elliston, 210. Elphinstone, Miss, actress, 176, 284. Emery, actor, 142, 210, English comedians, 67, 88, 109. Erskine, 107. Essay on Romance, Scott's, 10. Essay on The Drama, 70. Esten, Mrs., actress, 137. Eurc, Sir William, 70. F. Fairport Theatre, 152. Fairfort from the Footlights, 152. Fair Maid of Perth, 276. Fair Penitent, The, 217. Falkirk, The Battle of, 147. Farces, 53, 73. Farren, Miss, actress, 202, 203, 210. Faucit, Mrs., 171. Faucit, Helen, 60, 148, 149, 179, 181, 236, 237, 286. Fawcett. comedian, 210, 251, 252. Feast of Asses, The, 23. Feast of Innocents, The, 23. Ferguson, Dr. Adam, 123. FUes-des-fouiie, 23. Fiddlers, 66, 77. Fife, Chronicle of, 94. First licensed theatre, 130. Fisher, Clara, infant prodigy, 169. Fitzwilliam, Mrs., actress, 241. " Fleas, Industrious Living," 282. Fleay, 89. Fletcher, Lawrence, 54, 89, 156. Flowers of the Forest, The, 241. Foote, Samuel, 110, 111, 132, 133. Forest of Bondy, The, 259. Foundling, The, 160. Foundling of the Forest, The, 222. Fountauis' Theatre, 97. Fountains, The, Masters of Revels, 96, 97, 188. Eraser, G. M., Aberdeen, 40. Eraser, Jessie, actress, 60. Eraser, John, lessee, 60. Freemasons, 111, 112, 157. Frimbley, low comedian, 172. Fortune's Frolic, farce, 166. Forty Thieves, The, 267. INDEX. 297 Gallery boys, 56. Gamester, The, 135. Garden Neuk Well, The, 54. Garrick, 117, 127, 128. Gas, Introduction of, 222. General Assembly, 31, 35. General Assembly and Mrs. Siddons, 127. George I., 102. George II., 120. George III., 130. George IV., 144. George Heriot (The Fortunes of Nigel), 271. Giants, 269. Gil Bias, 252. Gilderoy, 231. Glasgow, 39, 58, 94, 108, 183. Glasgow Fair, 234, 241. Glover, Edmund, 133, 149. 155, 180, 236, 237. Glover's Hall Theatre, Perth. 250, 251, 253. Glover, Mrs., comedienne, 210, 254. GouflFe, the man-monkey, 178. Gourlay, comedian, 177. Gow, Neil, 255. Gowrie Conspiracy, The, 273. Granier, Mons. and Madame, 193. Grant, James, 128. Great Gun Trick, 234. Grecian Daiigfiter, The, 135. Grizzel Jamfhray, 179. Guiglini, 149. Guild Hall, Perth, 249, 250. Guilds, 45, 46, 48, 51, 61, 76. Guisards, 20, 246. Guy Mannering, 168, 171, 172, 174, 231, 259, 266, 26Z, 271, 278, 281. 20 H. Halland, Miss, vocalist, 171. Hallowe'en, or Vampire and Water Kelpie, 268. Hamilton, of Arbroath Theatre, 153. Hamlet, 110, 116, 169, 234, 256, 257, 260, 266, 275, 283. Harlequin in Scotland, The, 255. Harpers, 66. Harrington, Sir John, 36. Hartley, Mrs., actress, 132. Heart of Midlothian, The, 262. Heir at Law, The, 252, 262. Heller, Professor " Poses Plastiques," 180. Henderson, tragedian, 202. Henryson, Robert, 19. High Life Below Stairs, Gar- rick's, 114. History of Scotland, Patrick Henderson, 86. History of the Five Jameses, 92. History of Arbroath, Hay, 152. Holyrood, 69, 76. Home, Rev. John, 116, 117, 118, 124, 126. Honeymoon, The, 166, 211, 212, 283. Horner's Wynd, 153. Hume, David, 118. Hunchback, The, 224, 237, 284, 286. Hypocrite, The, Bickerstaffe's, 170. I. Inchbald, Mrs., 162, 205. Indian Emperor, Dryden's, 98. Inglis, Sir James, 29, 30. Innocents, The Feast of, 23. Interlude, 25, 27. Irish Players, 98. Irving, Dr. David, 14. Irving, Edward, 112, 225. 298 THE SCOTS STAGE. Irving, Henry, 150, lol. Isabella, 135. Italian operatic stars, 148. J. Jackson, John, 55, 58, 138, 134, 136, 162, 194, 199, 200, 201, 202, 203, 207, 211, 213. James I., 18, 19, 64. James II., 64. James IV., 19, 30, 34, 66, 95. James V., 36, 69, 246. James VI., 37, 66, 83, 84, 88, 89, 90, 247. James VI. recognises players, 86. Jane Shore, 135, 143, 161, 204. Jarman, Miss, actress, 174, 231, 276. Jealous Wife, The, 254, 259, 266. Jesters, 68. Jewess, The, 242. John Bull, 214, 252. John the Baptist, 25, 155. Johnston, W., actor, 234. Johnston, Henry Erskine, 139, 142, 146, 165, 169, 175, 178, 213, 217, 218, 222. 231, 257, 259, 261, 285. Jones, actor-manager. 272, 273, 277, 278, 279. Jongleurs, 22. Jonson, Ben, 91, 92. Jordan, Mrs., 133, 142, 202. 210. Jubilee, The, 111, 157. Jugglers, 22, 88. Julius Ccesar, 240, 260. K. Kean, Charles, 175, 220, 233. Kean, Edmund, 60, 143, 149, 164, 165, 210, 218, 220, 230, 231, 269. Kemble, Charles, 143. Kemble, John Philip, 57, 179. Kemble, John, 142, 165, 202, 210, 225. Kemble, Roger, 202. Kemble, Stephen, 57, 58, 59, 136, 137, 138, 166, 202. Kemble, Mrs. Stephen, 138, 203. Kenilworth, 33. Kenilworth Castle, 33. King Arthur, 11. King, actor, 202, 203. King David, 14. King David II., 16. King Henry IV., 110, 112, 166, 257, 260, 268. King Henry VIII., 170, 268. King Lear, 110, 153, 270. King Robert III., 246. King's Tragedy, The, 18. Kingis Quhair, The, 18. Kinloch, lessee, 225, 226. Kirk-Session of Edinburgh, 88. Kirk-Session of Glasgow, 185. Knovvles, Sheridan, 176, 223, 224, 225, 238, 284. Knox, John, 32. Knyvett Vaughan and Bellamy concert party, 173. L. Lady of Lyons, The, 236, 286. Lancashire, Tom, comedian, 128, 159, 160. Laneham, Robert, 33. Langley, 177, 178, 179, 180. Lara, 172. Lauder, William, playwright, 73. Laugh When You Can, 272. Leclercq Family, The, 238, 239. Lee, Canougate Theatre, 116. Lee, Leoni, singer, 270, 271. Lee, Nathaniel, 98. Lees, actor, 113. Legend, The Family. I 1-. INDEX. 299 Leigh, Mrs., actress, 178, Leith, 76. Lethe, or Msop in the Shades, 161. Lewes, Lee, actor, 138. Linlithgow, 25, 70. Liston, comedian, 210, 229, 231, Little John, 21, 30, 51, 52, 68, 74, 246. Lloyd, conjurer, 173. Lloyd, F. H., comedian, 148, 178, 231, 234, 237, 238. Lord of Inobedience, 75. Lord of Misrule, 24, 246. Lord of The Isles, The, 262. Lotteries, 97. Love Chase, The, 284. Love for Love, 102. Love in a Village, 255, 268, 271. Love's Labour Lost, 87. Lovers, The Conscious, 111. Lykewakes, 187. Lyndsay, Sir David, 25, 27, 29, '36, 69, 70, 85, 246. Lyon, Tom, actor, 238. M. M'Crie, 85. M'Glashan, melodrama, 181. M'Gregor, Mr. and Mrs, 182. M'Neill and Price, Aberdeen, 60. M'Roy, actor -manager, 168. Macbeth, 101, 110, 136, 137, 156, 169, 177, 197, 225, 226, 237, 253, 256. 259, 260, 264, 265, 267, 275. Mackenzie, Henry, 141, 142. Mackay, 144, 154, 168, 170, 173, 175, 176, 231, 238, 259, 260, 266, 267, 272, 274. Macklin, 163. Maclaren, A., playwright, 251. Macready, 60, 169, 177, 205, 210, 215, 228, 224, 230, 237, 264, 265, 266. Maid Mariendorf, The, 284. Man of the World, The, 214, 235, 251. Marciano, or The DUcovcry, ^&. Mario, 149. Marischal Street Theatre, 57, 60. Marocco, performing horse, 86. Marriage of Figaro, The, 281. Mary Magdalene, 41. Mary Queen of Scots, 254. Mary Stuart (The Abbot), 273. Masks and Faces, 149. Masquerading, 20. Masques, 36, 67, 77, 78, 96. Masters of Revels, 67, 96. Mathews, the elder, 143, 168, 210. Mathews, the younger, 232. May Games, 73, 91, May Queen, 30, 73, 74, 82, 246. Meggett, actor, 262. Melville's Diary, 32, 88. Melville, Viscount, 136. Melrose, vocalist, 172. Mendoza, prize-fighter, 165. Merchant of Venice, The, 143, 163, 172, 207, 230, 251, 257. Merry Wives of Windsor, 268. Miller, D. P., of Adelphi Theatre, 234, 238, Minor, The, 132, Minor Theatre, Perth, 275. Minstrels, 22, 67, 186. Miracle-plays, 40, 153. Mithridates, King of Pontus, 98. Mock Doctor, The, 113, 159, 197. Montague's Pastoral, 98. Montrose, 111, 113. Morality-plays, 24, 29, 31, 67, 70, 153, 246. Morris Dances, 91. Moss, actor, 163, 164. Moss and Bell, of Dundee and Perth Theatres, 163, 251, Mourning Bride, The, 105, 135. 300 THE SCOTS STAGE. Much Ado About Nothing, 203, 237, 255. Mamford's Geggie, 235, 23G. Munday, Miss, actress, 172. Munden, actor, 210. Murray, W. H., actor-manager, 142, 144, 147, 148, 160, 223, 260. Music-hall artists, 21. Music taught by Council's decree, 186. Mystery-plavs, 22, 23, 24, 31, 41, 44, 246. N. Napoleonic Wars, 256. New Inn Theatre, Aberdeen, 55. New Theatre, Arbroath, 153. Nicoll, lawyer, 94, 95. Noel, Miss, vocalist, 147, 173, 273 Norval, Young, 174, 205, 213. NugcB Antique, 36. 0. O'Neil, Elizabeth, 143, 222. Ord's Circus, 175. Orphan, The, 103. Orphan of Geneva, The, 146, 268. Orthodox Club, The, 107. Othello, 110, 143, 176, 218, 219, 231, 260, 269, 275. P. Paganini, 174, 281. Pageants, 35, 36, 45, 48, 19, 66, 84, 92, 248. Panorama, 141, 268. Pantheon Company, The, 170. Pantheon, The, 145. Pantomimes, 111, 176, 193. Passion-plays, 68. Pastoral Play, 247. Paumier, tragedian, 176, 237. 239, 240. Paton, Eliza, actress, 175. Peblis to the Play, 19, 64. Performing horse, 86, 94. Perth Theatre Royal, 144, 173, 263, 264, 266, 267, 269, 271, 276, 279, 281, 285. Perth Grammar School, 248, 253. Perth Kirk-Sessions, 34, 246, 248. Perth, The Drama in, 246. Phelps, Samuel, 175, 234, 235, 239. Philotus, 78. Pipers, 66. Pitt, CD., actor, 177. Pizarro, 259, 268. Players, Strolling, 21. 22, 185, 186, 191, 249. Playfield, Aberdeen, 40, 54. Playfield, Dundee, 156. Playhouse Close, 113, 128. Playwright burnt at stake, 68. Pocock, Isaac, adapter of Rob Roy, 260. Poet Laureates, 16, 67. Pollock, John, actor-manager, 60. Pollock, Mr. and Mrs., 180. Pomp of the Gods, The, 78. Poor Gentleman, The, 252. Power, Mr. and Mrs., 177. Power, Tyrone, 170. Powrie, Tom, 180, 237. Presbytery of Edinburgh, 102, 104, 107, 108, 118, 119, 122. Presbytery of Dalkeith, 125. of Dunsc, 122. of lladdington, 12i. President of Fools, 24. Pretty Girl of Dundee, The, 164. Pritchard, actor, 154, 172, 173, 273, 274. Privy Council, 96, 97, 99, 100. Provoked Husband, The, 147. 254, 270. Prynne's Histriomastix, 98. INDEX. 301 Queen Elizabeth, 33, 87. Queen Mary, 76. Queen of Sheba, 37. Queen Street Theatre, Aber- deen, 66, 57. Queen Street Theatre, Glasgow, 208, 209, 210, 217, 225, 229. Queen's Theatre and Opera House, Edinburgh, 146. Queen's Theatre, Glasgow, 242. Queen's Reception, 50. Quintuple representation of Richard III., 179. R. Raising the Wind, 212, 255, 272. Ramsay, Allan, 103, 106, 107, 111, 112, 113, 157, 158. Recruiting 0;fficer, The, 159. Red Parliament, 247. Reeves, Sims, 241. Reform Bill, 62, 280. Reformation, The, 23, 68, 77, 85. Regent Morton, 32. Renaud, Mrs., tragedienne, 144, 147. Revenge, The, 218, 266. Revolution, The, 100. Revue, Perth, 270. Rich, Barnaby, 78, 80. Richard III., 143, 177, 179, 214, 218, 219. 233, 234, 259, 262, 264, 269. Ristori, 149. Rivals, The, 138, 252. Road to Ruin, The, 252. Rob Roy, 143, 154, 168, 170, 172, 173, 223, 229, 231, 238, 239, 260, 263, 266, 267, 270, 271, 273, 274, 281, 283. Robert Bruce, epic poem, 14. Robert The Bruce (The Lord of the Isles), 262. Robertson, Joseph, 49. Robin Hood plays, 21, 30, 51, 52, 68, 69, 73, 74, 75, 82, 85, 246. Rock, comedian, 203, 214, 252. Romeo and Juliet, 143, 181, 193, 218, 236, 254, 264, 277, 279, 286. Rope-dancers and walkers, 80, 87, 88, 95, 110, 165, 180, 192. Rose of Ettrick Vale, The, 225. Rosier, Mile., dancer, 276. Rosina, 172. Ross, David, 130, 131, 199. Rothesay, Duke of, 246. Rowe, Nathaniel, 161. Royal Oak, or The Days of Charles II., 231. Rutherglen, 185. Ryan, John, actor, 113. Ryder, Corbett, 60, 144, 154, "167, 168, 169, 170, 171, 172, 176, 180, 258, 259, 261, 262, 263, 264, 266, 267, 268, 269, 270, 271, 272, 280, 283. Ryder, Thomas, 176, 177, 281, 283, 285. Ryley, author of The Itinerant, 168. Rynd, Patrick, playwright, 248. S. St. Andrews, Cathedral of, 36. St. Anne's Lane Theatre, 253, 255, 268, 262. Sacrament, The, 140. Saker, Miss, actress, 234. Satire of the Three Estates, 25, 28, 69, 70, 85, 246. School for Scand-al, The, 138, 202, 213, 252, 259, 267, 273. Scots Company of Comedians, 109. Scott, Sir Walter, 10, 33, 57, 70, 127, 139, 141, 142, 143, 147, 152, 166. Scottish Minstrels, 11. 302 THE SCOTS STAGE. Sempill, Robert, playwright, 78. Seymour, Frank, lessee, 226, 227, 228, 229, 230, 231. Shakespeare, 87, 89, 156, 247. Sheridan, Richard Brinsley, o5, 133, 179, 2o2. Shoe Lane Theatre, Aberdeen, 55. Siamese Twins, 93, 91, 231. Siddons, Henry, 141, 142, 166, 167, 202, 203, 255, 256, 257. Siddons, Mrs., 57, 127, 134, 135. 142, 166, 179, 201, 210. Siddons, Mrs. Henry, 142, 147, 155, 166, 255, 257,' 273. Siege of Perth, The, 251. Siege of Belgrade, The. 171, 174. Sinclair, vocalist, 171, 210, 281. Slave. The, 174, 260, 262. Smiles and Tears, comedy, 259. Smith, Henry, dog-trainer, 170. Smith, Misses, vocalists, 176. Soldier's Daughter. The, 168, 277. Soldier's Return, The, 258. Solomon, King, 37. Sothern, E. A., 149. Spalding's Memorials, 92. Spanish Friar, The, 100. Spectacle at South Inch, 247. St. Nicholas Work, Aberdeen. 49, 51. St. Obert's Play, 247. " Stag Hunt, A," 230. Stage, History of the Scottis-h, John Jackson's, 58. Stage, The Glasgow, 209. Stanley, Mr. and Mrs., 273. "Starring" System, 57. Stephens, Miss, singer, 143, 210, 270,271. Stewarts Oryginalle, The, 15. Stirling, Mrs"., 149. Stocks, Detention in, 82, Stranger, The, 258. Stuarts, The, 15. Sullivan, Barry, 60, 181, 242. Suspicions Husband, The, 268. Sutherland's Company, 250, 251, 263, Sweethearts and Wives, 229. Sword Combats, 105. 106. Sword Dance, 248. Sydceff, Sir Thomas, 96, Talbot, Henry, 155, 268. Tam o' Shanter, play, 268. Taming of the Shrew, 214, 236. Tayleur, comedian, 264. Taylor, the water-poet, 91. Taylor's Hall, Edinburgh, 108, 110. Tearle, Osmond, 155. Tell, William, 224. Tempest, The, 110. Tennis Court, Holyrood, 73, 80, 96, 98, 100, 101,"^ 102, Terry, Daniel, comedian, 142, 166, 168, 267, 273. Testament of Fair Cresside, 19. Thomas the Rhymer, 11, 12. Thrissil and the Eois, 19, 67. Time's a Tell Tale, 256, Titieus, 149. Tobin, playwright, 211. To7n and Jerry, 226, 229. Tom Thumb, 257. Toole, J. L., 149. Touring Company from Hav- market Theatre, 243, Touring Company, Crisp's, 281. Touring Company, Hooper's, 277, Tournaments, 67. Town and Country, 220. Town Drummer, 52, 183, 185, 188. Town Hall, Dundee, 158, 160. Town Minstrels, 47, 52, 183. 188. INDEX. 303 Town Pipers, 52, 65. Trades Hall, Arbroath, 155. Trades Hall, Dundee, 101. Tree, Miss, actress, 210, 224. Troubadours, 22. Trueman, 267. Trueman and MacGregor, 251. Tumblers, 22. Tumbling Lassie, The, 99. Two Drovers, The, 276. Tyrer, Martha, 178, 274. Tytler, WilUam, 98. Twelfth Night, 80. U. Universal Fast, 82. V. Vagabonds, 81, 82, 120, 184. Vandenhoff, the elder, 147, 173. Vandenhoff, 60, 150, 231, 275, 277. Venice Preserved, 134, 204, 222, 257. Victoria Theatre, Dundee, 181. Violante, Signora, 108. Virginius, 169, 224, 264. W. Ward, Mrs., 54, 113, 117, 118, 193. VVarton, 29. Warton's Scottish Poetry, 20. Warwick's Players, Earl of, 247. Waterman, The, 211 . Waverlcy, a drama, 273. Waverley Novels, Avowal of, 147. Waxwork Show, 167. Wedderburn, James, 25, 155. Wedderburne, 64. Wee Scott, actor-manager, 181, 182. Weekes, Paddy, 170, 171. Weir, actor, 111. Weldon's Secret History, 34. Wells, Miss Estcourt, 174, 281. West Indian, The, 166. Westcomb, actor. 111. Weston, actor, 132. Wheel of Fortune, The, 218. Whitfield, George, 129. 132, 194. Whits un Ales, 91. Wigan, Alfred, 149. Wild Oats, 211. William Tell, 283, 284. Williams, Glasgow lessee, 198. Wilson, John, tenor, 278, 279. Wisdom of Solomon, The, 187. Wives as They Were. 254. Wodrow, 105, 107, 109. Woman's Wit, 284. Womb well's Menagerie, 283. Wonder, The, 111. Wood, actor, 134. Woodfall's Letters of Junius, 55. Woodward, actor, 132. Woodward, Mrs., actress. 111. "World as It Goes, The," 163. Wreck on Shore, A, 281. Wrecker's Daughter, The, 284. Wyndham, Mrs. R. H., 148, 150, • 234. Wyndham, R. H., 146, 148. Wyntoun, Andrew, 16. Y. Yates, actor and entertainer, 174, 223. Yates, Mr. and Mrs., 133. Yeaman Shore Theatre, Dundee, 163, 164, 165, 178, 180, 181. York Street Theatre, Glasgow, 230, 231. 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