I 
 
A BRIEF HISTORY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
THEATRE ROYAL, DUNLOP STREET. 
 
THE 
 
 GLASGOW STAGE 
 
 BY 
 
 WALTER BAYNHAM. 
 
 ROBERT FORRESTER, 
 
 i ROYAL EXCHANGE SQUARE. 
 1892. 
 
Only 400 Copies Printed. 
 No .. 
 
DEDICATION. 
 
 MY DEAR IRVING, 
 
 The fact that in your early life you were so 
 pleasantly prominent as an actor in Dunlop Street, not 
 unnaturally suggests a wish on my part, to be privileged 
 to dedicate this little work to you. Yet, I am prompted 
 also by other motives equally strong : the desire to record 
 the pride I feel in the honour of your friendship, the 
 esteem in which you are so justly held by all interested 
 in the drama, and your life's devotion to the cause of 
 histrionic art. 
 
 Very affectionately yours, 
 
 WALTER BAYNHAM. 
 To HENRY IRVING, ESQ. 
 
 671875 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 WHEN I first took up the subject of Glasgow 
 theatricals, I resolved to call it "Days of Dunlop 
 Street." The intention was simply to compress 
 into a few chapters, some personal recollections of 
 certain facts, anecdotes, and individuals which con- 
 nected themselves with my memory during the very 
 few years I was associated with the Glasgow stage. 
 Reflecting, however, on the title I had chosen, I 
 found it needful to say something about the origin 
 of the theatre itself; how it came to be built at all, 
 and why, of all places in the city, in Dunlop Street. 
 So it occurred to me that it might be interesting to 
 the public to ascertain something not only about the 
 origin and history of the Theatre Royal, Dunlop 
 Street, but likewise about theatres and players so 
 far as they related in any way to Glasgow. So these 
 papers have taken the form of what, I believe, has 
 never been published before A Brief History of 
 the Glasgow Stage. 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 THEATRICAL representations in Glasgow, as every- 
 where else, owed their origin to the Church. The 
 subjects of the first plays in Scotland, as in England, 
 were Scriptural ; the Clergy were the dramatists, the 
 Church was the stage, and Sunday was the play-day. 
 Prior to and for some time after the Reformation, 
 pantomimic representations of the history of our 
 Saviour, His Passion, and His Miracles, were ex- 
 hibited in Glasgow. In the sixteenth century the 
 number of playhouses was so great that they were 
 complained of as a nuisance, not only in Edinburgh 
 but throughout the kingdom. Profane, and even 
 indecent, subjects gradually crept in; and the mem- 
 bers of the Church who had hitherto been foremost in 
 supporting them now became foremost in trying to 
 suppress them. Plays on sacred subjects were pro- 
 hibited. All kinds of performances on Sundays 
 were denounced. Every man, woman, and child 
 
 I 
 
2 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 who attended any entertainment on that day was 
 excommunicated without the benefit of clergy. In 
 the suppression of these theatrical exhibitions, the 
 Church of Scotland took the lead, and in after 
 times, when dramatic entertainments were attempted 
 to be revived, we find, according to an old Scottish 
 historian, the opposition to them was but more 
 forcibly renewed. 
 
 On the 24th April, 1595, the Kirk-Session of 
 Glasgow directed the town's drummer to forbid " all 
 persons from going to Ruglen to see vain plays on 
 Sundays-.'" ; -Ofrv.the 2Oth May, 1624, the session gave 
 , , public, m.timation- 'that all "resetters of comedians 
 .''wd'uicl'te'.sfevdreiy 'punished." And on the 2Oth July, 
 1670, the Magistrates of Glasgow "interdicted strolling 
 stage players from running through the streets, and 
 from performing plays in private houses," which they 
 called "The Wisdom of Solomon." "The Presby- 
 tery," writes Mr. Arnot in his interesting book, 
 " were possessed with the most violent and the most 
 illiberal animosity against the stage. 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 theological Scotland, where belief in demonology 
 and witchcraft was so slow in dying, such stories 
 were currently believed. The rage against the 
 "Temple of Beelzebub," as the theatrical entertain- 
 ments were styled at that period, was stronger by 
 far north of the Tweed than in England, and the 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 3 
 
 drama consequently made far slower progress in 
 North Britain than it did elsewhere. But, as in 
 every case of intolerance and persecution, with each 
 new assault upon the helpless, the vanquisher was 
 opening the road to his own defeat. The virulence 
 of the clergy aroused an antagonistic feeling in a 
 certain class of the laity, and a strong party rose 
 in rebellion against priestly tyranny and oppression. 
 Parties were formed who nightly patronised enter- 
 tainments in order to vindicate the right of public 
 opinion, and at the same time to protect the actors 
 themselves from personal violence, with which they 
 were threatened. 
 
 Scottish actors at that period, in order to defend 
 themselves from the violent measures adopted against 
 them, were obliged to register themselves not as 
 actors but as menial servants to some of their noble 
 patrons. It was not an uncommon thing for a 
 tragedian at this period to be received into a noble- 
 man's house as his butler, and after playing Richard 
 the Third upon the stage, to act the part of " Scrub " 
 off it, by drawing a cork at his lordship's side table. 
 No man of repute at that period would aid either by 
 his name or his purse in the erection of a playhouse. 
 No builder would build a theatre, nor could he, if so 
 inclined, have found workmen to carry on the work. 
 Even the accommodation of a roof was looked upon 
 by the wary landlord as too great a hazard ; for the 
 owner was assured by his zealous pastors that the 
 devil would be personified beneath it, and that the 
 whole fabric would vanish away in a flame of 
 fire. 
 
4 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 No city was at the time more imbued with religious 
 fanaticism than Glasgow, and no wonder ! Many of 
 its best citizens had risked not only their fortunes 
 but their very lives in support of Presbyterianism 
 against Popery, and this, long before the days of 
 William of Orange or even those of the first Charles. 
 All art, grace, harmony, and truth to nature displayed 
 by a Phidias or a Raphael ; the love of the ideal, the 
 power alike of painter, poet, author, or actor, were 
 lost in the one hard sense of what was regarded as 
 sensuous. Being sensuous, it was pronounced Popish, 
 and opposed to pure spiritual religion. Anything 
 which tended to please the eye, charm the ear, or 
 steal upon the senses, was looked on as in some way 
 related to Romanism. Thus all plays were aban- 
 doned. The beams of that brighter sun which shone 
 on England with the accession of William of Orange 
 did not for years pierce the darkness and gloom 
 which an austere theology had cast over Scotland. 
 In the era of Lillo, William Congreve, and Farquhar, 
 the drama was not known north of the Tweed ; and 
 it was not until after the Union in 1707 that any 
 player could obtain a hearing in Scotland. 
 
 What theatrical (?) entertainments had been given 
 in Scotland up to that period had partaken more of 
 the style of our present " Variety " stage. The com- 
 pany had consisted solely of bands of strolling 
 players, tumblers, acrobats, singers, dancers, and per- 
 formers on the tight rope. The chosen haunt in 
 Glasgow for such performances up to 1750 was 
 " BurreH's Close." This was a passage which led 
 out eastward from Duke Street, and at the end of 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 5 
 
 which was a public hall accessible by a narrow stair- 
 case. 
 
 Mr. Daniel Burrell, the proprietor of this hall, was 
 a dancing master who had in 1738 been invited by 
 the civic authorities to come and teach " the poetry 
 of motion " in Glasgow. The art had been imported 
 from London by the upper classes, the Duchess of 
 Gordon having been the chief patroness. But Mr. 
 Burrell had not driven a thriving trade. He required 
 the aid and guarantee of the Corporation in the shape 
 of an annual salary of 20 to enable him to carry 
 on his profession. His fees were comparatively 
 moderate, 253. being the sessional one for seven 
 months, 55. for a Ball, and is. for practising for it 
 under his supervision. 
 
 Some idea of the rigidity and gloom which were 
 the outcome of the first teachings of the Reformers 
 may be gleaned from the fact that at the close of the 
 seventeenth century Dancing was allowed to be taught 
 only under the following restrictions : 
 
 (From a Minute of the Corporation, ntk November, 
 1699.) 
 
 " The quhilk day the Magistrates and Towne 
 Council, upon a supplication given in re John Smith, 
 Dancing Master, allow and permitt the said John 
 to teach dancing within the burgh, with and under 
 the provisions and conditions under written, viz.: 
 That he shall behave himself soberly, teach at season- 
 able hours, keep no balls, and that, he shall so order 
 his teaching that there shall be noe promiscuous 
 
6 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 dancing of young men and young women together; but 
 that each sex shall be taught by themselves, and that 
 one sex shall be dismissed and be out of his house 
 before the other enter therein." 
 
 For a long time after this, no one was allowed to 
 teach dancing without a license. "Native talent," 
 writes Mr. Strang, of a later date (1759), in his 
 " Glasgow and its Clubs," " seems to have been so 
 scarce that the Corporation was obliged, for the 
 better education of the citizens, to bribe parties from 
 a distance to settle in the City." Hence Mr. Daniel 
 Burrell's annual stipend of 20 from the Corporation. 
 Here in Burrell's Close was given, on the 3Oth Septem- 
 ber, 1751, one of the many of this class of performance. 
 The following extract is interesting : 
 
 " Being," says the Glasgow Courant of that date, 
 " 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, 
 being the 3Oth September, will be performed a Con- 
 cert of Vocal and Instrumental Music. Boxes and 
 Pit, Two Shillings ; Gallery, One Shilling. Between 
 the two Parts of the Concert will be given (gratis) 
 Rope -Dancing and Tumbling. Particularly, Mrs. 
 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 Comic, by Mons. and Madam 
 Granier. Likewise, a new Humorous Dance called 
 the Soldier and the Sailor, the Tinkler and Taylor, 
 and Bixome Joan of Deptford. To the great sur- 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 7 
 
 prise of the spectators Mr. Dominique will fly over 
 the Double Fountain. To conclude with a Panto- 
 mime Entertainment called Harlequin Captive, or 
 the Dutchman Bitt. The Doors to be opened at five, 
 and to begin exactly at six." 
 
 The first edifice erected for regular theatrical repre- 
 sentations was a wooden booth. This was built in 
 1752 against an old wall of the Bishop's Palace, in an 
 area called the Castle Yard, which adjoined the 
 Cathedral. This wall hung for a long time over 
 Kirk Street, and overhung it to such an extent that 
 a certain Mr. Coulter could never be advised to go 
 near it. He avoided it from a firm belief in a 
 legend "that whenever the wisest man in the city 
 came in contact with it it would fall and smother 
 him." 
 
 In this little building, little better than, if so good 
 as, some of our modern "shows," some of the best 
 actors and actresses of their day played to most 
 fashionable audiences. The nobler of their patrons 
 were carried to the theatre in their sedan chairs, 
 which were guarded to protect them from insult at 
 the hands of religious zealots who gathered round, 
 menacing all who entered "the Devil's Home." 
 Amongst the artists we find the names of such as 
 Mrs. Ward, Messrs. Love, Stamper, and last, but not 
 least, West Digges, whose real name was West. He 
 was supposed to be the natural son of a nobleman, 
 and his first appearance in society created, as it did 
 on the stage, no small sensation. 
 
 This wooden building had not existed long when 
 the religious community were gladdened by the news 
 
8 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 that the greatest clerical luminary of the day was 
 shortly coming to Glasgow Whitefield ! 
 
 George Whitefield had himself as a boy been no con- 
 temptible actor a fact which he wished in his journal 
 to have been enabled to record in " tears of blood." His 
 abuse of all stage exhibitions was frequently followed 
 by violence. His followers would frequently sweep 
 down on country fairs, take forcible possession of the 
 booths, and drive out the poor, unoffending strollers, 
 leaving them to starve, slave, or die as outcasts. 
 Whitefield came to Glasgow, and Glasgow welcomed 
 the most famous preacher of his day with open arms. 
 Our modern revivals and revivalists sink into in- 
 significance w r hen we read of this man's eloquence 
 and its effects. Fancy him, then, standing amongst 
 the graves in the churchyard against the Cathedral. 
 Look at the man ! Picture him ! One something 
 above the middle stature, well-proportioned, slender 
 and graceful, fair complexioned, with regular features, 
 small lively blue eyes. But what a voice ! unrivalled 
 in power, melody, and compass ! Let the imagina- 
 tion paint such a man denouncing the Playhouse in 
 language and gesture as forcible as that with which 
 a short time before he had looked up, and, with up- 
 lifted hands, invoked the great Archangel " Stop, 
 Gabriel ! Stop, Gabriel ! stop, ere you enter the 
 sacred portals, and yet carry with you the news of 
 one sinner converted to God ! " See if you can, with 
 the mind's eye, that man pointing to this wooden 
 theatre as the abode of Satan. Who could be sur- 
 prised at the result ? W r hat wonder if a parcel of 
 ignorant zealots, inflamed to a pitch of religious 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 9 
 
 frenzy by the eloquence of their leader, should sweep 
 down as they did upon the poor, miserable apology 
 for a playhouse, and completely wreck it, or that the 
 affrighted actors and actresses fled the town in order 
 to save their very lives ! So the first Glasgow Play- 
 house came to an end. 
 
10 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 FOR twelve years after the demolition of the wooden 
 building in Castle Yard, no vestige is to be found 
 in any chronicle of anything bordering on dramatic 
 entertainments in Glasgow. The theatre was regarded 
 as the pavilion of Satan, and had the religion been 
 Catholic instead of Presbyterian, most of the " gude " 
 people would have crossed themselves at its very 
 name. As the domicile of the Prince of Darkness, it 
 was regarded even as recently as 1861 as an infernal 
 abode. During that year (the one in which I first 
 appeared as an actor in Glasgow) I strolled on one 
 Sunday evening into the Trades' Hall in Glassford 
 Street. It was during the " Hammond " revivals. 
 The boy evangelist who was holding forth, caught 
 sight of me. With one hand he slapped his open 
 Bible vigorously, exclaiming, " Here, here is Heaven," 
 and with his other hand he pointed at me, crying 
 immediately afterwards, "The pit of the Theatre 
 Royal is HELL." 
 
 It was in 1752 that the Castle Yard wooden 
 building was demolished. For twelve years after- 
 wards, as I have stated, no actor or manager was 
 found bold enough to venture into Glasgow. At 
 Edinburgh, however, a regular theatre had been 
 erected, and its stage had been illumined by some of 
 the brightest stars then in the dramatic firmament. 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. II 
 
 Amongst these, none shone with greater lustre than 
 the celebrated Mrs. Bellamy. 
 
 She was destined to be the first actress who was 
 to play in the first regular theatre in Glasgow. 
 Her fame had preceded her to Scotland as much 
 from certain gossip as on account of her beauty 
 and talent. She was the only successful rival of 
 Peg Wofn" ngton, " who loved her accordingly'' When 
 Dryden's tragedy of the " Rival Queens " was pro- 
 duced, " Roxana " had been played by Peg, and 
 " Statira " by Mrs. Bellamy. The latter had ordered 
 two gorgeous dresses direct from Paris. At sight of 
 her rival in all her resplendent glories of Parisian 
 costume, Peg's jealousy had been aroused beyond 
 control, and raising a real dagger "Roxana" had 
 tried to stab her fair rival as she drove her from the 
 stage. "Alexander," writes Dr. Doran, "and a posse 
 of chiefs with hard names were at hand, but the less 
 brilliantly-clad ' Roxana ' rolled ' Statira ' and her 
 spangled 'sack' in the dust, pommelling her with 
 her dagger, and screaming aloud at every blow 
 
 "'Nor he nor Heaven shall shield thee from my 
 justice. 
 
 "'DIE, Sorceress!! and (pommel} all my 
 ( pommel} wrongs (pommel} die (double pommel} 
 with thee/ " 
 
 Mrs. Bellamy had been playing, too, one night 
 "Alicia/' in "Jane Shore," at Covent Garden. The 
 King of Denmark, who was then on a visit to George 
 the Third, was present, but, suffering from the plethora 
 of a heavy dinner, he fell fast asleep during one of the 
 actress's finest scenes. In her character of " Alicia " 
 she had to exclaim, " Oh, thou false love ! " Availing 
 
12 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 herself of the opportunity which the proximity of the 
 Danish monarch in a stage-box presented, she shouted 
 the words "Oh, THOU false love" close into the 
 sleeping monarch's ears. After a stare of blank 
 astonishment he turned to the King and said audibly 
 
 "By G , I vood not marry dat voman vere dere 
 
 none oder on earth." 
 
 " The morning of my benefit in Edinburgh," writes 
 Mrs. Bellamy, " I was arrested by the creditor who 
 had been the occasion of my indiscreet flight from 
 London. I was, however, soon set at liberty, the 
 caption being against the laws of Scotland, which 
 allow some days' notice before they can be taken. 
 Upon this occasion the first lawyers in the city were 
 volunteers in my case, particularly Mr. Montgomerie, 
 afterwards Chief Baron and Dean of the Faculty." 
 
 Who wouldn't have taken up her cause ! Who 
 could be cross with poor, pretty, blue-eyed, frail Mrs. 
 Bellamy? She so softened the heart of her lawyer 
 that he introduced his dazzling inamorata, sans cere- 
 mony, at once into the bosom of his family. 
 
 " I remember her finding fault with my approaching 
 too near her in the balcony scene in ' Romeo and 
 Juliet,' " writes an Edinburgh actor of that period. " I 
 apologised by observing that it was impossible to 
 refrain from even scaling the wall, if accessible, when 
 so charming an object was in view." 
 
 So spoke Mr. Jackson, and so seemed to think five 
 at least of some Glasgow gentlemen who made part of 
 the audience that night. These five good Glasgow 
 citizens succeeded in getting an introduction to the 
 lady. They promised that they would build her a 
 theatre if she would but promise them to visit their 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 13 
 
 city. Mr. John Jackson, accompanied by two Edin- 
 burgh managers Messrs. Love and Beatt took them 
 at their word. Jackson set out from Edinburgh one 
 wintry day caped, cocked-hatted, and booted to 
 ride on horseback to Glasgow to ask permission of 
 the Council to build a regular theatre in the city. 
 
 Conveyances then were scarce in the city, which, so 
 far as traffic was concerned, was as dull as a dry ditch. 
 Carts, the number of which Mr. Jackson might have 
 told on his fingers, then dragged their lazy course up 
 and down the streets by day, and were left to any- 
 body's mercy in the streets at night. As for the 
 public roads, they were more like country lanes than 
 thoroughfares. It was just eight years before Mr. 
 Jackson determined to apply for the license, that the 
 first stage coach had been started to run between 
 Glasgow and Edinburgh. It accommodated but six 
 passengers ; was drawn by six horses, started twice a 
 week in the summer, and once in the winter. It left 
 the George Inn, above the College, at nine o'clock in 
 the morning, got to Livingstone the same night, and 
 set its weary freight down in Edinburgh the following 
 day, leaving that city again for Glasgow the same after- 
 noon. But nineteen years prior to this, post-chaises 
 and hackney coaches were unknown to Glasgow. 
 There were three or four sedan chairs, but these, as 
 Dr. Carlyle writes, were kept for carrying midwives 
 about in the night, and old ladies to church, or young 
 ones to the dancing assemblies, once a fortnight. 
 
 The names of the five gentlemen who had guaran- 
 teed to build the theatre were Mr. W. M'Dowall, of 
 Castlesemple ; William Bogle, of Hamilton Farm ; 
 
14 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 John Baird, of Craigton; Robert Bogle, of Shettleston; 
 and James Dunlop, of Garnkirk, all members of the 
 best social clubs of the day. Of the traits of two of 
 these gentlemen we may glean something from a 
 humorous ditty. It was written on the various mem- 
 bers of the Hodge Podge Club, which held a convival 
 meeting every fortnight, under the roof of a tavern 
 kept by a Mr. Cruikshank. Of this club Mr. Dunlop 
 and Mr. Baird were for some years members : 
 
 With feelings too keen to be ever at ease, 
 
 A lover of satire, but afraid to displease ; 
 
 When applauded a wit, but when censured a dunce 
 
 Retort on Dunlop, and you gag him at once. 
 
 Does a merchant, a squire, or a soldier come next ? 
 Or a medley of all these three characters mixed ? 
 No better companion than Baird have I known, 
 When he apes no man's manners, but sticks to his own. 
 
 The prejudice then existing against the Drama had 
 only grown more rampant than it was ten years be- 
 fore. Not a single individual who had ground within 
 the burgh would sell these gentlemen a site for a 
 theatre. Could a seller have been found, there would 
 have been no small difficulty in securing builders. 
 The majority of the labouring classes were led to 
 believe that the building, being the Devil's House, 
 would in all probability be very soon tenanted, even 
 in its unfinished state, by his Satanic Majesty, who 
 would remove it in person to his own peculiar realm, 
 and carry all the workmen with it. The guarantors 
 were obliged in consequence to go in search of a site 
 beyond the burgh. It was about this time that Mr. 
 John Miller, of Westerton, was advertising in the 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 15 
 
 Glasgow journals : "A new street to be opened from 
 Argyle Street to Candleriggs Loan. Whoever wants 
 to purchase steadings in said street may apply to 
 John Miller, malt man, in Glasgow, who will show the 
 terms and agree to plans." 
 
 As neither the magistrates nor any private pro- 
 prietor would sell, feu, or lease grounds for a theatre 
 on any terms within the whole city, the projectors 
 were obliged to erect it beyond the burgh, out at 
 Grahamstown, near where Hope Street now joins 
 Argyle Street. "What 's the figure?" asked the com- 
 mittee. The pious maltman stroked his chin, and, 
 after mature deliberation, replied "Five shillings 
 per square yard." " But the price is most exorbitant 
 and extraordinary," they expostulated. "Aye, but 
 ye '11 see," replied Mr. Miller, " as it is intended 
 for a Temple of Belial I '11 expect an exorbitant and 
 extraordinary sum for the purchase." The sum was 
 agreed to. 
 
 The theatre was erected in Grahamstown. The 
 spring of 1764 saw the announcement that it would 
 shortly be opened by Messrs. Beatt and Love. 
 Negotiations were at once entered into with the 
 Edinburgh company. The date of the opening was 
 fixed. The fascinating Mrs. Bellamy " George Ann 
 Bellamy " so she signed herself, was engaged to act 
 on the opening night. 
 
 Those twelve years which had passed since the 
 mob had torn down the shed in Castle Yard had not 
 sufficed to extinguish the almost universal and violent 
 prejudice which existed amongst the clergy and the 
 middle class against the Plays and Players. 
 
1 6 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 That convulsionary movement known as Revivalism 
 was a century ago signalised by a fanaticism more wild 
 than was ever known before or since in our city. 
 Under the influence of out -door preaching at this 
 time a Glasgow mob could be inflamed with the same 
 zeal as that which needed but the fire of Whitefield to 
 arouse it twelve years before. The unrivalled eloquence 
 of the latter had never been utterly quenched in those 
 who had heard him. It needed but a spark now to 
 kindle old animosities to a blaze. On the evening- 
 
 o 
 
 before that on which the first regular theatre ever seen 
 in Glasgow was to open, a crowd had assembled round 
 a fanatical Methodist preacher. Shouts, groans, and 
 cries, prayers and psalm-singing had rent the spring- 
 tide air, then breathing over the popular promenade, 
 which extended by the river-side from the Green 
 to the village of Anderston. Not a few educated 
 people were amid the crowd. They, too, drank in 
 greedily the preacher's words. The preacher sud- 
 denly ceased. He pointed with his outstretched arm 
 towards Alston Street, then 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,' cried 
 he, ' is to the health of John Miller of Westerton, 
 who has sold his ground to build ME a HOUSE on.' " 
 This was enough. Nothing more was needed the 
 flame burst forth. SATAN'S TEMPLE ! ! It must 
 and should be destroyed at once. 
 
 With the rays of the setting sun (emblem of Divine 
 Love and Mercy) upon their faces ; with the joyous 
 song of spring birds filling the evening air, the mob 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. I/ 
 
 formed into a solid body and advanced at quick pace 
 on the newly-built theatre. They were led on by those 
 who had successfully attacked the wooden edifice years 
 before. The new theatre was set on fire. The stage 
 properties and dresses were reduced to ashes. 
 
 Mrs. Bellamy, driving into Glasgow in a coach and 
 four from Edinburgh, on the following day was met, 
 when about two miles from the city, by an actor. He 
 had an awestruck face. Mrs. Bellamy had had fore- 
 bodings as to the result of her engagement in Glasgow 
 from the first. She had started on her journey under 
 circumstances anything but auspicious. 
 
 " When we were about to set off," writes the fair lady, 
 " after having discharged my debts I found I had not 
 sufficient to defray the expenses of my journey." One 
 of her servants was despatched to a neighbouring 
 tradesman, and at his shop she pawned, as the lady 
 writes, "the silver repeater Mr. Digges had given me," 
 and (she omitted to add) which Mr. Digges had, of 
 course, never paid for. The servant of the embarrassed 
 lady most unfortunately had been told to take the 
 watch to any watchmaker's, and innocently took it to 
 the man who kept the very shop at which Mr. Digges 
 had purchased it. The watchmen were sent for, and 
 the girl locked up in the Tolbooth pending examination 
 as to how she procured the stolen property. But the 
 entreaties of the fair Bellamy again succeeded. The 
 heart of the civic functionary was touched. The ser- 
 vant was released, and Mrs. Bellamy procured money 
 enough for her start. She set off in "the chaise" 
 which was in waiting to carry her to Glasgow. 
 Twenty-four hours more and the actress looked on the 
 
 2 
 
1 8 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 delightful city's fine streets, which fifty years before, 
 Defoe had described " as the fairest for breadth and 
 finest built, ever seen in one city together." 
 
 The actor's face was the "prologue to a tragic 
 volume." 
 
 "Madam," he exclaimed, "you are ruined. You 
 have nothing left but what you have in the chaise." 
 
 " What d 'ye mean ? " cried the affrighted actress. 
 
 " The stage of the new theatre," answered the actor, 
 " was set on fire last night, and every vestige of scenery, 
 as well as your dresses, consumed by the flames." 
 
 The lady was at least as courageous as she was ex- 
 travagant. Many a woman would have first fainted, 
 and then got back again to the place she came from, 
 as fast as a post chaise with four horses could have 
 carried her; but Mrs. Bellamy, who had snapt her 
 fingers in the face of the foreign potentate at Covent 
 Garden, was not the lady to show the white feather 
 to a fanatical crowd. She looked her foes in the face. 
 She determined to defeat their end. She would play 
 that night, notwithstanding the stage had been burnt 
 and her wardrobe with it. She sent at once for 
 Bates, the stage manager, and told him to announce 
 at the Exchange the Cross at the Trongate, which 
 served the purpose at that date " Mrs. Bellamy will 
 appear and act at the theatre to-night." Carpenters, 
 joiners, upholsterers, were summoned. The actors 
 were recalled to rehearsals at the Black Bull Inn, 
 where she stayed. Arrangements for the repairing of 
 the theatre, to be ready for that night, were set on foot. 
 The nerve of the woman turned the tide of public 
 feeling in her favour. She was pressed for cash. 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. IQ 
 
 Merchants on her bare security offered to lend her 
 any amount she required. Even the elite of the fair 
 sex became her champions. Not only did they place 
 their wardrobes at the lady's disposal, but they flocked 
 in crowds to the theatre. There, with a rapidly 
 knocked -up stage, no scenery, heterogeneous cos- 
 tumes, imperfect lights, and a singed auditorium, did 
 the corps dramatique assemble. A large room at 
 the Black Bull Inn which hostelry, in Argyle Street, 
 had been erected by gentlemen of the hunt served 
 Mrs. Bellamy as a dressing-room, and a sedan chair 
 conveyed her to the theatre. She appeared that 
 night in the comedy of the " Citizen " and the farce 
 of the " Mock Doctor ; " Reddish being the leading 
 man, and Aicken afterwards a well-known actor at 
 Covent Garden the comedian. When the curtain 
 fell another demonstration took place on the part of 
 the fair sex. Fears were entertained that a crowd of 
 the actress's foes might wait for her and the rest of 
 the members of the company coming out of the 
 theatre, and take as a signal for her so doing the exit 
 of the audience. One of the ladies present declared 
 that none of the audience would stir till all the per- 
 formers, and even the servants, were safely out of the 
 theatre ; and, writes Mrs. Bellamy, " the Town Guard 
 were ordered to escort us back to the city." 
 
2O THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 FOR the kindness and hospitality she received, I 
 believe that Mrs. Bellamy was most honestly grateful, 
 and with reason. Setting conventionality at defiance; 
 viewing in Mrs. Bellamy a helpless woman, ruined 
 through the misdirected zeal of a fanatical mob; 
 remembering only the talents of the actress rather 
 than the scandal of her private life, the ladies of 
 Glasgow had in an unprecedentedly generous way 
 come to the aid of a defenceless, although fallen, 
 sister. On the evening following the fire that on 
 which the theatre was opened before six o'clock, 
 Mrs. Bellamy had been equipped, through the liber- 
 ality and thoughtfulness of her lady patronesses, with 
 more than an entire wardrobe for Comedy. No less 
 than forty dresses, all of the richest material, some 
 quite new, had been placed at her disposal. Nor 
 did the ladies confine themselves to outward garments 
 only. She received presents of all kinds, and from 
 every part of the adjacent country ; together with 
 invitations to parties for the whole time, of her 
 residence in the neighbourhood. 
 
 Who could wonder that Glasgow shone beautiful 
 to the blue eyes of the fair little lady? "The beauty 
 of the place and of the country around it," she writes, 
 " are extremely captivating. The meadow extending 
 from the Green to Anderston in particular is beyond 
 description picturesque and charming. It reminds 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 21 
 
 everyone who has ever seen it of the beautiful village 
 of Haarlem. On one side of the river you see 
 bleaching greens where multitudes are engaged in 
 the different vocations of the linen trade, some 
 washing, others attending the coppers. On the other 
 side, cattle are grazing in a most delightful pasture, 
 which terminates in a landscape much beyond any 
 description which it is in my power to give it." 
 
 The public soon craved for something more sub- 
 stantial than ephemeral farce. True to their nation- 
 ality the Scotch patrons asked Manager Beatt to 
 play the tragedies of "Macbeth" and "Douglas," 
 Mr. Home's newly written tragedy being then all 
 the rage. But " here was the rub ! " The " Citizen " 
 and the " Mock Doctor " were all very well. The 
 costumes required for these pieces were modern. 
 "But," writes Mrs. Bellamy, " 'Macbeth' and 'Douglas' 
 could not be performed till cloaths proper for appear- 
 ing in them were made and brought from Edinburgh." 
 To play Lady Macbeth, black velvet was at that 
 period deemed indispensable. "As," continues Mrs. 
 B,, " 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' So in 
 white satin Lady Macbeth was played." 
 
 Poor soul ! But a few years, and the scene had 
 changed ! The charms of the once famous Bellamy 
 were gone ; her beauty faded. The soul-entrancing 
 voice had dwindled into a feeble treble; the bounding 
 
22 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 step now tottered. All gone ! " quite chapfallen ! " 
 Kind, charitable, generous to a fault, but a few 
 years after her cttbut in Glasgow, at the compara- 
 tively early age of fifty-six, this once goddess of 
 Grace, Mirth, and Beauty, sits in an arm chair on the 
 stage at Covent Garden taking her final farewell of 
 the public she so loved and who had so loved her. 
 The greatest actors and actresses of her day surround 
 the poor, frail creature, prematurely old, worn, and 
 sickly. The curtain is drawn up. A crowded 
 audience rises to its willing feet to greet its former 
 favourite with cheers. A poor, tottering, careworn 
 woman, looking the more ghastly through her paint, 
 tries to rise from the chair which is placed in the 
 centre of the stage, to which she had been carried. 
 She stumbles and falls back. One more trial ! She 
 totters forward. The once melodious tones, now so 
 thin and faint, are heard to murmur something about 
 " gratitude," " past favours." Then the shadowy form 
 totters again, falls back sobbing into her chair, and 
 the curtain falls. 
 
 To return to the opening night in Glasgow. The 
 pieces were supported by Mr. Aicken and Mr. 
 Reddish. The latter actor married the mother of 
 the statesman George Canning. He is described as 
 possessing 
 
 A clumsy figure and a vulgar face, 
 Devoid of spirit as of pleasing grace, 
 Action unmeaning, often misapplied, 
 Blest with no perfect attribute of pride. 
 
 Something akin to pathos is, however, connected 
 with the end of his career. He had recently re- 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 23 
 
 covered from an illness, and was met on his way to 
 the theatre. He presented a sad spectacle. He had 
 the step of an idiot, his eye wandering, his whole 
 countenance vacant. " Glad to see you 're able to 
 get to the theatre once more," faltered his friend. 
 "Yes, sir," replied Reddish, "I shall astonish you." 
 He kept his word. He was to play that night 
 Leonatus Posthumus, but he laboured under a mania. 
 He could not be persuaded to anything but that he 
 was going to play "Romeo." Accordingly he kept 
 repeating the words of the latter character the 
 whole way to the theatre. He repeated them whilst 
 dressing in his dressing-room, and then in the Green 
 Room. At last he was fairly pushed on to the stage. 
 His fellow-actors, half sympathising with him, half 
 expecting some fun, all felt convinced he would 
 begin with a speech of " Romeo." But the moment 
 he came in sight of the audience his recollection 
 returned, and he went through the first scene of 
 " Posthumus " without interpolating or missing a 
 single word ; acting better than he had ever been 
 known to act before. He came off the stage. They 
 crowded round to offer him congratulations. His 
 eye became dazed. The mania that he was to play 
 "Romeo" again seized him, and the delusion continued 
 till he again went on the stage. This was but the 
 beginning of a sad end. After passing through many 
 melancholy scenes some shameful ones his brain 
 became permanently diseased. He was thrown upon 
 the Actor's Fund for support, and lingered out the 
 remnant of his wretched life as a maniac in York 
 Asylum. 
 
24 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 The first managers of the first regular theatre in 
 Glasgow were Mr. Beatt, an Edinburgh manager, 
 and Mr. Love, who was also the stage manager. Their 
 reign, however, was but for four years, and it is 
 recorded somewhat significantly that the first respon- 
 sible manager afterwards, was a Mr. Williams. The 
 latter brought with him a company of strolling players, 
 and succeeded in keeping the theatre open for three 
 successive seasons from 1768 to the end of 1771. 
 In 1772 Mr. Digges turns up once more. He had the 
 year before signed a lease for the Edinburgh Theatre, 
 which had been transferred to him from Foote, who 
 had failed there. In Edinburgh, Digges had been 
 lauded to the skies. The receipts on his opening 
 night in that city amounted to ^"120, and "he was 
 received," says the Courant, "not only with thundering 
 plaudits, but with loud and repeated huzzas." 
 
 Of this latter gentleman I must say a few words. 
 To the student of dramatic literature the name of 
 West Digges is as familiar almost as that of Garrick 
 or Kean. Digges had been in the army, and had 
 quitted it for the stage. Easy, engaging in style, and 
 splendidly dressed, he was said to be "a victorious 
 rogue " with the fair sex wherever he went. It was 
 this famous Digges who was the innocent cause of the 
 riot when the good folks of Dublin tore up the seats 
 and demolished the theatre, then under the manage- 
 ment of Mr. Sheridan, because that gentleman declined 
 to allow him to deliver a strongly-flavoured political 
 speech when Mr. Digges was playing "Mahomet, the 
 Imposter." He had all the requisites to form a great 
 actor on the stage and off it. He had every ad van- 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 25 
 
 tage of art and nature, except, writes his biographer, 
 "an harmonious voice." The latter, however, was not 
 so harsh as to shut the ears of the fair sex against 
 him, nor to prevent him from swindling confiding 
 tradesmen. 
 
 The next manager was Mr. Ross, who assumed the 
 reins in 1773. Of this gentleman a portrait is still 
 extant. We see in it that he has a wide, sensual- 
 looking mouth, and a round, comfortable body, prone 
 so much to stoutness that we are not surprised to find 
 that when he went to London he was described by 
 Dibdin "as a voluptuous man and a great eater." 
 Ross had not the perseverance to give the necessary 
 attention to his profession, and thus he happened to 
 be admirable or insufferable in proportion as he was 
 more or less plethoric. Twenty years prior to his 
 coming to Glasgow at the age of forty-five he had 
 won his honours as a light comedian at Covent Gar- 
 den. He was a successful petitioner in a law suit 
 regarding his father's will. The old gentleman had 
 bequeathed him "one shilling, to be paid Mr. Ross 
 by his sister, to thereby put him in mind of the mis- 
 fortune he (Ross) had to be born." The jury awarded 
 him 6,000. 
 
 The Glasgow Theatre soon passed into the hands 
 of Tate Wilkinson. With the actors of a past genera- 
 tion the name of Tate Wilkinson, of the York Circuit, 
 was a household word. Mr. Charles Mathews, the 
 father of the late unrivalled comedian, speaks of 
 Wilkinson as a polished gentleman in private life and 
 even as a manager. " His liberality," writes Mathews, 
 " was conspicuous towards the whole of his company, 
 
26 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 from the highest to the lowest ; in manner and con- 
 duct, he was a Chesterfield in all he said and did." 
 
 To Wilkinson, the stage is indebted for some of its 
 most valued records of actors of the past. He knew 
 human nature thoroughly, was an excellent manager, 
 a sound actor, and contrived not only to keep afloat 
 but to swim safely into harbour through currents 
 which, in theatrical management, have drowned so 
 many adventurers. 
 
 Tate Wilkinson's brief career as a Glasgow manager 
 came to an end, and negotiations were soon pending 
 with Messrs. Bland and Jackson to succeed him. Mr. 
 Bland was related to the famous Mrs. Jordan, and was, 
 so it is said, great-grandfather to the well-known 
 Fanny Bland, who figured in Dunlop Street some 
 thirty-one years ago. Bland had procured a lease of 
 the house in Glasgow for the season of 1780. To 
 the management of the theatre he was destined, 
 however, never to succeed. Meeting with Mr. John 
 Jackson in Edinburgh, Bland persuaded Jackson 
 then an actor in the Theatre Royal, Edinburgh to 
 enter into partnership with him and a Mr. Mills in 
 the management of the Glasgow Alston Street 
 Theatre. The season was not to commence before 
 May. In the meantime the dresses and properties 
 were purchased. The three managers organised a 
 company, and filled up the time till the date of the 
 proposed opening at Dumfries. On the 3rd of May 
 Jackson left Dumfries and travelled to Glasgow to 
 superintend the necessary arrangements for the 
 opening night. As he approached Alston Street he 
 saw a crowd gathered about the entrance to it. 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 2/ 
 
 Smoke was ascending into the clear morning air. 
 His hopes sank ; with a quickened pulse he at once 
 divined the cause. A glance told him all. 
 
 " When I arrived," he writes, " on the morning of 
 the 5th May at the place where the theatre had stood 
 I found it covered with a smoky ruin." For the 
 moment the actor stood dazed. His little all had 
 been invested in the wardrobe and in the properties 
 which had been stored inside the building. Nearly 
 all were destroyed. He had resigned his own en- 
 gagement at Edinburgh, and was now comparatively 
 penniless. Moreover, he had left behind him a com- 
 pany who were looking expectantly forward to him 
 for salaries during the ensuing season. 
 
 The fire had broken out at one o'clock in the 
 morning at the gallery end of the house. As to the 
 cause, no one could determine it. There had been no 
 play acted there, and consequently no fires for two 
 days previous. Was the fire caused by accident, or 
 was it, as it was generally thought at the time, from 
 design ? Popular prejudice was still strong against 
 all plays and players. The theatre was burnt at a 
 period when riot was rampant. But a few months 
 before a mob had collected on Sunday during the 
 time of divine service round a Popish chapel. They 
 had pelted the congregation with stones, and de- 
 stroyed every picture in the sacred edifice. In that 
 same year the year of the famous " Gordon Riots " 
 another outrage had been perpetrated by a fanatical 
 mob. It had gutted the house of a potter in King 
 Street, who happened to be a Roman Catholic. 
 Dispersed for a short time by the arrival of the 
 
28 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 military, the rioters gathered together again, and set 
 fire to the potter's private dwelling-house. So faithful 
 were the instigators of this riot to each other, that 
 notwithstanding the next day the Magistrates offered 
 by proclamation a reward of one hundred guineas for 
 the apprehension of any one of the ringleaders, they all 
 resisted the temptation, and none were ever secured. 
 What hope was there, then, of tracing the perpetrators 
 of an act which at that time was deemed honouring 
 the cause of Christ ? The theatre was yet, in the minds 
 of nearly all the poorer classes, held in abhorrence, and 
 this feeling seems to have been shared by the civic 
 authorities. " I was present at the fire," writes Dr. 
 Cleland in his famous " Census " book. " I heard the 
 Magistrate direct the firemen to play on the adjoining 
 houses and not to mind the Playhouse." 
 
 The building had been insured for ^"1,000, but the 
 premium had by some neglect not been paid up. The 
 Sun Fire Office, however, generously made a present 
 of 300 towards the loss. 
 
 Soon after this catastrophe Mr. Jackson applied to 
 the proprietors to know whether they intended to 
 rebuild the theatre. They replied, " We have not the 
 least intention of doing so ; but you are at liberty to 
 erect a house at your own risk, and if you choose to 
 build on the same spot we will present you with the 
 ground and the remaining walls." These walls, I 
 may add in passing, were still standing fifty years 
 ago, for the ruins had been fitted up, and were then 
 used as the South-West Granary. 
 
 Alston Street, however, was, in the judgment of 
 Jackson, too far removed from the city. His eye was 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 29 
 
 on St. Enoch's Croft, which was just then in the 
 market. We know it now as Dunlop Street. 
 
 St. Enoch's Croft had been acquired ten years 
 previously by Mr. Colin Dunlop, who was at the time 
 Provost. The croft then faced the Clyde, and no 
 prettier place was to be found near the city. On it 
 were built several elegant mansions. A charming 
 pleasure ground led down to the Green, and the croft 
 extended from about the present Morison's Court 
 westward, nearly to that ground on which Maxwell 
 Street now stands. This was the fashionable pro- 
 menade for the bucks, beaux, and belles broad- 
 skirted laced coats, periwigs, hoops, and furbelows. 
 Among the first residents in Dunlop Street was Dr. 
 Moore, father of the well-known hero of Corunna. 
 Sir John Moore was born here. Almost immediately 
 opposite Dr. Moore's mansion lived the well-known 
 Rev. Mr. Porteous, of the Wynd Church, and Dr. 
 John Gillies, of the South or College Church Parish, 
 with whom John Wesley lodged during his preachings 
 in Glasgow. 
 
 Mr. John Jackson applied to purchase the ground, 
 and to build on it a theatre. There was not the same 
 difficulty in getting ground for such a purpose as had 
 occurred elsewhere. Mr. Dunlop had sold a large 
 piece of ground on the east side to Mr. Robert Bar- 
 clay, of Capelrigg, writer in Glasgow, and he, being 
 superior to public prejudice, felt no qualms of con- 
 science in redisposing of it to Mr. Jackson. 
 
3O THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 BUT Jackson had not yet got out of troubled waters. 
 No sooner was it noised abroad that a theatre was 
 to be built within the city boundaries, than fanaticism 
 was once more aroused. Towards the clergy Mr. 
 Dunlop, it was deemed, had, in letting out his croft as 
 a site whereon to build a Playhouse, committed a most 
 serious offence. The reverend gentlemen who resided 
 in St. Enoch's Croft at once took measures to pre- 
 vent the building being erected. A clause in their 
 feu from Mr. Dunlop stated "That it shall not be 
 lawful to erect any tan work, candle work, soap work, 
 nor any other work or manufacture upon any part of 
 the grounds which may be deemed a nuisance by 
 the Magistrates of Glasgow." On this, as they 
 deemed, restrictive clause, they determined to oppose 
 the erection of a playhouse. 
 
 Ignorant of the measures which were to be taken 
 to frustrate the completion of his design, Mr. Jackson 
 made arrangements for the commencement of the 
 work. Plans were submitted ; workmen engaged. It 
 was decided that the foundation stone should be laid 
 on Saturday, February 17, 1781, and by Jackson 
 himself. As the future manager stood ready, trowel 
 in hand, to proceed with the ceremony, a paper 
 was handed him. He glanced at it and read as 
 follows: "Dr. Gillies and Mr. Porteous offer their 
 compliments to Mr. Jackson, and think it their duty 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 31 
 
 candidly to inform him before he proceeds further in 
 the work, they intend to join with other proprietors 
 in Dunlop Street to apply to the magistrates to 
 prevent the building of a Playhouse or Concert Hall 
 for acting plays in this street, as being an injury to 
 their property, and inconsistent with the conditions 
 granted by Mr. Dunlop to the feuars. We are to 
 meet with them on Tuesday forenoon, and though we 
 might have delayed giving any intimation till the 
 building was begun, we thought it fair and becoming 
 our station to give it thus early, i/th February, 
 1781." 
 
 But the zeal of these reverend gentlemen had out- 
 run their discretion ; they had reckoned without their 
 host. Jackson was not only an experienced manager 
 and capital actor ; he was both a scholar and a 
 gentleman. His father was a clergyman in the 
 Church of England, and Jackson himself had mixed 
 in the best society of the day. He possessed a wise 
 head, which almost invariably prompted him to 
 decisive action. In this case he deemed at first 
 silence the better part of valour. He took no notice 
 of the contents of the note, but quietly proceeded 
 with the ceremony. He laid the stone, and ordered 
 the work to be carried on with all speed. Returning 
 to Edinburgh he consulted with his lawyers, and on 
 their advice he posted to his reverend assailants a 
 reply at once as pertinent as their own, and more 
 grammatical. The following is an extract from it 
 " That your property should be injured by the building 
 now erecting, I could in a moment have confuted, for 
 4 where the carcase is there will the eagles be gathered 
 
32 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 together ; ' where amusements are held forth, there 
 the body of the people will centre. . . . Your 
 second assertion ' that it is inconsistent with the dis- 
 position granted by Mr. Dunlop to the feuars ' is 
 totally groundless. For, till you can prove that a 
 Theatre is a Manufacture which may be deemed a 
 nuisance you cannot seriously suppose the present 
 building in dispute as coming within the meaning of 
 Mr. Dunlop. A church, a school, or a ball-room, 
 might, with equal propriety, be pronounced nuisances 
 as the building in question. Let me persuade you, 
 gentlemen, to take the advice of one who has seen 
 enough of the world to point out your imprudent con- 
 duct on the occasion. Would you live in neighbourly 
 comfort with one who has pitched his tent so near 
 you ? Molest him not in the pursuit of his profession, 
 for believe him, he means to deport himself with the 
 greatest deference to yours. The son of a clergyman, 
 and brought up for holy orders, he will ever pay 
 honour to the sacred characters of that order. Let it 
 be your study to preach sanctity without austerity, 
 for be assured, wherever compulsion or restraint 
 accompanies admonition and advice, the senses take 
 the alarm, and Nature and Reason, ever rebellious 
 under restraint, begin to weigh and to confute the 
 unreasonable dictates of authority. ... I am 
 ready on all occasions to meet you on the list of 
 argument on this point, as I am in Parliament House 
 before the Lords in Edinburgh, to whom I have 
 already appealed on the subject of the other. On 
 more maturely considering the subject, it appears 
 clear to me that you do not know the plan of the 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 33 
 
 intended buildings. That which you complain of will 
 neither interrupt your sight nor offend your hearing. 
 A land is intended to be built along the front of 
 Dunlop Street, according to the rules of that street, 
 and likewise along Dr. Gillies' passage, as high as 
 either of your houses. That next, Dr. Gillies will 
 block up his prospect southwards within ten feet of 
 his windows. This will entirely screen him not only 
 from the sight of the theatre, but from every other 
 object that way. These lands may be either 
 heightened or lowered, placed forward or backward, 
 according to the good or bad humour your conduct 
 may occasion the proprietor. Since writing the above 
 I have been reminded that one of you (Dr. Gillies) 
 was last summer a fellow-traveller with me. We 
 were then not disagreeable to each other. As we 
 were fellow-travellers in that short journey, let us be 
 so on a long one through the world, and let us show 
 to each individual of that world, that brotherly love 
 and charity are the characteristics of good Christians. 
 That it may be so with me shall be the constant 
 care of, 
 
 " Gentlemen, your humble servant, 
 
 "J. JACKSON." 
 
 The letter had the desired effect. The work of 
 building the theatre was completed in due time, and 
 met with no further attempt at interruption on the 
 part of clerical antagonists. Mr. Jackson and his 
 reverend neighbours lived together in neighbourly 
 peace, and the property in the vicinity rose in value. 
 The theatre in Dunlop Street was in reality the first 
 
 3 
 
34 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 theatre ever erected in Glasgow, the former one, 
 having had its site in Grahamstown, had been built 
 beyond the city boundaries. The cost of Dunlop 
 Street Playhouse was upwards of 3000. It held at 
 the then Edinburgh prices from 90 to ;ioo. It 
 stood upon the east side of Dunlop Street, and was 
 enclosed by a wall five or six feet high. Its length 
 extended about 90 feet, and its breadth about 45 feet. 
 The pit door was in the centre of the west gable, and 
 before it, was a piazza, supported by Doric columns, 
 which covered the entry which led to the galleries. It 
 is said in a history of Glasgow, dated 1795, that " For 
 either the external or interior appearance of the house 
 little can be said, as with regard to both, they are 
 very far from being elegant, either in design or execu- 
 tion." The date of its opening was in January, 1782. 
 The performances were represented through the 
 season by a detached company, which was occasion- 
 ally recruited from Edinburgh, where the theatre was 
 likewise open under Jackson's direction at the same 
 time. Afterwards, the performances were so arranged 
 that one set of actors supplied both houses, and for 
 the first fifteen years of Jackson's management the 
 Dunlop Street Theatre was worked by the Edinburgh 
 company. 
 
 Adjoining the theatre in Dunlop Street, Mr. Jackson 
 built a country house, which looked pleasantly on to 
 a pretty flower garden, with an alcove and honey- 
 suckle training up the walls, a domicile which was 
 pulled down about thirty-eight years ago. Jackson 
 Street was also his property. 
 
 Barely two months after the opening of the theatre, 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 35 
 
 in the early spring, a terrible calamity fell on the city. 
 This was an inundation of the Clyde. On the after- 
 noon of Thursday, the I2th March, 1782, the river, 
 swollen by some days of an almost uninterrupted fall 
 of snow and rain, came down in a flood, and before 
 ten o'clock at night it had submerged the Green, 
 stopped all communication with the country, and 
 flooded the Bridgegate to the depth of some feet. 
 The inhabitants, however, were used to inundations 
 of the river. They went quietly to bed, thinking that 
 by the morning, the flood would have subsided. The 
 flood, on the contrary, increased. The ground floors 
 were swamped, fires were extinguished, and the very 
 beds were surrounded by the rising water. Cries and 
 shrieks now resounded on the dark and gloomy night. 
 Flight was found to be impossible. When morning 
 broke, boats laden with provisions were sent up and 
 down the streets, and came back laden with the 
 terror stricken, who dared no longer remain in their 
 abodes. The Saltmarket, Stockwell, Jamaica Street, 
 as well as, the then, village of Gorbals, were overflowed, 
 the latter being described as looking, like an island 
 in an arm of the sea. Had the tide but lasted two 
 hours longer, the two bridges, it is said, must have 
 fallen a sacrifice to its fury. The Clyde had risen 
 twenty feet above its ordinary level. The damage 
 done was enormous. Tobacco, sugar, and other 
 merchandise in large quantities had been swept away 
 and destroyed, and general destitution amongst the 
 poorer classes was threatened. Schemes for chari- 
 table contributions were at once set on foot, and 
 amongst those foremost in coming- to the aid of the 
 
36 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 sufferers was Mr. Jackson. He realised for them a 
 large sum by giving the entire proceeds of a night 
 performance in the theatre. This disinterested act 
 of goodwill and kindness on the part of the manager 
 turned the tide in favour of the theatre. The poorer 
 class began to recognise the fact that although a 
 "son of Belial, there was a somethin' akin to true 
 religion aboot the player." The public extended 
 their patronage, and all classes for a time went to 
 the play. Jackson, thus encouraged, set to work to 
 provide for his patrons the best fare which the stage 
 could then supply. 
 
 The first star which ever shone on the boards of 
 Dunlop Street was Mrs. Siddons, who appeared there 
 in 1785. The great actress was then in the first 
 flush of youth and at the zenith of her fame. A year 
 previously she had made her triumphal entry into 
 Edinburgh, and just three years before that, she had 
 taken London by storm by her impersonation of 
 Lady Macbeth. In the Scottish metropolis her 
 receipts amounted to ^"967. On the evenings on 
 which she acted, the streets became impassable, from 
 the crowds who flocked to see her. People took 
 their stand before the doors frequently at noon. 
 The attraction of going to see the great Siddons 
 disturbed even the arrangements made by the General 
 Assembly of the Church of Scotland. It found it 
 needful to alter the usual hour of meeting to an 
 earlier one, in consequence of nearly all the young 
 ministers flocking to the play. Porters and servants 
 took up their stations at night to be the first in the 
 morning to secure seats at the box office. The 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 37 
 
 military, even were required to be on guard at the 
 opening of the doors in the evening to prevent a 
 riot, from the struggles of the public to obtain 
 admission. 
 
 " On the occasion of her first visit to Edinburgh, 
 she felt," writes Thomas Campbell in Mrs. Siddon's 
 memoirs, "as if she was speaking to stones. Her 
 elocution fell in vain on these northern flints. At 
 last, she coiled up all her powers to the most emphatic 
 possible utterance of one passage, having previously 
 vowed in her heart if this could not touch the Scotch 
 she would never again cross the Tweed. When it 
 was finished, she paused, and looked at the audience. 
 A deep silence ensued. This was broken only by 
 one voice exclaiming, ' THAT 's NO' BAD.' This ludi- 
 crous parsimony of praise convulsed the Edinburgh 
 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. At the conclusion of 
 her engagement, the Faculty of Advocates presented 
 her with a piece of plate." This took place in 
 1784. 
 
 Before coming to Glasgow she returned to London. 
 Her visit to that city was destined to be a sadly 
 memorable one. 
 
 By Royal command she read before George the 
 Third and Queen Charlotte at Buckingham Palace. 
 It was on this occasion she was the first to discover 
 symptoms of madness in the King. The good old 
 monarch had always entertained a profound and 
 cordial respect for her personal character, and his 
 
38 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 own propriety of conduct had been unquestioned. 
 His Majesty, as the actress was about to quit the 
 Palace, secretly handed her a sheet of paper that 
 was suggestively blank ; all but the signature of his 
 name. The meaning of the missive was unmistakable. 
 "She judged," writes Campbell, "too highly both of 
 her sovereign and herself to believe that in his right 
 mind he could show such extraordinary conduct." 
 The event proved the justice of her conclusion. She 
 immediately took the paper to the Queen, who was 
 duly grateful for this "dignified proof of her dis- 
 cretion." 
 
 Who supported Mrs. Siddons when she came to 
 Dunlop Street on I2th August, 1785, nobody now 
 can say for certain. It was probably the Edinburgh 
 company. She had no reason to complain of the 
 sluggishness of Scottish enthusiasm in Glasgow. A 
 triumph equal to that the great actress had achieved 
 in Edinburgh awaited her. Some individual in the 
 gallery appears to have been so enchanted that he 
 exclaimed, " Mon ! she 's a fallen ANGEL," and before 
 she left the city its sober-minded inhabitants had, 
 like those of " the wise men of the east," made her a 
 public presentation. 
 
 " If," wrote Tate Wilkinson, " you ask me what is a 
 queen ? I should say Mrs. Siddons." " Of all actors," 
 wrote Lord Byron, " Cooke was the most natural, 
 Kemble the most supernatural, Kean the medium 
 between the two. But Mrs. Siddons was worth them 
 all put together." " None," wrote a contemporary of 
 the great actress, " who saw her in the splendour of 
 her meridian, ever pronounced that name without a 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 39 
 
 tone and manner more softened and raised than their 
 habitual discourse." 
 
 Strange ! that a being so beautiful, so loftily grace- 
 ful, who could excite by her acting an enthusiasm 
 little short of idolatry, should have married, and for 
 love ! a being so opposite to her in taste, manners, 
 speech, and appearance as Mr. Siddons was. That 
 gentleman became the lover of the great actress when 
 he was in her father's company of strollers, where the 
 great Sarah would then occasionally have to stand at 
 the wings and twang snuffers to imitate a windmill. 
 He was one of the most unpoetical and egotistical of 
 creatures. " I can play," he boasted, " either Hamlet 
 or Harlequin." " I forbade you," said old Roger 
 Kemble, when he first heard of Sarah's intended 
 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''' 
 
 11 Sarah's pathos," remarked 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 I was to give her 
 porter, she wouldn't be worth a farthing." 
 
4O THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 OVER a space of five years, Jackson continued to 
 manage the Dunlop Street Theatre, bringing to it 
 from time to time the best of stars and an admirable 
 company. Among the former, were the great 
 Henderson, the rival of Garrick ; Mrs. Jordan, Lee 
 Lewis, Pope, King, and John Kemble. Of the com- 
 pany, it was said that Glasgow had never seen its 
 equal. It included Stephen Kemble, fat enough to 
 play Falstaff without padding ; Henry Siddons, and 
 Mrs. Duncan. 
 
 On the 3 ist July, 1790, Sheridan's "School for 
 Scandal" was acted, with Mr. King in his original 
 character of Sir Peter Teazle, and Miss Farren as 
 Lady Teazle. 
 
 The following is a cast of " Much Ado About 
 Nothing," which was played on August nth, 1790: 
 
 Benedick, . . Mr. King 
 Claudio, . . . Mr. Wood 
 Dogberry, . . Mr. Wilson 
 
 Hero, . . . Mrs- Wood 
 Beatrice, . . Miss Farren 
 
 The subordinate characters were played by Messrs. 
 Stephen Kemble, Young, Rock, Toms, Turpin, Lam- 
 lash, Grant, Duncan, H. Siddons, Mrs. Stephen Kemble, 
 Miss Kemble, Miss Walstein, Mrs. Duncan, and Miss 
 Duncan. " Glasgow/' wrote Mr. Strang in 1856, "has 
 never had a company to equal that one." 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 41 
 
 Shortly after this season, a cloud fell on Jackson. 
 In spite of his most strenuous efforts he failed. Busi- 
 ness at the theatre became bad. The public stopped 
 its ears to the tones of any theatrical enchanter. 
 Jackson had finally to own himself defeated. In that 
 same year (1790) he became bankrupt. His financial 
 difficulties arose mainly from his trying to work too 
 many theatres at the same time. These were the 
 Glasgow, Aberdeen, Dundee, and Edinburgh houses. 
 His sequestrated estate was put into the hands of 
 trustees, and his theatres at Edinburgh and Glasgow 
 were advertised to be sold by public auction. Stephen 
 Kemble became the purchaser on the understanding 
 so Jackson alleged that he (Jackson) was to be a 
 sharer in the profits, provided he (Jackson) found 
 security for part of the rent. To this arrangement 
 Kemble subsequently demurred, on the ground that 
 Jackson's security was not sufficient. Jackson was 
 eventually excluded, by Kemble's orders, from even a 
 free admission to the theatre, of which for eight years 
 he had been a respected manager. 
 
 In 1799 Kemble had given up management, and 
 Jackson again made his appearance in Glasgow. He 
 had arranged with his creditors. He now came for- 
 ward as an applicant to resume management in 
 conjunction with a Mr. Francis Aiken, of Bedford 
 Square, London. Aiken was one of a large circle of 
 Jackson's aristocratic acquaintances, and they pur- 
 chased from the trustees, the Theatre Royal. Once 
 more the plays of Shakespeare, "Jane Shore," 
 "Douglas," "Venice Preserved," the comedies of 
 Sheridan, Goldsmith, and Coleman were revived. 
 
42 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 Once more, too, was the arena immortalised by Mrs. 
 Siddons. 
 
 In the list of dramatic luminaries during Jackson's 
 management we find Jack Bannister, " Handsome, 
 genial Jack," as he was called, before whom, as a light 
 comedian, even Elliston confessed, "he took off his 
 hat." 
 
 The year eighteen hundred and four, was destined 
 not to close until a "star" of more than ordinary bright- 
 ness had illumined the Glasgow theatrical horizon. 
 This luminary was no other than the Infant Roscius 
 the great Master Henry West Betty. This youth- 
 ful comet, who was to achieve the greatest dramatic 
 success on record, was an Irish boy, the son of a 
 highly respectable lady and gentleman who resided 
 in Belfast. His taste for the stage had been cultivated 
 from the first with an eye to a future public appear- 
 ance, and his passion for acting had been excited in 
 the first instance when, accompanied by his parents, 
 he was taken to the Belfast Theatre to see Mrs. 
 Siddons play Lady Macbeth. He was a bright, kind- 
 hearted boy, quick at study so quick that he learnt 
 " Hamlet " in four days and was a handsome-faced, 
 neat, little fellow to boot. He made his appearance 
 first in Belfast with a success, the like of \vhich was 
 never equalled, and probably never will be, in the annals 
 of the stage. It was on one night in August, 1803, 
 the era of the " Peep o' Day Boys " insurrection, when 
 the streets of Dublin were by law cleared by a certain 
 hour of night. When .Betty acted in the latter city, he 
 carried the house at once by storm, and with a force 
 so irresistible, that even the city regulations were set 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 43 
 
 aside. In honour of the " young Roscius " notices were 
 printed in the bills that people leaving the theatre 
 would not be subject to be stopped by the constabu- 
 lary. His fame reached London, and engagements 
 were offered the boy at 50 per night, at a period 
 when the best actors in Covent Garden and Drury 
 Lane were more than content to play for 16 per 
 week. Before, however, he went to London he visited 
 the provinces, where his salary was 100 per night. 
 At Liverpool for fourteen performances he cleared 
 .1,520. Off the stage as well as on it he became a 
 demi-god. So great was the Betty mania that no 
 act, however derogatory in itself, was considered infra 
 dig. to get a sight of the wonderful boy. Hotel doors 
 were besieged for a mere passing glimpse of the darling 
 of the hour. 
 
 Macready relates a story that, when the boy stopped, 
 for the night only, at an hotel in Dunchurch, a lady of 
 one of the leading county families entreated the land- 
 lord to get a sight of young Roscius. " She would 
 give anything." The landlord, unwilling to disoblige 
 his patrons, suggested there was but one way in which 
 her wish could be gratified. " Mr. and Mrs. Betty and 
 their son," said the landlord, "are just going to dinner, 
 and if you choose to carry in one of the dishes you 
 can see him ; but there is no other way." The lady, 
 very grateful in her acknowledgments, took the dish 
 and made one of the waitresses at the table. The best 
 portrait painters of the day vied for the honour of 
 immortalising him on canvas. Politicians were even 
 at his service. Charles James Fox read Young's 
 Tragedy of " The Revenge " to the boy, and William 
 
44 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 Pitt once made a motion that the House should 
 adjourn in order that he and other members might be 
 able to see young Betty act that night. When 
 through overwork, the lad became ill, daily bulletins 
 were issued and waited for as eagerly as if he had 
 been the king himself. Even the University of Cam- 
 bridge made him the subject of a prize medal. 
 Crowds surrounded the theatre every night he played. 
 Soldiers guarded the entrance and lined the passages 
 and approaches. When he acted in Covent Garden, 
 Drury Lane, with a very weak programme, took over 
 ^300 from the overflow of its neighbour. 
 
 Before, however, he made his debut in London he 
 appeared in Dunlop Street. Every lobby, every 
 passage in the theatre was packed. Women fainted, 
 men struggled into every nook and corner, satisfied if 
 they could but hear the tones of the young pheno- 
 menon. The roar of plaudits which greeted the lad's 
 entrance on the stage, as young Norval, was equalled 
 only by the praises lavished by press and public 
 on him the next day. To such an unprecedented 
 extent were the laudations carried, that a local critic 
 who dared to write disparagingly of young Roscius 
 raised such a storm about his head that he was 
 obliged (so it is said) to leave the city. 
 
 Whether Master Betty was deserving of this popu- 
 larity remains, however, an open question. As to his 
 talents, critics disagree. Macready describes him as 
 a miracle of beauty, grace, and genius. Mrs. Inchbald 
 complained that his preaching tones fatigued her. 
 " He is a clever little boy," she said, " and had I never 
 seen boys act before, I might have thought him ex- 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 45 
 
 quisite." Young Betty was no scholar. He was 
 remarkable for dropping his h's. No originality of 
 conception seems to have characterised his embodi- 
 ments. He owed almost everything to one Houghton, 
 an old Irish prompter, who taught him how to act all 
 his most successful parts. In the books from which 
 he studied might be found marked, not merely the 
 inflections of his voice, but every movement of his 
 hands, arms, and legs. Every tone, look, and gesture 
 was stereotyped. Young Betty was a really good 
 fellow, kind and generous, very unpretentious, and not 
 spoilt by flattery. He possessed, too, the rather rare 
 quality of gratitude. He confessed his obligation to 
 his old tutor, and one of his first acts was to settle an 
 annuity on the ever-afterwards grateful prompter. 
 
 " The popularity," says Campbell the poet, " 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 a profession in which he would possibly 
 have failed as a man." 
 
 On leaving Glasgow Master Betty went to Edin- 
 burgh, and in connection with his engagement Jackson 
 made the following announcement : " It is one of 
 those singularities of nature that neither history nor 
 tradition can furnish, but which is now beheld by us, 
 but never can be seen again till the Author of all 
 things condescends to endue another stripling in 
 embryo with a similar incredible combination of 
 stage endowment for the gratification of contem- 
 
46 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 porary admiration." This " Micawberian " flourish 
 was, however, destined to be slightly subdued and 
 toned down, on the first night's engagement of the 
 hero of the hour at Edinburgh. In order to add 
 eclat to the reception of Master Betty as Young 
 Norval, Jackson invited Mr. Home, the author of 
 "Douglas," who was then in his eightieth year, to 
 witness the play, and seated him at a side wing. 
 The curtain fell, the applause was at its height, and 
 acclamations of delight resounded through the theatre 
 at the acting of young Roscius. Calls at the end of 
 the performance were not then in vogue. The 
 applause, however, was deafening. Mr. Home, in 
 his innocence, mistook the applause for young Betty 
 for acclamations at his own play. He stepped on to 
 the stage and respectfully bowed his acknowledg- 
 ments. The plaudits swelled into a storm at the 
 sight of an old Edinburgh favourite, dramatist, and 
 ex-clergyman, and so served completely to unhorse 
 the triumph for at least that night of Master Betty. 
 Home, however, said afterwards "This is the first 
 time I ever saw the part of ' Douglas ' played, that is 
 according to my idea of the character at the time I 
 conceived and wrote it." 
 
 Betty's career was as brief as it was triumphal. 
 In little more than two years he quitted the garish 
 lights, and enrolled himself as a student at Cambridge 
 University. When he had finished his curriculum 
 he returned to the stage ; but alas ! his absence from 
 it, though but for so short a period, had been long 
 enough to break the spell. The boy had grown 
 into a man. The novelty was no more. A " king " 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 47 
 
 had arisen who " knew not " Henry West Betty. An- 
 other idol had displaced the former one in the minds 
 of the fickle public. No Houghton either was at 
 hand to coach the actor for fresh triumphs, and so 
 young Roscius quietly and wisely retired into private 
 life. He passed the remainder of a very long life 
 as a retired country gentleman, and died at Chel- 
 tenham about sixteen years ago at the age of eighty- 
 three. 
 
 For some time prior to this, affairs at Dunlop Street 
 had been looking anything but cheerful. Jackson had 
 become careless, not to say penurious, in his manage- 
 ment of the theatre. The Glasgow theatrical journals 
 were complaining of the meagreness of his company, 
 of the wretched mounting of the pieces, and of one 
 man playing three parts in the same piece. " Romeo 
 and Juliet" was played. "When Romeo spoke of 
 the beggarly account of empty benches," writes The 
 Observer, " there was a general titter. As far as the 
 audience was concerned, it was a literal fact." " The 
 theatre," writes the Register, "closed this evening, 
 after 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." Then comes a lament as to the 
 want of novelty in the pieces which had been played. 
 " We have had no new plays, probably on account of 
 the expense of paying their carriage of 2s. gd. per 
 coach. Had the pieces been provided with proper 
 actors," the critic goes on to say, " each night should 
 have proved a bumper." The season wound up with 
 the " Merchant of Venice," in which the Senate was 
 
48 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 represented by four miserable-looking, dirty reddish 
 figures wrapped in " faded gowns." 
 
 Taste in theatrical matters has undergone strange 
 changes in a century. What was then deemed a 
 tragedy would possibly now be considered good 
 stock for a three-act farce. During the season Jack- 
 son had produced amongst other novelties Monk 
 Lewis's then popular tragedy of the " Castle Spectre." 
 The public were delighted with it. The best tragedians 
 of the day acted in it. The critics pronounced it a 
 " splendid " drama. Seventy years afterwards, Mr. 
 Buckstone, being just then at his wit's end for 
 novelty, revived the piece, with a strong cast, at the 
 Haymarket. The audience, most of whom had never 
 heard of the play before, regarded it in the light of a 
 burlesque, and, to the chagrin of all concerned, laughed 
 heartily at it from beginning to end. 
 
 With 1804 the glories of Dunlop Street may be 
 said to have passed, and for a quarter of a century its 
 triumphs were destined to slumber. 
 
 Twenty-two summers had come and gone since the 
 memorable opening of the theatre in Dunlop Street. 
 The once bright and handsome face of its manager 
 had become furrowed with care, and Age had made 
 itself known in the loss of that spirit of enterprise 
 which had characterised the earlier years of his 
 theatrical career. The city had now increased. Its 
 boundaries had become considerably widened. What 
 had been rugged lanes and waste patches of ground 
 when the theatre was first built, were now ornamented 
 with villas and pleasure grounds. St. Enoch's Croft 
 had developed into a park, and Queen Street was 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 49 
 
 now occupied by handsome villas, in which the 
 wealthiest class resided. " From time immemorial 
 (writes Senex in his ' Old Glasgow ') a thoroughfare 
 existed in the line of this now important artery of the 
 city. Cow Loan, as Queen Street had been formerly 
 called, led from St. Enoch's Gait northward to a set 
 of old roads which branched off near the locality of 
 the Cowcaddens. It was by this ancient loan that 
 one hundred and fifty years before, Cromwell had led 
 his sturdy troopers into the city." Time had effected 
 a revolution not alone in the outward aspect of the 
 city, but also in the minds and prejudices of the 
 people. The venture of the playhouse, made twenty- 
 two years before, had, despite of certain transitory 
 failures, been regarded as a success. So well, indeed, 
 had it answered on the whole, that theatrical enter- 
 prises were now looked upon as a pretty safe com- 
 mercial speculation. By no class of people was this 
 idea entertained more favourably than by certain 
 merchants of Glasgow. " Dunlop Street," it was con- 
 ceived, was not a theatre in appearance worthy of the 
 city. A playhouse, of greater elegance and more 
 commodious in structure, promised, if well managed, 
 advantage to the public and profit to the shareholders. 
 A difficulty was felt at first in obtaining an eligible site. 
 At length, however, one was found. The unwelcome 
 news fell on the ears of Mr. Jackson and his partner 
 that a new theatre was to be built in Queen Street. 
 
 Queen Street was, in 1805, at the extreme end 
 westward of the city. It was within a stone's throw 
 of the Assembly Rooms (afterwards the Athenaeum) 
 in Ingram Street, and within hail of the main 
 
 4 
 
50 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 thoroughfare of Argyle Street, which was just then 
 straggling out in Grahamstown. A subscription was 
 soon set afoot ; and the shares for the new theatre 
 were sold at 2$ each. The particular spot selected 
 for the theatre was, that near which now stands the 
 Royal Exchange. The west boundary of the theatre 
 ran nearly in line of the modern North Court off 
 Exchange Square. The Joint Stock Committee of 
 Merchants comprised the names of Messrs. Lawrence 
 Craigie, John Hamilton, Dugald Bannatyne, William 
 Penny, and Robert Dennistoun. At the top of 
 Queen Street West, was an unsightly spot of earth, 
 on which stood a decayed farmhouse. This latter 
 building the Committee purchased from the Magis- 
 trates ; also a piece of meadow flat ground reaching 
 along Queen Street northward to the line of what 
 we now know as St. Vincent Place then likewise a 
 waste piece of land and these were to form the area 
 on which the new theatre was to be built. Prepar- 
 ations for the erection of the building were at once 
 set on foot. Architects were summoned to lay before 
 the Committee their plans ; and builders and work- 
 men engaged. The cost of the entire building was 
 to be 18,500, and so far as taste, ingenuity, and 
 money could effect it, the new theatre was to be the 
 finest in the three kingdoms. In less than a twelve- 
 month the beautiful theatre was completed. It was 
 really beautiful. The front was composed of an 
 arcade basement, supporting six ionic columns, 30 
 feet in height, with corresponding pilasters, entabla- 
 tures, and appropriate devices. The principal vesti- 
 bule led to the boxes by a double flight of stairs, and 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 51 
 
 was separated from the corridors by a screen inter- 
 spersed with Corinthian columns. The proscenium 
 was 30 feet wide, and decorated with antique orna- 
 ments ; and the stage balconies were tastefully 
 executed. The scenery was by the celebrated 
 Naismith, who resided then in Edinburgh. The act 
 drop exhibited a picturesque view of the Firth of 
 Clyde, and was said to be one of the finest bits of 
 scenic illustration in the kingdom. The theatre was 
 seated for nearly 1,500 people, and so constructed 
 as to hold when full about 260- The yearly rental 
 was fixed at 1,200. On its stage were destined to 
 appear some of the grandest artists Britain had ever 
 known. The names of the actors and actresses who 
 " strutted and fretted " their hour on that stage, so 
 far from being " heard no more," speak to us still of 
 a past which has no equal in the present. They in- 
 clude the Kembles, Cooke, Kean, Macready, Munden, 
 the elder Mathews, Mrs. Siddons, Miss Farren, Jack 
 Bannister, Mrs. Jordan, Dowton, Incledon, Fawcett, 
 Elliston, Braham, Liston, Miss Stephens, Charles 
 Mayne Young, Sinclair, Miss M. Tree, Catalani, the 
 great Emery, and Mrs. Glover. 
 
 Up to the year 1858 there stood in Argyle Street, 
 on the site where the warehouse of Mann, Byars & 
 Co. now stands, at the corner of Virginia Street, a 
 quaint, old-fashioned tavern with the sign of the 
 " Black Bull." For eighty years it had opened its 
 doors to the best of the punch-drinking community 
 in the city. In this same hostelry were discussed 
 on many a winter evening gone, over long " clays " 
 and glasses, the most important topics of the day 
 
52 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 city improvements, politics, hunting, fishing, sound 
 doctrine, and the drama. The Black Bull was the 
 home of all the clubs of any repute in Glasgow in 
 the early days of the nineteenth century. Few men 
 of any social standing in those days but were mem- 
 bers of some one or more of the clubs that frequented 
 the Black Bull. " These were drinking days, and men 
 drank hard," and hiccupped fidelity to " each brither 
 man " over their pipes and punch. At a period when 
 Glasgow boasted but two hotels, the Black Bull was 
 that generally honoured as the resting-place of the 
 theatrical stars. It was the rendezvous consequently 
 not alone for sportsmen, politicians, merchants, and 
 tradesmen, but likewise the resort of actors. There 
 " they most did love to congregate." To this same 
 tavern, after the evening's work was done, the manager 
 of Dunlop Street resorted, and it was doubtless over 
 the "britherly bowl" of punch which the "Black Bull" 
 was famed for brewing, that Messrs. Jackson and 
 Aiken gained the good will of the proprietors of the 
 new theatre, and their promise to view an application 
 from them favourably. Certain it is that these gen- 
 tlemen were amongst the first applicants for the 
 management of the Queen Street Theatre. Their 
 overture met with a ready response, and this in despite, 
 too, of the deplorable way in which Dunlop Street 
 had been mismanaged. The theatre was let to them 
 on the condition that they should bring to Glasgow the 
 best actors and actresses the market could produce. 
 
 Terms were arranged, and nothing remained but to 
 fix the date when the theatre should be opened, and 
 what should be the opening piece. A blank verse 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 53 
 
 play was deemed then indispensable. The old comedies 
 had been run upon to any extent, and Tragedy, it was 
 deemed, would be an ill omen for an inaugural per- 
 formance. At this period no piece was in greater re- 
 quest than Tobin's new comedy of " The Honeymoon." 
 
 Poor Tobin ! that sad example " of the fallacious 
 hopes by which half mankind are lured to vexatious 
 enterprise." He had passed many years in the 
 drudgery of writing plays, but in vain. Whether his 
 other plays would have pleased the public, nobody 
 now knows. The managers never gave them a 
 chance. They were never accepted. At length 
 Tobin, prematurely aged, worn in body and mind, 
 and poverty-stricken, wrote "The Honeymoon." 
 This was accepted ; but the broken-hearted young 
 author never knew its fate. Shattered in health, 
 he had sought rest and change of scene in a sea 
 voyage, leaving his play in charge of his brother, to 
 present to the managers. When the vessel reached 
 its destination (the West Indies) the news had spread 
 that " The Honeymoon " had created in London 
 a perfect furor ; but the ears which should have 
 been most gladdened with the sound, were stopped 
 for ever. Quietly, but unexpectedly, Poor Tobin had 
 died on the voyage, and had found an ocean grave. 
 Tobin's comedy was filling Covent Garden nightly. 
 It was in demand in every large theatre in the pro- 
 vinces. 
 
 The waves had closed over Poor Tobin's lifeless 
 body but four months when his comedy was destined 
 to produce in Glasgow almost as great a stir as it had 
 done six months before in London. 
 
54 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 The announcement of it on the opening of the 
 Queen Street Theatre ran as follows : 
 
 The Public is respectfully informed that the New 
 
 Theatre will be opened 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 Mr. Wright, grocer, Argyle Street, and 
 of Mr. M'Gregor at the Box Office of the Theatre, where places 
 for the Boxes may be taken. 
 
 The cast, composed of members of the Edinburgh 
 company, was as follows : 
 
 The Duke Aranza, Mr. Eyre 
 Rolando, . . . Mr. Evatt 
 Count Montalban, 
 
 Mr. Flowerden 
 Lampedo, . . Mr. Berry 
 
 Jacques, . . Mr. Turpin 
 Balthazar, Mr. Hollingsworth 
 Zamora, . . .Mrs. Turpin 
 Volante, . . Mrs. Young 
 Juliana, . . . Mrs. Eyre 
 
 The theatre was open four nights in the week 
 Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday.* 
 
 * It is about this time we find the first intimation of elocution being 
 taught in the city by a professional. Mr. Toms, a comedian who had 
 won his spurs at Edinburgh, appeared in the stock company in Glasgow 
 and announced " That having taught the practice of Elocution with 
 great success in Edinburgh, he wished to instruct a limited number of 
 pupils in the same art during his stay in Glasgow at ' Ross ' Lodgings, 
 Queen Street." 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 55 
 
 The first legitimate star who appeared in Queen 
 Street was Miss Duncan (Mrs. Davison), the original 
 Juliana of " The Honeymoon," who made her debut 
 on June 24th as Lady Teazle. The charm of Miss 
 Duncan's acting, so I have been told by some few who 
 were old enough to have remembered her at this 
 time, has seldom or ever been equalled. Some forty 
 years after her appearance in Glasgow I, then but a 
 youth, had the honour of speaking to her. She had 
 long before that, retired from the footlights ; and for 
 many years had been married to a Captain Davison 
 a military gentleman of the "Turveydrop" build 
 and who was always under "pressure of pecuniary 
 liabilities." I can just remember being taken by the 
 hand of my father and led into her room, where a 
 very beautiful old lady, with a refined but sickly face, 
 white hair, and attenuated frame, rose from the sofa 
 on which she had been lying, and, coming forward 
 with a feeble step, kindly laid her hand on my head 
 and smoothed my hair. My father told me after- 
 wards never to forget that I had been " patted on the 
 head by the great Mrs. Davison." Mrs. Davison was 
 mother to the late J. W. Davison, for so many years 
 musical critic to the Times. 
 
 The name of Harry Johnstone was, with Glasgow 
 playgoers, as recently even as 1861, a "household 
 word." He was born at Lanark and reared in 
 London. As an amateur he had won the golden 
 opinions of his confreres, and at the age of eighteen 
 he made his first appearance as an actor. The tragedy 
 of "Douglas" being then the rage, Johnstone (who 
 was a godson of Lord Erskine) selected " Young 
 
56 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 Norval " for his first appearance in Edinburgh. " His 
 youthful appearance," writes his biographer, "grace- 
 ful form, and handsome expressive countenance, won 
 for him the universal approbation of his countrymen." 
 It was about this time that the stage was undergoing 
 a radical change with regard to costume. Macbeth, 
 which used to be played in a Court suit of scarlet 
 and gold lace, surmounted by a wig " as large as any 
 now worn by the gravest of our Barons of the Ex- 
 chequer," was now being costumed as a tobacconist's 
 dummy Highlander. Subsequently it was held to be 
 unquestionable that the correct costume of nearly 
 every Scotch character (if serious) should be that of 
 the Highlander of the snuff shop. It was Sir Walter 
 Scott himself who induced Kemble to substitute for 
 the shuttlecock head dress of ostrich feathers, which 
 he wore as the ambitious Thane, the eagle's feather. 
 Young Norval had always been dressed in the trews 
 and Scotch jacket. Johnstone appeared in the char- 
 acter in full Highland costume in kilt, breast-plate, 
 shield, claymore, and bonnet. There was a momentary 
 pause of astonishment on the part of the audience ; 
 then an approving murmur; then, one burst of plaudits, 
 which swelled into an ovation. The whole house rose, 
 and "such a reception," writes his biographer, "was 
 never witnessed in the halls of a theatre before." The 
 reverend author, Mr. Home, was present, and at the 
 conclusion publicly pronounced Johnstone the beau 
 ideal of his hero a compliment, however, which he 
 had lavished on Master Betty a short time before. 
 Johnstone was said to be one of the best Sir Pertinax 
 MacSycophants on the stage, and Mr. Phelps gained 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 57 
 
 his conception of the character from Johnstone, who, 
 when Phelps was studying the character, was an old 
 man. The excellence of Johnstone's acting of the 
 part may be easily explained he was an extra- 
 ordinary mimic, and had copied G. F. Cooke, who 
 was the god of the young actor's idolatry. Johnstone 
 had an odd style, too, of imitating persons' manners, 
 gait, and gesture, without even attempting their voices. 
 He would entertain his friends by showing how the 
 principal actors would play harlequin the agile 
 spring of Lewis, the elephantine ponderosity of 
 George Frederick Cooke, the solemn saltatory efforts 
 of Kemble, and finally the leap a la Bologna, the 
 most celebrated harlequin of his day. On one occa- 
 sion when performing the latter feat he jumped liter- 
 ally through a window, and fell from a height of 16 
 feet into the park below. In Edinburgh Johnstone 
 was declared by the critics to be the best Scotchman 
 they had seen on the boards for many a day. To 
 those, therefore, who had not seen Cooke, Johnstone's 
 acting must have been most pleasingly powerful. 
 Prior to his appearing in Queen Street, he had played 
 a short engagement with Jackson in Dunlop Street, 
 and on his appearance in Queen Street the audience 
 was prepared to give him a cordial greeting. To a 
 remarkable episode in the life of Mr. Johnstone I 
 may have occasion subsequently to refer. 
 
 A Mr. Rock, an excellent actor of old men, and a 
 great favourite in Glasgow, had taken the place of 
 Mr. Aiken in the management of the Queen Street 
 Theatre. The wheel of fortune, however, or rather 
 misfortune, with Jackson never turned. What opinions 
 
58 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 his management was gaming for him in Glasgow may 
 be inferred from what the Monthly Mirror wrote about 
 it in Edinburgh, at the close of his season there in 
 1806: "The experience of this and the two or three 
 last seasons ought to convince Mr. John Jackson that 
 the tide of popularity, though never in his favour, 
 has irretrievably turned against him. It would be 
 kicking against the pricks to attempt a renewed 
 management." 
 
 Age had now impaired the powers of the once 
 indefatigable actor. He felt himself no longer 
 able to breast the tide of trouble which beset him. 
 Abused by the press, deserted by the public, his health 
 gave way. With a constitution as shattered as his 
 hopes, ruined in health, prospects, and means, he 
 became the victim of disease. Threatened with im- 
 prisonment for debt, and with misfortune rather 
 increasing than diminishing, Death came as a kindly 
 relief to the once prosperous but now broken-hearted 
 manager. Within one twelvemonth of his taking 
 the reins of the Queen Street Theatre Jackson had 
 gone over to the " majority." 
 
 To his three children Jackson bequeathed his 
 interest in the Dunlop Street Theatre. They, in 
 conjunction with his co-lessee, Mr. Aiken, sold it 
 in 1807 by public auction. The purchaser was Mr. 
 Andrew Thomson, a Glasgow merchant, son of the 
 old George Thomson of " Thomson's Bank," which 
 had failed fourteen years previously. Thomson knew 
 nothing about management, and he soon found the 
 theatre an incubus. For a brief period he endeavoured 
 to keep it open, but after a few disastrous failures he 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 59 
 
 converted part of the building into a warehouse for 
 the sale of West Indian produce. The rest of the 
 theatre was let for almost any purpose to anybody 
 who cared to risk the expenses contingent on a night's 
 public entertainment. Mr. Knowles, a lecturer on 
 astronomy, who was very eminent about this time, 
 took it. Then a w T ell-known quondam jeweller, Mr. 
 Bauldy Cauchrane, with a mouth of alarming dimen- 
 sions, would appear on a pasteboard horse, and sing 
 with much gusto the " Greenock Post" and "Duncan 
 M'Callaghan/' At another time some itinerant mana- 
 ger would bring out the dramas of "Blue Beard," 
 "Cinderella," "Valentine and Orson/' "Robinson 
 Crusoe," " Beauty and the Beast," and other triumphs 
 of histrionic art, whilst Montignani, an Italian dancing- 
 master, " refreshed the weeping audience with a pre- 
 paration resembling coffee and chocolate in the small 
 side room." On the same boards appeared the cele- 
 brated Tom Cribb, the pugilist, wearing the English 
 champion's belt ; Molyneaux, the gigantic black prize- 
 fighter ; Fuller, Jack Carter, Crosbie, and other 
 members of " the fancy," who starred it at that time ; 
 and last, though not least, the celebrated William 
 Cobbett. With hair as white as snow, blue coat, 
 gilt buttons, white vest, long drab gaiters and in- 
 expressibles, Cobbett lectured in the same boxing 
 arena on Parliamentary Reform, Repeal of the Corn 
 Laws, abolition of the East India Company's Charter, 
 and other favourite topics of that erratic pamphleteer- 
 Of the engagements at the old theatre at this time 
 Cobbett's proved the best. There were those living 
 thirty years ago who used to quote many and many a 
 
6O THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 happy sentence from these said lectures. One of 
 these I may be pardoned for quoting. It writes a 
 volume as to the style of the man. A certain 
 philosopher gravely remarked to Cobbett "I hope, 
 sir, the time may come when the poor man after the 
 labour of the day may refresh himself by reading 
 Bacon." "Much more to the purpose, my dear sir," 
 returned Cobbett, " if the time could come when the 
 poor man, after the labour of the day, might refresh 
 himself by eating Bacon." 
 
 To return to Queen Street. The new management 
 did their best to fulfil their engagement with the pro- 
 prietors. The length of the journey from London 
 and the high salaries demanded by stars compelled 
 economy in the way of entertainments. With the 
 exception of Miss Smith, from Drury Lane, few if 
 any celebrities visited Glasgow till the June of 1807. 
 The playgoing public were then set astir by the an- 
 nouncement that "an engagement had been made, 
 for a few r nights only, with the greatest living actor of 
 the day George Frederick Cooke." He was to open 
 as Richard the Third, to follow with Peregrine in 
 " John Bull," then with Petruchio and with Pertinax 
 MacSycophant in Macklin's " Man of the World." 
 The greatest excitement prevailed, and places were 
 soon at a premium for the opening night. Cooke was 
 in more than one respect an object of interest. He 
 had not only obtained the credit of being one of the 
 greatest actors of the day, but he was also one of the 
 greatest tipplers. His antecedents, too, were the talk 
 of the town. How had he come into favour ? What 
 was the special quality of his talent ? Many at that 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 6 1 
 
 time could remember Mr. Cooke's first attempts as an 
 amateur ; how, when he was apprenticed to a printer, 
 he had made his first appearance on the stage as a 
 vocalist, playing Young Meadows in Bickerstaff's 
 charming little opera of "Love in a Village." How 
 he had on his first appearance in London as an actor 
 signally failed, and how he had served his stage 
 apprenticeship at the Theatre Royal, Manchester, at 
 the highest salary then known in the provinces viz., 
 two guineas per week. Mr. Cooke was forty-five 
 years of age before he first took London by storm as 
 a Shakesperian actor. His conception of the character 
 of Richard the Third had come on the Londoners like 
 a thunder clap. They had been accustomed to hear 
 in the part only the measured cadences, and to see 
 the solemn strides of John Philip Kemble. Cooke's 
 triumph at Covent Garden was so pronounced that the 
 directors gave him a free benefit, the profits of which 
 were ^"560. Kemble was at the time manager. 
 Cooke's success as Richard was so complete that, 
 after a struggle, the great John resigned the character 
 to him, and never afterwards played it. " My remem- 
 brance of George Frederick Cooke," writes Macready, 
 " whose peculiarities 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 limited to a loud harsh croak, descend- 
 ing 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 
 
62 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 Archy MacSarcasm, and Sir Pertinax MacSycophant 
 he defied competition. His popularity far exceeded 
 that of Kemble." He became, however, the slave of 
 intemperance, remaining for days together in a state 
 of debauch. The consummate talent of an actor 
 whom Edmund Kean called " the finest in the 
 world " leads me to pause for a moment in this 
 narrative to describe some of his irregularities. 
 
 Cooke's drunkenness subjected him frequently to 
 the signal disapprobation of the audience, upon 
 whom he would sometimes retort with more 
 vehemence than delicacy. It is reported that on 
 one occasion, when a young officer in the stage box 
 made himself conspicuous by interrupting the play, 
 Cooke went close up to him and in his distinctly 
 
 audible pianissimo addressed him, " D you, sir, 
 
 you an ensign ! Sir, the King (God bless him !) can 
 make any fool an Officer, but it is only the great God 
 Almighty that can make an Actor." At another time 
 in Liverpool, when he was so drunk as to be scarcely 
 able to go through his part, the audience most justly 
 manifested their indignation. Cooke stopped and 
 addressed to them this insolent affront "Your 
 applause or your disapproval are indifferent to me. 
 There's not one brick (hie} upon another in your 
 town that is not cemented (hie) with a fellow-creature's 
 blood" alluding to the African slave trade, then 
 principally carried on in Liverpool ships. 
 
 Though maddened with the fumes of liquor, the 
 chain of his ideas would continue unbroken. In his 
 wildest fits he would begin a dissertation on the 
 histrionic art, and he seldom or ever became al- 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 63 
 
 together lost to the consciousness of who was present, 
 or what was the special line of stage business his 
 actor companions who might be his guests had been 
 playing, and his wit never forsook him. It was no 
 uncommon thing for him, when at his lodgings in the 
 provinces, after the performance, to get hopelessly 
 drunk, and throwing up the window of his room to 
 shout for "the Watch." Old Mathews, the celebrated 
 actor, was with him on one of these occasions. The 
 latter had been playing Mordecai in the farce of 
 " Love a la Mode " that night to Cooke's Sir Archy 
 MacSarcasm. He had vainly tried to get away. 
 Cooke suddenly seized him, flung him into a chair, 
 and called for the Watch. The alarmed landlady 
 entered, followed by the Watch, and demanded, 
 " What 's the matter ? " Cooke, appearing to tremble 
 in every limb, responded, "Matter! Murder's the 
 matter ! " " Murder ! " echoed the affrighted group. 
 The cry was taken up outside, and a crowd of the 
 terrified inhabitants of the little town soon assembled 
 with awe-stricken faces round the door. "You'll 
 find the murderer there," said Cooke, pointing to 
 Mathews. "I give that man in charge!" "What 
 do you mean?" echoed the trembling Mathews. "To 
 my certain knowledge," hiccupped Cooke, "he has 
 this night committed a most atrocious cold-blooded 
 murder. He has most barbarously murdered an in- 
 offensive gentleman named Mordecai. I charge him 
 with it, in the name of Macklin, the author of ' Love 
 a la Mode/" Here Mathews by a desperate effort 
 wrenched himself away, Cooke hurling after him the 
 candle and the candlestick ; the landlady and Watch 
 
64 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 retreated likewise with great precipitancy. With the 
 same grim humour on another occasion he repeated 
 almost the same scene with the greatest vocalist of 
 the day. He accused Incledon of robbing him 
 (Cooke always believed in his own powers as a 
 vocalist) of robbing him of "notes? On this occasion 
 he dragged Incledon out of bed to give him in charge. 
 On one occasion he was reproved by many persons in 
 the pit, who suddenly turned their backs upon his 
 entree as Falstaff. With great readiness he staggered 
 forward and called out (quoting FalstafFs famous 
 words) " Call ye this backing your friend ; plague o' 
 such backing? Once whilst playing Sir Archy Mac- 
 Sarcasm, he persisted in calling himself Sir Pertinax 
 MacSycophant " Sir Archy MacSarcasm, you mean," 
 cried a voice from the gallery. "It's a' the same 
 thing," cried Cooke, "ye've paid yer siller, and ye've 
 a richt to hae what name ye chuse. Sir Archy, then, 
 if ye will hae it so." When his drinking fits were on 
 him he became all but a maniac sometimes. Once, 
 when in a public-house, he quarrelled with a soldier. 
 "Come out," roared Cooke, "and I'll fight ye." 
 "You 're a gentleman," pleaded the frightened soldier; 
 "you've money, and everybody will take your side." 
 " Look ye here," cried Cooke, turning out the contents 
 of his pockets, and producing the sum, " here 's three 
 hundred pounds ; all I have in the world there." 
 He staggered towards the fireplace, and threw the 
 bank-notes into the fire. "Now I'm as poor as you ; 
 come out and fight, you villain !" He used to drink 
 out of a small wine glass, and was the creator of the 
 now stale joke: " I've left off drinking in a great 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 65 
 
 measure." Strange to say, he was always less im- 
 perfect in his part when intoxicated than he was 
 when he had had no stimulant. 
 
 Cooke's influence over the public was astounding. 
 In Glasgow and elsewhere he continually disappointed 
 his audience, and night after night the announcement 
 would have to be made that Mr. Cooke could not 
 appear in consequence of "a sudden and serious in- 
 disposition." Everybody knew, of course, the nature 
 of the indisposition. After these bouts when Cooke 
 would appear, he seemed always profoundly penitent. 
 On more than one of these occasions when he stepped 
 on to the Queen Street stage he was greeted with 
 mingled cheers, groans, and laughter. These were 
 succeeded by reiterated cries from all parts of the 
 house of " Apology ! " Then Cooke would step for- 
 ward with a solemn stride and mournful look. He 
 would shake his head, bow very low, and laying his 
 hand upon his heart, say, " Ladies and gentlemen, I 
 have had an attack of my old complaint!'' The appeal 
 was irresistible. The man was at once pardoned, and 
 the great actor allowed to continue his part. The 
 last time he ever acted, was in New York, where he 
 died. He stuck dead in the part of "Horatio" in the 
 " Fair Penitent." When he came off the stage he 
 said " I knew how it would be ! This comes of 
 playing when I am SOBER." 
 
 Cooke's impersonations were not all good. He 
 could do nothing well but what was villainous. His 
 "Jacques," in "As You Like It," instead of being a 
 moralising enthusiast, was merely a grave scoffer. In 
 "Macbeth," in place of a majestic villain, he exhibited 
 
 5 
 
66 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 nothing but a desperate craftiness, and of his "Hamlet," 
 writes a distinguished critic, " one would willingly 
 spare the recollection. The most accomplished 
 character on the stage," the same critic goes on to 
 say, " is converted by Mr. Cooke into an unpolished, 
 obstinate, sarcastic madman. He is great in the 
 hypocrisy that endeavours to conceal itself by serious- 
 ness as in 'lago' and 'Stukely;' in the hypocrisy that 
 endeavours to conceal itself by gaiety and sarcasm as 
 in 'Sir Archy MacSarcasm ;' and, lastly, in the most 
 impudent hypocrisy such as that of 'Sir Pertinax Mac- 
 Sycophant' and 'Richard the Third.'" Knowing his 
 habits, it is surprising that such a man should keep a 
 diary, but, nevertheless, he did, and the following is his 
 account of his first visit to Glasgow: "On Wednesday, 
 June nth, left the Castle and Falcon, Aldersgate 
 Street, London, in a Manchester coach, about two in 
 the afternoon ; supped at Northampton, breakfasted 
 next morning at Leicester, dined at Buxton, and 
 arrived at Manchester early the same evening. Friday, 
 1 3th. By laying too long in bed missed coach. Left in 
 a post-chaise, accompanied by Mr. Rock, with whom I 
 left London. At Bolton, overtook the coach, but was 
 soon obliged to leave it in consequence of illness. Pro- 
 ceeded in a gig and afterwards in a post-chaise to 
 Preston, thence to Lancaster, where we dined, and in 
 a coach set off for Kendal, where we supped and 
 slept. Early on Saturday morning we proceeded to 
 Carlisle, where we dined. Set out in the mail for 
 Glasgow, which we reached next morning. Early 
 in the afternoon Mr. Rock and his son came and 
 conducted me to a lodging in the same street opposite 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 6/ 
 
 the old theatre in Dunlop Street with him and Mrs. 
 Rock. It was agreed I should make one of the family 
 during my stay. On Monday, the i6th, I went to the 
 new Theatre Royal, and afterwards called on Mr. 
 Jackson, who has been many years a manager." 
 
 When Cooke stepped on to the stage, he was 
 greeted with vociferous plaudits, and received through- 
 out as the magnate of the day. He faced an audience 
 which completely filled the theatre. In his outward 
 appearance, the audience saw a man of somewhat pon- 
 derous gait, but with a marvellously expressive face. 
 The contour of his features, like those of Edmund 
 Kean, was rather Jewish a long somewhat hooked 
 nose of uncommon breadth between the eyes, which 
 were fiery, dark, and at times terribly expressive ; a 
 lofty and broad forehead, and the muscles around the 
 mouth pointedly marked. His countenance, it was 
 said, was not so dignified as Kemble's, but its ex- 
 pression, especially when exhibiting the worst passions 
 of our nature, was stronger. He made his first ap- 
 pearance in Glasgow, as in London, in " Richard," his 
 second as " Shylock." " Strange ! " writes the author 
 of "Our Old Actors," "that a few years afterwards 
 Kean, who so strongly resembled him, should have 
 won his triumphs in the same parts, with only the 
 order reversed." The writer might have added Like 
 Kean, too, he was an illegitimate child, and like Kean 
 he had served as a sailor. 
 
68 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE next manager who essayed to cater for the 
 patrons of Queen Street was a Mr. Beaumont. Who 
 he was, what he was, where he came from, or whither 
 he went, no deponent sayeth. The season was one 
 which proved neither long nor prosperous, and this in 
 despite of an exceptionally good company, "selected," 
 as Mr. Beaumont announced, "from the principal 
 theatres in Europe. The following list of names may 
 serve to give an idea of its strength. Amongst the 
 members of the stock company were Mr. Talbot, Mr. 
 Holland, Mr. Wewitzer, Mr. Oxberry, Miss Kelly, 
 Mrs. Glover, Mr. Byrne, and Mrs. Orger. Of the 
 majority of these ladies and gentlemen little need be 
 said, except that most of them subsequently made 
 their mark in London. Four, however, claim special 
 notice. These are Miss Kelly, Mr. Byrne, Mrs. Glover, 
 and Mr. Montague Talbot. 
 
 Fanny Kelly was called the "Child of Nature." 
 Under the advice of her uncle the well-known 
 musician, Michael Kelly she made a provincial essay 
 at Glasgow in the corps of Mr. Beaumont. Her debut, 
 however, was something akin to a failure. She was at 
 the time, barely seventeen years of age, and of a nature 
 singularly sensitive. On the occasion of her first ap- 
 pearance in Queen Street she suffered so acutely from 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 69 
 
 " stage fright " that her tones scarcely caught the ears 
 even of those seated in the first row of the pit. Her 
 nervousness was absolutely painful not alone to her 
 fellow-actors, but even to those associated with her in 
 her scenes. Time, however, served to dispel her fears. 
 Her voice, which was found to be singularly melodious 
 for she had, in the first instance, been trained as a 
 vocalist grew stronger; and the schooling in courage 
 which she gained in Queen Street may be said to have 
 laid the foundation of her fortunes. Her success in 
 Glasgow was sufficiently pronounced to reach the ears 
 of Colman, the manager of the Haymarket, and within 
 a twelvemonth of her treading the Queen Street stage, 
 she had won the hearts of the habitues of the most 
 fashionable theatre in London. Fascinating as her 
 acting had proved in the metropolis of the west, it 
 paled before the zeal and passion it created in the 
 breasts of her London admirers. 
 
 Love letters poured in upon her from all quarters. 
 One hapless adorer, who had been rejected, went mad 
 and fired a pistol at her whilst she was acting. The 
 bullet passed over her head, and over that of an actor 
 who was on the stage with her at the time, and lodged 
 in the back of the scene. Another outrage of a similar 
 nature, and almost under the same circumstances, was 
 made on Miss Kelly at Dublin. She, as before, 
 escaped unhurt, but the gentleman who was on the 
 stage with her at the time was slightly wounded. 
 
 An actor who was destined subsequently to play no 
 insignificant part in the management of the Queen 
 Street Theatre now comes upon the scene. This was 
 Mr. Byrne. Years afterwards his name became well 
 
/O THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 known in London and elsewhere, as the father of the 
 celebrated Oscar Byrne, who was for so many years 
 ballet master of the Princess's during the management 
 of the theatre by Charles Kean. 
 
 Mrs. Glover's is a name which old playgoers still 
 pronounce with reverence. In Mr. Beaumont's com- 
 pany she figured as the leading lady. As a tragedian 
 she was not, however, destined to shine, but in the 
 line of business called "Old Women" the stage has 
 never seen her equal. Who of us that ever saw that 
 rubicund face, that massive form, that sparkling eye ; 
 who that remembers now that singularly rich, round 
 voice, whose every tone spoke volumes; who that 
 ever witnessed her " Mrs. Candour," her " Mrs. Mala- 
 prop," her "Mrs. Heidleberg," her "Widow Green," 
 her "Mrs. Coddle," but must bow the knee to the 
 memory of this truly great actress. Amongst a heap 
 of old plays which we now seldom see or even hear 
 of, except in connection with some musty bookstall or 
 some antiquarian's library, was Dryden's "Alexander 
 the Great." It was in those days an immense 
 favourite. The great Peg Woffington had immor- 
 talised it by that memorable dagger fracas with poor 
 little George Ann Bellamy. It was in this Mrs. 
 Glover played. On July 4th, 1807, this revered an- 
 cestor of the two gentlemen of the same name who 
 have since figured so favourably in the two highest 
 forms of art, made her debut in Glasgow. She played 
 also "Roxalana" in the "Sultan," and on the following 
 Tuesday " Lady Teazle " to the "Sir Peter" of Mr. 
 Rock, the " Charles Surface" of Mr. Dwyer, and the 
 " Joseph " of the elocutionist, Mr. Toms. 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. /I 
 
 The light comedian and leading man of the com- 
 pany during this season was Montague Talbot. 
 Glasgow playgoers said of him that he was in his 
 line one of the most elegant and refined actors of 
 the day. It was of Talbot a playgoer wrote : 
 
 By art and nature chastely fit 
 To play the gentleman or wit ; 
 Not Harris's nor Colman's boards, 
 Nor all that Drury Lane affords, 
 Can paint the rakish Charles so well, 
 Or give such life to Mirabel,* 
 Or show for light and airy sport, 
 So exquisite a Doricourt. 
 
 Over many a social glass drank (years afterwards) in 
 the cosy parlour of the Black Bull, Talbot used to tell 
 how, years before he came to Scotland, he was the 
 first who discovered the notorious forgeries of William 
 Henry Ireland. Ireland had long been his friend and 
 associate. When youths, they shared the same 
 chambers in the Temple. "All between them was 
 candour and confidence." Suddenly a change comes 
 over the spirit of the dream. Ireland talks less and 
 shuns Talbot's society. Talbot suspects something 
 wrong ; some secret working for somebody, or at 
 something. Whenever he attempts to enter his 
 friend's room, he finds the door locked ; and when he 
 knocks he has to wait some time before he can gain 
 admission. Ireland's desk, he then notes, is always 
 kept locked; all his papers hidden. "Strange," thinks 
 Talbot, " for a man whose habits have been hitherto 
 rather careless than otherwise." Neither jest nor re- 
 
 * Farquar comedy of " The Inconstant." 
 
72 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 monstrance served to open Ireland's lips as to what 
 he had been doing. Talbot's suspicions were excited. 
 One morning, the day being warm, Ireland opened 
 his window, and placed himself before it at his desk. 
 With the door locked, he was situated so as to be able 
 to discern an interloper. It seemed impossible a sur- 
 prise could happen. Talbot withdrew from his own 
 desk also at his own window for some time in 
 order to lull suspicion in Ireland's mind. He then 
 crept out of his door on his hands and knees till he 
 arrived under the window. His friend sat there in 
 fancied security. Talbot then raised himself slowly 
 and quietly, and when he had attained the window 
 sill dexterously started up and seized upon Ireland's 
 papers. Poor Ireland started, and stammered some 
 excuse. Talbot glanced at the papers. Ireland then 
 made a virtue of necessity. He owned the papers 
 were forgeries of Shakspeare's signature, and also of 
 a play. The fracas at Drury Lane some few years 
 afterwards, when Sheridan attempted to palm off 
 Ireland's "Vortigern" as a hitherto undiscovered 
 play of Shakespeare's, drove Ireland to a public 
 confession of the fraud. 
 
 August 2nd, 1807, witnessed the first appearance of 
 the celebrated Jack Bannister, who appeared as " Dr. 
 Pangloss," and also in the drama of the " Children in 
 the Wood." The advent of this actor suggests a 
 remark as complacent to our conservative notions of 
 the superiority of our modern acting. Everything 
 which is natural goes to the credit solely of the 
 present. All that is stagey is put down as a remnant 
 of the past. Is this quite fair? Were there no 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 73 
 
 realistic actors in the past ? " Bannister," wrote an 
 eye-witness, " as handsome in his age as in his youth, 
 was one who could make you forget you were looking 
 at a play. He was more than an actor by seeming to 
 be no actor at all." The character of "Walter the 
 Carpenter " in the " Children of the Wood," then and 
 for a long time afterwards a favourite drama with 
 our forefathers, was one of the most homely nature, 
 and Bannister's popularity in it as a natural actor 
 was unbounded. 
 
 In the same August came Robert William Elliston. 
 When his name was announced the theatre was at 
 once besieged. Places were readily booked, and a 
 crowded audience assembled to see Elliston's imper- 
 sonation of his original character, the " Duke Aranza " 
 in the " Honeymoon." With a Glasgow audience he 
 at once ingratiated himself. As an actor he was 
 thoroughly original. " He," wrote a local critic, "can 
 bid defiance to either Cooke or Kemble in a certain 
 number of characters. There was a magic in his 
 voice which could sway any audience in public or 
 in private to his pleasure." He made many friends 
 during his Glasgow engagement As to his social 
 life, his character was summed up in one sentence 
 " He was a capital minister spoiled." 
 
 Of the two next stars who visited Queen Street in 
 1808, I have myself a childish recollection as they 
 appeared in their old age. The first of these was 
 Charles Mayne Young. He opened on January 
 8th, 1808, as "Beverley" in the "Gamester," to the 
 "Stukely" of Cooke. 
 
 Long after the old actor had retired I used, as a 
 
74 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 very small boy, frequently to see him on horseback 
 cantering up and down the Clapham Road in all 
 weathers; bluff and hardy to the last. As I write 
 these words the face of the white-haired veteran 
 rises again to my memory out of the forty years 
 past. What a face ! What magnificent features ! 
 The prominent but well-shaped nose, the firm com- 
 pressed lip, "an eye like Mars to threaten and 
 command ; a station like the herald Mercury new 
 lighted on a heaven-kissing hill." 
 
 Young was a mannerist. " He too often," wrote 
 Leigh Hunt, " plays the orator in his soliloquies and 
 the philosopher in his passionate encounters." " I had 
 never seen Young act," said Edmund Kean. " Every 
 one told me he could not hold a farthing rushlight to 
 me, but he can. He is an actor ; and though I flatter 
 myself that he could not act 'Othello' as I do, yet 
 what chance have I in ' lago ' after him, with his 
 
 personal advantages and his d d musical voice? 
 
 Young is not only an actor such as I did not dream 
 him to have been, but he is a gentleman." 
 
 Almost immediately after Young left came the 
 famous Richard Jones. He opened in "Puff" in the 
 " Critic," and in " Love Laughs at Locksmiths." Of 
 this comedian in his old age I have, too, likewise a 
 childish recollection. I can remember one day when 
 standing in the doorway of a shop in Cheapside, held 
 by the hand by my father, I saw an eccentric-looking, 
 brisk old gentleman pass. He wore at that time 
 (1846) the irrepressible blue frock-coat, short- waisted 
 and tightly buttoned ; light fawn-coloured, gaiter-cut 
 trousers, narrow and tightly strapped ; and his still 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 75 
 
 handsome features were surmounted by a low-crowned 
 hat, curled up at the side brims like a bishop's. As 
 he jauntily made his way through the crowd, swinging 
 a light Malacca cane, stopping every now and then to 
 look into the windows of the shops, my father pointed 
 him out to me, and said, " There goes Richard Jones. 
 Why, he must be now nearly seventy." He died seven 
 years afterwards, at the age of seventy-four. As a 
 comedian Jones was perhaps the best of his day. 
 He was good enough, at least, for the late Charles 
 Mathews to take him for his model. But old Glasgow 
 stagers, who thirty years ago could say they had seen 
 the acting of both, used to say that, however good 
 Jones was, Mathews was a great deal better. 
 
76 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 ON the 1 2th August, 1809, the following advertise- 
 ment appeared in the Herald and Courier : 
 
 " To be Sold, within the Theatre Royal, Glasgow, 
 upon Wednesday, the i6th August current, at Eleven 
 o'clock in the forenoon, the whole Movable Scenery, 
 Dresses, Decorations, and Furniture, which belonged 
 to Mr. Beaumont, the late manager." 
 
 The following January (1810) saw the theatre under 
 the new management of Messrs. Bartley and Trueman, 
 With the New Year, 1812, the theatre was reopened 
 under the management of Mr. Montgomerie. On 
 January the 2/th came down for the first time Mr. 
 and Mrs. Charles Kemble. Kemble, who was then 
 over forty years of age, had but just emerged in 
 London from a fairly capable walking gentleman into 
 a light comedian and tragedian, and followed closely 
 in the mannerisms of his brother. His appearance at 
 once ingratiated him with his Queen Street audience. 
 His hero-face, his mellow and manly voice, and his 
 breadth of style and culture, all won for him a favour- 
 able reception. He opened as Hamlet, which was 
 regarded as a careful and classical performance, but 
 in light comedy he was pronounced unrivalled. 
 
 In Mrs. Charles Kemble, the audience were intro- 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 77 
 
 duced to a very pretty woman, whose good looks 
 were thought to atone for her mediocre acting. She 
 played "Ophelia" to her husband's "Hamlet," "Donna 
 Violante" to his "Don Felix" ("The Wonder"), 
 "Juliana" to his Duke ("Honeymoon"), and "Julia" 
 to his "Captain Absolute," and appeared also in a 
 round of dramas, which were served up as last pieces. 
 She is described by a contemporary as a delightful 
 dark-eyed woman, whose motion was itself music, 
 ere her voice was heard. In melodrama, or any 
 piece in which a pretty face and graceful form were 
 needed, she held her audience spell bound. 
 
 Munden made his debut almost immediately after- 
 wards oh March 1 2th, in the then comparatively new 
 comedy of the " Road to Ruin." He wound up his 
 engagement with "Crack," in the "Turnpike Gate," a 
 favourite character subsequently with Mr. J. H. 
 Alexander, whose conception of the part was formed 
 on that of the former comedian. 
 
 An advertisement announcing that the theatre was 
 again " To Let " appeared in the Herald and Courier 
 about the end of August, 1812, and was destined to be 
 seed which was to bring forth good fruit. It was the 
 means of introducing to Glasgow William Charles 
 Macready. "The Glasgow and Dumfries Theatres," 
 so he tells us in his Reminiscences, "were now to be 
 let, and my father decided on trying his fortune with 
 them. He brought with him his Newcastle company; 
 new scenery was provided, the theatre was burnished 
 up, and everything which the proprietors could do was 
 done to aid the new management and help to restore 
 the fortunes of the now unfortunate playhouse." 
 
78 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 Macready had, even young as he was, made some 
 slight name. Three years before, when only seventeen 
 years old, he had played " Romeo " very successfully. 
 He had also acted "Beverley" in "The Gamester" 
 and " Young Norval " to the " Mrs. Beverley " and 
 " Lady Randolph " of Mrs. Siddons, and the great 
 actress herself had stood at the side wings and ap- 
 plauded him loudly, exclaiming, "Bravo, sir, bravo ;" 
 but when he came to Glasgow his name had " yet to 
 become one to conjure by." Although to the general 
 public at this time young Macready was unknown, not 
 a few of the more experienced playgoers had heard of 
 his success in the English provincial cities, and were 
 prepared to give the young aspirant an encouraging 
 greeting. On that spring evening, May 3rd, 1813, 
 when young Mr. " M 'Ready," as the printers an- 
 nounced him, was to make his debut there was a " fair 
 appearance in pit, boxes, and gallery." Macready, it 
 was announced, would make his first bow in the 
 comedy of " The Wonder," and play " Don Felix " to 
 the "Lissardo" of his father and the "Violante" of a 
 Mrs. Garrick, a lady who was by marriage related 
 to the great actor. 
 
 " On my father's remark," Macready writes, " to one 
 of the old servants of the theatre that the house was 
 very good. ' Aye, but/ he replied, ' it will be better 
 when (after a pause pointing to me) his honour there 
 comes out.' " His prediction was fulfilled when the 
 future great tragedian then but a mere stripling 
 made his bow before a Glasgow audience as "Hamlet." 
 In Macready's reminiscences he states, " It was in the 
 tragedy of ' Hamlet ' I made my first bow before a 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 79 
 
 Glasgow andience." The advertisement in the j ournals, 
 however, announced that on May 3rd Mr. Macready 
 would appear in " The Wonder " with the cast I have 
 quoted. The newspapers of that date took no notice 
 of the performance, and it is now impossible to state 
 where the mistake arose. " That audience," Macready 
 writes, "I remember with peculiar satisfaction the 
 knots of play-goers that used to club together in the 
 two corners of the pit, and with their murmurs of 
 approval every now and then encouraged the young 
 actor with the belief that they gave their thoughts to 
 what was going on before them, were calculated to 
 give confidence to his attempt, and made him feel 
 that what he did was examined and scrutinised by a 
 deliberate judgment." 
 
 In the course of the season, it appears that 
 Macready, besides repeating various characters in 
 his list, added to them " Doricourt," in " The Belle's 
 Stratagem ; " " Puff," in " The Critic ; " " Young 
 Marlow," in " She Stoops to Conquer ; " and " Marc 
 Antony," for the first time. 
 
 " In this splendid theatre," continues the tragedian, 
 " which was the largest out of the metropolis, I derived 
 benefit from the necessity I was under of more careful 
 study and practice, and the improvement I made was 
 perceptible to me." "On one occasion," he writes, 
 " I had to task my powers of memory. The new play 
 by Morton, called ' Education,' had been commenced 
 with the usual parade of a ' novelty,' and the part of 
 'Count Villars/ a French refugee, acted by Charles 
 Young in London, had been cast to one of the best 
 actors in my father's company, of the name of Grant. 
 
80 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 He had read his part at every rehearsal, and held it 
 in his hand on the morning of the play, but before the 
 rehearsal was ended he disappeared, and sent word to 
 the theatre that he was too ill to act that night. The 
 dismay was great, and there was much perplexity as 
 to the measures to be adopted. I was sent for by 
 my father to decide on the change in the pieces to be 
 made, but as this in theatres is regarded as a last 
 resource, and always prejudicial, I asked for the book, 
 and determined if I could not perfect myself in the 
 words of the part to read it rather than allow the 
 play to be changed. It was two o'clock in the day. 
 I ran through the scenes at rehearsal, and, going home, 
 shut myself up to work at my task. An explanation 
 was given to the audience of the reason of the change 
 in the cast, and I had the satisfaction of getting 
 through the undertaking without missing one single 
 word in the acting." 
 
 Shortly after the elder Macready commenced 
 management, he determined on the production of a 
 spectacle. It was one which was made memorable 
 for many a year after its producer slept with his 
 fathers. This was the melodrama of "Aladdin/' 
 which had been recently brought out at Covent 
 Garden. At Glasgow, no expense in the way of 
 scenic decoration, supernumeraries, Chinese costumes, 
 or stage effects was spared, and the result was a 
 complete triumph. It had been produced shortly 
 before young Macready undertook the character of 
 "Count Villars," "And," writes Macready, "at a 
 very short notice, not to stop the production of the 
 romance of 'Aladdin.' I undertook in it the part of the 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 8 1 
 
 Magician, previously cast to Grant, and by making 
 something of a character of it, added to the effect of the 
 piece." Subsequently Macready played "Aladdin." 
 
 At Glasgow during this year Macready, Sen., pro- 
 duced "Richard II.," but succeeded only in obtaining 
 the applause of very scanty audiences. The season 
 closed on August i6th with "The Belle's Stratagem," 
 Macready playing " Doricourt." 
 
 A misunderstanding with the proprietors of the 
 theatre compelled Macready to abridge the season. 
 Betty was again upon the Glasgow boards, and 
 young Macready, in order "to supply his father with 
 funds, which/' as he tells us, "were much needed," 
 proposed to study two characters in Betty's pieces. 
 One was in a play by Dimond called " Charles's Oak," 
 in which Macready played " Wyndham," and Betty 
 " King Charles." The other was " King Edward the 
 Fourth," in Franklin's tragedy of "The Earl of 
 Warwick," Betty undertaking the title-role. " It was," 
 says Macready, "my first trial of strength with a 
 player of celebrity, and," he modestly adds, " in it I 
 can bear testimony to the very clever acting of my 
 opponent I did my best with the two sobordinate 
 parts, and lost no ground in public estimation by the 
 venture." 
 
 The irritability which so embittered Macready 
 subsequently in the memory of many a subordinate 
 confrere appears to have been hereditary, for he 
 significantly winds up this account of his first visit to 
 Glasgow with " Unhappily my father's temper one 
 evening was less within control than usual, and very 
 angry and bitter words after we had returned to our 
 
 6 
 
82 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 lodgings " (in Hutcheson Street) " made a severance 
 between us, and we parted for the night with the 
 understanding we were not again to occupy the same 
 house. I was left with a portion of the company to 
 act another week in Glasgow." 
 
 In 1815, the theatre having in the interim been let 
 to Mr. Harry Johnstone, Macready came again to 
 Glasgow this time as a star. He repeated his 
 principal characters to good houses ; but the first 
 appearance of Edmund Kean being announced over 
 his head, and at greatly advanced prices Kean 
 himself being paid one hundred pounds per night 
 affected the business. Notwithstanding, Macready's 
 engagement was very satisfactory, and, as events 
 shortly afterwards proved, in more respects than one. 
 It was in Queen Street during this engagement that 
 Macready was destined to meet his future wife. "A 
 pretty little girl," writes Mr. Macready, " about nine 
 years of age, was sent on at a very short notice to act 
 the part of one of the children in Dimond's pleasant 
 farce of ' The Hunter of the Alps.' She was imperfect 
 in the words she had to speak, having had no time to 
 learn them. Not being aware of this, I scolded her 
 on coming off the stage for her neglect, which I was 
 afterwards sorry for, as it cost her many tears. In 
 later life this incident was recalled to me in a very 
 unexpected manner." Five years afterwards (in 1819) 
 Macready went to act at Aberdeen. " I reached," 
 he writes, " Aberdeen about noon, where I saw my 
 name announced in the playbills for 'Richard the 
 Third/ Two young girls were walking up and down 
 the stage, apparently waiting for the business of the 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 83 
 
 morning to begin. One, the manager's daughter, was 
 a common looking person ; the other, plainly but 
 neatly dressed, was distinguishable for a peculiar 
 expression of intelligence and sprightly gentleness. 
 She rehearsed with great propriety ' the Prince of 
 Wales,' and was introduced to me as my 'Virginia' for 
 the next night's play. Just developing into woman- 
 hood, her age would have been guessed more, but she 
 had not reached fifteen. There was a native grace 
 in her deportment and every movement ; and never 
 were innocence and sensibility more sweetly per- 
 sonified than in her mild looks and eyes as 'Virginia' 
 streaming with unbidden tears. I soon learned her 
 little history. She was the support of her family, and 
 was the same little girl whom I had rebuked some 
 years before for supposed inattention at the Glasgow 
 theatre." Four years afterwards, in 1823, he was 
 married to the same little lady, Miss Catherine 
 Atkins. It was on both sides a marriage of love, 
 and for thirty-two years no couple could have been 
 more devoted to each other than Macready and his 
 beloved wife. It is of her he writes : " The web of 
 life is of a mingled yarn, and for the predominance of 
 good in mine mainly attributable to the dear partner 
 of its trials, I can never think without emotion of the 
 deepest gratitude." Macready's engagements from 
 time to time in Glasgow extended over the space of 
 35 years, and with most of them his banker's account 
 steadily improved. On one occasion, however, his 
 engagement was a failure. His diary of February 22nd 
 records: "Glasgow, Feb. 22. Acted ' Hamlet' really 
 well, but under strange feelings of fretfulness and 
 
84 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 mortification. I sent for Mr. Hield, the acting 
 manager, and asked him 'what the house was.' He 
 told me, ' But middling yet.' I was quite cast down. 
 I do not know when I have in my professional life 
 suffered so much from mortification. I tried to 
 rally, and acted as well as I could. Mr. Miller 
 came and paid me 50 for to-morrow night." 
 The theatre was the Adelphi. Mr. Miller also 
 mentions this engagement. " One night," writes 
 Miller, "when I took Mr. Macready the returns of 
 the house (Mr. M.'s arrangement with me was ^5 
 per night certain, and share after ;ioo, consequently 
 it was necessary that he should know the receipts) 
 I was particular in directing his attention to the 
 different items. ' Don't trouble yourself, Mr. Miller, 
 the sum total is all I wish to know. I have every 
 confidence in your integrity. I have seldom en- 
 countered unprincipled managers, and when I do, 
 whatever I suspect, I generally keep to myself. 
 However, upon a few occasions, I have had some 
 little altercations. I was once playing an engage- 
 ment at Carlisle. My father built the theatre there, 
 consequently I have a pretty good idea of what 
 the house contains. The returns of the house one 
 evening were brought me. " This is not correct, 
 sir," I said to the manager, whom you and I, 
 Miller, know pretty well. " I made inquiries," re- 
 plied the manager, " and they persist in saying that 
 it is correct. There can be no mistake. My own 
 relations take the money, sir, and if they wrong us 
 we must put up with it." " We ! " I answered ; 
 "you may, Mr. , but I'll be d d if I do."' 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE, 85 
 
 However, Macready went on to say, ' the parties 
 were suffered to exult in their villany, and no 
 further notice was taken by me. Some time after- 
 wards I was waited upon by the manager alluded 
 to who was a Glasgow one "Have you a few nights 
 to spare, sir ? " he asked. " I have." " I think two 
 or three nights might be spent advantageously at 
 Dumfries." " Certainly." "Shall I go," said the 
 manager, " and make arrangements there ? " " Do 
 
 your relations still take the money, Mr. ? " 
 
 " I have made no other arrangement," replied the 
 manager. " Then," I retorted, " you may go by 
 yourself; you don't get me there."' 
 
 Macready was, despite of his cold cynicism, at 
 times singularly generous ; and Miller records that 
 on one occasion during this engagement he re- 
 turned him 45 out of the night's receipts, in 
 order to compensate the unfortunate showman 
 manager for his losses. 
 
 Macready's last appearance in Glasgow was on 
 September 3Oth, 1850, at Dunlop Street. "Acted 
 'Virginius,' " so he writes. " Called and tried to 
 say the few words I had prepared. I could not ; 
 so improvised something which led me into the 
 current of the short speech intended. It is strange 
 I cannot find words or thoughts at the moment 
 they are needed. The audience seemed satisfied 
 with what I said. Glasgow is ended ! Good 
 Glasgow ! " 
 
 As an actor in some characters Macready took 
 a stand inferior to none. There was in his im- 
 personations, however, not so much of genius as 
 
86 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 of marked individual talent. In flexibility of talent 
 and range of intellectual sympathy, Macready, it 
 was said, was a better actor even than Kean. All 
 attempts at impersonation in modern plays were 
 with the latter, failures. All Macready's original 
 characters" Orestes," " William Tell," " Rob Roy," 
 "Gisippus," " Virginius," "Claude Melnotte," and 
 last, though not least, " Richelieu " he made his 
 own, and in them has been found to be unapproach- 
 able. As a man, Macready, though deeply imbued 
 with religious principles, was proud and overbearing 
 to his inferiors. " Stand further off, sir ! " he once 
 said at rehearsal to an American actor who was 
 playing " Rosencrantz " to the tragedian's " Hamlet." 
 " Would you shake hands, sir, with your ' Hamlet ?' " 
 " I don't know," said the other ; " I do with my 
 President? As to the virtues of social life, nothing 
 in Macready was wanting. Affectionate to his 
 friends and relatives even to a fault, generous and 
 hospitable, very charitable to the poor ; at once 
 a scholar and a courtly gentleman, he was also 
 one whose refined morality was pioneer to that 
 reform both before and behind the curtain, which 
 in later years has made itself known, more especially 
 in the management of Phelps, the Keans, and last, 
 but not least, to him to whom this little work is 
 affectionately inscribed. 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 8/ 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Itf 1814, the Queen Street Theatre was under the 
 management of Harry Johnstone, a man who, since 
 ht had first appeared in Glasgow, had won the 
 everlasting good-will of the general public for having 
 stood up in vindication of a husband's rights, even 
 to the length of thrashing H.R.H. the Prince of 
 \\ales. England's future George the Fourth had 
 prtssed his gallantries so far on Mrs. Johnstone (an 
 indifferent actress but a pretty woman) as to force 
 hinself into that lady's dressing-room behind the 
 scenes at Drury Lane. Johnstone stealthily followed 
 the Prince and horsewhipped him there and then. 
 Tie outraged husband was given into custody, but 
 escaped ; he hid himself in an obscure lodging till 
 tte hue and cry had subsided, and then, disguised 
 as an old soldier, left London and made his way 
 01 foot to Newcastle. Subsequently he became 
 nanager of a circuit ; made a failure as director 
 cf the Theatre Royal, Dublin, came over to Glasgow, 
 aid managed Queen Street for a year. He after- 
 vards fell into poverty, lived on the chanty of his 
 jrother actors, died at a very advanced age, and 
 was buried in Lambeth, the suburb which had been 
 his refuge when he fled from the wrath of the de- 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 feated heir apparent. A twelvemonth after the 
 Drury Lane escapade, however, Mrs. Johnstone 
 figured in the divorce Court, the co-respondent 
 being the celebrated orator and Deputy Master of 
 the Rolls, Richard Curran. He ran away from the 
 country to evade the process of the Court, and 
 was accordingly proclaimed an outlaw. 
 
 To Johnstone, Glasgow is indebted for the intro- 
 duction of Edmund Kean. Monday, the 2Oth Marcl, 
 1815, saw the first appearance of the great actcr 
 in Queen Street. The prices of admission were : 
 Boxes, 73. ; pit, 5s. ; lower gallery, 35. ; upper gal- 
 lery, 2s. " We shall never forget," writes an eye- 
 witness, " the terrific squeeze we had in forchg 
 ourselves into the pit on the evening of Mr. Keai's 
 first appearance in Glasgow.'' The boxes had ill 
 been taken weeks before, and even temporary bo>es 
 were erected on the stage. All the professors of 
 the University and the literati of Edinburgh, h- 
 cluding Francis Jeffrey, were present. Glasgcw 
 was in an uproar of excitement. Crowds from ill 
 the surrounding districts flooded the city. Not a 
 bed in a house, private or public, was to be obtain 
 The theatre doors were besieged for hours befo 
 they were opened. Queen Street was literal 
 blocked by the mass of people eager for admittance 
 When at last the portals were opened, a crusl; 
 which was mingled with shouts, cheers, and shrieks 
 ensued. Men fought, women fainted, and were carried 
 fainting in some instances into the theatre, unable 
 to get out of the dense multitude. 
 
 In April Kean again flashed with his wonted 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 89 
 
 brilliancy and success upon Glasgow audiences, play- 
 ing "Richard," "Othello," "Sir Giles," "Romeo," 
 "Penruddock" ("Wheel of Fortune"), and "Zanga" in 
 "The Revenge." On his next visit in 1820 his reputa- 
 tion (socially speaking) was under a cloud. An action, 
 in which Kean figured as co-respondent, had been 
 brought by Alderman Cox, and damages had been 
 awarded to the "injured" husband, who, it was said, 
 had, with his wife, arranged the whole affair for the 
 purpose of extorting handsome damages. The press 
 had denounced Kean in the most ferocious terms, and 
 called upon the public to drive him from the stage. 
 The public submitted cheerfully to be hounded on, 
 and now greeted him with howls and hisses whenever 
 and wherever he appeared. He came down to seek 
 rest and quiet at Bute Cottage, Rothesay, which he 
 had purchased a few years before. An engagement 
 in Queen Street was offered him, and an arrangement 
 was made for Kean to play for a month respectively 
 at Glasgow, Greenock, Ayr, and Kilmarnock. Kean 
 was announced to open a six-nights' engagement in 
 Glasgow as " Richard." He made his bow to a house 
 crowded with men and boys. No female was to be 
 seen. The uproar commenced with Kean's entrance, 
 and not a word of the play would the audience allow 
 to be heard. The tragedy was acted off simply in 
 dumb show. "Othello," the next night, fared no 
 better. " Brutus " was the play for Wednesday, and 
 the audience, consisting solely of the male sex, con- 
 descended to give the tragedian a respectful hearing. 
 Responding to the vociferous cheering, which greeted 
 the fall of the curtain, Kean came forward and said : 
 
90 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 "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 which has already cost me 
 ^"999 more than it was worth. I am going to America 
 (cries of 'No, no') to perform again. If I ever 
 return to this country I shall certainly pay you a 
 visit ; for old kindnesses I never forget. For the 
 present I bid you all respectfully Farewell." 
 
 Kean started next morning from the Caledonian 
 Hotel, where he had been staying, and went down by 
 the steamer to Greenock. The Glasgow manager, 
 accompanied by Sheridan Knowles, arrived in the 
 afternoon, and Kean, only partially sober, went down 
 to the theatre. Kean dressed himself at the hotel 
 " the White Hart " where he was stopping, and came 
 down to the theatre wrapped in his fur cloak to cover 
 his stage costume. Howling and hissing and cat-calls 
 greeted him here, as they had done at Glasgow, and 
 at the end of the first scene, in his stage dress, 
 concealed by his cloak, he left the theatre. He 
 went to his rooms at the White Hart, threw himself 
 on a sofa and refused to stir. Remonstrance and 
 persuasion proving fruitless, his valet left him, locking 
 the door on his master. Kean heard the ominous 
 click ; made at once for the window, leapt from it, 
 made his way to a water-side tavern, from which, 
 accompanied by a well-known property man (Mr. 
 Mackintosh), he, still habited in his " Richard " dress, 
 set out in an open boat for Rothesay, where he 
 arrived next morning at four o'clock, and four hours 
 afterwards reached his retreat, Bute Cottage. 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 9 1 
 
 His engagement at Ayr ended most satisfactorily. 
 Ladies of the highest social standing, as well as 
 gentlemen, filled the theatre. The sight of the house 
 and the cordial greeting awarded him so gratified 
 and inspired the tragedian that his acting, it was 
 said, was never better than it was as " Richard " that 
 night. 
 
 In the September of 1824 Glasgow was again 
 favoured with a visit from Kean. No ladies were yet 
 to be seen amongst the crowded audience, but he was 
 received by the crowd, notwithstanding, with open 
 arms. It was during his next engagement in 1827, 
 whilst he was playing " Reuben Glenroy," in " Town 
 and County," that Kean received intelligence that his 
 son Charles had become an actor, and that he was to 
 open at Drury Lane on the 1st October following. 
 Kean had not seen his son or wife for years, and had 
 previously declared " If Charles tries to be an actor I 
 will cut his throat. I will be the first and last actor 
 of the name." The announcement so affected 
 Edmund Kean that, letting fall the letter, he sank 
 on a sofa in the Queen Street Green Room, fairly 
 overcome. He was unable to finish his part, and the 
 announcement was made that Mr. Kean was taken 
 suddenly ill. Notwithstanding his bitter feelings, 
 however, he, next morning, sent Lee up to London to 
 see " how the boy got on." " By the by," he said to 
 Lee, " I '11 send you up a bill here for that evening, 
 and you will see that it is stuck up in the Green 
 Room. Charley may be nervous if he thought I was 
 in the audience. He doesn't know where I am. 
 He'll see it in the Green Room, and then he'll know 
 
92 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 I am not in the house." "With the big tears rolling 
 down his cheeks," adds the narrator, "Kean took hold 
 of honest John Lee's hand, and bade him farewell." 
 He went to Hamilton to meet the mail by which Lee 
 was to return from London, and it was in the former 
 place Kean received the news that Charles had made 
 a fairly successful dtbut. 
 
 In 1828 a new star was brought to Glasgow. This 
 was no other than young Mr. Kean. With his father 
 Charles had not held intercourse for some time, for 
 the son had resented Kean's insult to Mrs. Kean, Sen., 
 in having attached himself to a disreputable com- 
 panion. This " lady " was then living with the elder 
 Kean in Bute. 
 
 After the first night, the business attendant on the 
 engagement with young Kean declined, and the 
 manager hit on a scheme to improve it. He wrote to 
 Edmund Kean, who had come back from America 
 a wreck of his former self; bloated and feeble. He 
 succeeded in engaging him to come to Glasgow and 
 play for one night, taking care not to hint that it was 
 for Charles' benefit, and that sire and son were to 
 play together. Of this fact the elder Kean knew 
 nothing until he came into the theatre and saw the 
 bill. " Kean," writes Lee, " 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 play was the 
 tragedy of " Brutus" "Brutus" by Mr. Kean; "Titus," 
 his son, Mr. Charles Kean. The house was the 
 largest ever seen in the Glasgow Theatre Royal. No 
 less than 250 persons were accommodated with seats 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 93 
 
 in the wings, and on the stage itself. There was no 
 change of scene, owing to the intrusion of so many of 
 the public, and the piece was literally played from 
 beginning to end in a circle on the centre of the 
 stage. 
 
 Except when on the stage together, father and son 
 never met or recognised one another. Both were 
 called for at the fall of the curtain, but Kean would 
 not go on. The afterpiece was " The Hunter of the 
 Alps," "Felix" by Mr. Charles Kean. Whilst the 
 latter was waiting at the wing, his father passed by on 
 his way to go out. Halting for a moment, the elder 
 Kean simply said, " I hope to see you, Charles, at 
 Bute to-morrow. There will be a crust of bread and 
 cheese for you there." Charles politely answered, 
 <' Thank you, father." So ended the interview 
 Instead of going to Bute, Kean went next day to 
 Belfast. 
 
 Five years afterwards sire and son met again. 
 It was on the boards of Covent Garden Theatre. 
 Kean played " Othello ;" Charles, " lago;" and Miss 
 Ellen Tree (afterwards Mrs. Charles Kean), "Des- 
 demona." When Charles came on the scene the 
 elder Kean advanced towards him, cast off for the 
 nonce the actor, and became the kind father. All 
 went well until in the third act he came to the 
 celebrated exclamation, " Villain ! " &c. On that 
 word Kean's voice broke up into a falsetto. He 
 paused a second or two, his voice gradually sank 
 into an inarticulate whisper, after which his head 
 gradually fell on his son's shoulder. " Get me off, 
 Charles," he gasped ; " I'm dying. Speak to them 
 
94 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 for me." Charles led him off the stage. He was 
 conveyed to Richmond. Two months afterwards, 
 an hour before he died (on the midnight of I3th 
 May, 1833) he sprang out of bed, exclaiming, "A 
 horse, a horse : my kingdom for a horse," and his 
 last words were the dying words of " Octavian " in 
 the "Foundling of the Forest,'* "Farewell, Flo 
 Floranthe." Charles was in an adjoining room. 
 The only persons present when Kean died were 
 Mr. Lee and the doctor. 
 
 In the June of the year 1833 the house, furniture, 
 books, &c., belonging to the late Edmund Kean at 
 Bute came to the hammer. Amongst the tragedian's 
 papers were found the following lines, which there is 
 very reason to believe were penned by him : 
 
 Thou Tyrant Death ! that doth abuse that power 
 But lent thee by the Great Creator's hand ; 
 
 The virtuous wicked fall in the same hour, 
 Destined all to thy express commands. 
 
 Canst thou not, Tyrant, e'er consistent be ? 
 
 Why leave the child to mourn a Mother's death ? 
 In taking all I loved, why not take me 
 
 To sigh my last with her who gave me breath? 
 
 One bliss is left above thy firm control, 
 While Heaven destines me thus to linger here 
 
 To indulge the filial duties of my soul, 
 And daily o'er my Parent drop a tear. 
 
 The next great event of Johnstone's season as 
 manager was the engagement of Miss O'Neil. An 
 unexpected furore took place. It was an " O.P." 
 riot. Johnstone had, as in the case of Kean's engage- 
 ment, raised the prices. The actress was announced 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 95 
 
 to open on the 2ist August, 1818, as "Belvidera" in 
 "Venice Preserved." When the curtain rose a cry 
 resounded from all parts of the house of "O.P. !!!" 
 (old prices). A thousand bellowing tongues took up 
 the shout. It was then discovered by the manage- 
 ment that copies of the following handbill had been 
 distributed : " Johnstone, in one week last season 
 during the engagement of Mr. Kean, in consequence 
 of raising prices of admission, cleared 2,000. It is 
 presumed that the public of Glasgow will not submit 
 to a repetition of a like imposition." The tumult 
 increased. Johnstone, whenever he entered, was 
 loudly hissed, but in the end gained the day. Miss 
 O'Neil's appearance seemed to act like a spell, under 
 which the ringleaders of the riot found themselves 
 bound to silence. She played "Jane Shore" the 
 following night, and by the press was declared to be 
 " the finest we have ever seen." Miss O'Neil appeared 
 in Glasgow, in engagements up till 1819, when she 
 married, left the stage, became, on her husband being 
 knighted, Lady Beecher, and died, nineteen years ago, 
 at the age of 8 1 . 
 
 Following a brief engagement with Lucius Junius 
 Brutus Booth (Kean's counterpart) and that of 
 " Mathews' At Home," came the announcement that 
 on the 1 8th September, 1818, the "Grand Crystal 
 Lustre of the front Roof of the Theatre, the largest of 
 any of that time in Scotland, will, in place of the 
 Wicks and the Candles and the Oil Lamps, be 
 Illuminated with Sparkling Gas'' Every seat in the 
 boxes up to the double and triple tier was at once 
 engaged, the spacious pit was crammed to suffocation, 
 
96 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 the first, second, and third galleries had not an inch 
 of standing room to spare. Gas never till then had 
 been seen or heard of in any theatre (so ran the 
 advertisement) in this kingdom. The house presented 
 a most brilliant appearance. Nearly every citizen of 
 wealth or repute was present with his family. The 
 signal was given. The green curtain of the stage 
 was raised. Then the band struck up the National 
 anthem, the audience joining in the chorus. The 
 gas, as if by magic, made its first " evolutions," to the 
 astonishment of all, " leaving some of them," adds 
 the writer, " to fancy that they had been ushered into 
 a new world a perfect Elysium on earth." 
 
 The programme that night consisted of Mozart's 
 " Don Giovanni," by a company of Italian artistes 
 under the baton of Mr. John Corri, father of the late 
 Henry Corri, and grandfather of Miss Kathleen Corri 
 (Mrs. Lord), late of the Central Hotel. 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 97 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 IT may surprise many to learn that " Rob Roy " 
 was produced first in Glasgow, nine months before 
 it was played at Edinburgh. The date of its pro- 
 duction at Queen Street was June loth, 1818, on the 
 occasion of the benefit of Mr. W. H. Murray, of 
 Edinburgh. Murray played "the Bailie" to the "Rob" 
 of Mr. Yates (afterwards manager of the London 
 Adelphi, and father of the present editor of the 
 World), and a Mrs. Eyre played "Helen." No notice 
 was taken of the performance by the local journals; 
 but it enjoyed the rather (at that time) lengthened 
 run of four successive nights. 
 
 At the Perth Theatre on the i8th June, 1818, 
 " Rob Roy Macgregor, or Auld Lang Syne," was 
 performed, with Mr. Mackay as "the Bailie," for the 
 first time. It was next played in Dundee, with 
 Mackay once more as " the Bailie." The " Dougal " of 
 Williams at Perth and Dundee is said never to have 
 been equalled Mr. Mackay played " the Bailie " for 
 the first time in Glasgow in the August of 1819. 
 The first production of " Rob Roy " in Edinburgh 
 was on February I5th, 1819, with Hamerton as 
 "Rob;" "the Bailie," Mackay; " Captain Thornton," 
 W. H. Murray; "Francis," Benson; "Rashleigh," J. 
 
 7 
 
9 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 H.Alexander; "Diana," MissM'Alpine; and "Helen," 
 Mrs. Renaud. 
 
 The performance of the piece in Glasgow which 
 probably will be most vividly remembered was the 
 revival of the play at the old Prince's Theatre in 
 West Nile Street, on February 4th, 1852: 
 
 Rob Roy, Mr. Edmund Glover. 
 
 Helen Macgregor, .... Mrs. Archbold. 
 Rashleigh Osbaldistone, . . . Mr. J. Silver. 
 Francis Osbaldistone, . . . Henry Haigh. 
 
 (Announced as a young tenor who had just entered 
 the profession). 
 
 Diana Vernon, Miss Josephine Manners. 
 
 Owen, Mr. C. E. Marshall. 
 
 Captain Thornton, .... Mr. W. Morgan. 
 
 (First husband to the present Mrs. J. B. Howard). 
 
 Dougal, Mr. Watt. 
 
 Sir Frederick Vernon, . . . Mr. C. G. Houghton. 
 Major Galbraith, .... Mr. W. H. Murray. 
 Bailie Nicol Jarvie (i,i34th time), . Mr. Mackay. 
 M'Stewart, David Fisher. 
 
 Subsequently, when the piece was revived a few 
 years afterwards, Powrie played "Rob; " Miss Cleaver, 
 "Helen;" George Webster, "the Bailie;" Lloyd, 
 "Galbraith;" Vivash, "the Dougal;" Ashley, "Rash- 
 leigh;" Miss Fanny Josephs, "Diana;" and Hamblin 
 for many years afterwards, the stock " Francis." 
 
 Some half-a-dozen versions of the novel have been 
 from time to time staged in London and elsewhere, 
 but none have approached either in excellence, stage 
 contrivance, or popularity, that of Peacock. 
 
 "Robs" have been found in every tragedian and 
 actor manager from Macready, the London original, 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 99 
 
 to Charles Kemble downwards ; but of the Scottish 
 actors in the olden time, Corbett Ryder, who played 
 it shortly after the production of the play in Perth, 
 is said to have been the best. 
 
 To our present class of old playgoers the " Rob " 
 of Glover and of Powrie will be the most familiar. 
 Glover's conception of the character was perhaps the 
 most original. It was that of a more homely type, 
 abounding in strongly effective traits ; never failing 
 in his impersonation of "the bold outlaw" to give 
 glimpses here and there that " Rob " was a man 
 strongly attached to wife, weans, clan, and dear 
 old Scotland. Powrie was indebted for his idea of 
 the outlaw to Mr. Langley, an excellent actor in 
 Mr. Alexander's company, and for ten years the 
 highly esteemed manager of the Dundee Theatre. 
 Mr. Langley's acting of the part was based on that 
 of Corbett Ryder. Powrie, who was a Dundee man, 
 was at the time (forty years ago) a promising amateur, 
 and Mr. Langley encouraged him by allowing him 
 occasionally to act in his theatre. Powrie's embodi- 
 ment was from first to last that of the bold and 
 romantic outlaw. With Anderson, the "Wizard of 
 the North," the part was also a great favourite, and 
 after the burning of the City Theatre on the Green, 
 he opened in the part at " Covent Garden," of which 
 theatre he was manager, and which likewise was 
 burned to the ground, shortly after he had entered 
 on the management. The late Mr. M'Neill, who 
 married a daughter of Ryder, gave also an admirable 
 picture of " Rob." The stage has at present no " Rob " 
 who can approach that of Mr. J. B. Howard. All 
 
100 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 local playgoers remember every " Rob " of note, and 
 also the actor of nearly every other character in the 
 drama, from " the Bailie " to " Captain Thornton." 
 What man, woman, or child who saw it will ever 
 forget the " Bailie " of Mackay who, in the broadest 
 situations, even when weilding the red-hot poker, 
 never forgot that Nicol Jarvie was a magistrate, and 
 the son of a deacon. He was, we are told, intensely 
 humorous, never vulgar, always amusing, and not a 
 vestage of a buffoon. Ever realistic, never otherwise 
 than refined, he immortalised the part. 
 
 Gourlay, who played it some years afterwards, was 
 an imitator of Mackay, quaint, dry, and funny; but 
 his " Bailie " was wanting in the delicacy of touch, of 
 his model. George Webster, J. H. Alexander, Bruce 
 Norton, all tried it ; and Mr. James Houston displays 
 a genuine appreciation of the part. The nearest 
 approach, however, to Scott's " Bailie " that I remem- 
 ber to have seen, and I only know Mackay 's by 
 hearsay, was the late Mr. William Campbell's, who 
 identified his name with the character in Glasgow 
 some twenty years back, and who almost invariably 
 played it to the " Rob " of Powrie. Campbell was one 
 of the only two persons who saw Tom Powrie die. 
 
 The earliest "Rashleigh" of note was Mr. J. H. 
 Alexander, who played it at Edinburgh. Then 
 came Mr. James Aitken, father to Mrs. Bunten. 
 But to old Dunlop Street playgoers " Silver " was 
 the "Rashleigh." Look, gesture everything conveyed 
 the idea of the cunning, cruel, and vindictive plotter. 
 " Silver " was one of the best " villains " that trod 
 Dunlop Street stage. He was the " black-a-vised " 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. IOI 
 
 murderer to the life. And yet with what genuine 
 human relentings he played "Hubert" in "King John!" 
 The last "Rashleigh" who appeared in Dunlop Street 
 was Mr. Frank Allan, son-in-law to- Mv. Langky, 
 a gentleman who in his own iTarne^-that of 'Kil- 
 pack officiated as acting manager at the ''Theatre 
 Royal, Plymouth, where he died about two * years 
 ago. Out of the many " Rashleighs " it has been our 
 good fortune to witness, including that of Mr. R. H. 
 Wyndham, none gave so good all-round a portraiture 
 as Mr. A. Lindsay who played it to the "Rob" of 
 Mr. Henry Talbot some years ago at the Gaiety. 
 
 In the ranks of the "Major Galbraiths," no one was 
 found so fit to command as the veteran, the late 
 " Old Lloyd." His conception of the character was 
 founded on that of W. H. Murray's, who soon threw 
 up the English " Captain " for the more important 
 part of " the Major." 
 
 Various actresses have identified themselves with 
 " Helen," and amongst their names are those of 
 Mrs. Egerton, Mrs. Renaud, Mrs. Ternan, Mrs. 
 Glover, Miss Cleaver, Miss Nicol (the original), Miss 
 Marriott, Mrs. R. H. Wyndham, Miss Rose Leclerq, 
 and Mrs. J. B. Howard ; but probably no one of 
 these ever realised the more ferocious side of the 
 character better than does Miss Julia Seaman. 
 Her commanding presence and extraordinary power- 
 ful voice would have inspired awe even to " Rob " 
 himself. " Owen " never attained greater promin- 
 ence than it did in the artistic hands of the late 
 Mr. Fitzroy. 
 
 Amongst the most notable of the " Francis' " was 
 
102 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 Mr. Sims Reeves. As Mr. J. S. Reeves he played 
 the part at Miller's Adelphi. A local critic of the 
 day recorded " He (Mr. Reeves) seems to have 
 something-, of - the * same antipathy to steel as that 
 described' of James VI. When he ought to have 
 drawn his sword he had none to draw, and when 
 he dared 'Rashleigh' to combat he coolly walked off 
 the stage to provide himself with a claymore." As 
 to costume, the play has undergone as many 
 changes as there are checks in the tartan. In 
 1845, a local critic, describing the production of the 
 piece in Dunlop Street and at Miller's Adelphi, 
 says : " But at both the theatres the general ap- 
 pearance of all the characters must have been, to 
 say the least of it, startling. Sir Frederick Vernon 
 was dressed as ' Hamlet;' at Miller's three distinct 
 checks were seen on one dress ; some of the High- 
 landers were dressed as English peasants, and 
 ' Helen ' was attended by a faithful servitor in a 
 modern * pot ' hat and velveteen breeches." 
 
 " Rob Roy " has been played little in comparison 
 with " Guy Mannering." " Rob " has seldom made 
 its appearance except on some special occasion, 
 and in nine cases out of ten it has been as a 
 special spectacle. Up to the period of the Glover 
 dynasty it was seldom seen in Glasgow, probably 
 owing to the uninterrupted run of stars and the 
 difficulty attending its production in the way of 
 music, the drilling of supers, &c. " Guy Mannering," 
 on the other hand, has grown grey in its service 
 on the Glasgow boards. As the journals of seventy 
 years ago took little or no notice (even by adver- 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 1 03 
 
 tisement) of dramatic entertainments, it is almost 
 impossible now to fix with any certainty the exact 
 date when Terry's adaptation was first presented 
 to the Glasgow footlights ; but it would probably 
 be anterior to "Rob Roy," and most likely almost 
 immediately succeeding its production at Edinburgh, 
 where Murray introduced it on February 25th, 1817, 
 more than eleven months after it had made its 
 debut at Covent Garden. 
 
 In Glasgow the play has always been a favourite. 
 Year after year it was played with George Webster 
 as "Dandie," for which character it seemed as if 
 nature had specially formed him. It was a rough, 
 bold, and strong, if not a very artistic bit of acting. 
 With the " Dominie " will always be associated the 
 revered name of Mackay, and prominent amongst 
 his successors, that of Mr. Fitzroy, who invariably 
 received for a quiet and pathetic rendering of it a 
 cordial greeting. Listen's "Dominie" was said to 
 have been far better than his "Bailie." 
 
 Every light comedian, from Mr. Harcotirt Bland 
 downwards, has had his name associated with 
 " Colonel Mannering." For some years Mr. Ashley 
 played it to the l< Dirk Hatteraick " by turns of 
 Vivash and Silver. Danvers, the father of Mr. 
 Ramsay Danvers, was " Gilbert Glossin." The 
 " Megs " have been numerous, none of course 
 equalling that of Miss Cushman, who played it at 
 Miller's Adelphi. In 1849 an< ^ on several other 
 occasions Edmund Glover played " Meg " with his 
 usual success. The strongest cast (vocally) ever seen 
 in Glasgow was on September 6th, 1852, with the 
 
104 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 Pyne-Harrison troupe, with Louisa Pyne as " Julia/' 
 Harrison as " Bertram,'* and H. Corri as " Dandie." 
 
 When Dunlop Street was reopened after the fire 
 on December i6th, 1863, "Guy Mannering" formed 
 the opening piece, with the following cast : 
 
 Julia Mannering, . . . Mrs. H. Haigh. 
 
 Lucy Bertram, . . . Miss H. Watson. 
 
 Flora, ..... Miss Lizzie Wood. 
 
 Meg Merrilies, . . . Mrs. H. Vandenhoff. 
 
 Mrs. M'Candlish, . . Miss Lavis. 
 
 Colonel Mannering, . . Mr. W. Baynham. 
 
 Henry Bertram, . . . Mr. H. Haigh. 
 
 Dominie Sampson, . . Mr. Fitzroy. 
 
 Mr. W. Scott 
 Dandie Dmmont, 
 
 , . 
 
 (Press amateurs). 
 
 Dirk Hatteraick, . . . Mr. J. B. Howard. 
 Gilbert Glossin, . . . Mr. Kendal. 
 Bailie Mucklethrift, . . Mr. R. Lloyd. 
 
 Amongst the early productions of Scott's novels 
 was the " Heart of Mid-Lothian," which was first 
 acted in Glasgow in 1820, with the following 
 cast : 
 
 Dumbiedykes, ..... Mr. Burns. 
 
 Duke of Argyle, .... Mr. Bromley. 
 
 Geordie Robertson, .... Mr. Buton. 
 
 Jeannie Deans, .... Mrs. Munroe. 
 
 Margery Murdockson, . . . Mrs. Penman. 
 
 Madge Wildfire, .... Mrs. Baker. 
 
 This adaptation was by Dibdin. The piece had 
 made the year before a great hit at the Surrey, and 
 had been produced in Edinburgh on February 23rd, 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 1 05 
 
 1819, with Calcraft as " Staunton," Mackay as 
 " Dumbiedykes," and J. H. Alexander as "Ratcliffe." 
 
 For some years the piece was a favourite in 
 Glasgow, chiefly through Miss Aitken's acting of 
 " Madge ; " but as time went on it gradually sank into 
 disuse, and probably on account of the melodies not 
 being so catchy, it never attained the popularity of 
 " Rob Roy " or " Guy Mannering." Several versions 
 of the tale have been from time to time produced, 
 and in 1863 Boucicault sent down his London version, 
 which was followed by one by Mr. Hazlewood, and 
 as the latter adhered more faithfully to the novel than 
 Boucicault, although not by any means so good a 
 piece, it became with Glaswegians a far more popular 
 one. It had the advantage of being well staged, and 
 Miss Marriott made an admirable "Jeannie Deans." 
 Another play, called " The Whistler ; or, the Fate of 
 the Lily of St. Leonards," attained a short-lived 
 popularity. 
 
 As early as 1811 Scott's "Lady of the Lake" 
 appeared in a dramatic form both at Covent Garden 
 and at Edinburgh. As a spectacle, it has always 
 been a great attraction, but it was brought into 
 greater prominence than it had ever attained before 
 on the accession of Edmund Glover to the manage- 
 ment of Dunlop Street. His sturdy figure was as 
 specially adapted as his effective delivery and acting 
 were to the character of the outlawed chief. The 
 first really grand revival of the piece was on the 
 28th April, 1856, with the following cast : 
 
106 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 Roderick Dhu, Edmund Glover. 
 
 Fitzjames, Powrie. 
 
 Allan Bayne, Fitzroy. 
 
 Douglas, ...... George Webster. 
 
 Malcolm Graeme, .... George Vincent. 
 
 The Monk, Paumier. 
 
 Ellen, ...... Mrs. M. Eburne. 
 
 Blanche, Miss Aitken. 
 
 To Glasgow playgoers a host of happy memories 
 will rise at the mere mention of the list of the minor 
 Scottish dramas. "Gilderoy," with Glover as the hero; 
 Mackay, "Jock Muir;" and Watt, "Walter Logan." 
 " The Warlock of the Glen," with every leading man 
 of note in turn as " Mathew." Who does not call to 
 mind Mackay 's "Jock Howieson" in "Cramond Brig," 
 and Glover's "James VI.," or the latter's "Edgar 
 Ravenswood" to the "Caleb" of Mackay? Then 
 there was also " Mary Queen of Scots," with Miss 
 Aitken as "the Queen" and Glover as "Douglas." 
 These dramas were all more or less adapted by 
 W. H. Murray, and kept alive by the unrivalled 
 acting of Mackay, who visited Glasgow now and 
 again every year from 1819 to 1852. 
 
 At the death of Mackay his mantle in Scotch 
 characters was supposed in Glasgow to have fallen 
 on George Webster, and at the latter's decease 
 descended to a great extent on the late Mr. W. 
 Dobson, who was the last Scotch actor of note in 
 these roles up to 1875, when Mr. James Houston 
 and Mr. J. W. Gordon were brought to the front. 
 Memorable among Scotch impersonations was James 
 Aitken's " Wandering Steenie " in the drama of " The 
 Rose of Ettrick Vale." 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. lO? 
 
 Old-fashioned melodrama, which was introduced 
 first to the stage in 1802, has had its day. Its 
 morning was bright, its noontide glorious, but its 
 sun is setting amid anything but purple and golden 
 clouds. Since the epoch when travelling companies 
 became the fashion the old Scotch melodramas have 
 found their city of refuge only in the shows. Our 
 only chance now of having our boyish theatrical 
 recollections revived is at Vinegar Hill during the 
 Fair holidays. To canvas-covered Temples of the 
 Drama the plays have fled, and also many of the 
 players, and some very good actors will still be 
 found at Collins's at the Fair time. The bold bad 
 Baron, with his basket-hilted sword, the sentimental 
 " Crichton " hero, the white-muslined heroine, the 
 pallid ghost, find no moated dungeon in the modern 
 sensational drama. Instead of these dear old friends 
 of our boyhood, the thrilling music, and the soul- 
 harrowing scenes, we have some insipid masher in 
 evening dress, who consigns his hapless victim either 
 to the colonies or a lunatic asylum or, worse still, 
 " slangy leg-pieces," which young Glasgow applauds 
 to the echo, but which are too surely driving family 
 playgoers out of the theatre. 
 
108 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 IT was in the year 1819 that Macready, whilst in 
 Glasgow, was first introduced to Sheridan Knowles 
 by Mr. John Tait, theatrical printer, bill inspector, 
 and kindest and best of friends to poor players. 
 Knowles had come to Glasgow with his father about 
 two years before this, and was then teaching elocution 
 at his own class-rooms in Reid's Court, off the Tron- 
 gate. Full twenty-five years and more have passed 
 since the Necropolis received the shell of his departed 
 spirit, yet flowers spring up in old men's memories 
 when they call to mind the welcome visits they paid 
 to the class-room of "Paddy" Knowles sixty years 
 ago. Poor Knowles, though in receipt of a good 
 income from his class fees (2 y 2s. per session), was 
 never well off, always in a muddle, and ever sinking 
 into poverty. Generous to a fault, he strove to 
 relieve others beyond the measure of his means, 
 and so became an easy prey for any rogue or lazy 
 vagabond. 
 
 Mr. John Tait, at Knowles' request, sent Macready 
 the MS. of "Virginius." Macready stipulated that 
 .400 for twenty nights should be paid for the play, 
 and that it should be continued into the following 
 season, which made a difference of 100 in favour of 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. IOQ 
 
 Knowles. Twelve years afterwards Sheridan Knowles 
 was still in Glasgow and in difficulties. Creditors 
 were clamouring, and a rising young family making 
 greater the demands on his resources. It was in this 
 year he wrote the "Hunchback." Despatched to 
 London, the play was at once accepted. Knowles' 
 spirits, raised to the utmost, were doomed, how- 
 ever, to have a sudden downfall. Farren, who 
 was rehearsing " Master Walter," was stricken with 
 paralysis. If the play was to be produced at all it 
 must be within a week or two. Kean, shattered in 
 mind and body, could not undertake a fresh part ; 
 Macready declined the character. Driven to their 
 wits' end, the managers of Covent Garden wrote to 
 Knowles suggesting he should play the part. The 
 dramatist consented, went up to London, played the 
 character, and the play became the great hit of the 
 season. 
 
 The Glasgow manager (Seymour) had reason to 
 love "Paddy" Knowles for his generosity. Some 
 supers on the occasion of the spectacle of "Aladdin" 
 being played, struck for arrears of salary, and a 
 riot was threatened. Knowles happened to be in the 
 boxes that evening, and with a full knowledge of the 
 circumstances which had brought the piece to an 
 ignominious halt, he went round quietly to some of 
 his old friends and pupils, who were also present in 
 the boxes, and persuaded them to save the credit of 
 the manager and the piece by taking the place, for 
 that night only, of the recreant supers ; and, Knowles 
 heading them, the piece reached a successful termina- 
 tion. Knowles was, however, never thoroughly 
 
IIO THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 appreciated by the public. When, at the end of the 
 season, he came to star with Miss Ellen Tree (after- 
 wards Mrs. Charles Kean), the curtain drew up on his 
 own tragedy of " William Tell " with exactly seven 
 people in the pit, six in the boxes, and thirty-five in 
 the gallery. A Glasgow critic on the occasion wrote 
 of Knowles : " He is an actor, though perhaps not of 
 the very highest class. He cannot for a moment 
 measure spears with Kean, but with most other living 
 performers he need not fear comparison." 
 
 In March, 1837, Sheridan Knowles came to Glas- 
 gow, again bringing with him his pupil, Miss 
 Elphinstone, whom he shortly afterwards married. 
 They appeared together in a round of Knowles' 
 plays, including the "Hunchback," " The Wife," and 
 " The Wrecker's Daughter." This engagement 
 brought down an actor who was afterwards for many 
 years a favourite in Dunlop Street, Mr. Paumier, a 
 gentleman who so soon ingratiated himself with his 
 audience that at the expiration of one month's 
 engagement a dinner was given to him by several 
 of the most influential of the merchant playgoers. 
 
 The 1 3th February, 1820, saw the debut of James 
 Aitken (father of Miss M. A. Aitken), as " Macbeth." 
 Mr. Aitken, son of an upholsterer in York Street, had 
 been a student of divinity, and was one of the first 
 pupils of Sheridan Knowles, when the latter with his 
 father, fresh from Belfast, first commenced to teach 
 elocution in Glasgow. Among many professors and 
 ministers who were present to witness the first ap- 
 pearance of Aitken as an actor was Dr. Chalmers and 
 his then helper, Edward Irving. Knowles was there, 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. Ill 
 
 and the house was crowded for the most part with 
 the young man's friends and fellow students. " Mac- 
 beth " was repeated nine times in the following three 
 weeks a great success. A month afterwards Aitken 
 made a failure as " Richard the Third," in which he 
 was so imperfect in the words as at length to take 
 the book out of the prompter's hand and read them. 
 Knowles subsequently wrote the play of " Virginius/' 
 and Aitken came from Aberdeen to play in it "Icilius," 
 a part which had been written specially for him. 
 
 The summer season of 1825 saw, for the first time, 
 James Aitken in the character of "Wanderin' Steenie." 
 He played the part so well that when, two years 
 afterwards, the original, a Mr. Denham, acted it in 
 Glasgow he was fairly laughed off the stage. 
 Aitken's subsequent career is but too well known. 
 He became " walking gentleman " at Covent Garden, 
 quarrelled with John Kemble, returned to Glasgow, 
 taught elocution, was a splendid public reciter, 
 gradually sank into poverty, and died in compara- 
 tive obscurity. At Johnstone, at a small tavern, one 
 Saturday evening, he was, as was his wont, collecting 
 a trifle from the more ardent of his admirers by 
 giving a few extracts from the part he was best 
 known by, when he sank helplessly on the ground, 
 sighing with a vacant stare, "Puir Steenie's dune" 
 words prophetic of his approaching end. This 
 took place at Paisley on Friday, iQth September, 
 1845. He had been delivering his recitations there, 
 when he fell senseless from exhaustion. They carried 
 him to his lodging, where, two hours after they had 
 laid him on his bed, he died. 
 
112 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 Misfortune had up to this period followed every 
 attempt at management in Queen Street. The rent, 
 which had formerly been fixed at ; 1,200, the 
 directors had been compelled to reduce to ,400, 
 and even at that sum the receipts barely sufficed to 
 pay for the gas. 
 
 In the meantime Dunlop Street had been pursuing 
 a very questionable career, and presenting any amount 
 of " medley " in its bill of fare, as the following copy 
 of a programme will show : 
 
 "Circus, Dunlop Street. On Friday and Saturday, 28th 
 and 29th December, 1821, the performances will commence 
 with the admired ballet dance, called * Hurry-Scurry,' after 
 which the very favourite Melodrama, called * Frederick the 
 Great,' and Horsemanship. The whole to conclude with the 
 admired Melodramatic Burlette, called the 'Mill of Glamis.' 
 Splendid New-Year's Harlequinade Pantomime will be pro- 
 duced at the Circus. Mr. Simpson (from Manchester) with 
 his wonderful performing dogs and sagacious bear are engaged, 
 and will shortly appear in a new grand historical bruno-canine 
 quadrupedical melodrama." 
 
 Mr. Alexander in this year became for a short 
 time a manager, and converted the circus in Dunlop 
 Street into a minor theatre, securing for his opening 
 night a popular vocalist of the day Miss Byrne. 
 
 In 1823 the Queen Street Theatre was opened by 
 a Mr. Taylor, from Belfast, and in the following 
 August Mr. J. E. Byrne took the reins. In 1823 
 Listen made his first appearance in Glasgow as "Sam 
 Swipes" in "Exchange no Robbery," concluding with 
 " Bombastes Furioso/' He delivered also a comic 
 address in the character of " Lord Grizzle " in " Tom 
 Thumb," seated on a donkey. Miss M. Tree, the 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 113 
 
 sister of Mrs. Charles Kean, came in August as 
 Clari, and sang she was the first who ever sang it 
 the evergreen " Home, Sweet Home." 
 
 On the 4th December, Sheridan Knowles's tragedy 
 of " Caius Grachus " was produced for the first time. 
 The piece narrowly escaped a failure through Mr. 
 Seymour being grossly imperfect as the hero. 
 
 " William Tell " was next produced, in which 
 Seymour played the hero and Aitken " Gesler." 
 
 A fierce and powerful rival to Queen Street now 
 appeared. A Mr. Kinloch took a theatre in Dunlop 
 Street (then christened the Caledonian), where he 
 produced the hit of the day, a piece founded on 
 Pierce Egan's " Tom and Jerry," in which the 
 famous Tyrone Power played "Jerry." It was admir- 
 ably mounted, and through its success Kinloch wound 
 up his season with a clear profit of upwards of two 
 thousand pounds. 
 
 This year (1825) brought a pronounced figure to 
 view for the first time, Mr. J. H. Alexander, who 
 was destined to make his name famous as at once 
 one of the most energetic and most eccentric of 
 theatrical men and managers. Born of respectable 
 parents in Dunbar in 1796, after having received his 
 education in Edinburgh, Mr. Alexander served his 
 apprenticeship to his uncle, Mr. Proudfoot, a hosier, 
 who carried' on business at the foot of the Candleriggs. 
 Witnessing the acting of Mr. Harry Johnstone, John 
 Henry Alexander became infatuated with the stage, 
 and after passing through the grub condition of 
 Amateur, finally emerged into the butterfly state of 
 Professional, through Mr. John Tait having introduced 
 
114 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 him to Messrs. Trueman & Bartley, then managers of 
 Queen Street. Under the management of Mr. Mont- 
 gomerie, the successor to these gentlemen, Mr. Alex- 
 ander made his first appearance before the footlights 
 by (as a boy) giving out the performances at the end 
 of the play, and " addressing the audiences in cases of 
 emergency." The next season saw him at Queen 
 Street under the Macready dynasty. A few years 
 afterwards he was again in Scotland, and as an actor 
 under the management of Mr. W. H. Murray he 
 remained for some ten years. Here he married. By 
 that strict economy which characterised his habits to 
 the very end of his days he amassed a considerable 
 sum out of the frugal stipend he received, and after 
 a short curriculum passed in theatres in the North he 
 reappeared in Glasgow as "Rashleigh Osbaldistone," 
 when Murray brought over his Edinburgh company 
 to play " Rob Roy." 
 
 " Alexander " now began to play everything high 
 tragedy, low comedy, heavies, and eccentrics. Shortly 
 afterwards, in 1821, he became manager of the theatre 
 in Carlisle, which he retained for twelve years, coup- 
 ling with it Dumfries ; and in 1822 he took the minor 
 theatre in Dunlop Street, which had been hitherto 
 managed by Kinloch. His open defiance of the law 
 regarding the infringement of the patentees' rights 
 soon gained him notoriety, and involved him in a 
 series of litigations. In 1825, having heard that the 
 Caledonian Theatre was in the market, he resolved to 
 add it to his circuit. Seymour, who was then stage 
 manager to Mr. Byrne in Queen Street, determined 
 to forestall Alexander, and before the latter was 
 aware of it Seymour had obtained the theatre. 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 1 15 
 
 Alexander came to Glasgow the day after Sey- 
 mour had signed the arrangement. Discomfited but 
 not dismayed, he matured his plans. All the premises 
 in the building in Dunlop Street were not occupied, 
 and what remained of them free, he resolved should 
 be his. His eye rested on a cellar beneath. The 
 ceiling was lofty, and the space large enough for his 
 purpose. The proprietors of the cellar, a cotton dealer 
 and a potato salesman, were interviewed as to their 
 terms for vacating the premises, and at once settled 
 with. Their goods and chattels were removed, and 
 two days afterwards Alexander was " monarch of all 
 he surveyed." 
 
 Seymour opened the " Caledonian " with a capital 
 company and first-rate scenery and appointments. 
 Alexander opened at the same time the coal cellar, 
 which he christened "The Dominion of Fancy." 
 Then commenced the fray. Whilst the actors on the 
 stage above were playing "Macbeth," those on the 
 stage below were carrying on the " Battle of the Inch." 
 " Macbeth " was acted nearly throughout, to the tune- 
 ful accompaniment of the shouts of soldiery, the 
 clanging of dish covers, the clashing of swords, the 
 braying of drums ; with the fumes of blue fire every 
 now and again rising through 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 extra- 
 ordinary effects, unrehearsed, and certainly never seen 
 before, drew large audiences. 
 
 The rival managers now appealed to the rraeis- 
 
Il6 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 trates. Seymour was allowed to open his house for 
 four nights in the week, and Alexander for only two 
 Saturday and Monday, then the best nights of the 
 six. Both being dissatisfied, appealed to the Court 
 of Session, which only confirmed the previous de- 
 cision. Now came the struggle which should outvie 
 the other. On the opening night in the " Dominion 
 of Fancy " everything was drowned by the clamour 
 of a brass band which played during the whole 
 evening by direction of Seymour, upstairs ! Another 
 appeal to the magistrates ! Decision " 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 upstairs 
 now lifted the planks and poured water down through 
 them on the heads of the unoffending onlookers in 
 the "Dominion of Fancy" below. The climax was 
 reached by the production of " Der Freischutz " by 
 both managers. Seymour's party from above 
 mustered in strong force on the first night, and by 
 means of the gaps in the planks before referred to, 
 managed to spoil the whole effect of the incantation 
 scene. The dragon was treated ignominiously and 
 not permitted to emit his fiery saliva. He was also 
 detained by his tail till all his fire was burnt out. 
 The skeleton hunters made a like sickly and in- 
 effectual effort to carry on their wild career. Then 
 the drop was not allowed to fall on the picture, and 
 Alexander had to give the word of command to 
 " come off the stage." Everybody concerned in the 
 magic circle had to walk off, Zamiel and his skeleton 
 horseman included. Then suddenly down came the 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 1 1/ 
 
 curtain with such a crash that the dust which followed 
 nearly suffocated the audience. Then the manager 
 came forward and appealed to the public " as to how 
 long he and his brother huntsmen were to be inter- 
 rupted in the sport by the misdeeds of foreign 
 intruders " his rival was an Irishman. Neither Sey- 
 mour nor Alexander, however, had much to com- 
 plain of as to the receipts for the season. " Tom and 
 Jerry" was played at both houses during the same 
 week. It ran for a month, and so successfully was 
 public curiosity stimulated to see both productions, 
 that Queen Street was deserted, and Byrne, the 
 manager of the latter, made an inglorious retreat. 
 Seymour made a successful application for the 
 theatre. 
 
IlS THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 THE entrance of Mr. Frank Seymour upon the 
 management of the Theatre Royal, Queen Street, 
 was not a triumphal one. The late tenant, Mr. 
 Bryne, had decamped without paying his rent for 
 the last six months, and with the keys of the theatre 
 in his pocket. His successor had, therefore, to get 
 into the theatre by climbing through a window in 
 the green room at the back. The first engagement 
 made by Seymour was with the famous Listen, who 
 opened in Kenney's comedy of "Sweethearts and 
 Wives," and also as " Neddy Bray " in the farce 
 of " X.Y.Z." The comedian proved a tremendous 
 success, and Seymour with the proceeds of the 
 engagement determined to renovate the old place. 
 Whilst the repairs were proceeding the company 
 played at their old quarters in Dunlop Street, of 
 which Seymour still retained possession. 
 
 When the redecoration was completed, Queen 
 Street was reopened with " Rob Roy," supported by 
 a strong company, and for a time matters moved 
 smoothly. With June came the irrepressible " Battle 
 of Waterloo," an equestrian spectacle always pre- 
 sented on every "i8th." The equine arrangements 
 were under the superintendence of Mr. Davis (from 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 1 19 
 
 Astley's), and Seymour gave an excellent impersona- 
 tion of Napoleon. Perhaps the most memorable 
 feature of Seymour's management was his production 
 on the loth May, 1826, of ''Aladdin." Eighteen 
 newly-painted scenes, a military band, fifty supers, 
 magnificent properties, a flying palace built on a 
 platform thirty feet long and eight feet broad, contri- 
 buted to the success of this, one of the biggest hits 
 Glasgow had ever known. The last notable feature, 
 however, in connection with Seymour's brief term 
 of management was the second engagement within 
 a year (1828) of Andrew Ducrow, who came with a 
 double company, including a hundred ladies and 
 gentlemen, a stud of forty horses, a pack of hounds, 
 and a stag, all taking part in his famous equestrian 
 spectacle" A Stag Hunt." 
 
 It was in the beginning of 1829 that the fatal 
 catastrophe to Queen Street occurred. Andrew 
 Ducrow and his troupe had scarcely departed, and 
 Seymour had just brought up his company from 
 Paisley to reopen for his spring campaign. " Tom 
 and Jerry" was underlined, and on Monday evening 
 following " Bluebeard " was to be produced. A re- 
 hearsal of the latter piece was called at eleven on 
 Saturday, January loth. It was a dull and wintry 
 day. The workmen were engaged in dismantling 
 what had been the Royal Bank, preparatory to its 
 conversion into the front part of the present 
 Exchange, when the attention of a few individuals 
 was suddenly attracted to what seemed a light, misty 
 vapour ascending from the lofty roof of the Theatre 
 Royal. By the time the fire-engines were dragged 
 
I2O THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 to the spot the whole of the interior presented one 
 living mass of fire, and now and then when part of 
 the galleries and boxes fell down into the pit, the 
 flames rose from the building to a height that created 
 anxiety not only for the safety of contiguous premises, 
 but also for the new Exchange only a short distance 
 off. Not a particle of the whole building was saved. 
 Every bit of property belonging to Seymour was 
 destroyed, including an assortment of new scenery 
 for a little theatre in the Isle of Bute, to which Kean 
 had subscribed 50. Music, books, papers all fed 
 the flames. The proprietors' losses were partially 
 covered by insurance, but Seymour's amounted to 
 nearly ^"2,000. A fancy ball was shortly afterwards 
 announced for Seymour's benefit, and it took place 
 on the 23rd February, in the Assembly Rooms, 
 Ingram Street. 
 
 As for the houseless actors, some gave dramatic 
 readings, others migrated ; but all were terrible losers 
 by the calamity. Seymour realised from the profits 
 of the ball a thousand pounds. "At that midnight, 
 however, there was a whisper" that the manager was 
 missing from the assembly ; also that he had gone 
 away mysteriously, taking all the money with him, 
 without having in any way attempted to settle either 
 the rent of the hall or certain outstanding debts. He 
 was arrested that very night on board the steamer 
 when it was on the point of starting for Belfast. He 
 paid the watchful creditor who had tracked him, 
 and got clear off without having then to satisfy any 
 others. 
 
 On Friday, October 2nd, 1829, Seymour returned, 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 121 
 
 and, backed by influential friends, opened a theatre 
 which had been built for him in York Street, and 
 for which he claimed the patent of the Theatre Royal. 
 On the first night Edmund Kean played " Shylock." 
 Braham, Rae, Macready, and a host of London stars 
 followed. " Rob Roy," with Seymour as " Rob," was 
 also produced ; but notwithstanding every effort for 
 its success, the theatre closed ignominiously in about 
 eighteen months. 
 
 Meantime Mr. J. H. Alexander had made vast 
 alterations in Dunlop Street. On December 5, 1829, 
 the following announcement appeared : " Mr. Alex- 
 ander hails with delight the moment which gives 
 him an opportunity of presenting to the citizens of 
 Glasgow a theatre which, he flatters himself, will be 
 deemed worthy of their notice and support." He 
 inaugurated his season with Dimond's play of " The 
 Royal Oak, or the days of Charles the Second," in 
 which he impersonated the "King." The manager of 
 Dunlop Street was destined to prove a sharp thorn in 
 the side of the York Street Theatre. Alexander had 
 succeeded in securing the most popular stars of the 
 day. Vandenhoff appeared on March i$th in a new 
 play called "Shakespeare's Early Days." Miss 
 Jarman, afterwards Mrs. Ternan, followed. Then 
 came T. P. Cooke with his round of nautical 
 dramas. In April, Liston came down with " Paul 
 Pry." Wilson, the Scotch vocalist, made his first 
 appearance in Glasgow about this time ; so also did 
 George Horncastle, an excellent baritone (brother 
 to the first Mrs. H. J. Lloyd). In May, Mackay 
 played a round of his favourite characters in the 
 
122 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 " Bride of Lammermoor," " Gilderoy," " Cramond 
 Brig," "Guy Mannering" (the "Dominie"), and his 
 immortal "Bailie" Montague Stanley playing "Rash- 
 leigh." Harry Johnstone and Miss Jarman and the 
 Siamese Twins all appeared in Dunlop Street that 
 year, also Mr. H. F. Lloyd. Lloyd, who on I5th 
 November, 1830, opened as the "First Graved igger," 
 sang a comic song, " The Humours of a Country 
 Fair," and appeared in the farce of " Too Late for 
 Dinner." He became at once a favourite with his 
 audience. Kean opened a short engagement on the 
 following Monday. " He looked," writes Mr. Lloyd, 
 " a little, shrivelled old man, although the tragedian 
 was then but forty years of age; so much had his 
 excesses left their mark." Lloyd, it appears, in the 
 character of the " Lord Mayor " a part which is 
 always given to the stock low comedian, and is con- 
 sequently one at which an audience is usually 
 inclined to laugh had on the first night a mishap. 
 In kneeling he leant too heavily on his wand of 
 office. The wand snapped, and Lloyd fell forward 
 " bringing his nose in contact with the stage." 
 Naturally the audience laughed at the predicament, 
 and even Kean himself smiled, though grimly. 
 
 "At the end of the act," Mr. Lloyd goes on to 
 say, " I went up to him and apologised for the 
 accident an accident he didn't believe it to have 
 been." " Not at all, sir," he said, deprecating my 
 apology, " I am pleased to think that your new 
 ' business ' was so successful. It shows that a 
 Glasgow audience can appreciate talent like yours. 
 I should advise you by way of variety to introduce 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 12$ 
 
 next time the original business by shaking your 
 head well when you say ' Ah ! my lord,' by which 
 you will bring down a shower of powder from your 
 wig and at the same time a shower of applause from 
 a discriminating public." Lloyd innocently (?) re- 
 plied, " Thank you, sir, I will," and as he turned 
 away from him he heard Kean exclaim to himself, 
 " Idiots ! " 
 
 Kean, it appears, was doomed during this engage- 
 ment to meet with discomfitures. 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 
 of them found it possible to get up again. On 
 " lago's " saying to his general " Do not rise yet," 
 Kean was heard to mutter, "D d if I think I shall 
 ever rise again." Both gentlemen 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 fau't 
 haun's and knees." "At last," writes Lloyd, "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 ' Hoop 
 La/ and a round of applause for his humanity." 
 
 The year 1832 proved a disastrous one for all 
 connected with theatricals. It was the fatal year 
 when Asiatic cholera first invaded our shores. Audi- 
 ences were miserably thin ; no one cared to stir 
 
124 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 abroad. Kean, however, appeared again, and an 
 engagement was effected with the incomparable 
 Irishman, Tyrone Power who went down a few 
 years later with all on board the ill-fated steamer 
 " President." Mr. Alexander's stock company at 
 this time was stigmatised as execrable, " the very 
 worst, perhaps, that have ever played the legitimate 
 drama in this city, and Heaven knows we have been 
 frequently but poorly off in this respect." On the 
 opening of the engagement of a star there were five 
 people in the boxes, six in the pit, thirteen in the 
 gallery. 
 
 The Journals of this year not only attacked from 
 time to time the poverty of the company at the 
 Theatre Royal, but commented in nearly every case 
 on the indiscretion of the manager in thrusting him- 
 self before the public in everything ; as chorus 
 master, tragedian, low comedian, Yorkshireman, 
 Scotchman, Irishman, dancer in a word, as fancy- 
 ing himself the only man who could act. Lloyd, 
 who had now joined Mr. Murray in Edinburgh, was 
 spoken of as "our little favourite;" a Miss Richardson 
 had won golden opinions as " leading lady," specially 
 in her " Meg," to Alexander's " Dinmont" 
 
 With the winter season of 1834 came a fairly 
 strong stock company, which opened in " Macbeth." 
 Some of the names of the company may be still 
 remembered. First is that of John Gray, who played 
 " Macbeth." He was then a dashing light comedian, 
 and won golden opinions for some time afterwards 
 at the Adelphi on the Green, and elsewhere. The 
 writer was brought into communication with him for 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 12$ 
 
 the first time about 17 years ago, when he found 
 him in a dying state in a common lodging-house 
 in the East-End. Poor Gray was prematurely old, 
 all but starving, and a subscription was set agoing 
 for him, which amounted to only a few pounds. 
 When I brought him the first instalment of it the 
 fading light in his eye brightened, and with some- 
 thing of the old professional look he spat on the 
 sovereign, saying, "That's for luck!" He struggled 
 into a chair, flattering himself with the hope that 
 he should soon be himself again. On the following 
 morning he died. 
 
 A name, then unknown to many, crops up about 
 this time. This is no other than G. V. Brooke, who 
 was in 1836 a member of the stock company, playing- 
 Shakespearian and other characters, including such 
 parts as " Teddy the Tiler," &c. Of Brooke more 
 will soon have to be told. The 24th August of the 
 same year saw the advent of Charles Mathews (the 
 younger) in Glasgow. The piece he chose for his 
 debiit was " The Old and Young Stager ;" that in 
 which he had made only a short time previously 
 his first appearance on any stage in London *>., 
 as a professional. As an amateur actor his success 
 had been great enough to warrant his adopting the 
 stage as a profession. Mathews, on this occasion, 
 was accompanied by Mr. Meadows, long an actor 
 at Covent Garden, subsequently a comedian at the 
 Princess' and during the Kean's regime. Mathews, 
 on the night referred to, played also in a little come- 
 dietta called " One Hour, or the Carnival Ball," in 
 which he danced the Tarantella with a Miss Palmer. 
 
126 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 In 1838 the theatre was confronted by a formid- 
 able rival, no other than the great Ducrow, who 
 after amassing a large fortune as the successor to 
 Philip Astley in London, increased it considerably 
 every year by his visits to the provinces. His arena 
 was then in Hope Street. The success of this 
 extraordinary equestrian manager may be gathered 
 from the fact that whilst in Glasgow he purchased 
 Castle Rosse from Horatio Ross, ex-M.P. for Aber- 
 deen, which yielded a rental of ^"4000 per annum. 
 But money brought him one of the best natured 
 fellows that ever breathed neither health nor peace. 
 On the death of his second wife, he married the 
 famous equestrienne, Miss Woolford, of whom he 
 had long been enamoured. The lady showed her 
 appreciation of her lord's devotion a few years after- 
 wards by imprisoning him illegally in a madhouse, 
 from which he was released through the intervention 
 of an old and grateful servant Mackintosh, the 
 well-known Glasgow property man " The Old 
 Stager " of " Stage Reminiscences," on whose breast 
 this once Croesus of equestrian managers died. 
 
 Sheridan Knowles came down in the early part 
 of this year, accompanied by his pupil, Miss Elphin- 
 stone, whom he shortly afterwards married. The 
 opening of the summer season was distinguished by 
 the first appearance in Glasgow of the brilliant and 
 fascinating Mrs. Nesbitt, one of the most beautiful of 
 women and most sparkling of light comediennes. She 
 opened in "Juliana" in the " Honeymoon," playing 
 afterwards " Mrs. Trictrac " in the " Married Rake." 
 In the March following came Buckstone, then a very 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. I2/ 
 
 young actor, who was growing into as much notoriety 
 from his pen as from his acting. His benefit was 
 under the patronage of Sir Walter Scott, and the 
 programme consisted of Buckstone's own little drama 
 of " The Maid of Croissy " and the " Lottery Ticket/' 
 Buckstone playing " Wormwood." 
 
 For some months after this no star shone in the 
 dramatic firmament; and the theatre was soon closed 
 for enlargement and redecoration. On the i6th 
 March, 1840, it reopened with a fairly strong com- 
 pany. The leading gentleman was Mr. Charles Pitt, 
 an actor who subsequently became a very popular 
 " star." Mrs. Charles Pitt was also in the company. 
 Miss Fanny Pitt, so well known about fifteen years 
 ago at the Cowcaddens Theatre Royal, was their 
 daughter. The season closed with an engagement 
 of Templeton, the well-known vocalist, who suc- 
 ceeded Wilson as a Scottish tenor, and retiring from 
 public life many years ago, lived a very quiet life as 
 a country gentleman, and died a few years since at 
 his residence (next door at that time to my father's) in 
 Twickenham. Cathcart, the father of Mr. James 
 Cathcart so long associated with the Keans was 
 the leading man at this period, and although not one 
 who was calculated to set the Clyde on fire, he man- 
 aged to get through all his business respectably. The 
 season ^proved profitable though not brilliant. No 
 stars had been allowed to swallow the profits. 
 
128 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 IN the February of the year 1842, Mr. and Mrs. 
 Charles Kean the latter who had not acted in Glas- 
 gow for seven years played a fortnight's starring 
 engagement. Mrs. Kean's features at this time were 
 very classical and refined. Her nose might have 
 been thought by some to be too prominent, but the 
 general contour of her face was beautiful in the 
 extreme. Kean, on the other hand, had extremely 
 little to recommend him. He was undersized, his 
 head was large, his nose anything but classic, his 
 legs thin, and he always spoke as if he were suffering 
 from a chronic cold. He could not pronounce the 
 consonants M or N. The M he pronounced as if 
 it were B, and the N was sounded as if it was D. 
 As " Shylock," for instance, he would commence to 
 retaliate on "Antonio " with " Benny (many) a tibe 
 (time) and oft," &c. His G's and R's were always, 
 like his father's, rendered too prominent. Thus in 
 his speech to the Senate in " Othello " he commenced 
 with 
 
 Bost (most) potedt (potent) g-er-ave and 
 r-r-ever-r-r-end seignors. 
 
 Notwithstanding his defects in figure, face, and 
 speech, I have never seen in my experience any 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 129 
 
 actor who made such an impression on me as 
 Charles Kean did in my boyish days. I can never 
 forget the lightning of his bright, dark eye, the ease 
 and grace of his action. Many curious stories are 
 told of him. He was very nervous, and he naturally 
 made others nervous. On one occasion his best 
 point in " Richard " of " Off with his head, so much 
 for Buckingham," in reply to the messenger's an- 
 nouncing "My Lord, the Duke of Buckingham's 
 taken," was completely nullified by the nervous 
 messenger's announcing " My Lord, the Duke of 
 Buckingham's DEAD ! " was for the moment, to use 
 his favourite expression, " Flummuxed ; " then he 
 muttered audibly after a pause, "Then what the 
 
 d are we to do with him now?" Kean was 
 
 vain, and sought in the flattery of certain dependents 
 a balm for the unjust scourges which the critics had 
 inflicted on his earliest attempts at acting. " I stuck," 
 I once heard him say, "in that last scene ; didn't 
 
 you notice I stuck, M ? " to one of his satellites. 
 
 " I I ; no, sir," replied M , who scarcely knew 
 
 what reply would please Kean best ; " I didn't notice 
 it, sir." " Then, sir," replied Kean, with one of his 
 father's flashes, "where could have been your eyes 
 and ears. I should have thought your eyes would 
 for your own advantage solely for your own ad- 
 vantage as a young actor have been fixed on ME." 
 
 On December I2th, 1842, Mr. Alexander was 
 startled by an announcement in the journals of the 
 day that Mr. D. P. Miller would at an early evening 
 open the Adelphi Theatre, and that it would be 
 his desire to retain so good an ordinary company 
 
 9 
 
130 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 as to render the engagement of stars a matter of 
 secondary importance. The Adelphi opened on 
 Thursday, December 2ist, 1842. The play was 
 " Richard the Third." " Richard " by W. Johnstone, 
 "Richmond" by John Grey. The "Swiss Cottage" 
 followed, in which Miss Glover, sister to Edmund 
 Glover, played "Lisette." The evening wound up with 
 the "Lottery Ticket," with Raymond as "Wormwood." 
 Miller's Glasgow antecedents are now well known. 
 In 1839 he came as a showman to Glasgow Fair, 
 penniless. He set up a conjuring booth opposite to 
 that of Anderson, the Wizard of the North, who 
 was coining money through the " Great Gun Trick." 
 Miller speedily learnt, practised, and became perfect 
 in the trick charged a penny where Anderson 
 charged sixpence, cleared seventy pounds by the 
 transaction, and determined, with his profits, to go 
 in for theatrical management. He erected a wooden 
 building, and issued his bills. After he had played 
 two or three nights Alexander came down upon 
 him for infringement of the Theatre Royal patent, and 
 proceeded against him. Miller refused either to pay 
 expenses or yield. On the contrary, he concocted a 
 little pantomime, called it the " Licensed Murdered," 
 and in it he held up all concerned in the law suit to 
 ridicule. At the end of the legal proceedings Miller 
 found himself lodged in jail, where he was detained by 
 Alexander for thirteen weeks. On regaining his liberty, 
 he continued conducting his place of amusement, but 
 refrained from performing plays. On the passing of 
 Sir James Graham's bill empowering local Justices 
 to grant licenses, Miller took advantage of it at once, 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 131 
 
 applied for and obtained a license, and opened the 
 Adelphi Theatre. 
 
 With " As You Like It," Miller made a great hit. 
 A Miss Saker made her appearance as " Rosalind." 
 She is described as "a young lady who frequently 
 evinces great judgment and taste in the higher 
 class of stage heroines ; always in earnest, and 
 perfect in the text." The lady referred to is 
 Mrs. R. H. Wyndham, who was for so many years 
 the much-respected manageress of the Theatre Royal, 
 Edinburgh. 
 
 Mr. R. H. Wyndham (the criticism goes on to say) 
 looked " Orlando " to the life, but the flagrant defect 
 of his performance was a want of earnestness. The 
 "Jacques" was Mr. James Johnstone, who subse- 
 quently became the stock heavy man with Shepherd 
 and Creswick at the Surrey. Mr. Lloyd was the 
 " Touchstone," and the "Audrey" was a Mrs. 
 Raymond, who died about five years since. She fell 
 in her latter years into poverty, and was dependent 
 mainly on the kindness and benevolence of the 
 Episcopal minister, Dr. Gordon, whose sympathy 
 with, and generosity to, the poor player has been for 
 many years proverbial. 
 
 On January I3th, 1843, Miss Fanny Ternan, who 
 was announced at the Theatre Royal as the infant 
 prodigy eight years of age made her debut in 
 Glasgow in " The Young Actress," in which she 
 played six different characters. 
 
 The first star of any magnitude at the Adelphi was 
 Phelps, who opened at that theatre, on February 14, 
 as "Hamlet." Phelps was not a very frequent star 
 
132 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 in Glasgow, but was none the less a favourite when 
 he came. In his last engagement he played the 
 " Bailie " and " Sir Pertinax," and in the latter (studied 
 under Harry Johnstone) he was pronounced unrivalled. 
 Mr. Miller now produced at the Adelphi his famous 
 pantomime of " Baron Munchausen." 
 
 The season at the Royal closed with the engage- 
 ment of Mackay, who played during it " Cromie " in 
 " Young Lochinvar," and " Peter Peebles " in " Red- 
 gauntlet." In July, Miller produced a gorgeous 
 spectacle of " Aladdin," Raymond acting as stage 
 manager. Mrs. Glover, from the Haymarket, shortly 
 afterwards followed, appearing in the prize comedy of 
 " Quid Pro Quo." 
 
 I should ere this have referred to the fact that 
 about the year 1835 another place of entertainment 
 was established at the foot of the Saltmarket, one to 
 which not a few sexagenarians still look back with 
 many a happy memory of their childhood. This 
 temple of the drama was "MUMFORD's." For many 
 years this penny show held its own, and was largely 
 patronised. 
 
 Mumford was born in Bedfordshire, where he first 
 learned the straw-plait trade. Far ahead in skill of 
 the child workers by whom he was surrounded, he 
 constructed a dress for himself, made entirely of 
 straw. He became in consequence the lion of his 
 vicinity. He set off for London, gave open air 
 exhibitions, baffled the police, travelled far and wide, 
 set up an " Italian " marionette exhibition, and with 
 his set of puppets arranged little plays, " Babes in the 
 Wood," " Valentine and Orson," &c. With these he 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 133 
 
 came to Glasgow, where, for many years, he enjoyed 
 an enormous amount of patronage chiefly from the 
 younger portions of the community. 
 
 A thorough Bohemian, and confirmed tippler, 
 Mumford would, for weeks at a time, absent 
 himself; return, give an open air address on the 
 pernicious influence of immorality, and inform the 
 crowd outside his exhibition, how his mother 
 exhorted him not to follow the practice most 
 showmen did, of exhibiting all day and stealing at 
 night. Mumford's favourite theme, when in his cups, 
 was the teetotal question. " If you knew," he 
 hiccuped, one day, whilst supporting himself by one 
 of the posts supporting his exhibition, " if you knew 
 the advantages to be derived from abstaining from 
 intoxicating drinks you would shun whisky (hie) as 
 you would the very devil." " You 're drunk yourself," 
 cried one of the crowd. " I know it," continued 
 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." 
 
 Mumford's soon became one of the objects of the 
 attacks of Alexander, who, by right of the Patent, 
 prevented him from acting plays. With all Mumford's 
 faults, his patrons knew him to be thoroughly honest, 
 generous, and charitable, and felt when he was gone 
 *' they could better have spared a better man." 
 
 On May 3ist, 1843, Lloyd brought over the whole 
 of the Edinburgh company (seventy in all), whose 
 engagement at Dunlop Street lasted seven nights. 
 The programme consisted of" Single Life." Edmund 
 
134 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 Glover made his first appearance the following night 
 (Thursday), 1st June, as "Romeo" to the "Juliet" of 
 Miss Montague. Glover next appeared as "Martin 
 Heywood " in the " Rent Day," and played also 
 " Petruchio." 
 
 On December nth, 1843, J ust seven years after 
 she had made her first appearance at Covent Garden, 
 Miss Helen Faucit made her debut in the Glasgow 
 Theatre Royal, where her father had once played 
 " Utility." The character she selected to open in was 
 " Pauline " in the " Lady of Lyons," of which she had 
 been the original representative. By the Glasgow 
 press and public she was at once pronounced an 
 artiste of supereminent talent, and during an engage- 
 ment of seventeen nights, the houses were crowded. 
 She appeared as " Pauline " four times, three times as 
 "Juliet," "Rosalind," and "Mrs. Haller ;" twice in 
 "Patrician's Daughter," as "Mariana" ("the Wife") ; 
 and once as " Lady Macbeth." On the Qth April 
 she returned and played twenty-three nights, adding 
 to her list of characters " Jane Shore/' " Nina Sforza," 
 " Belvidera," and " Desdemona." 
 
 To record a list of Miss Faucit's performances from 
 this year up to December 5, 1870, when she took her 
 final farewell of the Glasgow stage, in the Theatre 
 Royal, as " Beatrice " in " Much Ado About Nothing," 
 is unnecessary. She was Glasgow's favourite actress 
 to the last. The company at Dunlop Street, which 
 was engaged to support Miss Faucit during her 
 earlier visits to the city, was meagre, and as poor in 
 number as in talent. In the May of 1845 the on ly 
 actors who were worthy of mention with her were 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 135 
 
 Mr. Paumier and Mr. Alexander. The public were 
 quite aware of Alexander's "starvation salary" policy, 
 and on one occasion when Miss Faucit was called 
 before the curtain to receive the congratulations of the 
 audience, amidst showers of bouquets and thundering 
 plaudits from boxes, pit, and gallery. Mr. Alexander, 
 who followed to announce a new play, was pelted 
 with vegetables. The badness of the companies she 
 was so frequently called upon to play with, did not 
 tend to increase any sympathy which Miss Faucit 
 might at first have felt for provincial players, nor had 
 a curriculum under the dictatorship of so austere a 
 manager as Macready served to make her more 
 tolerant of the ignorance and proverbial carelessness 
 of the "subordinates " in Dunlop Street. 
 
 But a marked change for the better came when 
 Edmund Glover succeeded Alexander in the manage- 
 ment of Dunlop Street. Miss Faucit, under his reign, 
 may be said to have reached the height of her 
 popularity in Glasgow. She was supported in all her 
 principal roles by perhaps the very best stock com- 
 pany ever gathered together in Scotland. Glover, 
 Powrie, Paumier, Lloyd, Fitzroy, Webster and a 
 host of other good actors whose very names are for- 
 gotten by the present generation of playgoers united 
 to make almost perfect the production of such plays 
 as "Macbeth," "As You Like It," "King John," 
 "Much Ado About Nothing," "Lady of Lyons," 
 " The Hunchback," and " King Rene's Daughter." 
 Miss Faucit's " Julia," Glover's " Master Walter/' and 
 Powrie's " Clifford " never were equalled on the stage. 
 So perfectly did these three seem fitted by nature and 
 
136 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 intuitive genius for their parts, that Knowles' beautiful 
 study of love and constancy, under the strain of 
 direst trial and misfortune, never was so finely realised 
 to that generation of playgoers. 
 
 But Miss Faucit was popular with the Glasgow 
 actors and actresses at no period of her career. Her 
 coldness, disdain, exacting habits, and want of con- 
 sideration caused many to think and speak of her 
 with anything but kindness. She was seldom or 
 ever punctual at rehearsals, and the company were 
 frequently kept waiting on the stage a couple of 
 hours for her. Sometimes the play having been 
 rehearsed without the star, Miss Faucit on her 
 coming would insist in its been gone through again. 
 The preparations made, too, for her comfort during 
 the rehearsals and at night were looked on by the 
 corps with a jaundiced eye as depriving them of 
 recognised comforts and privileges. On no other 
 star did the management lavish such attention. The 
 preparations for her rehearsal were as minute as those 
 for her convenience at night. A large screen was 
 brought on the stage, and drawn behind her to shield 
 her from any draughts which might be found lurking 
 in the theatre. A softly-cushioned, spacious arm- 
 chair and a footstool were conveyed out of the 
 property room for the " star " to rest on. But most 
 galling of all to the actors was the fact that the 
 " Green Room," the retreat for all during " the waits," 
 was on the occasion of her visits confiscated to the 
 pro tern queen. At night the stage manager was 
 terribly put about by the tumult in front of the house 
 caused by the very long time the star took to rest 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 137 
 
 and change her costume. To artistes, however, on 
 whom Miss Faucit knew she could rely, she was most 
 delightful, affable, and forbearing. 
 
 Miss Faucit was usually on her visits to Glasgow 
 the guest of Sir Archibald and Lady Alison, to whom 
 the incomparable actress had been introduced in 
 1842. 
 
 Miss Faucit married Sir Theodore Martin in 1851, 
 and her last public appearance in Glasgow was in 
 St. Andrew's Hall, where she gave dramatic readings, 
 shortly after the failure of the City Bank, in aid of a 
 fund for the sufferers from that great commercial 
 disaster. 
 
138 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 1844 was Miller's second season at the Adelphi, 
 where there was a much larger but not so good a 
 company as at Dunlop Street. The only stars 
 who visited the latter house were Mackay, Charles 
 Kean, and Lloyd. Miller came in for the lion's 
 share of public patronage, and on the stage 
 of the wooden theatre on the Green began to 
 shine the brightest of London stars. He soon 
 turned his attention to the strengthening of his 
 corps, which began steadily to improve. His lead- 
 ing man was the old London Adelphi favourite, 
 Tom Lyon, and in the corps were Melbourne, low 
 comedian ; Stark, the singing Walking gentleman ; 
 M'Gregor, Scotch comedian ; and Frank Raymond, 
 stage manager. Among the stars were Graham, 
 Lloyd, Sheridan Knowles, and Mackay the latter, 
 as the "Bailie," announced that he "now appeared 
 for the first time in his ain locality, the Sautmarket." 
 Mr. Charles Pitt also appeared, and was pronounced 
 " a Charles Kean with a nobler presence, but a vastly 
 inferior mind." Christmas of 1844 saw the produc- 
 tion of the pantomime of " Cinderella," which was 
 pronounced one of the grandest spectacles Glasgow 
 had ever witnessed. Miller had intended to have 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 139 
 
 brought out Opera, but could not come to terms with 
 Sims Reeves. In the pantomime were the famous 
 Leclercq family M. Leclercq, ballet-master ; Charles 
 Leclercq (now associated with the Daly Company); 
 Arthur Leclercq (afterwards famous as a clown) ; 
 Louise, a dancer; Carlotta, and Rose. The two 
 latter became subsequently "household words" in the 
 catalogue of favourite actresses in Dunlop Street. 
 Time passes so rapidly that it will seem strange to 
 many of their old admirers to realise the fact that 
 these two charming girls are now recognised as " First 
 Old Women " in London. 
 
 Alexander had meanwhile been gleaning anything 
 but "golden opinions from either the press or the 
 public." His company in 1844 consisted of Mr. 
 Paumier, leading man ; Mr. W. H. Eburne, eccentric 
 comedy; Mr. Howard, juvenile light comedy; Mr. John 
 Davis, walking gentleman; Mr. Rogerson, old man. 
 The ladies were Miss Laura Addison, afterwards 
 memorable as a Shakespearian actress with Phelps 
 at the Sadlers Wells, Miss Julia Nicol, &c. The 
 season was inaugurated by "The Honeymoon," 
 Mr. Alexander playing the "Duke." 
 
 November 27, 1844, saw the production of "Don 
 Caesar de Bazan" (a drama which had just then been 
 made popular in London through the admirable 
 acting in it of Mr. James Wallack and Mrs. Stirling) 
 at both theatres. Lyon was the " Don" at the Adelphi, 
 and Paumier at the Royal. 
 
 As the strongest attraction he could think of, 
 Alexander produced " Rob Roy," with Paumier 
 as u Rob," May as "Galbraith," Howard as "Rash- 
 
I4O THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 leigh," Eburne as " Francis," Miss Nicol as " Diana," 
 Wilmore as " Dougal," Rogerson as " Owen," and 
 Alexander as the "Bailie." The theatrical journals 
 speak of the latter performance as being a vulgar 
 imitation of Mackay's. "The whole time," writes 
 the critic in the Dramatic Review, " Mr. Alexander 
 was on the stage, he was directing everybody, players, 
 scene shifters, and gas men ; saying for instance, 
 audibly, and heard by the whole house ' Come down 
 here, sir;' 'Stand you there, sir;' ' M'Stuart, that's 
 not your place, sir;' 'Beat your feet, sir;' 'Keep 
 time with the soldiers, sir, as I do;' 'Hold up your 
 hand, sir ; ' ' Speak out.' Never for a moment did he 
 allow the audience to forget he was manager. He 
 beat time to the orchestra, he spoke to the 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.' " 
 
 It was during a performance about this time of 
 "Julius Caesar" that one of the many memorable 
 scenes which characterised the career of this eccentric 
 actor-manager occurred. A gentleman in the boxes 
 thought fit to titter aloud at Mr. Alexander's per- 
 formance of the fiery Roman " Cassius." The manager 
 paused, and fixed his eyes on the offender. The 
 laugh was renewed. " Cassius " then stepped forward 
 and said " I must request the gentleman to pay 
 more attention to good manners and to the feelings 
 of the audience. I can't have the entertainment spoilt 
 by the disgraceful conduct of a Puppy. For myself," 
 continued the irate manager, " I consider myself quite 
 competent to play the part I am engaged in, and if 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 141 
 
 that fellow in the boxes " here " Cassius " pointed 
 to the disturber "continues his annoyance, I shall 
 feel myself compelled to personally turn him out." 
 Mr. Alexander was here greeted with ironical cheers 
 and shouts of "Never mind him!" "He's not 
 laughing at you ! " " Go on ! " Mr. Alexander had 
 not proceeded to comply with the latter request long, 
 when the ribald sound again fell on his ears. Mr. 
 Paumier as " Brutus " now took up the cudgels. " I," 
 cried " Brutus," " can't stand this sort of thing any 
 longer." The majestic " Brutus " then for the nonce 
 cast aside his toga and his dignity, got over the 
 footlights, climbed the railing of the box, engaged in 
 a wonderfully anti-classical fisticuff encounter with 
 the object of his scorn, and forcibly put the offender 
 out of the theatre. The play was then allowed to 
 proceed. 
 
 Another memorable scene shortly afterwards 
 occurred. The Dramatic Review of February 26, 
 1845, records "On Saturday evening, the amuse- 
 ments commenced with the worn-out tragedy of 
 ' Jane Shore,' which was followed by ' Short Cut and 
 Returns.' In the character of 'Scamp,' Mr. Alexander 
 interlarded the author with a superabundance of his 
 own good things ; and the laughter which his grotesque 
 and absurd personation drew from the galleries 
 encouraged him to introduce an extra quantum of 
 his own peculiar dancing. He also busied himself 
 in giving in a loud voice directions in stage minutae, 
 ordering Mr. Davis to 'hold up his hand/ Mrs. 
 Davis to ' Speak out,' &c. The entire proceedings 
 being viewed by the audience with much dissatisfac- 
 
142 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 tion, an universal hiss greeted him, and he stepped 
 forward as 'Scamp/ and made a speech to the 
 following effect : 
 
 " ' I own I appear before you under somewhat un- 
 favourable circumstances ; but the reason is, some of 
 my people have come to the theatre in such a state 
 of drunkenness, that in the discharge of my duty to 
 you, that no one should appear in your theatre who 
 is not in a fit state to do so, I have been so harassed 
 that my part has been completely driven out of my 
 head.' 
 
 "The curtain dropped: a minute elapsed: then the 
 stage door was thrown open, and ' Scamp,' still in his 
 Highland costume, walked on to the stage, looked 
 down into the orchestra, and muttering ' It is all your 
 fault,' commenced another address. ' Ladies and 
 Gentlemen, I have been told by Mr. Paumier, a 
 gentleman whom you all know well, that I am an 
 ill-used man. (Loud shouts of laughter.) I am a 
 sober, well-doing man myself. I always do my duty, 
 and try to make others do theirs. It would be robbing 
 you were I not to see that those who come here are 
 able to do their duty, and should such a circumstance 
 as this again happen I will shut the doors of the 
 theatre and request the indulgence of those who come 
 to visit it.' 
 
 "Then he again retired. The audience thought they 
 had got rid of him, but no. Immediately afterwards 
 the orchestra door opened and the head of Mr. 
 Alexander (still dressed as ' Scamp') again appeared, 
 with rage stamped on his face, and called Mr. Allwood 
 (the leader of the orchestra) to ' Come out.' Mr. 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 143 
 
 Allwood disregarded the mandate ; looked quietly 
 about while it was repeated in a still louder key. 
 The manager then advanced to the middle of the 
 orchestra and ordered him to quit it. A scene of 
 indescribable confusion ensued. The audience rose 
 en masse. Mr. Allwood would not leave the orchestra, 
 but offered to proceed with the business. Mr. 
 Alexander said he would not allow a drunkard to 
 be in the house. Mr. Allwood replied he was per- 
 fectly sober. He ordered the band to strike up, and 
 commenced leading in excellent style. Mr. Alexander 
 wrested the music from him and ordered the musicians 
 to stop. The audience by turns laughed, chuckled, 
 cried 'Shame;' shouted for Mr. Alexander to retire 
 and to allow the pantomime (' The Old Woman who 
 Lived in a Shoe ') to go on. 
 
 " Mr. Alexander, turning his face towards the house, 
 again addressed the audience. 
 
 " ' Mr. Allwood came here to-night after four musics 
 of the tragedy were over.' 
 
 "Mr. Allwood, interrupting, * I am willing to pay 
 the fine, and am quite sober.' 
 
 "Mr. Alexander 'You refused to pay it at the 
 time. I won't take it now.' 
 
 "Mr. Allwood now appealed to the audience, ' Ladies 
 and gentlemen, I appeal to you if I am drunk ! I 
 have composed the music of this pantomime. The 
 music is mine.' 
 
 "Mr. Alexander, interrupting, 'The music is mine; 
 all the music in the house is mine.' 
 
 " The confusion increased. The audience, dividing 
 into factions, rendered the theatre a perfect Babel. 
 
144 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 Cries were bellowed out of ' Go on, or it will be 
 Sabbath before you begin.' Mr. Alexander ordered 
 the police to be brought. There is no saying how 
 long the uproar might have continued, had not some 
 gentlemen from the boxes stepped forward and per- 
 suaded Mr. Allwood to retire. He bowed to the 
 audience, and with Mr. Alexander left the orchestra." 
 The year 1845, in which Miss Aitken made (as 
 " Clari ") her first appearance on the stage, was 
 destined to see another "Richmond" in the dramatic 
 field. This was no other than Mr. J. H. Anderson, 
 the great " Wizard of the North." Rumours of the 
 intention of this far-famed conjuror to erect a theatre 
 in the immediate vicinity of Miller's Adelphi reaching 
 the ears of Miller, the latter was induced to seek out 
 the Wizard, to endeavour if possible to come to terms. 
 Anderson agreed to give Miller ,1,000, and the latter 
 consented to take Anderson as a partner. This 
 arrangement, however, fell through, and Anderson 
 built a splendid theatre on the Green for himself, 
 which he called the City Theatre. It was opened for 
 the display of magic, dancing, &c., during the Fair, 
 after which season he applied for a dramatic license, 
 which was at first refused, but subsequently granted. 
 Anderson's season commenced with great spirit. It 
 opened on May 7th, 1845, with an operatic company, 
 consisting of Sims Reeves, announced as Mr. J. S. 
 Reeves, Mrs. Alban Croft, Mr. Morley, and Mr. Brown. 
 The magnificence of the City Theatre induced Miller 
 to reconstruct the Adelphi at a cost of nearly two 
 thousand pounds. He meanwhile took his company 
 over to Edinburgh to produce " Cherry and Fair 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 145 
 
 Star," and the engagement proved a success ; but 
 Alexander arrested the whole of Miller's property, 
 including the cash taken at the doors, upon the claim 
 of unsettled law expenses incurred in the prosecution 
 of two years before. 
 
 Anderson proved a thorn in the side of both his 
 rivals. Although he had started eighteen months 
 after Miller the magnificence of his spacious theatre 
 became a very powerful loadstone to some of the best 
 stars. Sims Reeves and Morley both appeared in the 
 " Bohemian Girl," and the tenor created a perfect 
 furore. Mrs. Fitzwilliam, the star of the London 
 Adelphi, charmed all beholders by her matchless 
 performance in the "Belle of the Hotel" and her 
 "Starlight Bess" in the "Flowers of the Forest." 
 A Mr. Couldoch, an American actor, came down and 
 played a round of parts with the greatest acceptance. 
 Amongst the members of the stock company was a 
 Mr. Barry Sullivan, then a very tall, slim young man, 
 whose " articulation," it was said, " was very distinct, 
 but who did not appear to understand any character 
 he attempted." Sullivan shortly after this retired from 
 public life for a short time, in order to perfect himself 
 in the study specially of Shakspearian parts. He 
 opened in 1852 as a "star" at the Haymarket, was 
 eulogised by the press for certain new readings which 
 he gave in his "Hamlet;" amassed a large fortune by 
 acting in the provinces and Australia, and retained 
 his popularity until his last sad illness, which com- 
 menced three years ago, compelled him to leave the 
 stage, which terminated fatally six months since. 
 
 Anxious to vary his entertainments, Anderson 
 
 10 
 
146 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 turned his attention to spectacle, but with a disas- 
 trous result. He produced the old melodrama of 
 "One o'clock; or, the Knight of Wood Demon;" 
 Mr. Anderson starring himself in large letters as 
 " Hardycanute." The piece was a monstrous absurdity 
 from the pen of the well-known " Monk Lewis." It 
 was, however, well mounted, and the only failure 
 connected with it was the acting of the manager 
 himself, whose performance, it was said, was beneath 
 criticism. 
 
 The performances of the evening of November 18, 
 1845, were destined never to be forgotten by any one 
 who was connected with them. They consisted of 
 " Der Freischutz " and " The Jewess," and terminated 
 about half-past eleven. About a quarter-past twelve 
 o'clock the watchman employed by the proprietor 
 discovered that the theatre was on fire at the rear in 
 the vicinity of the stage. The alarm was immediately 
 given. The engines were soon on the spot, but too 
 late to save any portion of the ill-fated fabric. The 
 wind, blowing northward, carried the flames towards 
 the Adelphi, on the roof of which were placed a 
 number of firemen ; their faces lit up by the lurid 
 glare. By their strenuous efforts they deluged the 
 theatre, and so saved it from sharing the fate of the 
 ill-starred " City." The night was dark, and the 
 gloom lent an additional effect to the weirdness of 
 the scene, casting a ghastly light on the dense crowd 
 which, despite the drenching rain, thronged the street 
 in front, and the Green in rear of the burning pile. 
 
 Rumour sent numerous fictions afloat as to the 
 cause of the fire, but the most probable explanation 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 147 
 
 is that some of the sparks from the fireworks used 
 in " Der Freischutz " alighting on material of in- 
 flammable nature had caused the disaster. The 
 walls were left nearly entire. A few minutes after 
 the flames had burst out Mr. Anderson was seen 
 struggling through the crowd, and was with difficulty 
 withheld by the bystanders from rushing into the 
 building. All the scenery and dresses were burnt 
 even the night's receipts were lost. The building, 
 however, was insured in the Sun, West of England, 
 and York Fire Offices, and a substantial mark of 
 sympathy was soon offered the unfortunate manager 
 in the -various benefits and subscriptions which were 
 at once put on foot in his behalf. 
 
 During the brief career of this ill-fated theatre 
 (from August 25 to November 18) many a memor- 
 able star appeared. Tragedy and spectacle, too, 
 were produced, and everything was done well. But 
 for the fire Anderson would probably have reaped a 
 golden harvest from his management ; as it was, if 
 his statement is to be believed, he lost his all as 
 he also did (so he said) ten years afterwards by the 
 burning of Covent Garden Theatre, of which he was 
 at the time manager. 
 
 i/^r 
 
148 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 THIS year, 1845, witnessed the appearance of the 
 first travelling company which ever appeared in 
 Glasgow. It was that of the Theatre Royal, Hay- 
 market, which, during a summer vacation in London, 
 came on tour in the provinces Mr. Webster, with 
 his characteristic generosity, lending the corps, the 
 costumes, properties, and everything needed for the 
 representation in the London style of the old 
 comedies, for which the Haymarket Theatre for 
 more than a century had been famous. The members 
 consisted of Messrs. Howe, Holl, Brindal, Braid, 
 Tilbury, Strickland, Coe, and little Clark, and Miss 
 Julia Bennett, Mrs. Humby, &c. Webster himself 
 came for a week and played gratis, refusing even to 
 accept of travelling expenses. The performances 
 were an enormous success, and the members of the 
 company were on many occasions feted by their 
 numerous friends and patrons. 
 
 The close of the year 1845 saw the advent in 
 Glasgow of that remarkable actress, Miss Cushman, 
 who was then on tour. She appeared first at Dunlop 
 Street as " Bianca " in " Fazio," and was at once 
 pronounced by the press and public as one of the 
 most original actresses ever seen. Her " Rosalind " 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 149 
 
 met with similar approbation. As to her " Meg 
 Merrilees" "nothing had been seen to equal it since 
 the days of the elder Kean." It was not, strictly 
 speaking, Scott's " Meg," but it was, notwithstanding, 
 a wonderful performance, indescribably thrilling in 
 its weird originality. Her entrance struck the key- 
 note to her conception of the character. She glided 
 noiselessly on to the stage stood motionless, with 
 her large, lustrous eyes, o'ershadowed by her white 
 eyebrows, gazing on Henry Bertram. One bare, 
 gaunt, wrinkled arm was outstretched, and a skinny 
 ringer pointed at him she supporting herself on a 
 bough torn from a tree. No one could recognise a 
 feature of the actress they had seen only the night 
 before as "Romeo," still less could they recognise 
 her as " Meg " when on being recalled she appeared 
 in all the charm of the neatness of her ordinary attire. 
 The performance of the play at Dunlop Street was 
 not memorable but for the fact that Mr. Alexander, 
 who played the " Dandie," appeared in the first 
 scene leading a chorus consisting of only three, and 
 that Mr. F. Belton (afterwards lessee of the Prince 
 of Wales) that night was "Henry Bertram." During 
 one evening of this engagement Sheridan Knowles, 
 who was then on a visit to Glasgow, entered the 
 boxes, and being recognised as the author of the play 
 of the "Wife," in which Miss Cushman was then 
 acting " Mariana," was loudly cheered. 
 
 The Adelphi opened its season of 1846 with the 
 "Cricket on the Hearth," Mrs. R. H. Wyndham 
 playing "Bertha," and Mrs. Dyas (our first " Marquise" 
 in "Caste"), "Dot/' The principal ''stars" who 
 
I5O THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 followed, were Webster and Celeste, and Ira Aldridge. 
 Macready, who had not acted for fourteen years, 
 played for a few nights, but was not received with 
 any special marks of enthusiasm, the press merely 
 remarking " That to see Macready once was to see 
 him always." The prices were raised and the business 
 fell. In this season the famed Taglioni danced for 
 the first time before a Glasgow audience. J. W. Ray 
 (our first " Eccles ") played then " old men," and so 
 well that he was said to be an improvement on 
 Mackay ; except in Scotch characters. The company 
 was spoken of most favourably. 
 
 From 1846 to 1849 theatricals were at a discount. 
 Alexander, as an attraction, reduced his prices to 
 " second price from the commencement," but without 
 effect Reduction of prices, it was said, was not 
 what was wanted. It was not the high prices which 
 prevented the house being crowded, but the low 
 standard of talent engaged. This latter fact was 
 amply proved by the crowds which patronised Miller's 
 Adelphi. From 1846 to 1849 matters at Dunlop 
 Street were gloomy enough no stars and a poor 
 company. Alexander produced the Strand version 
 of " Martin Chuzzlewit," and brought down a clever 
 comedian, Mr. Henry Hall, the original " Pecksniff," 
 who doubled the part with " Sairey Gamp," Alexander 
 playing "Montague Tigg;" also "Othello" (Travestie) 
 to Hall's deservedly famous " lago." Down, too, 
 came Davenport (whom Dickens immortalised in 
 "Nicholas Nickleby" as "Bricks and Mortar" 
 Crummies) and his daughter, the " Phenomenon." 
 As Davenport was found too cumbrous, not to say 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 151 
 
 aged, for " Romeo," Alexander determined to play 
 the youthful lover himself. On this occasion occurred 
 another of those scenes which made Dunlop Street 
 and its twenty years' manager notable, not only to 
 Glasgow but to all the play-going world. Alexander's 
 appearance as the love-sick swain was the signal for 
 a storm of ironical cheers. Shout upon shout of 
 derisive laughter greeted him throughout the earlier 
 scenes, and the climax was reached when in the 
 third act the "Friar" summoned him to appear, 
 crying "Come forth, thou fearful man." When 
 Mr. Alexander had fallen on the ground, "taking 
 the measure of an unmade grave," the uproar became 
 so great that quite unmindful of his being supposed 
 to be lying unconscious, Mr. Alexander suddenly 
 raised his head from the stage, and thus addressed 
 his adversaries: "I know," said he, "you think I 
 can't play 'Romeo' ('Oh, oh!') I know I 'm not so 
 young as I was (ironical shouts of ' Hear, hear ') 
 but I have played it all over the world (a cry of 
 ' Anywhere else, Aleck ! ') and with the best actresses, 
 and, thank God, I can play it still when there is a 
 necessity. I have been called an egotist. I am an 
 egotist, but I know my profession and can play on 
 it, like Paganini on the one string of his violin, and 
 to that you are indebted for the proper management 
 of the theatre. Now ! " Then throwing himself once 
 more on the ground he resumed his dialogue with 
 the nurse " Speakest thou of 'Juliet?' how is 't 
 with her ? " Here the shouts in the gallery were 
 resumed. Then Alexander got up once more and 
 turned on his foes " If you treat me civilly I shall 
 
152 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 do the same to you in return, but when roused you 
 will find I am a lion." He paused, and glared 
 defiance. Then he lay down again on the stage, 
 and as " Romeo," inquired of the " Nurse," " Where 
 is she ? " During the entire evening the fight was 
 constantly being renewed. 
 
 In the course of the evening Miss Davenport came 
 forward and sang. Mr. Davenport, who was on the 
 stage, applauded his daughter very warmly, and cried 
 out " Beautiful ! beautiful ! " The plaudits bestowed 
 by the public on the "Phenomenon" not being by 
 her father considered worthy of his child's efforts; 
 inspired by the example of the manager, Mr. 
 Davenport now thought he would have his words 
 with the audience. " I wonder," he murmured 
 audibly to the audience, " she could sing at all after 
 playing tragedy in the way she has done, and 
 'Juliet ' too ! " The opportunity for his addressing the 
 Public was not long in coming. Miss Davenport sang 
 a ballad, and then danced with somebody the polka. 
 " Encore," shouted the delighted gods. Now was 
 the time for Mr. Davenport's oratorical powers to 
 assert themselves. " Encore!" he exclaimed, stepping 
 forward. " I am astonished ! I am shocked ! You 
 call for a repetition of the polka ! Are you aware 
 from whom you demand that dance ? Do you not 
 recognise the fact that Miss Davenport is a tragedy 
 actress ! That she has to-night sustained one of the 
 
 heaviest tragedy parts " (" Order," cried the gods, 
 
 " Go on.") " Sir," exclaimed the outraged parent, 
 pointing at one unfortunate boy in the gallery, "if 
 you had done as much as she has done yes, YOU, 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 153 
 
 sir permit me to remark, you would not have been 
 able to move." (Hisses.) Mr. Davenport looked 
 round with indignant astonishment. " These are 
 sounds," continued the irate parent, " which I am 
 not accustomed to ! I have travelled, allow me to 
 inform you, and, as your journals of the universe 
 have testified, all over Europe and America, with 
 Miss Davenport, but have never before been treated 
 in this way." Mr. Davenport then made an appeal 
 to that justice which had ever, did ever, and would, 
 he ventured to hope, continue to characterise the 
 British public. He then bowed mechanically and 
 retired, amid the jeering and the uproar made by the 
 scanty auditory of that eventful night. 
 
 Miller's engagements were now becoming anything 
 but remunerative. In connection with the farewell 
 one of Charles Mathews and Madame Vestris, he 
 bitterly complained as to their insisting on having 
 their full demands satisfied, in spite of their being 
 aware that this so doing would necessitate all but 
 starvation on the part of the corps. Unfortunately 
 Mathews had as little pathos in his disposition as he 
 had in his acting. Externally and internally he was 
 always easy and finished, and "cool as a cucumber," 
 as polished as a sword, and sometimes as heartless. 
 Mrs. Fanny Kemble was the last star of any 
 importance who played at the Adelphi, and she 
 brought more grist to the mill than any of her 
 predecessors. The audience, when the curtain fell 
 on her " Juliet," rose en masse, and amid waving of 
 hats and handkerchiefs testified their enthusiastic 
 approbation of the gifted actress. Mr. Elphinstone 
 
154 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 was the " Romeo " on the occasion. Great as the 
 praise was which the press bestowed on her "Juliet," 
 it was yet more lavish on her acting as "Julia" in 
 "The Hunchback;" to this Miss Aitken played 
 " Helen," and was said at that time to be the best 
 representative of the character Glasgow had ever 
 seen. 
 
 Miller's lease expired soon after this. The theatre 
 passed into the hands of Messrs. Reynolds & Munro, 
 and Miller was cast once more adrift. With borrowed 
 cash the ex-manager took a public-house. Then he 
 became again a prisoner for debt. When he was 
 released, the theatre was again offered to him in 
 conjunction with Mr. Calvert. Miller accepted 
 the offer, but after three months Calvert bought 
 Miller out, and remained sole lessee until the 
 theatre was destroyed by fire. The fire broke out 
 about one o'clock in the afternoon of Wednesday, 
 November 22, 1848, whilst the actors were rehearsing 
 a drama called "The Ocean Monarch, or Ship on 
 Fire." By a singular coincidence one of the actors, 
 who represented Captain Murdoch, was addressing 
 a speech to the passengers on the impropriety and 
 danger of smoking in relation to setting a vessel on 
 fire, when he observed a sudden glare of light in the 
 north-west corner of the upper gallery. He had 
 scarcely time to utter an exclamation of alarm, when 
 the flames shot along the whole range of the gallery 
 seats. The stage was in an instant deserted. The 
 actors, carpenters, and musicians all fled in every 
 direction. Information was at once given to the Fire 
 Brigade, but it was too late to save the building, and 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 155 
 
 efforts had at once to be made to preserve some 
 adjacent booths, and also St. Andrew's Episcopal 
 Church, the roof of which the flames had caught. 
 The heat was so intense as to literally burn the hair 
 off the back of an unfortunate horse which was 
 passing within a few yards of the flames. Within 
 an hour and a half after the fire was first discovered, 
 every vestige of the theatre had been reduced to a 
 mere mass of blackened stumps. Calvert, who was 
 the lessee, had not insured the building, and, with 
 the exception of a few stage costumes, lost every- 
 thing. A brick building was afterwards erected by 
 Calvert, and was called the Queen's Theatre, in 
 commemoration of her Majesty's recent visit to St. 
 Mungo. Calvert applied for a dramatic license, but 
 was refused. In defiance, however, of the refusal, he 
 opened the following October. 
 
 The summer of 1848 was notable chiefly for the 
 appearance of Charles Dickens, who, surrounded by 
 his group of literary confreres, gave two performances. 
 The first of these was in aid of the funds for the 
 establishment of a permanent curator to Shakespeare's 
 House, for which Knowles had been nominated by 
 Dickens. The first night's performance was that of 
 the " Merry Wives of Windsor " and " Animal Mag- 
 netism." Of the second performance, Dickens, in 
 writing to a friend, says: "July 27, 1848. I shall 
 never be quite happy in a theatrical point of view, 
 until you have seen me play an English version of 
 the French piece 'L'Homme Blase,' which fairly 
 turned the head of Glasgow." Last Thursday night 
 the cast for " Used Up " was as follows : 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 Sir Charles Coldstream, . . Dickens 
 
 Sir Adonis Leach, . . . Mark Lemon. 
 
 Ironbrace, Geo. Cruickshank. 
 
 Fennell, ..... Augustus Egg. 
 
 James, Frederick Dickens. 
 
 Mary, Miss Annie Romer. 
 
 Lady Clutterbuck, . . . Mrs. C. Clarke. 
 
 This was followed by the farce " Love, Law, and 
 Physic," and the evening concluded with " Two in the 
 Morning " by Dickens and Mark Lemon. In the 
 " Merry Wives " Dickens played " Slender," Mark 
 Lemon " Sir John Falstaff," and John Forster who 
 took the lion's share of the applause " Mr. Ford." 
 The second evening the proceeds were given to the 
 fund in aid of the Glasgow unemployed operatives. 
 The dress boxes were on the occasion raised to IDS,, 
 pit stalls (introduced) ios., upper boxes 53., and 
 gallery 2s. 
 
 Mr. Edmund Glover brought to Glasgow on October 
 2nd and October 4th, Jenny Lind, who, supported by 
 Signer F. Lablache and M. Roger, appeared in " La 
 Figlia de Regimento " and " Sonnambula." The 
 speculation proved profitable to Glasgow in many 
 ways in one more especially, that it brought to the 
 City the ablest of managers Mr. Glover himself. By 
 the Jenny Lind engagement, he netted 3,000, and 
 he then determined to conduct a theatrical campaign. 
 A large hall in West Nile Street, which was occupied 
 from time to time with panoramas and other like 
 exhibitions, caught his eye. He came at once to 
 terms with the proprietor, converted it into a play- 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 157 
 
 house, and called it the Prince's Theatre. It was 
 rather larger than the old Adelphi, London. On 
 January i$th, 1849, he opened it with an operatic, 
 " Vaudeville," and ballet company. The opera was 
 one which has since, for some unexplained cause, died 
 out. It was Loder's " Giselle." The artistes were 
 Payne, Delavante, Miss Rowland, Miss Bleadon, Miss 
 Lonsdale, R. Isaacs. " Giselle " was followed by 
 " The Imperial Guard," which was supported by 
 Edmund Glover, Lloyd (who was acting manager), 
 and Miss Fielding ; and the " Swiss Cottage," in 
 which both Lloyd and Sam Cowell appeared. After 
 producing a series of operas, and appearing himself in 
 a round of his favourite characters, such as " Megrin " 
 (Blue Devil), Robert Macaire," " Claude Melnotte," 
 " Horatio Craven/' " Phillippe," &c., he produced a 
 magnificent spectacle called the "Court Ball in 1740." 
 The first gentleman Mr. Glover introduced was 
 destined afterwards to become a celebrity. This was 
 Tom Powrie. He had risen from the amateur ranks at 
 Dundee, and made his first appearance in Glasgow on 
 April loth as "lago" to the "Othello" of Edmund 
 Glover, the " Desdemona" of Miss Fielding, and 
 the "Emilia" of Mrs. Ternan. The reception accorded 
 to Powrie, and the notices he obtained the following 
 day, warranted Mr. Glover in announcing him the 
 next week for " Sir Edward Mortimer " in " The 
 Iron Chest," the cast on the occasion being 
 
 Fitzharding, .... Mr. Silver. 
 
 Winterton Marshall, . . Sampson Lloyd. 
 
 Wilford .... Mr. George Everett. 
 
 Lady Helen, .... Mrs. Ternan. 
 
158 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 A few nights afterwards, Powrie played "Antonio" 
 in the " Merchant of Venice." 
 
 Powrie's subsequent career as an actor in Glasgow, 
 where he resided after his marriage with Miss Julia 
 Glover, is too well known to need comment. In 
 every character he played, there was evidence of care, 
 energy, and forethought. Strangely enough he was 
 one of the most nervous of men, and in his later 
 years could never be induced to trust himself in 
 a new part. On one occasion, in view of Miss 
 Aitken's appearing in " Julia," he attempted 
 after a six weeks' notice to appear as " Master 
 Walter," but at the last rehearsal his nerves failed 
 him ; he put in no appearance that morning, sent 
 down to the theatre to say he was unable to act, 
 and at the last moment, to the great discomfiture 
 of Miss Aitken, a substitute had to be procured, 
 and the character was played by Mr. Mortimer 
 Murdoch. 
 
 During this brief season Mr. Glover's corps con- 
 sisted of Miss O'Brien, a pupil of the great Mrs. 
 Glover, Miss Fielding, Miss Ada Harcourt, Mrs. 
 Bland, Miss Massal, Messrs. George Everett, Mon- 
 tague, Smythson, John Silver, Lloyd, S. Cowell, 
 Beckett, Melville, Marshall, and C. Bland. The 
 conductor of the orchestra was Mr. Allwood, Alex- 
 ander's old foe. As " Rob Roy " Powrie (who was 
 an enthusiastic student of Scott) was pronounced 
 unrivalled, and in London probably he would in the 
 character have created a furore. He appeared as the 
 " Chieftain " in Drury Lane, but for one night only, 
 met unfortunately with a slight accident, was unable 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 159 
 
 to act there again, returned to Scotland, where he 
 played occasionally, and retired to Edinburgh, where 
 he died. In his last moments two friends only were 
 present. Both were actors. One was Mr. Willie 
 Campbell, to whom allusion has been made as 
 having been, with the exception of Mackay, the best 
 of Glasgow " Bailies." Engagements followed with 
 the Covent Garden Opera Company Harrison, 
 Miss Rainforth, H. Corri, Borrani, W. H. Murray, 
 Rosa Bennett. Then came a famous burlesque of 
 4< Romeo and Juliet," with Sam Cowell and Lloyd; 
 and "Bombastes Furioso," with Lloyd, Cowell, and 
 Honey; then the great Mrs. Glover. The light 
 comedian at this time was Mr. Belton, one of the 
 many "who strut and fret their hour on the stage 
 and then are seen no more." Shortly after quitting 
 Glasgow he joined Kean's Company at the Princess, 
 played seconds to Kean, starred in the provinces, 
 became in 1864 leading man in Dunlop Street, 
 and afterwards took the Prince of Wales, West 
 Nile Street, which ruined him. When last seen, 
 he was standing, as a supernumerary, on the stage 
 of the Princess', London, the scene of his former 
 triumphs. " Fortune's wings are made of Time's 
 feathers, which stay not whilst one may measure 
 them." 
 
 How far Mr. Glover had by this time succeeded 
 may be judged by the following paragraph from the 
 Mail: "After a tolerably extensive experience of 
 the theatres in England and Scotland, we can con- 
 scientiously say we know of no theatre which ladies 
 can visit with such comfort, propriety, and freedom 
 
i6o 
 
 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 from annoyances as the Prince's, Glasgow. The 
 house is comfortably and prettily fitted up, the per- 
 formances are conducted with the utmost propriety, 
 the audience is highly respectable, and nothing cal- 
 culated to offend the eye or the ear is permitted on 
 the stage or amongst the audience." 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. l6l 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 SATURDAY, the i/th of February, 1849, was destined 
 to witness one of the most awful scenes which has 
 ever occurred in the annals of the theatre the never- 
 to-be-forgotten loss of human life, consequent on a 
 false alarm of fire. The theatre in Dunlop Street 
 that night, was filled to overflowing. The upper 
 gallery admission to which had, during the run of 
 the pantomime, been reduced to threepence was 
 crowded with lads, who had saved their pennies out 
 of their weekly wage to go and see " The Surrender 
 of Calais," supported by the whole strength of the 
 Company, and the Pantomime. In the first piece, 
 Mr. Alexander took the leading part, and among his 
 supporters were Mr. Langley and Mr. Fred. Younge. 
 The latter was our first "George d'Alroy" ("Caste"). 
 The performance commenced. " The Siege of Calais " 
 was an old-fashioned melodrama of the "mail clad" 
 order, and the first act fell amid acclamations of 
 vociferous delight, from the crowded audience. This 
 must have been somewhere between seven and eight 
 o'clock. 
 
 A star had been announced for the following 
 Monday Hudson, the Irish comedian, from Covent 
 Garden. He had just arrived, and was standing 
 
 II 
 
1 62 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 at the side-wings conversing with the manager 
 on the subject of the late burning of Anderson's 
 Theatre on the Green. "They all, sir," said the 
 manager, with his customary drawing of his fingers 
 across his chin, "they all, sir, come to the ground. 
 No theatre seems exempt from fire but MINE. 
 
 I Ve been manager now for twenty years " 
 
 Before Mr. Alexander could finish the sentence, they 
 heard a murmur coming from the front of the house. 
 It grew louder, and finally merged into an uproar ; 
 but one cry was heard above all " FIRE ! ! ! " It 
 came from the closely-packed upper gallery. The 
 people in the immediate vicinity felt at first no 
 alarm. There was a slight commotion a perceptible 
 movement in the gallery ; but those who were in 
 the lower gallery, pit, and boxes, kept their seats. 
 In the upper gallery many were in doubt as to 
 whether the alarm was real. The confusion in- 
 creased. Several gentlemen who were in the boxes 
 rose and cried to those in the gallery, " Keep your 
 seats ; there 's no danger." The band continued 
 playing all the time. The cry of " Fire " now swelled 
 into a roar. Some were crying out " Order," 
 others shouted for "Water" to quench the flames. 
 The uproar brought the manager at once on the 
 stage to discover the meaning of the hubbub. What 
 he said was entirely lost in the din and clamour all 
 around, but it seems to have been to the effect that 
 he had sent men up to the gallery to extinguish the 
 flame. Whilst he was speaking, a young man in the 
 gallery, dressed in a blue jacket and fustian trousers, 
 put one of his feet over the front of the gallery, and 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 163 
 
 used his heel as a hammer to force out the panel. 
 Then came a shout of " It 's the gas, it 's the gas ! " 
 
 A little smoke now was seen issuing out of the 
 front of the gallery not more (as described by 
 an eye-witness) than that which might have ex- 
 haled from a person smoking a pipe ; but a bright 
 light soon afterwards shot out, followed by sparks. 
 One or two men in their shirt sleeves now were seen 
 amongst the crowd. They wrenched the boarding 
 up from the inside of the breastwork. A man 
 named James Finlay, quietly took off his cap, and 
 stuffing it into the outlet made by the fire, at once 
 extinguished the flame. Everything seemed now 
 righted. The band struck up again. There was 
 a general shout of " All 's right." The young man 
 in the blue jacket stood up, lifted a piece of wood, 
 and, flourishing it over his head, proposed "Three 
 cheers," to which general acclamation he marked the 
 time. All settled down with renewed zest to see the 
 play out. All would have gone off happily enough, 
 but unfortunately, about this time a fireman appeared, 
 dressed in his uniform, his helmet standing out in 
 bold relief. It was taken as an evidence that the 
 fire had not been extinguished. The sight of such 
 an official was enough. Shouts of " Fire ! " and cries 
 and screams from the affrighted crowd at once 
 followed. The general panic was renewed. A 
 frantic rush was made to the main stair, which 
 led to the street. 
 
 Down the steps pell mell, they rushed in one 
 tumultuous mass, one confused tangled human 
 heap struggling, fighting, writhing for life. The 
 
1 64 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 swarm of human beings would soon have exhausted 
 itself, but in the general derangement, some of the 
 foremost, on reaching the landing place above the 
 short flight of steps which led into the street, 
 stumbled and fell. Whilst the majority of those in 
 the pit and boxes were watching the stage with 
 renewed satisfaction, a murmur was heard in the 
 boxes. One gentleman was telling others near him 
 that " There were people being killed on the stairs." 
 The rumour reached the anxious ears of the manager. 
 He at once made his way from the stage to the 
 front ; thence to the gallery door through the lane. 
 What pen can paint the horrors of the scene which 
 met his gaze ? A mangled death-pack young and 
 old, men and women, boys and girls, and even infants 
 lying crushed in a hideous pile ; above it an upheaving 
 sea of human faces. The air was filled with groans 
 and cries and shrieks for aid. Alexander roared 
 himself hoarse in his efforts to subdue the panic. 
 He rushed to the private door, and was followed 
 speedily by two of the dramatic company, Mr. 
 Langley and Mr. Fred. Younge. Some stage 
 carpenters joined them. 
 
 The Fire Brigade, which had been summoned on 
 the first alarm, but which had gone back thinking 
 it was a false one, had by this time returned. 
 Hatchets in hand they broke in the windows of the 
 lane which looked on the staircase and entered, 
 literally walking over the heads of the sufferers. 
 The crowd now made another dash forward towards 
 the door, trampling on one another. Eight hundred 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 165 
 
 people were on this fatal staircase at one time. When 
 the firemen appeared at the foot of the staircase, they 
 seemed for a moment to share the general frenzy, and 
 scarcely seemed to realise the nature of their duty. 
 To remove the sufferers was now found to be worse 
 than useless. When one was taken away the others 
 above, only fell with increased weight on those 
 beneath them. All chance of escape had been cut 
 away. Those on the stairs behind, hearing shrieks 
 in the gallery for even those in safety took up the 
 general cry pressed forward the more strongly, and 
 so the more furiously increased the barrier of the 
 dense block of living and dead. 
 
 Meanwhile, Mr. Alexander, Mr. Langley, and 
 Mr. Younge, clad in all the ghastly mockery of steel- 
 clad warriors of the drama in which they had so 
 lately been engaged, assisted by the carpenters, 
 worked unceasingly to rescue the wretched sufferers. 
 They never flagged in their energies for an instant. 
 They firmly, forcibly, but quietly, dragged men and 
 women out of the crowd and passed them out by 
 other means of egress. Had those in the gallery 
 only taken advantage of the many means of exit 
 which were at once thrown open, that channel might 
 have been emptied in three minutes. Fifty people 
 who must otherwise inevitably have perished, owed 
 their lives solely to the undaunted energy displayed 
 by the manager and these two actors, whose own 
 lives were more than once endangered in their laud- 
 able attempts. The wounded and dying were 
 dragged out by scores and carried to rooms in the 
 
1 66 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 neighbourhood ; the dressing-rooms connected with 
 the theatre being far too few and small to hold 
 the sufferers. The Garrick Hotel opposite the 
 rendezvous of actors, where some of their sunniest 
 hours had been passed, whose walls were wont to 
 resound with the best of jokes and raciest of stories 
 was transformed into a temporary hospital. Every 
 house in the vicinity which could afford aid opened 
 its doors. 
 
 The awful night at length came to an end, but 
 only to usher in a still more ghastly morning. The 
 bodies had been conveyed to Clyde Street Hospital. 
 Round about the building hundreds waited through 
 the hours of darkness, frantic with anxiety to know 
 whether their missing ones were amongst the victims. 
 One poor lad, a picture of woe, walked helplessly up 
 and down looking vacantly on a bonnet and the 
 remnants of a shawl which he carried in his hands. 
 They had been taken from his sweetheart, who was 
 with him in that fatal crush. He cried out piteously 
 " How can I go home to her parents without her 
 and tell them of this." At eleven o'clock that 
 Sabbath morning, as the church bells ceased tolling 
 for worship, thousands who met to thank God for His 
 mercies of the week, must have bowed their sad 
 heads in speechless awe before the inscrutable 
 Dispenser of sickness and health, of life and sudden 
 death. The doors of the hospital were opened 
 for inspection. The number of persons trampled 
 to death or suffocated was seventy. The faces 
 of the hapless victims, for the most part, bore no 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. l6/ 
 
 trace of pain no shadow of the last agony all 
 seemed in peaceful sleep. Their lips were clenched, 
 but the features were not distorted. Nearly all were 
 lads. Only six females were amongst them, and one 
 of these was a little child of three years old. The 
 money found on the bodies amounted in all to only 
 173. id. 
 
 From the shock occasioned by the awful catas- 
 trophe of 1849, Mr. Alexander never recovered. The 
 edge of his humour was from this time blunted, and 
 the ghastly scene haunted him with a superstitious 
 dread. His old spirits had fled ; he retired more and 
 more into himself. His untiring exertions, which for 
 so many years had been devoted to the theatre, 
 began to flicker. Those who knew him best now 
 shook their heads and said " Old Alec " was failing. 
 Still he struggled on, until in 1851 he felt he could 
 no longer battle with the attacks from press and 
 public, and in the summer of that year he transferred 
 the management of the theatre to Mr. Simpson of 
 Birmingham. Alexander's life from this time became 
 aimless. By slow and easy degrees his health began 
 to wane, and on the i$th of December, 1851, he 
 quietly slipped away. 
 
 " He was a man," says his biographer, and all who 
 knew him will endorse the statement, " who was 
 rigidly honest in his dealings, and if he was some- 
 times blamed for his frugality, those who were the 
 readiest to censure him on that account, would have 
 been the first to despise him if, by neglecting his own 
 interests, he had not succeeded in the world. The 
 
1 68 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 great secret of his success was his energy. He went 
 through the work of six men daily. He employed no 
 stage manager no amanuensis. He constructed and 
 laid out his own scenery put into the hands of his 
 painter the whole of the work which appeared in the 
 theatre for years selected a great portion of his own 
 melodramatic music superintended and directed the 
 business from the commencement of the rehearsals 
 each day." 
 
 On April 19, 1849, Mr. J. F. Cathcart took a benefit 
 at Dunlop Street. The tragedy on this occasion of 
 "Romeo and Juliet" brought Mr. Cathcart for the 
 first time before a Glasgow audience as " Romeo," 
 and Miss Fanny Cathcart as "Juliet." "Jemmy 
 Cathcart," as he was familiarly called, was an excep- 
 tionally painstaking young actor. He rose from the 
 rank of call-boy to that of prompter in Alexander's 
 company. As the son of an old comrade of the elder 
 Kean, young Cathcart was offered by Charles Kean 
 an engagement at the Princess', where the lad gradually 
 rose from playing Kean's " double " in the " Corsican 
 Brothers" to the part of " Juvenile Man," and he 
 eventually became Kean's " right hand " in their pro- 
 fessional tours. A misunderstanding, unfortunately, 
 led to an estrangement between Cathcart and his 
 patron, whom the former held in almost slavish 
 admiration. At Kean's death, Cathcart joined Mr. 
 Barry Sullivan, and is now playing " Old men " in 
 touring companies in Australia. 
 
 February 17, 1850, saw the re-appearance at Dunlop 
 Street of G. V. Brooke. The tragedian was now in 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 169 
 
 the zenith of his fame. He had taken London by 
 storm, and in the provinces was in the habit of driving 
 to the theatre in a carriage and four, with postillions. 
 A few years before this, Brooke was only the obscure 
 manager of the theatre at Kilmarnock, at which town, 
 being unable to pay his lodgings, he had been com- 
 pelled to take up his quarters in the dressing-room at 
 that miserable " Temple of Arts," which was situated 
 over a stable. A happy accident brought him to the 
 Olympic in London, and a still happier one made him 
 world-famous as " Othello," in which he made his 
 debut. The next morning Brooke found himself "The 
 lion of the day." His salary of ^"10 per week was at 
 once raised to 60. The managers of Drury Lane 
 and Haymarket immediately offered him fabulous 
 sums for an engagement; but Brooke remained at the 
 Olympic, and played there for the season. Had he 
 been but as wise a man as he was talented, he might 
 have realised an enormous fortune ; but, alas ! 
 generous, courteous, charitable, and kind, poor Brooke 
 was careless alike of constitution as of character, and 
 ruined both with drink. He played many engage- 
 ments in Dunlop Street, the last one shortly before 
 he took his fatal voyage on board the s.s. " London " 
 for Australia. Here on the sinking vessel, as she 
 was going down in the Bay of Biscay, the last that 
 was seen of Brooke who had worked for hours at 
 the pumps was leaning over a rail, " his bare feet 
 paddling with the rising waters," his brilliant eyes 
 gazing wistfully on the men who were escaping in 
 the last boat. 
 
1 70 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 Nothing in his life 
 
 Became him like the leaving it. He died 
 As one that had been studied in his death 
 To throw away the dearest thing he owed 
 As 'twere a careless trifle. 
 
 This season was the last of Dunlop Street under 
 the management of Mr. Alexander. 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. I/ 1 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 MERCER SIMPSON, of Birmingham, opened a short 
 but disastrous season in Dunlop Street, on October 
 30, 1851. In an introductory address, Simpson told 
 the public that three months prior to that evening he 
 had not thought of becoming a Glasgow manager, 
 but that he had embarked in his new venture almost 
 his all. He had been connected with the stage for 
 twenty-five years, and from that night his services 
 should be devoted to the best interests of the public. 
 
 A succession of "stars" followed. Brooke was 
 amongst the first, and played during his engagement 
 " Rob Roy." Then came the first appearance of 
 Buckstone, accompanied by Mrs. Fitzwilliam. The 
 unrivalled powers of Buckstone need no comment. 
 Those who remember the matchless humour of his 
 nasal drawl, the voice suggestive of distillation of fat 
 thoughts and unctuous fancies, can alone appreciate 
 a certain countryman's estimate of this actor's style 
 when he remarked " Yon 's a capital actor. Pity 
 he's got /' asthma." The talented couple played 
 together in "Presented at Court," "Good for 
 Nothing," " Rough Diamond," &c. Next came 
 Wright, a comedian whose peculiar quaintness in 
 Cockney humour we have never seen equalled, and 
 
1/2 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 who was said to have rivalled Liston in his " Paul 
 Pry." Wright was for many years the favourite 
 comedian at the Adelphi, and preceded Toole. The 
 veneration of the latter for his predecessor was so 
 great that his only fear was, lest his (Toole's) powers 
 of mimicry should lead him unconsciously into 
 becoming a slavish copy. No one who ever saw 
 Wright at this period can forget him as the Cockney 
 Sportsman in Highland costume, benighted on the 
 moors in "Harvest Home;" as "John Grumley" in 
 " Domestic Economy," or as " Muster Grunnidge " in 
 the " Green Bushes." In the latter piece his powers 
 of gagging were so great, and increased to such an 
 extent, that the scene in the third act with "Jack 
 Gong" (Paul Bedford), and "Wild Murtogh" (O'Smith) 
 which occupied but ten minutes on the first night 
 of the piece, played forty minutes before the end 
 of its run. But this greatest of favourites with a 
 London audience, failed to interest a Glasgow 
 public. 
 
 Mercer Simpson made a most commendable open- 
 ing of the purely dramatic season with his pantomime 
 of " Baron Munchausen " and the " Honeymoon." 
 Mr. W. H. Davenport appeared as the " Duke," Mr. 
 Billington (now of Toole's corps) was "Montalban," 
 Henry Vandenhoff " Rolando," and Henry Nye 
 (afterwards for so many years manager of the 
 Brighton Theatre) "Jacques." The cast included 
 also George Webster, Belmore, White, Carroll, 
 Cockerill, Rosa, Bennett, and Miss Kenneth. The 
 pantomime had been produced under the direction 
 of Mr. Garden (father of the present comedian) and 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 1/3 
 
 Mr. H. Hall. Davenport played for ten nights his 
 famous " Marteau," " Carpenter of Rouen." Then 
 came a short run of the dramatic version of " The 
 Prophet." Miss Glynn, accompanied by James 
 Bennett, played her usual round of characters, 
 "Mrs. Haller," &c. "Guy Mannering " followed, 
 with the well-known David Brown as " Henry 
 Bertram." Simpson's laudable efforts, however, met 
 with a very cold response from the public. The 
 general opinion expressed was that all the pieces, 
 were well mounted, but that they were poorly played, 
 and the season was brought to a summary close on 
 February 22. 
 
 The Prince's on November 12, 1849, saw the winter 
 season opened with " Der Freischutz," which intro- 
 duced Mr. and Mrs. Donald King and Borrani. 
 Lloyd and Cowall played "Box and Cox" to the 
 " Mrs. Bouncer " of Mrs. Bland. Sims Reeves, who 
 was now in the noontide of his fame, appeared in his 
 matchless embodiment of " Edgar " to the " Bride 
 of Lammermoor," of his future wife, Miss Lucombe. 
 The evening of the iQth of November was for a long 
 time one of special interest to old playgoers, for it 
 witnessed the debut of Mr. David Fisher, who, from 
 being received with singular coldness on the first 
 night of his appearance as " Captain Levant " in the 
 " Haunted Inn," met with a reception on the second 
 as " Tristram Fickle " in the " Weathercock," which 
 established him as a Glasgow favourite till the end 
 of his days. His next character was " Captain 
 Poodle " in " Catching an Heiress," then " Ruy 
 Gomez " in " Faint Heart Never Won Fair Lady/" 
 
1/4 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 Fisher, who was, perhaps, the most popular of 
 Glasgow comedians, went at the end of his engage- 
 ment with Glover to Charles Kean at the Princess's, 
 and had an enviable career in London, in which city 
 about six years ago he died. 
 
 The first pantomime Edmund Glover produced in 
 Glasgow was " Mother Shipton," with scenery by 
 Sam Bough, Connor, and Edmund Glover. The 
 pantomimists were : " Clown," Mr. George Parry ; 
 41 Columbine," Miss Massal ; " Harlequin," Signor 
 Veroni ; " Pantaloon," Carlo Bolero. Morning per- 
 formances, which had been first started in Glasgow 
 by Miller, were now announced for the New Year 
 holidays. Another announcement Mr. Glover made 
 in connection with his pantomime might be followed 
 with advantage by not a few of our managers of the 
 present day. " In reply," he announced, " to several 
 anonymous letters he begged to state that he was 
 averse to all personal and local allusions in a 
 pantomime ; and as to means and substance, poor's 
 rates, &c., he thought people had more than enough 
 of them at home." The pantomime was preceded on 
 the 3 ist December by the "Actress of all Work," 
 which was played by Miss Agnes Robertson, destined 
 afterwards, whilst a member of the corps at the 
 London Princess's, to become the ill-starred wife of 
 the talented but erratic Dion Boucicault. The 
 Queen's first visit to Glasgow afforded an oppor- 
 tunity for the subject of "Panorama," by Sam 
 Bough, commencing with her Majesty's departure 
 from Belfast, and ending with her landing on 
 the Scottish shore. In April, Macready played for 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 175 
 
 his farewell performance, "Hamlet," "Werner," and 
 " lago," and shortly afterwards the season closed. 
 
 On July 7th, in the summer season, Mr. Houghton, 
 afterwards known as one of the kindliest, gentlest, 
 and most courteous of acting managers, made his 
 first appearance as " Grasp " to the " Paul Pry " of 
 Mr. W. H. Murray (who shortly afterwards died). 
 The season was remarkable for the production on 
 July I4th of " Belphegor," the character of the 
 " Mountebank " by Edmund Glover being pronounced 
 one of the finest performances of the day the 
 " Madeline " on the occasion was Miss Clifton ; and 
 " Belphegor," after a run of three weeks, was after- 
 wards followed by Glover's hardly less remarkable 
 acting as " Robespierre." 
 
 On December ist, 1851, the Bateman Children 
 made their first appearance in Glasgow. Kate, who, 
 fourteen years afterwards, became so famous as 
 "Leah," played "Richmond," "Macbeth," "Paul 
 Pry," &c., to her sister Ellen's " Richard," " Macduff," 
 &c. On December 26th, Glover produced his second 
 pantomime, " Flying Dragon of Pekin," which intro- 
 duced upwards of 100 performers. 
 
 With the accession of Edmund Glover to the 
 management at Dunlop Street on October 3rd, 1852, 
 an impetus was given to theatricals which had been 
 unknown in Glasgow for many a season. The new 
 manager came heralded not only by a well-earned 
 fame from his career as actor and manager at the 
 Prince's, but with the highest credentials from men 
 high in literature and art, headed by Mr. (afterwards 
 Sir Archibald) Alison, Macready, and Charles Kean. 
 
1/6 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 The new manager's opinions as to the style of 
 management which should be adopted in Glasgow 
 were utterly opposed to the " cheese-paring " ones 
 which had characterised the late Mr. Alexander. 
 Glasgow, he conceived, as he often stated publicly, 
 to be " a good theatrical city " an opinion which 
 has often since been endorsed by such artistes as 
 Miss Faucit, the Keans, the Kendals, Sothern, Irving, 
 Toole, &c. 
 
 From long experience the new manager could feel 
 the public pulse. He felt that with good acting, good 
 pieces, good mounting, and a strictly careful manage- 
 ment, the dramatic instinct was so strong that the 
 theatre must be an irresistible attraction ; and he 
 resolved that Dunlop Street should be conducted 
 after the model of the Edinburgh Theatre in the 
 glory of the reign of the late W. H. Murray. When 
 addresses were needful at the beginning and close 
 of the season he would give them, but he would 
 decline to obtrude them on the public. There was 
 to be no further parleying with the "gods," or 
 "Caudle Curtain Lectures" to the audience. 
 
 The theatre opened with Italian opera, with Grisi, 
 Mario, and Lablache. Then came a series of 
 " legitimate," in which Mrs. Edmund Glover made 
 her first appearance as " Lady Teazle," her husband 
 playing " Joseph," and David Fisher " Charles 
 Surface." On November 18, Mackay played his 
 last engagement in Glasgow. The year wound up 
 with Glover's first pantomime in Dunlop Street, 
 which was produced on December 2/th, entitled 
 "The Great Bed of Ware." 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 1 77 
 
 "Uncle Tom" was this year the London rage, 
 and various adaptations were being played all over 
 London and the provinces. Culling the best scenes 
 from the best of the editions, I: lover produced the 
 Glasgow version on February I5th, 1853. The cast 
 included Mr. Silver, who was pronounced an inimit- 
 able " Legree." Miss Fanny Bland was "Eliza;" 
 Edmund Glover, "George Harris;" and Fitzroy, 
 who on his first appearance in the earlier part of 
 the season at the Prince's had been received some- 
 what coldly, made a distinct hit as " Uncle Tom." 
 Mr. Sam Glover played " Topsy." Phelps shortly 
 afterwards came down and played for a few nights 
 in May, on the 27th of which month the season closed 
 with the benefit of Edmund Glover. The bill was 
 the "Corsican Brothers," in which Mr. Bruce Norton 
 made his first appearance as " Colonna." 
 
 In the following September, Charles Mathews 
 opened the season in a " Game of Speculation " and 
 " Trying It On." He also played during his engage- 
 ment in " The Lawyers," " High Pressure," and 
 " Taking By Storm." The talents of Mathews as 
 a comedian were always recognised in Glasgow, 
 although he was not at all times to be relied on as 
 a star specially attractive. 
 
 For some months, preparations for " Macbeth " 
 had been on foot, and on October 4 the tragedy 
 was produced on a scale equalling in splendour and 
 magnitude that of the revival a short time before 
 by C. Kean at the Princess's. Mr. Glover played 
 " Macbeth," Powrie " Macduff," Geo. Webster 
 " Duncan," Messrs. Fitzroy, Lloyd, and Cockerill 
 
 12 
 
1/8 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 "The Three Weird Sisters," and Mrs. Hobson (the 
 wife of a famous Irish comedian) " Lady Macbeth." 
 " The Walking Gentleman " at this period was 
 Mr. Edwin Villiers, the late well-known proprietor 
 of a London music hall, and father of Miss Laura 
 Villiers. The tragedy enjoyed an uninterrupted run 
 of a month. " Macbeth " was followed by a revival 
 of "As You Like It," with Miss Arden as 
 "Rosalind," Powrie as the "Banished Duke," 
 Edmund Glover as " Jacques," and Mr. Heir who 
 subsequently became the husband of Fanny Cathcart 
 as "Orlando," "Adam" being played by Fitzroy 
 and " Touchstone " by Lloyd. Glover shortly after- 
 wards produced " Richelieu," with himself as the 
 "Cardinal/' Silver as " Baradas," Fitzroy as "Joseph," 
 and Miss Atkinson as " Julie." Mrs. Edmund Glover 
 played "Katharine" to the " Petruchio " of David 
 Fisher. The next of Glover's productions was (on 
 November 2ist) " King John," for which Miss Glynn 
 was specially engaged for the " Lady Constance." 
 The play ran till December loth. After the Aztecs 
 (the eagle-faced children) had appeared for six nights, 
 Mr. Glover produced his second pantomime, on 
 December 26, of "Whittington and his Cat." 
 
 On April i/th, 1854, Miss Frances Hughes (from 
 the Lyceum), daughter of the well-known actor 
 Henry Hughes, made her first appearance in Glasgow 
 as "Little Pickle" in the " Spoiled Child," and shortly 
 afterwards Mr. Gaston Murray, whom Miss Hughes 
 married, was engaged to play " first walking gentle- 
 man/' He was brother to Mr. Leigh Murray. Both 
 Mr. and Mrs. Gaston Murray have late joined " the 
 silent majority." 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 179 
 
 The summer season, which was opened by the 
 Payne family in a serio-comic pantomime on the 
 subject of " Robert Macaire," introduced to Glasgow 
 Mr. Harcourt Bland. On Monday, July 3rd, 1854, 
 he made his debut, filling a gap which had been 
 painfully felt since the departure of Mr. David 
 Fisher for London. Mr. Bland opened as " Sir 
 Charles Coldstream " in " Used Up," and made one 
 of the greatest successes ever witnessed on a Glasgow 
 stage. Alluding to his acting, the press of the 
 following morning regarded his performance of the 
 blase baronet as establishing him "as by far the 
 most sterling comedian Glasgow ever possessed as a 
 member of a stock company." The notice went on 
 to state " Personally and physically this gentleman 
 is all that could be desired. His acting, which is 
 perfectly matured, is entirely free from those con- 
 ventionalities which reduce the actor to a mimic. He 
 was received throughout with warm and genuine 
 applause, and effectually secured the approbation of 
 a crowded house." 
 
 The subsequent career of Mr. Harcourt Bland 
 revealed him to the public as something even beyond 
 a successful actor. He was not alone a most satis- 
 fying artist, but he proved himself a deep theological 
 student, an accomplished scholar, and a gentleman. 
 Amid the glare and glitter of the garish scene this 
 excellent actor found means to indulge in his 
 favourite theme, which, strangely enough, like that 
 of the late E. A. Sothern and another well-known 
 Glasgow light comedian, was theology. He penned 
 an exceptionally able and valuable commentary on 
 
180 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 "the Apocalypse," and on that subject entered into a 
 successful controversy with the famous Dr. Gumming. 
 After his retirement from the Glasgow stage, Mr. 
 Bland, at the suggestion of Mr. Edmund Glover, 
 devoted himself to the teaching of elocution, which 
 art he pursued with so much ardour that his labour 
 and exertions on behalf of his pupils indirectly 
 hastened his end. His appointments w r ould prove, if 
 proof were needed, the respect he had succeeded in 
 gaining. For years he held the post of teacher of 
 elocution to the Free Church College in Glasgow and 
 also in Edinburgh, and was the first of the authorised 
 teachers of the Art to the University. In the annals 
 of the lives of actors scarcely can we call to mind 
 one who left behind him more genial memories 
 or a more untarnished name. He died suddenly 
 but very peacefully in sleep on the iSth November, 
 1875. 
 
 September 25th (the company having returned 
 from Paisley, where they had played during the 
 race week) saw the production for the first time in 
 Glasgow of the " Courier of Lyons," now known as 
 the " Lyons Mail," with Glover as " Lesurcq and 
 Dubosq," Harcourt Bland as " Couriol," Miss Frances 
 Hughes "Julie," George Webster "Jerome," Cathcart 
 "Dorval," Fitzroy " Choppard," Lloyd " Foinard," 
 and Mrs. Rignold "Marie." October nth witnessed 
 the debut of one who, as a juvenile actor, became a 
 great favourite. This was George Vincent, who 
 appeared that night as " Malcolm." The next grand 
 production was that of " Ivanhoe," with Bland as 
 " Ivanhoe," Fitzroy " Isaac of York," Vincent " Robin 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. l8l 
 
 Hood," "Rebecca" Miss Aitken, and the "Lady 
 Rowena" Miss Caroline Maskell, sister to Mrs. 
 Walter Baynham. 
 
 In February, during a short engagement, Miss 
 Helen Faucit added to her repertoire " Lady 
 Hester" in the comedy of "To Marry or Not to 
 Marry." This engagement was followed by one 
 with Wright, who played "Paul Pry," "Tilly 
 Slowboy," and " Simmons " in the " Spitalfields 
 Weaver;" and Mrs. R. H. H. Wyndham as 
 " Miami" in " Green Bushes." Phelps then played 
 for a few nights ; then came Mrs. Seymour as " Peg 
 Woffington," and Charlotte Saunders, for one night 
 only, as " Hamlet ! ! " " Ophelia " by the afterwards 
 famous Miss Herbert. In May, Phelps again came 
 down, and, supported by Glover as " Marc Antony," 
 and Swinbourne as " Cassius," played "Brutus." 
 The theatre was then closed for a short time to 
 make needful preparation for the military spectacle 
 of " The Battle of the Alma." 
 
 Meantime the Prince's had scored great successes 
 with Charlotte Saunders in Planche's burlesque of 
 " Once upon a Time there were Two Kings," Webb 
 in "The Rag Picker of Paris," and the Misses 
 Cushman in "Romeo and Juliet" and in "Guy 
 Mannering." In the latter Stembridge Ray played 
 "Henry Bertram," and Harry Webb "Dirk Hatterick." 
 
1 82 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 THE benefit of Edmund Glover, which took place on 
 the 3Oth April, 1855, is memorable from the fact 
 that that evening chronicled the first appearance in 
 Glasgow of Mr. J. L. Toole. Three years had 
 elapsed since this, even then, favourite comedian 
 had made his debut as an actor. A twelvemonth 
 before he had gone up from Edinburgh to London. 
 Mr. Glover announced that "Mr. J. L. Toole, the 
 popular comedian from the St. James's Theatre, 
 London, would on that evening (3Oth April, 1885) 
 make his first and only appearance in Glasgow." 
 The programme consisted of " the tragedy of the 
 Bridal," supported by Miss Aitken, Powrie, and 
 Glover. Mr. Toole's part in the evening's .perfor- 
 mance was twofold. He played "Jacob Earwig" 
 (Robson's then famous character) in " Boots at the 
 Swan," and afterwards sang Robson's then popular 
 ditty of "Villikins and his Dinah." The cast in 
 the farce is interesting, and is made up of well- 
 remembered names, two of which shortly afterwards 
 figured prominently in London successes. " Cecilia 
 Moonshine " was on the occasion played by Miss 
 Herbert, subsequently the favourite comedienne and 
 manageress of the St. James's, London ; " Emily 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 183 
 
 Trevor" was Miss Mary Bland; "Sally," Miss 
 Caroline Maskell (afterwards married to the late 
 Mr. William M'Culloch, of Pickford's, " the London 
 Scot ") ; " Betty," Miss Kate Carson ; " Friskly," 
 Mr. Harcourt Bland (who had acted on the occasion 
 when Toole made his first professional bow at 
 Dublin) ; " Henry Higgins," Mr. Fred Dewar, of 
 " Captain Crosstree is My Name " fame ; " Peter 
 Pippin," Mr. Andrews, the late comedian of the 
 " Beatrice " Company. A Madame Julie danced a 
 pas seul, a popular violinist also played a Fantasia, 
 and the evening wound up with the national drama 
 of " Robert the Bruce." 
 
 The " Battle of Alma," which was produced on the 
 2 1st May, 1855, added another to the list of many 
 artistic triumphs won during the management of 
 Edmund Glover. In scenery and mounting this 
 spectacle could scarcely have been eclipsed ; and a 
 happy thought displayed itself in an " act drop," on 
 which was painted a map of the battlefield. As 
 suggestive of the scale on which the drama was 
 produced, it may be mentioned that three hundred 
 and fifty soldiers, accompanied by a military band, 
 were engaged to heighten the general effect. 
 
 After a five weeks' run, Mr. and Mrs. Leigh Murray 
 played a short engagement in " Victorine," " Camp 
 at Chobham," " Serious Family," and " His First 
 Champagne." But to these exquisitely refined per- 
 formances, the audiences were comparatively small. 
 Miss Reynolds, Buckstone, and the Spanish Dancers 
 followed the Hurrays. 
 
 On November 4th Glover produced " Henry the 
 
1 84 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 Eighth/' In the mounting of this production Mr. 
 Glover was said to have gone beyond himself. The 
 spectator, it was said, whilst witnessing this gorgeous 
 drama, seemed at the same time to be reading a sug- 
 gestive page of history. Miss Aitken, in the character 
 of " Katherine," was pronounced equal to Miss Glynn 
 and Miss Faucit, and to come up to the critic's 
 "shadowy remembrance of Mrs. Siddons." Mr. Glover 
 was not very successful as the "King," and Mr. Powrie, 
 it was thought, would have made a better " Bucking- 
 ham" than " Cardinal." The press suggested, too, 
 that George Webster, who was the " Campeius," 
 should have played " Henry VIII.," and Glover 
 " Wolsey." The spectacle ran for twelve nights. 
 
 On December 3 came the " Fall of Sevastopol," 
 which proved a brilliant success. The pantomime 
 this year was the Haymarket one of "Little Bo-Peep." 
 Mr. Glover introduced on March 29, 1856, half-price 
 to all parts of the house. The following April 14 
 saw the debut of Mrs. W. H. Eburne, who made a 
 most favourable impression as " Juila " in " The 
 Hunchback," and also as " Jeanie Deans." Then 
 came an admirable production of " The Lady of the 
 Lake," which ran up to Whitsuntide. 
 
 On the 2 ist May an extraordinary fracas took 
 place in the Prince's Theatre. A company of 
 amateurs, hailing from Sunderland, had announced in 
 very large type, " a grand dramatic entertainment, 
 on which occasion would be performed Knowles' play 
 of " The Wife." The sanguine expectations of the 
 audience, which had been raised by the eulogiums 
 on their merits, with which the amateurs had enriched 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 185 
 
 their bills, received a sudden check by the discovery 
 that not one of the gentlemen connected with the 
 representation seemed to be on anything approach- 
 ing intimate terms with the words of his part. The 
 usual tittering, however, soon swelled into unmis- 
 takable jeers, and shortly afterwards resulted in a 
 tumult, in the midst of which Leonardo Gonzago 
 came forward to entreat public indulgence on account 
 of the short time which had been allowed the ladies 
 and gentlemen for rehearsal. This was the signal 
 for the bursting out of the pent-up fury of the 
 outraged onlookers. Many of the latter clambered 
 on to the stage. The actors flew in all directions 
 calling loudly for HELP ! and POLICE ! The lights were 
 extinguished, and in the midst of the confusion, some 
 screaming, others shouting, the majority struggling to 
 get out, the money-taker, who had been trusted by 
 the amateurs "not wisely but too well," was discovered 
 to have decamped with the entire evening's receipts. 
 
 Charles Pitt, David Fisher, Widdicombe, Sir 
 William Don, Bart, (literally but not artistically the 
 greatest of low comedians his height was six feet 
 four) ; Mr. and Mrs. W. Florence, George Vandenhoff, 
 Julia St. George, the Cushmans, and the triumvirate 
 of comedians, Lloyd, Cowell, and John Newcombe 
 (afterwards manager of the Theatre Royal, Plymouth), 
 preceded the production of the dramatised (Surrey) 
 version of Mrs. Stowe's then popular but now all 
 but defunct novel of " Dred," which was played for 
 the first time in Glasgow on October 24th, with 
 Glover in the title role. The pantomime " St. George 
 and the Dragon," which followed on December 22, 
 
1 86 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 was pronounced Glover's greatest success. The 
 following February (1857) Miss Helen Faucit, during 
 her annual engagement, added to her repertoire 
 " Evadne." The play was considered heavy, and 
 her performance of the heroine not equal to either 
 her "Julia" or "Pauline." 
 
 Kean's revival at the Princess's of "Midsummer 
 Night's Dream" probably suggested to Glover the 
 idea of producing the fairy spectacle in Glasgow, 
 and on March 3rd Shakespeare's fairy comedy was 
 presented with a cast which included Glover as 
 " Bottom," Powrie as " Theseus," Bland and Vincent 
 as " Demetrius" and " Lysander," Fitzroy as 
 "Quince," Lloyd as "Flute," Miss Maria Simpson 
 (Mrs. Listen) as " Oberon," and Louise Keely (after- 
 wards Mrs. Montague Williams) as " Titania." The 
 production was but fairly successful owing to the 
 non-dramatic nature of the play. Miss Faucit 
 appeared on the 23rd. " Celeste " in the " Green 
 Bushes," and Mr. and Mrs. Barney Williams occupied 
 the boards in succession till May, when " Fraud and 
 its Victims," which had been produced with great 
 success some time previously at the Surrey, smelt 
 for the first time the Glasgow footlights. The drama 
 was a translation of " Les Pauvres de Paris," which 
 was the groundwork of Reade's novel of " Hard 
 Cash " and of Boucicault's drama of the " Streets of 
 London." 
 
 On the 1 8th Mr. Glover, following in the line of 
 his talented mother, who had on more than one 
 occasion played "Falstaff" and also "Hamlet." 
 attempted (for one night) to impersonate " Mrs.. 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. l8/ 
 
 Malaprop " in a scene from the " Rivals " (with 
 Harcourt Bland as "Absolute"). Toole, accom- 
 panied by Charlotte Saunders, brought down from 
 the Lyceum " Conrad and Medora," and was followed 
 shortly afterwards by Sir William and Lady Don. 
 The latter was the daughter of an old " Utility 
 Man " at the London Adelphi. and she had captivated 
 the heart of the lengthy baronet. Sir William dur- 
 ing the engagement played the " Bailie " to Eland's 
 '" Rob Roy." A memorable first production in the 
 following August was Tom Taylor's " Still Waters 
 Run Deep," with Tom Mead as " John Mildmay ; " 
 George Vincent as " Hawkesly ; " Fitzroy, " Potter ; " 
 Andrews, "Dunbilk;" Hamblin, "Gimlet;" Miss 
 Cleaver, " Mrs. Sternhold ; " and Miss Fanny Bland 
 (no relation to Mr. Harcourt Bland), " Mrs. Mildmay." 
 Mead's " Mildmay " took the city at once by storm. 
 
 When " Still Waters " had had its run Boucicault's 
 version of " Faust and Marguerite " was produced on 
 August 3 1 st. The play had been for some time in 
 preparation, and during their previous week's engage- 
 ment Mead and Carlotta Leclercq had been busy in 
 assisting Edmund Glover with the rehearsals. The 
 cast was a strong one. ''Faust," Vincent; "Valentine," 
 Sam Glover; " Martha," Miss Cleaver. Mead had 
 been specially engaged for " Mephistophiles," and 
 Saker and Carlotta Leclercq came from the Princess's 
 to sustain the original parts of 4 ' Seibel " and 
 " Marguerite." The face, figure, and style of the 
 latter was described as the beau-ideal of Goethe's 
 heroine. The rise of the young actress had been 
 rapid. She had first appeared in the metropolis in the 
 
1 88 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 capacity of a pantomimist As " Columbine," her 
 grace and personelle had attracted the favourable 
 notice of the Keans. They tried her powers as an 
 actress in small parts, in which she at once showed 
 herself such an expert that when "Faust and Marguer- 
 ite " was tendered to the management the Keans at 
 once fixed on Carlotta for the heroine. She played it 
 to David Fisher's " Faust " the character in which 
 this actor first appeared in London, after leaving 
 Glasgow. The Glasgow production proved an 
 enormous success, and had an uninterrupted run of 
 a month. Mead's " Mephistophiles " has, in the 
 judgment of certain old Dunlopites, never yet been 
 equalled. Mead, it may be briefly stated, returned 
 shortly after this to London, and was leading man 
 for many years at the Grecian Saloon. He subse- 
 quently joined the Lyceum as a member of that 
 company. He died at the age of 70 two years ago. 
 
 On May 3rd, Miss Marriott, fresh from laurels 
 won at the Surrey with Mr. Creswick, made as a 
 star her first appearance in Glasgow, and met with a 
 perfect ovation. She opened in " Fazio," and in her 
 next impersonation Kate Saville, a charming actress, 
 and niece to Miss Faucit, played " Juliet " to Miss 
 Marriott's " Romeo." On the 1 5th, our still admir- 
 able evergreen "Jeanie Deans" appeared as "Hamlet," 
 which, as a piece of acting, was, for one of her sex, 
 one of the best the stage had seen. Her engagement 
 was extended for a week longer ; and then came two 
 notable amateurs, Captain Disney Roebuck and Mr. 
 Montagu Williams. The latter, now Judge Williams, 
 was then a successful wooer, and shortly afterwards 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 189 
 
 married Louise Keeley, who had become a member 
 of the stock company. After the usual round of stars 
 had shone, Glover produced " Perourou, the Bellows 
 Mender," the story on which Bulwer founded the 
 " Lady of Lyons." 
 
 Mrs. Edmund Glover appeared (as she usually did 
 at her husband's benefit) as " Mrs. Simpson " in 
 " Simpson & Co.," and shortly afterwards as " Helen " 
 in the " Hunchback," and the season finished with 
 an engagement of Lloyd for twelve nights. 
 
 The pantomime for the winter season of '58 was 
 "Sinbad the Sailor." The clown on the occasion 
 was George Parry, notable for his "Dumb Man of 
 Manchester," which character he played up to the end 
 of the pantomime. Then Miss Goddard appeared in a 
 round of characters, chiefly male impersonations, with 
 an exceptional amount of success. Miss Faucit's 
 appearance on April 2ist as " Nina Sforza " was not 
 pronounced a success. I note May I3th as signalis- 
 ing the debut of Mr. Lindo Courtenay, who remained 
 in Dunlop Street for four years, and who is now and 
 has been for many years the highly-respected manager 
 of more than one theatre in the English provinces. 
 His first appearance was as " Stephen Plum " in 
 "All that Glitters is not Gold." The evening of 
 22nd August saw the farewell benefit of Harcourt 
 Bland. His "bill" on the occasion consisted of the 
 " Love Knot." Miss Louise Keeley sang the old 
 ballad of " Ever of Thee," and Mr. Bland took his 
 final farewell as " Jeremiah Bumps " in " Turning the 
 Tables." The farewell was on the occasion of Mr. 
 Eland's leaving for London, where he had been 
 
I QO THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 engaged to open at the Princess's as light comedian 
 and stage manager. In the course of his address he 
 alluded to the fact of his having taken a farewell a 
 short time previously, prior to a contemplated visit 
 to America, and after speaking in glowing terms of 
 the management, he referred to the apathy which 
 existed in Glasgow as to theatricals, and traced it to 
 " that spirit of gloomy asceticism which seeks to 
 transform the world into a region of mere utilitari- 
 anism ; which even trembles at the least display of 
 wit and mirth ; which labours hard to represent 
 Christianity as wholly antagonistic to those lighter 
 arts and accomplishments which proceed from and 
 accompany civilisation and refinement/' He con- 
 cluded by thanking the public for the brilliant re- 
 sponse which had been made to his appeals on the 
 occasion. 
 
 On October 12 a now very old favourite, but then 
 a very young man, was presented by his father to 
 the Glasgow public. This was Mr. Arthur Lloyd, 
 who made his debut as " Cornet Kavanagh " in the 
 farce of the " Boarding School." Arrangements 
 having been made with the Wigans, who had recently 
 retired from the management of the Olympic, " Still 
 Waters " was revived, with the stars as " Mildmay " 
 and "Mrs. Sternhold." In a "Sheep in Wolves' 
 Clothing," Wigan played for the first time "Jasper 
 Carew," a part which had been written specially for 
 him, but which he had at the last hour, through 
 illness, been compelled to resign into the hands of 
 George Vining. The pantomine of 1859 was that of 
 the "Sleeping Beauty," which enjoyed a run of 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. IQI 
 
 sixty nights. After Kean's visit with Cathcart, 
 Everett, and the Messrs. Chapman (Kean's nieces), in 
 February, 1860, Benjamin Webster came with the 
 most recent Adelphi success, " The Dead Heart," in 
 which he was supported by Miss Aitken as the 
 heroine, and Ashley as the " Abbe." Mr. Lindsay, 
 an excellent actor, who was afterwards in Mr. 
 Bernard's company at the Gaiety, made his first 
 appearance as the " Count St. Valere." Webster, 
 with Miss Aitken, acted also in Watts Phillips' drama 
 of "Janet Pride." 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 THE specialty of the season of 1860 was the specta- 
 cular drama of " The Indian Revolt, or the Relief 
 of Lucknow," a piece which was compiled by Edmund 
 Glover from many plays, and as an announcement 
 ran, " written by many authors." It was produced 
 with considerable care and great splendour. Two 
 hundred performers were employed to give it due 
 effect. There were in it, besides, " gorgeous proces- 
 sions, introducing a perfect menagerie of elephants, 
 camels, bulls, &c.," and the tout ensemble was regarded 
 by the Glasgow public as one of the most complete 
 which had ever been witnessed since the days of 
 Seymour's "Aladdin." The cast is memorable. In 
 it the name of Henry Irving appeared for the first 
 time in Glasgow. The young actor, then but two 
 and twenty years of age, had been specially engaged 
 by Mr. Glover to play " Prince Jung Bahadour." It 
 is generally supposed that in this character Irving 
 made his first bow to a Glasgow audience. This is, 
 however, a mistake. His own account is " When 
 I came to Glasgow (which I did from Dublin) to 
 attend the rehearsals for ' The Indian Revolt/ I was 
 surprised and indignant to find myself cast for some 
 character in the ' Warlock of the Glen/ which was 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 1 93 
 
 to be played as a Saturday night ' attraction ' prior 
 to the 'Revolt' on the Monday. As I had made 
 my mark as an actor in Dublin, where I had been a 
 great favourite, you can imagine what I felt when I 
 found myself announced merely as a Mr. Irwin 
 they couldn't even spell my name correctly but I 
 played the part nevertheless." The remainder of the 
 cast of " The Indian Revolt " included Miss Aitken 
 ("Jessie Brown"), Henry Ashley ("Captain Cameron"), 
 E. Fletcher (" Geordie Cameron "), and Sam Glover 
 (" McAllister "). The rest of the characters were in 
 the hands of Messrs. Charles Vernon, F. Glover, 
 C. Bland, Josephs, Lindsay, Hamblin, W. Lowe, and 
 Davie Stewart ; Misses Desborough, Fanny Josephs, 
 and Barry. The spectacle was an enormous success, 
 and ran from the i6th April till the 1 5th of May. Mr. 
 Irving remained as light comedian during the entire 
 season, playing such parts as " Sir Charles Howard " 
 ("Little Treasure"), "Mr. Aubrey" ("Curious Case"), 
 "D'Aubigne" ("The Man in the Iron Mask"), and 
 " Macduff" and the "Juveniles " in the Shakespearian 
 drama. " The Indian Revolt " was succeeded by an 
 engagement of the Pyne-Harrison Troupe and 
 Mr. and Mrs. Charles Mathews. On the 4th June 
 the Brothers Webb appeared for the first time in the 
 "Comedy of Errors/' bringing with them the sisters, 
 Mrs. Webb and Annie Parker, for the " Antipholes." 
 
 The winter season of 1860 and 1 86 1, which com- 
 menced on October I, was heralded ominously by 
 an address from Mr. C. G. Houghton, in the course 
 of which he referred to his being then but the deputy 
 for Mr. Edmund Glover, who, it was thought, was 
 
 13 
 
194 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 happily recovering from what had been a dangerous, 
 but which unhappily proved a fatal, illness. Three 
 weeks afterwards, on the 24th October, the theatre 
 was suddenly closed. Edmund Glover had died 
 that morning at half-past nine, unexpectedly and 
 peacefully, at the residence of his old friend, Mr. R. 
 H. Wyndham, in Edinburgh, to which he had been 
 removed from the cottage belonging to the former 
 at Luss. At first the change seemed very beneficial, 
 and the hopes of his loving wife and family had been 
 brightened with the prospect of his recovery, but he 
 suddenly, on the evening before he died, grew worse. 
 Medical aid was summoned, but was found of no 
 avail, and at half-past nine the following morning, 
 surrounded by his family, Time rang down for him, 
 at the mandate of the Universal Prompter, the final 
 curtain. If any proof has been needed of the respect in 
 which this admirable actor, excellent manager, tender 
 husband, and loving father was held, it was shown in 
 the list of those who made up the mournful procession 
 to Sighthill Cemetery. Scarcely a citizen of repute 
 was absent from it. Both on and off the stage, it 
 was confessed, Edmund Glover " was a man, take him 
 for all in all, we ne'er should look upon his like again." 
 Those who knew him best, loved him most. Kind, 
 considerate, generous, benevolent, and unostentatious, 
 his dependents were numerous, yet comparatively un- 
 known. One of his last acts was to give the free use 
 of his theatre for a benefit to Mr George Webster, 
 who had long been unable to appear in consequence 
 of illness. The manager-actor's life had been devoted 
 to the raising of his art, and his death left a void 
 which none have since filled. 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 195 
 
 On the conclusion of the pantomime of "Little 
 Red Riding Hood" in February, 1861, Miss Faucit 
 came to Dunlop Street, supported by Mr. Swin- 
 bourne, an actor graceful, powerful, and effective, and 
 possessed of a singularly sympathetic voice. The 
 star opened as " Lady Macbeth." Miss Faucit played 
 only four nights in the week, and during her twelve 
 nights' engagement appeared as "Julia" ("Hunch- 
 back "), " Rosalind," " lolanthe " (" King Rene's 
 Daughter"), and "Beatrice" ("Much Ado About 
 Nothing "). It was in connection with this engage- 
 ment that, accompanied by Mrs. Baynham (Miss 
 Fanny Maskell as " Helen "), I, as " Modus," on the 
 1 7th February, made my first appearance in Glasgow. 
 The memory of the principal members of the corps 
 being still green to middle-aged playgoers, the writer 
 will perhaps be exempted from the charge of egoism 
 if he ventures to describe briefly the scene of his first 
 morning on the stage, after his arrival. 
 
 At ten o'clock I made my way from the Parlia- 
 mentary Road, where we lodged, to Dunlop Street, 
 and found myself in front of the handsome theatre, 
 over the portico of which, if I remember rightly, was 
 on one side the bust of Shakespeare, and on the other 
 that of the late J. H. Alexander. Opposite to the 
 theatre were a group of actors standing on the pave- 
 ment in front of the cosy little tavern called the 
 Garrick's Head. The " call " was for the rehearsal 
 of (l Macbeth." As I was looking about, not knowing 
 where to find the stage door, and hesitating whether 
 I should ask my way of one of the actors, who were 
 strangers to me, or inquire of a white-headed old 
 
196 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 gentleman who stood at the box door entrance, and 
 who, I found afterwards, was the time-honoured Mr. 
 Muir, a tall and very handsome lady, who held by 
 the hand two little girls all clothed in deep mourn- 
 ing came up and introduced herself to me. This 
 was Mrs. Edmund Glover with her two daughters, 
 Kate and Fanny. We went together down the little 
 narrow lane which ran along the north side of the 
 theatre, and in a few minutes I had groped my way 
 through the dark vestibule and up some narrow 
 flights of steps on to the dimly-lighted stage ; then 
 crossing it again, up a flight of stairs, I reached the 
 office of the acting manager, Mr. C. G. Houghton (one 
 of the kindest-hearted and most considerate of men), 
 and that of his assistant, then a very thin and smooth- 
 faced young man, Mr. Alexander Wright ; (the 
 latter has now for many years been highly esteemed 
 as manager of the Theatre-Royal, Greenock. To 
 Mr. Wright the public were at that time mainly 
 indebted for the monstre programmes which were then 
 the order of the Saturday nights.) We went down 
 stairs on to the stage. Here I was introduced by 
 Mr. Houghton to a tall, stoutish man, whose broad 
 shoulders were surmounted by a wide Scotch face 
 with small twinkling eyes. This was the stage mana- 
 ger, Bruce Norton, at once the driest and most 
 irresistibly funny of Scotch comedians, and an enor- 
 mous favourite with the generality of actors, both on 
 and off the stage. Coming out of the dusky gloom 
 at the back of the scenes there emerged a man of 
 about 50 years of age, whose short, crisp black hair 
 curled round a rather low forehead, surmounting a 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 1 97 
 
 ruddy face. He was attired in a Highland cape, 
 and wore a deep hatband, as I subsequently learned, 
 for the late Edmund Glover. This was the late 
 J. B. Fitzroy. I met for the first time a singularly 
 quiet and unassuming little man, who was standing 
 at the wings talking to a dapper little man and his 
 wife, Mr. and Mrs. Fred Glover. The dapper little 
 man, was, I fancied, somewhere between 50 and 60 
 years of age, nearer the latter. We soon got into 
 conversation, and I remarked that of all the actors I 
 had hitherto met this little gentleman spoke the least 
 about himself. This was the late H. F. Lloyd. Then 
 came sailing down in full sweep (for I can find no 
 more expressive word for his general walk) a boyish- 
 faced looking individual, with his hands locked on to 
 his wrists, and a placid, self-contented smile. This 
 was the irrepressible and immortal George Hamblin. 
 Seated in the Green Room were the remainder of the 
 company Mr. Gresham, Mr. Duff, Miss Laurence, 
 and a lady of exceptionally refined manners and 
 appearance, then getting a little into the "sere" of 
 life, Miss Cleaver. A shabbily-dressed and dissipated- 
 looking young man, Mr. Charles Brand, and his wife 
 (a beautiful young woman) were present. Charles 
 Stewart, the prompter, soon gave the word, " Begin- 
 ners !" and a short time afterwards on came Powrie 
 always punctual and perfect. He rehearsed "Macduff." 
 I found him one of the simplest-hearted and kindest 
 of confreres a hater of cant in any form, and a 
 generous helper to all young and careful actors. In 
 the orchestra the late Mr. Smythe, then a very mild 
 spoken, very nervous, and bald-headed young man, 
 
198 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 conducted ; the first violin was that good-hearted 
 Mulatto, little Willie Shaw; the second, Mr. Leveston, 
 no less courteous ; the violincello was Mr. Fisher, 
 uncle of " David." Our call boy was Tommy Watson, 
 now, unfortunately, a low comedian at (when I last 
 saw him) a Vinegar Hill show. Taken up to the 
 wardrobe, I was introduced to the costumier, Mr. 
 John Guy, for many years a most trustworthy 
 " fixture " in Glover's Theatre. 
 
 Miss Faucit's engagement was followed by one 
 with a Mr. Gardiner Coyne. In a round of Irish 
 characters he proved himself but a very weak imi- 
 tator of an actor who was shortly to appear, John 
 Drew. On the iSth March the Keans, accompanied 
 by their nieces, the Misses Chapman, Cathcart, and 
 Everett, appeared. After a week's closing for the 
 "preachings," the theatre opened with an adaptation 
 by Charles Webb of " The House on the Bridge of 
 Notre Dame," in which Mr. Duff sustained the dual 
 role of the " Brothers," and the present writer a melo- 
 dramatic villain so intended by the author, but it was 
 played by the writer as a light comedy part. On Mon- 
 day we produced " The Woman in White," with Mr. 
 Lindo Courtenay as the hero, Mrs. Baynham as "Laura 
 Clyde," Mrs. Charles Bland as Ann Catherick," Ham- 
 blin "Mr. Fairlie," Fitzroy " Fosco," Gresham as 
 "Glyde." We ran the piece during the week alter- 
 nately with "The House on the Bridge." Charles 
 Mathews opened on the 2Qth. With his characteristic 
 nonchalance, he seldom or ever attended rehearsals, 
 and the pieces throughout his engagement would have 
 been lamentable failures, but for his incomparable 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 199 
 
 acting at night, and the ready ease with which he got 
 various members of the company out of various 
 bungles, caused by his non-attendance at rehearsals; 
 and by their not knowing what he meant to do or 
 even say, for he seldom stuck to the words of his 
 part. On the occasion of his benefit at this time he 
 played "Aggravating Sam." It was acted most 
 deplorably, through Mathews' non-attendance at re- 
 hearsal, but he seemed himself quite surprised that 
 it had gone as well as it had done. "What d'ye 
 think of that ? " he said to me, pointing triumphantly 
 towards the audience, as the curtain fell to very faint 
 plaudits. "There! the Curtain down! and without 
 the goose ! (hiss)." Any other star would probably 
 have vented his disgust, at the apathy of the audi- 
 ence, on the company. Not so with Mathews. He 
 was never put about. If he was cut out of some of 
 his best lines through an actor being imperfect, he 
 would at the end of the piece quietly put his hands 
 in his pockets, and nodding in the direction of the 
 culprit, remark "Nice man that! What's his name? 
 Sort of man you'd like to take tea with." In the 
 instance of " Aggravating Sam," I ventured to remon- 
 strate with him on his not having given the company 
 a fair chance in consequence of his not coming to 
 rehearsal. " My dear fellow," he replied, clapping me 
 on the shoulder, " that's a piece which wouldn't go 
 smoothly with fifty rehearsals. If you can't get it 
 right with fifty, what 's the use of bothering yourself 
 about one?" Then he quietly strolled into his 
 dressing-room, lighted a cigar, and was seen no more 
 till the next night. To the easy way in which he 
 
2OO THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 took things he owed probably his exceptional vitality, 
 which, even when he was seventy-three years of age, 
 had not deserted him. As an instance of this, during 
 his last engagement in Glasgow at the Gaiety, he 
 was, whilst playing " My Awful Dad, 1 ' taken seriously 
 and suddenly ill. His indistinct articulation at first 
 had ended in a swoon. The doctor who had been 
 called in at once ordered him to be taken home, and 
 predicted that this most accomplished artiste on the 
 stage would never act again. Mathews, however, 
 who declined even to take a little brandy to revive 
 him, gradually recovered full consciousness, struggled 
 to his feet, and finished the piece. Next morning, 
 when Mr. Bernard, the manager, fearing the worst, 
 called to inquire after Mathews, he was asked into 
 the private room of the latter, where he found him 
 not only up and dressed, but engaged in painting a 
 little picture in water colours, which he presented to 
 his inquirer as a souvenir of the previous evening's 
 "entertainment." Mathews, though one of the most 
 brilliant " stars " in the social as well as the dramatic 
 firmament, made few friends. Out of London he was 
 scarcely known in private life. He was anything but 
 "fast" either in his conversation or habits, and his 
 temperance in every respect was one of the secrets of 
 his juvenility, which accompanied him to the day of 
 his death, at the age of seventy-four. Almost his 
 last words were a joke. The clergyman had attended 
 him, and left as Mathews was sinking into stupor. 
 In the meantime another individual in a white cravat 
 had taken the minister's place. Mathews woke, saw 
 dimly the white tie of some one standing at the bed- 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 201 
 
 side, pressed the hands of the latter, and to that in- 
 dividual's surprise fervently thanked him for his 
 ministrations. Opening his eyes wider he quietly 
 put the astonished individual aside, and calling his 
 stepson Charles Mathews, the barrister said, " I Ve 
 made a nice mess of it, Charles. Instead of the 
 Parson, I Ve blessed the Waiter ! But," he added, 
 " I suppose it 's the last mistake I shall make." 
 
202 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 CHiAPTER XIX. 
 
 Miss JULY DALY, a very clever American actress, 
 opened the summer season on June 3rd, 1861, with 
 " Our Female American Cousin," in which Mr. Edward 
 Price made his first appearance as "Gerald Appleby." 
 On June 17 "Plot and Passion" was played, with 
 Mrs. Baynham as " Marie de Fontagnes," Edward 
 Price as " De Neuville," Fitzroy as " Demarrettes," 
 and Mr. Gresham as " Fouche." On the Monday 
 following, " Lost and Found," a drama founded on 
 " Nicholas Nickleby," and written by myself, 
 was produced, and enjoyed a favourable run. 
 Price played " Nicholas ;" Lloyd, " Squeers ; " 
 Hamblin, "Ralph Nickleby;" Fitzroy, "Newman 
 Noggs ; " Mrs. Sennett, " Mrs. Nickleby ; " Miss 
 Laurence, " Kate ; " and Mrs. Baynham, " Smike." 
 " Mantalini " and " John Browdie " were, in this 
 version, omitted. The play ended with the " Death 
 of Smike." " Lost and Found," which ran the week, 
 was supplemented by the " Balance of Comfort," 
 "Ladies' Battle," and "The Miller and his Men." 
 On Monday, July I, Mr. James Rogers (better known 
 as Jemmy Rogers) made his first bow to a Glasgow 
 audience in "A Race for a Widow," and also as 
 "Turby" in "The Goose with the Golden Eggs." 
 Wednesday saw for the first time in our city Byron's 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 2O3 
 
 burlesque of " Aladdin," in which Rogers as the 
 " Widow Twankey " made a hit so great that the 
 burlesque ran every evening to the end of the engage- 
 ment. Mrs. Fred Glover (Miss Wilmott) played 
 " Aladdin," Hamblin the " Emperor," F. Glover the 
 " Vizier." The next engagement was that of the 
 well-known actor (afterwards manager of the " Prince 
 of Wales ") Mr. John Coleman. His own piece called 
 " Catherine Howard " was produced, and won much 
 favour with the "gods." As "Catherine" Mrs. 
 Edward Price made her first appearance, and after- 
 wards played the " Queen," with Mr. Coleman as 
 "Ruy Bias," myself as ''Don Sallust." On the 
 Monday following, Charlotte Saunders brought down 
 " Kenilworth." On the iQth, Widdicombe opened 
 on the occasion of my first benefit in " Old Joe 
 and Young Joe" and the "Two Poults." The 
 farce ran the entire engagement. During it, Widdi- 
 combe appeared in two of his most serious characters. 
 These were "Capias Shark" in "A Bird in Hand," 
 and also as " Daddy Hardacre," in both of which he 
 acted most powerfully. His style has been handed 
 down to the present generation in that of Mr. J. L. 
 Toole. Our trump card, however, which we had held 
 sometime in hand, was to be played, and a magni- 
 ficent one it proved. This was no other than the 
 "Colleen Bawn." 
 
 The drama proved one of the most thorough old- 
 fashioned successes ever witnessed in Glasgow. The 
 cast was as follows : " Hardress Cregan," Courtney ; 
 "Kyrle Daly," myself; "Father Tom," H. Mellon; 
 " Myles-na-Coppaleen," T. H. Glenney ; "Corrigan," 
 
204 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 Holston ; " Bertie O'More," Fenton; " Eily O'Connor," 
 Mrs. Sloan ; "Ann Chute," Mrs. Buckingham White; 
 " Mrs. Cregan," Mrs. Charles Boyce ; " Sheelah," Mrs. 
 W. H. Sennett ; last, but not least, " Danny Mann," 
 Sam Emery. The piece, with ^ome slight alterations 
 in the cast, ran till the end of the season. During its 
 run a Miss De Courcy took the place of Mrs. C. Boyce. 
 Mellon played " Danny Mann " (Emery being obliged 
 to leave for London), and Mr. Dan Leeson took 
 Mellon's place as " Father Tom," and Mrs. Walter 
 Baynham played the " Colleen." 
 
 With the opening of our winter season of 1861-62 
 (November 4th) came J. L. Toole. He played then 
 in Adelphi dramas, such as the " Harvest Home," 
 "Willow Copse," "The Writing on the Wall," &c., 
 which have (we say it regretfully) long been laid on 
 the shelf, a fact principally arising from the system 
 of stock companies having been abandoned. The 
 opening drama was Boucicault's " Willow Copse " 
 and the farce of "The Pretty Horsebreaker," in 
 which Mrs. Baynham played Bella Sunnysides. He 
 also produced " Blue Beard " (burlesque), in which 
 he was excruciatingly funny. When Toole's twelve 
 nights' engagement came to an end, John Drew, who 
 had but a few months before made his debut in 
 Dublin, made his first appearance to a wretchedly 
 thin house in the " Irish Ambassador," followed by 
 the "Irish Emigrant," " O'Callaghan," and "Handy 
 Andy." Since the days of Tyrone Power his equal 
 had not been seen, and I have never witnessed so 
 finished a "stage Irishman" since. His career, how- 
 ever, was, though brilliant, painfully short. 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 2O5 
 
 It was during the second week of Drew's engage- 
 ment I heard that Bruce Norton, who had long been 
 ailing, was dangerously ill, and next day the news 
 was brought to the theatre that this genuine 
 comedian, most humorous of men, and greatest of 
 practical jokers (despite an occasional coarseness), 
 was dead. " Tragedy " followed in this instance 
 " Life's Farce." My diary records that on November 
 the 2/th I, as Stage Manager, read the forthcoming 
 pantomime in the green room to the company, and 
 afterwards attended the funeral of Bruce Norton. 
 It proved a sadly memorable affair ! He had lodged 
 in Stockwell Street in a couple of narrow, dimly- 
 lighted rooms, one of which was made indiscribably 
 more gloomy that morning by the coffin containing 
 his remains which was laid upon the table. Several 
 of his relations were present, including poor Bruce's 
 two brothers, both Glasgow merchants Bruce Nor- 
 ton was a Glasgow man and also a few actors. All 
 sat for some time in that peculiar silence which is 
 never felt so powerfully as in the presence of death. 
 At length some uneasiness began to be displayed. 
 Anxious eyes were cast in the direction of the door. 
 No clergyman appeared. Through some unfortunate 
 malarrangement no minister had been sent for. That 
 all things might be done decently and in order, it was 
 suggested that some one present should conduct a 
 short religious service. Every non-professional pre- 
 sent having declined, a chapter was read and an 
 extempore prayer offered up by one of poor Bruce's 
 fellow-actors. There was a pitiless snow-storm raging, 
 as the lonely procession followed him to the grave 
 
206 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 where again, through some reprehensible oversight, 
 another scene occurred. The grave was found too 
 narrow to receive the coffin, and had to be con- 
 siderably widened before the coffin could be lowered. 
 
 Miss Aitken, prior to trying her fortunes as a 
 dramatic reader in Australia, played a week's fare- 
 well performances. The character in which she was 
 to take her farewell was "Julia" in the "Hunchback." 
 The occasion was memorable in more respects than 
 one. Tom Powrie was at the time the " leading 
 man," although he never played in the ordinary 
 round of melodramas. A Mr. Mortimer Murdoch 
 was a species of "second man," who was engaged to 
 share the melodramatic lead. Powrie's nervousness 
 had been for years proverbial. He felt himself 
 unable to study any new part, and although four 
 weeks' notice had been given him to appear as 
 "Master Walter" to Miss Aitken's "Julia," he at the 
 last moment was too timid to make the attempt, 
 and Murdoch, who was to have played "Sir Thomas/' 
 appeared as the " Hunchback " instead. Miss Aitken 
 during this engagement played "Jeannie Deans" to 
 the "Duke of Argyle" of Mr. H. Courte (Mr. Henry 
 Cooke the elocutionist). 
 
 The next week was spent in rehearsals of the 
 pantomime of "Jack the Giant Killer," which was 
 underlined for the following Monday, the 1 5th 
 December. This was, however, postponed in conse- 
 quence of the death on the I4th of the Prince Consort. 
 On the I /th it was produced, and received most 
 warmly by what was always on the first night, at 
 that time, a poor house. The cast was an excellent 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 2O/ 
 
 one. Mr. Fenton was the " King," Mrs. F. Glover 
 "Jack," the "Giant" Hamblin. The "Clown" was 
 Nicolo Denlin, was well knov/n as one of the fun- 
 niest of pantomimists, but was, strangely enough, 
 one of the most melancholy of men. His sadness 
 was caused by a constant brooding on theological 
 doctrines, on the subject of which he had more than 
 one interview with some of the most eminent of 
 the Glasgow clergy. He would stand at the wings 
 ready to go on in the comic scenes with the most 
 dejected of countenances. He seldom or ever smiled 
 off the stage, and gave directions as to the fun to 
 his son Paul (the " Pantoloon ") in the most gloomy 
 tones. His thoughts were always on the "after 
 state," his soul's salvation, and the attributes of the 
 Divine Being. The future life engrossed the whole 
 of his thoughts, and he was never talkative except 
 upon dogmatic subjects. "Was Calvin right?" If 
 Predestination was true, where, then, was the ration- 
 ality of giving a man "free will?" Questions like 
 these he would break off with "Now, Joey! look 
 out, here's the Bobby" he would run on to the 
 stage, tumble, shout, and go through all the business 
 of the scene. Then, coming off again, with the old 
 look of gloomy distrust, he resumed the subject of 
 theology at the point he had left off. 
 
 Whilst the pantomime was running at the Royal 
 the burlesque of " Lalla Rookh " was played at the 
 Princes. "Delicate ground," "Little Toddlekins," 
 " Ladies' Battle," "Mateo Falcone," and several 
 dramas preceded "Jack" at Dunlop Street. In the 
 February following G. V. Brooke made his first ap- 
 
208 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 pearance in Glasgow since his return from Australia. 
 He was accompanied by the late Richard Younge, 
 subsequently manager of the Tyne Theatre and a 
 well-known "Eccles ;" and an excellent actress, Miss 
 Avonia Jones, whom Brooke shortly afterwards 
 married. She was devotedly attached to her accom- 
 plished husband, and survived his loss barely more 
 than eighteen months. The trio opened on February 
 loth, Younge playing the "Juveniles" and "Seconds." 
 The business, however, was anything but good. The 
 public had lost confidence in the reigning " star " 
 one of the best-hearted, but most erratic of men. 
 No one could ever be sure of him. He would begin 
 the play perfectly sober, but would get hopelessly 
 drunk before the curtain fell. In some cases the 
 audience were introduced to an unrehearsed effect. 
 Totally oblivious of the presence of his auditory in 
 front, he frequently mingled his own personal re- 
 marks on the acting of those around him with the 
 text. One evening when we were finishing "Othello," 
 and he was reeling up to the bed where his smothered 
 
 victim lay, he gave a prolonged howl of " O 
 
 O O Desdemona," when he suddenly looked 
 
 round and his eye caught Mr. J. C. Mathews, who 
 was playing " Montano," laughing. Everybody both 
 on and off the stage was more or less doing the 
 same, for poor Brooke was hopelessly but ludicrously 
 staggering about all over the scene. Brooke, how- 
 ever, singled out the unhappy Mathews. Fixing a 
 vacant .stare at the culprit, he pointed to the bed 
 and hiccupped mournfully, but audibly, to the 
 astonishment of the audience, "Look here, Mr. 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 2 09 
 
 Mathews, do you see this ? Do you think, sir, 
 this is a laughing matter?" When, however, 
 Brooke was himself, he acted magnificently, and 
 was the most gentle, genial, and unassuming of 
 men. When he was intoxicated his temper was 
 ungovernable. Those who knew him best loved 
 
 o 
 
 him most, and always showed pity for what the 
 public pronounced, unpardonable. Not an unkind 
 word had any to say of poor 'Gus. He was nobody's 
 enemy but his own. His name will if we accept 
 perhaps " Othello " never be coupled with those of 
 really great Shakspearian actors, but in such parts 
 as "Mathew Elmore" (" Love's Sacrifice"), " Master 
 Walter" (''Hunchback"), and in a little drama called 
 "Dreams of Delusion," founded on the tale of the 
 cure of madness being effected by the re-enactment 
 of a past incident which caused it, I have never seen 
 his equal. He was by birth a gentleman and by 
 education (at Trinity College, Dublin) a scholar. 
 
 Our " production " this season was Falconer's 
 Irish drama of the "Peep o' Day," which was 
 played for the first time in Glasgow in March 3rd, 
 1862. Mr. Boucicault has been considered the first 
 to introduce the present system of travelling com- 
 panies, although the Haymarket Company had, as I 
 have previously stated, appeared with almost the 
 full corps in 1849, an< 3 even Samuel Foote had 
 eighty years before that, brought down his entire 
 company from the Haymarket to Edinburgh. The 
 present system of bringing down a play with a 
 complete cast was then but in perspective. The 
 members of travelling corps eight and twenty years 
 
 14 
 
2IO THE GLASGOW STx\GE. 
 
 ago had to depend upon aid from those of the stock 
 resident company. In the " Peep o' Day," as in 
 the " Colleen Bawn," not more than six or seven 
 artistes were brought from London. These were 
 Miss Heath (who was shortly afterwards married to 
 Mr. Wilson Barrett), one of the most refined of 
 actresses. She played " Mary Grace." Miss Clifford 
 was the " heroine ; " Mr. Harry Sinclair, " Harry 
 Kavanagh ; " Mr. J. Barrett (from the Princess's and 
 Lyceum), the " Irish Priest ; " the late Mr. M'Intyre, 
 the " Squireen ; " Mr. T. C. Harris (from Sadlers 
 Wells), " Black Mullens;" and Mr. Stainslaus 
 Calhaem, under whose direction the drama was 
 produced, "Barney OToole." " Mr. Grace" was 
 played by Fitzroy, and "Blind Paddy" by Hamblin. 
 The scenery for the drama, painted by Glover, was 
 magnificent, and the arrangement of the Irish fair 
 and dance in the second act would almost of itself 
 have been sufficiently novel to ensure for the play 
 a very long run. It was not, however, as a whole so 
 successful as the "Colleen Bawn." 
 
 On April 7th, John Brougham, a clever Irish 
 comedian, opened to a wretched house as " Micaw- 
 ber," playing also during his engagement " Captain 
 Cuttle" in " Dombey & Son." He produced, too, 
 an excellent comedy, although not a success, called 
 "Playing with Fire." Meantime the cosy little 
 Princes' had been doing very good business with 
 a modest stock company. It had reopened on 
 December 2nd, under the stage management of 
 Mr. Stainslaus Calhaem, with " The Pride of the 
 Market " and the burlesque of the " Maid and the 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 211 
 
 Magpie," in which Mr. and Mrs. Fred Glover were 
 very successful. The only "star" and that was 
 but a demi-one was Miss Marion Taylor. The "old 
 man" was Mr. Bellair, and Mr. H. Courte played the 
 "lead." The next " production " of the season was 
 Boucicault's " Octoroon," for which the author sent 
 down a very strong cast under the direction of 
 Mr. R. Phillips, the stage manager at the London 
 Adelphi. Mr. Delmon Grace, a capital actor from 
 America, was " Salem Scudder ;" Mr. Marcus Elmore, 
 " M'Cluskey ; " Mr. H. Mellon, Pete ; " Mrs. 
 Eburne, "Zoe;" Mrs. Buckingham White, "Dora 
 Sunnyside ; " Mrs. Charles Boyce, "Mrs. Peyton;" 
 Hamblin, "Captain Ratts;" T. H. Glenney, " Wah- 
 motee ; " Dobson, " Colonel Poindexter ; " and Miss 
 Bella Murdoch, the "boy." As a strong attraction 
 we shortly afterwards played with " The Octoroon " 
 the " Colleen Bawn," Mr. Elmore taking Emery's 
 place as u Danny Man ; " and Mr. H. Mellon resuming 
 " Father Tom " (an incomparably characteristic per- 
 formance). Mr. Fitzroy appeared as " Corrigan ; " 
 and Mrs. Eburne, " Eily O'Connor." 
 
212 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 AFTER a brief engagement, Mr. Charles Calvert made 
 his first bow to a Glasgow audience in the " Island 
 Home," and on the following night appeared in his 
 own translation of the drama of " Rube, the Show- 
 man," which he played to perfection. His style was 
 not original ; it was modelled on that of Charles 
 Kean's in regard to voice, gait, and action. The 
 next week Calvert acted with similar success in the 
 " Hive of Life," playing with the drama the burlesque 
 of "Esmeralda." We next produced, with scant success, 
 a wretched transpontine drama called "The Pirates of 
 Savannah," for which Mr. Henry Loydall was engaged. 
 The attraction of that week was, however, the 
 charming singing and acting of Julia St. George in 
 Planche's extravaganza of the " Invisible Prince," 
 which was played as an afterpiece to " The Pirates." 
 Then we revived " Aladdin," with Lloyd as the 
 "Widow." Chas. Rice came down and made a tre- 
 mendous hit as " Christopher Chirrup " (his original 
 character) in the drama of " Jessie Vere ; " Mrs. 
 Edward Price playing the heroine. As an attraction 
 an engagement was made with a Herr Tolmaque, 
 who professed to outdo the then famous Davenport 
 Brothers in the unfastening of any knot, without 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 213 
 
 visible means, his hands being secured and his arms 
 bound to a chair by one of the audience. He 
 challenged anyone to bind him so that he could not 
 extricate himself shielded by an extinguisher-look- 
 ing covering in one minute. On the second night 
 he made a most dismal failure a sailor having bound 
 him to the chair and tied him so that the " spirits " (!) 
 were unable to untie the knot. 
 
 On August 2nd Miss Amy Roselle (now Mrs. 
 Arthur Dacre) made her first appearance as a very 
 pretty little girl, who came to play seconds to her 
 brother, Master Percy Roselle, a child-actor who 
 acted very cleverly a round of parts the last act of 
 "Macbeth" and " Richard," &c. They appeared 
 together also in a little piece called " My Own Blue 
 Bell," and in a variety of characters in "The Day 
 after the Fair," and in each and all of their characters 
 were a pronounced success. 
 
 In London at this time Sothern was taking the 
 town by storm as " Lord Dundreary ; " and Charles 
 Rice played a little farce called "Lord Dundreary 
 Settled at Last," giving in it not a very faithful but a 
 very funny imitation of the great original. With this 
 and "The Colleen Bawn" we wound up 'the summer 
 season. 
 
 Great changes marked the opening of our next 
 winter campaign. The stock company had under- 
 gone a wonderful transformation, one which had 
 been arranged under the supervision of Mr. Hough- 
 ton, assisted by Mr. Charles Calvert, who was now 
 engaged as stage manager. With the exception of 
 the quartette of Powrie, Fitzroy, myself, and Lloyd, 
 
214 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 scarcely one of the staff who had figured in Glasgow 
 for many years before, remained. We opened on the 
 1st of September with "The Hunchback," with the 
 following cast: "Julia," Miss Kate Saville ; "Helen," 
 Miss Henrietta Watson, a young and excellent 
 soubrette, who was subsequently to figure as a pro- 
 minent character in more than one of the novels of 
 William Black ; " Master Walter," Charles Calvert ; 
 "Sir Thomas Clifford," Powrie ; "Master Wilford," 
 Mr. W. H. Kendal (his first appearance) ; " Master 
 Gaylove," Mr. Beveridge Heartwell ; " Modus," Mr. 
 Walter Baynham. " The Lady of Lyons," with 
 Powrie and Miss Saville, served to introduce Mr. 
 A. Alexander, who made his first appearance as 
 " Beauseant ; " Fitzroy, " Damas ; " Beveridge, " Gas- 
 per ; " Mrs. Wallis (mother of Mrs. Lowe), " Widow 
 Melnotte;" Miss Lavis, as "Madame Deschappelles." 
 Wednesday saw the company in "Macbeth." This 
 was succeeded by the "Merchant of Venice" (with 
 Powrie as " Gratiano "), " Othello," and " King 
 John." Mr. Calvert's admirable stage arrange- 
 ment of these pieces drew enormous houses, and, 
 coupled with the burlesque of " Perseus and Andro- 
 meda," the business soon became better than had 
 been known for years. We now revived " Faust and 
 Marguerite," with Calvert as " Mephistopheles " and 
 Miss Saville as "Marguerite." Miss Saville shortly 
 afterwards left the company, and her place was filled 
 by Miss Agnes Markham, who was then playing in 
 the burlesque. The production of the legitimate 
 alone without the aid of stars carried us on fairly up 
 to the " Preachings " in October, and the pleasantest 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 215 
 
 memories of the opening of the following season will 
 be always revived by calling to mind such productions 
 as "Still Waters Run Deep," "Much Ado about 
 Nothing," and " The Fool's Revenge," in which Miss 
 Rollason (now Mrs. Nye Chart, the respected mana- 
 geress of the Theatre Royal, Brighton) made her 
 first appearance on I3th October. 
 
 On the 1 5th October, Mrs. Charles Calvert made 
 her first appearance as " Rosalind." " The Jewess " 
 was also revived magnificently, and ran till November 
 8th. But the best stage management is not exempt 
 from accidents, and the finest tragic acting has occa- 
 sionally its comic side. One evening we were playing 
 " Hamlet." Powrie was the " Prince," and Alexander 
 played the " King." Now it is a remarkable fact 
 that as a rule the death of the " King," even under 
 ordinary circumstances, always raises a laugh, and 
 tends considerably to jeopardise the success of the 
 ending of the tragedy. Various modes have conse- 
 quently been from time to time devised to, if 
 possible, make the close of that monarch's life 
 convey a stern moral. Sometimes the " Hamlet " 
 will dare him in pantomime to moral combat, and 
 then disarming him, inflict the mortal stab, and get 
 him hustled off the stage. Fechter, used to surround 
 the unfortunate monarch with guards, as he fell 
 headlong from the throne. This latter symbol of 
 royalty is invariably set in the centre of the stage, 
 and is consequently the most prominent feature of the 
 scene. Powrie's idea was in the present instance to 
 render the throne as little conspicuous as possible. 
 He arranged for it to be erected on the right-hand 
 
2l6 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 side, near the wings. Then he designed to stab 
 " Claudius," and for the " King " to fall prostrate 
 on his face on the steps leading up to the throne. 
 Every arrangement was duly carried out at rehearsal ; 
 but, unfortunately, the Property man had not taken 
 into consideration two things the one was the 
 strength of the back of the throne chair, and the 
 other the extra force which, in the excitement of 
 the moment, Mr. Powrie might impart to the fatal 
 thrust "Laertes" (myself) had been duly despatched, 
 and was lying head foremost to the audience. Powrie 
 then made such a rush at Mr. Alexander, that the 
 hilt of the sword coming with tremendous force 
 against the edge of the back of the throne chair 
 the latter gave way, and tipped up, carrying upwards 
 the slain monarch and his legs with it It got 
 fixed between the "two wings," and Mr. Alexander, 
 being at the time quite powerless to extricate 
 himself from his embarrassing position, remained 
 with his regal robe thrown up over him, almost 
 as high as his head, and discovering beneath 
 it a pair of red-worsted tights, over which were 
 tucked up Mr. Alexander's street trousers. To 
 complete the effect, the laughter of the audience 
 caused " Laertes," who had died a few minutes 
 before, to look up in order to ascertain what was 
 the matter. On this unexpected denouement the 
 curtain fell. 
 
 The very latest edition of the " Lady of Lyons " 
 was played admirably with Lloyd as the " Widow 
 Melnotte," Miss Reinhardt as "Pauline," Hamblin 
 as " Damas," and " Claude," Miss Wilmott This 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 2I/ 
 
 was followed by the burlesque of " Esmeralda/' also 
 very successful, with Miss Reinhardt in the title 
 role, Lloyd as the " Monk," and Fred Glover as 
 the "Hunchback." I must not omit to mention 
 "The Dumb Man of Manchester," which was at 
 this time played frequently on a Saturday night, 
 with Fred Glover as "Tom" a performance which 
 was said to have equalled that of George Parry. In 
 July, Miss St. George, as a "star," made a great 
 success in " Graceful, or the Fair One with the 
 Golden Locks." " Lucidora," the fair one, was 
 played by Miss Wilmott ; and " King Lachrimosa " 
 (a character afterwards immortalised by Alfred 
 Davis' singing in it of "Likkity Longsha ") by 
 Fitzroy. Fitzroy made a signal success when we 
 revived for him the "Porter's Knot," with himself 
 as " Sampson Burr," Mrs. Sennett as " Mrs. Burr," 
 Mathews as "Augustus," Myself as "Scatter," 
 Hamblin the "Captain," Fred Glover "Smirk," 
 Dobson " Bob," and Miss Reinhardt " Alice." 
 Charles Rice, who came on July 14, induced 
 the management, after some little persuasion, to 
 revive for him the old farce of "The Secret," and 
 his "Thomas" was one of the funniest performances 
 ever witnessed on our stage. On the i/th July, 
 James Anderson reappeared after an absence of 
 many years. Few, then looking on him with his 
 splendid figure, his majestic mien, and listening to 
 his melodious voice, would have recognised in him 
 the small boy who some thirty years before had, as 
 the barber's son, lathered their chins in the shop 
 below the Garrick's Head opposite, whilst his father 
 
218 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 catered for the customers in the public-house above. 
 He played in a translation of Schiller's " Robbers," 
 " Ingomar," " Clouds and Sunshine," " Othello," and 
 for his benefit in the "Honeymoon." We produced 
 the pantomime of " Blue Beard " on the I5th with 
 Lloyd as " Blue Beard ; " Hamblin, " Ibrahim ; " Miss 
 Watson, " Selim ; " George Hardinge, " Sister Ann ; " 
 Miss Rollason, the " Fairy Queen." 
 
 There was a short three weeks' season at the 
 Princes' commenced in December, which was very 
 well patronised. Maria Simpson and W. Ellerton 
 (who was stage manager) appeared together in " All 
 that Glitters," " The Little Treasure," " Rough 
 Diamond," "Maid with the Milking Pail," "Game 
 of Romps," and "The Artful Dodger." The main 
 reason for opening the theatre, however, was to 
 produce the pantomime of " Cinderella," in which the 
 "Demon King" was played by Lindsay; the tutor, 
 " Alidora/' with an admirable make-up a la " Dr. 
 Syntax " by Kendal, the " Prince " by Miss Simpson, 
 the " Queen " by Miss Mace, the " Baron," Fitzroy, 
 the " Sisters," Ellerton and Miss Lavis. On the last 
 night of the season, January 16, Mr. Calvert played 
 " Rube, the Showman," and Powrie " Petruchio," to 
 the " Katherine " of Mrs. Calvert. The pantomime 
 wound up the evening. When the Princes' closed 
 in 1862, the company came back at once to Dunlop 
 Street, and played in the pieces introductory to u Blue 
 Beard." The latter pantomime had run its destined 
 course, and we reached the last night on Saturday, 
 January 31. On the following Monday we were to have 
 opened with Buckstone's drama of the " Dream at 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 219 
 
 Sea." Never, however, was the Theatre Royal that 
 morrow to see. On the night of January the 3ist 
 it was burnt to the ground. By a remarkable coinci- 
 dence, as in the case of the burning of the " Prince of 
 Wales " and the Cowcaddens Theatre Royal, the fire 
 broke out on the last night of the pantomime. We 
 had been playing as a first piece "Married Life," 
 with the following cast : 
 
 Mrs. Lynx, . . . Miss Mace. 
 
 Mr. Lynx, . . . Kendal. 
 
 Mrs. Younghusband, Miss Watson. 
 
 Mr. Younghusband, . . W. Baynham. 
 
 Mr. Dismal, . . . Hamblin. 
 
 Mrs. Dismal, . . . Miss Lavis. 
 
 Mrs. Coddle, . . . Mrs. Wallis. 
 
 Mr. Coddle, . . . Fitzroy. 
 
 Mrs. Dove, . . . Miss Eliza Hamilton. 
 
 Mr. Dove, . . . Lloyd. 
 
 As the curtain was falling and the corps were 
 standing in the usual but now exploded semicircle 
 fashion round the stage, I remarked sotto voce to my 
 partner, Miss Watson "What a strong smell of 
 burning ! " She answered " It smells like burnt 
 wool'' The curtain fell. "Blue Beard" was got 
 through very carelessly, the carpenters being, as was 
 customary on such occasions, very drunk. I left 
 after the first piece to read at a soiree in the 
 Merchants Hall, and returned home to my lodgings 
 in West Nile Street at about half-past eleven. About 
 one in the morning a violent ringing at the street 
 door bell awoke me, and, starting up, I heard the 
 cry of " Fire ! Dunlop Street Theatre ! " The police- 
 
220 THE GLASGOW STAGE. 
 
 man, not knowing the address of Mrs. Glover, and 
 recollecting that I was the stage manager, had come 
 direct to my house. I dressed as quickly as I could 
 and made my way to the scene, calling on my way 
 down, on Dr. Thomson, one of the late Mr. Glover's 
 trustees. The conflagration was at its height, and 
 its flames were visible for miles around. In the 
 ruddy glare, which lit up the dark night and brought 
 to view the dense crowd below, and the scared faces 
 at every window and on every roof above, were to be 
 seen the features of many a patron and many an 
 actor. Prominent on the stone steps leading to the 
 Garrick's Head were the figures of Mr. R. H. 
 Wyndham and Mr. George Alexander. 
 
 How, when, or where the fire broke out no one 
 could tell, but most probably it was caused by 
 some of the old dresses in the costumier's becoming 
 accidentally ignited, although no blame was ever 
 attached to the costumier, who left the wardrobe 
 safe a few minutes after the pantomime had begun. 
 
 The conflagration proved a severe loss to all 
 concerned in the theatre, especially to the principal 
 artistes, some of whom had many valuable "pro- 
 perties " and dresses consumed, and for the loss 
 of which they received no compensation. On the 
 following morning the news of the terrible event 
 was conveyed to Mr. Houghton, by a messenger 
 despatched to meet him on his return from London, 
 where he had been making arrangements with stars 
 for the following season. Measures were taken at 
 once for the reopening of the Princes', and within a 
 twelvemonth a handsome theatre was erected on the 
 
THE GLASGOW STAGE. 221 
 
 site of the former one. But with the destruction of 
 the latter, the days of "old Dunlop Street" were 
 virtually ended. 
 
 The roar and shrill whistle of trains, the pon- 
 derous railway arch, the traffic, and the rising genera- 
 tion have done their best, or worst, to obliterate the 
 recollections of those days. But to the grey-haired 
 play-goer, their memory is still green, and with a 
 chastened pleasure it will ever conjure up many a 
 pleasant holiday, many a kindly face both on and off 
 the boards a careless, joyful time. In its long life 
 of more than eighty years the old playhouse had, of 
 course, to answer for many sins of omission and com- 
 mission ; but as having fathered some of the best 
 pieces, domiciled the best actors, and trained the best 
 artistes, old Dunlop Street has carved an eternal 
 niche in the Temple of Fame. We take leave of the 
 old-time scene as we bid a farewell to a dear old friend, 
 and we look back upon it as we gaze upon a child- 
 hood simple, bright, and pure a gentle and tender 
 memory, which neither fashion, taste, nor time can 
 nor will ever efface. 
 
 AND BAIN, LIMITED, PRINTERS, GLASGOW. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 ACTORS, Houseless, 120. 
 
 Addison, Laura, 139. 
 
 Adelphi Theatre, 129, 131, 144, 149, 
 
 150. 
 
 i, ,, Destruction of, 154. 
 
 Advocates, Faculty of, 37. 
 Aicken, 19, 22. 
 
 ,, J., zoo, no, in, 113. 
 
 Miss, 105, 106, 154, 158, 181, 
 
 182, 184, 193, 206. 
 Aiken, Francis, 41, 57, 58. 
 Aladdin, 80, 109, 119, 132. 
 
 ,, Burlesque, 203. 
 Aldridge, Ira, 150. 
 Alexander, A., 214. 
 ,, Geo., 220. 
 
 J. H., 77, 98, 99, 100, 105, 
 112, 113, 114, 115, 116 et. seq., 
 121, 123, 124, 133, 135, 139, 140, 
 142, 144, 150, 151, 161 et. seq., 
 170, 195. 
 Allan, F., 101. 
 Allison, Sir. A., 137, 175. 
 Allwood & Alexander (Scene between), 
 
 142 et. seq., 158. 
 Alma, Battle of, 183. 
 Alston Street Theatre, 26. 
 Anderson (Wizard of the North), 99, 
 
 130, 144, 145, 146, 147. 
 Andrews, 183, 187. 
 Amateurs' Fiasco, 184. 
 Archibold, Mrs., 98. 
 Arden, Miss, 178. 
 Ashley, 103, 193. 
 Assembly Rooms, 49, 120. 
 As you like it, 178. 
 Athenaeum, 49, 120. 
 Atkins, Cath., 83. 
 Atkinson, Miss, 178. 
 Aztecs Children, 178. 
 
 BAIRD, J., 14. 
 Ball, Fancy, 120. 
 Bannatyne, W., 50. 
 Bannister, Jack, 42, 51, 72, 73. 
 Barclay, R., Writer, 29. 
 Baron Munchausen, 132, 172. 
 Barrett, 210. 
 Barry, Miss, 193. 
 Bartley and Trueman, 76, 114. 
 Bateman Children, 175. 
 
 Baynham, Walter, 104, 195, 198, 202, 
 
 203, 213, 214, 219. 
 ,, Mrs., 181, 195, 198, 202, 204. 
 Beatt, 21. 
 Beaumont, 68. 
 Beauty and the Beast, 59. 
 Beckett, 158. 
 Bedford, Paul, 172. 
 Bellair, 211. 
 Bellamy, Mrs., 11, 12, 15, 17, 18, 19, 
 
 20, 21, 70. 
 Belmore, 172. 
 Belphegor, 175. 
 Belton, 149, 159. 
 Benefit, First, 36. 
 Bennett, Rosa, 159, 172. 
 Benson, Mr., 97. 
 Berry, 54. 
 
 Betty, H. W., 42, 44, 45, 47, 56, 81. 
 Beveridge, 214. 
 Billington, Jno., 172. 
 Black Bull Tavern, 19, 51, 52. 
 Bland, C., 158, 193. 
 
 Mrs. C., 158, 173, 198. 
 
 Fanny, 177, 187. 
 
 Harcourt, 103, 179, 180, 183, 
 
 186, 189. 
 
 ,, first appearance of, 179. 
 and Jackson, 26. 
 Mary, 183. 
 Bleadon, Miss, 157. 
 Blue Beard, 59, 119. 
 
 Pantomime, 218. 
 Bogle, R., 14. 
 W.,i 3 . 
 Bolero, 174. 
 Booth, L. J., 95. 
 Borrani, 159, 173. 
 Boucicault, 105, 174. 
 Boyce, Mrs., 204, 211. 
 Braham, 51, 121. 
 Bromley, 104. 
 
 Brooke, G. V., 124, 168, 207. 
 Brougham, H. , 210. 
 Brown, 144. 
 
 David, 173. 
 Buckstone, J. B., 48, 171, 183. 
 Burns, 104. 
 Burrell, D., 5, 6. 
 Burrell's Close, 4, 6. 
 Bute Cottage. 89, 90. 
 
ii 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Buton, 104. 
 
 Byrne, 69, 112, 114, 117. 
 
 ,, Miss, 112. 
 
 , , Osc. , 70. 
 Byron, Lord, 38. 
 
 CAIUS GRACHUS, 113. 
 Calcraft, 105. 
 Caledonian Theatre, 113. 
 Calhaem, 210. 
 
 Calvert, Charles, 212, 213, 214, 218. 
 Mrs. C., 215, 218. 
 (Manager), 154, 155. 
 Campbell, Thos., 37, 38, 45. 
 
 ,, Wm., loo, 159. 
 Canning, Geo., 22. 
 Carroll, 172. 
 Carson, Kate, 183. 
 Castle Spectre, 48. 
 Catalani, 51. 
 Cathcart, 127, 180. 
 ,, Fanny, 168. 
 
 Jas., 127. 168. 
 Cauchrane, Bauldy, 59. 
 Celeste, 186, 
 
 ,, Madam, 150. 
 Chalmers, no. 
 Chapman, Misses, 198. 
 Cherry and Fair Star, 144. 
 Children in the Wood, 72. 
 Cholera, Asiatic, 123. 
 Cinderella, 59, 138. 
 
 ,, Pantomime, 218. 
 Circus, ii2. 
 Citizen, 19. 
 City Theatre, 144. 
 
 ,, ,, Fire at, 146. 
 
 Clarke, Mrs. Cowden, 156. 
 Cleaver, Miss, 98, 101, 187, 197. 
 Cleland, Dr., 28 
 Clifford, Miss, 210. 
 Clifton, Miss, 175. 
 Club, Hodge Podge, 14. 
 Clyde, Inundation of, 35 
 Cobbett, Wm., 59, 
 Cockerill, 172, 177. 
 Coleman, Jno., 203. 
 Colleen Bawn, 203. 
 Comedy of Errors, 193. 
 Company, Bad, 124. 
 Conrad and Medora, 187. 
 Conveyances, Glasgow, 13. 
 Cooke, G. F., 38, 51, 57, 60, 62, 63, 
 65, 66, 67. 
 
 ,, T. P., 121. 
 Corri, H., 96, 159. 
 
 ,, Jno., 96. 
 
 ,, Kathleen, 96. 
 
 Couldoch, 145. 
 
 Coulter, Mr., 7. 
 
 Courant, Glasgow, 6, 24. 
 
 Courier of Lyons, 180. 
 
 Courte, H., 206, 211. 
 
 Courtenay, First appearance of, 189, 
 
 198, 203. 
 
 Courier (Journal), 76, 77. 
 Coyne, Gardiner, 198. 
 Cowell, Sam, 157, 158, 159, 173. 
 Cox, Alderman, 89. 
 Craigie, Lawrence, 50. 
 Cribb, Tom, 59. 
 Cricket on the Hearth, 149. 
 Croft, Mrs. Alban, 144. 
 Cruikshank, Geo., 156. 
 Crummies, 150. [88. 
 
 Curran, Richard, and Mrs. Johnstone, 
 Cushman, Miss, 103, 148, 149, 181, 
 [185. 
 
 DALY, Julia, 202. 
 Dancing, First Regulations of, 5. 
 Danvers, Mr. A., 103. 
 ,, Ramsay, 103. 
 Davenport (Crummies), 150, 151, 153, 
 ,, Miss, 150, 152, 153. 
 
 W, H., 172, 173. 
 Davis, 1 1 8. 
 
 ,, John, 139, 141. 
 Davison, Capt., 55. 
 J. W., 55. 
 Delavante, 157. 
 Denlin, Nicolo, 207. 
 Denmark, King of, n. 
 Dennistoun, 50. 
 Der Freischutz, 116, 146. 
 Desborough, 193. 
 Devil's Home, 7, 14. 
 Dewar, F., 183. 
 Dibdin, 25, 104. 
 Dickens, 155. 
 
 F., 156. 
 Digges, West, 7, 17, 24. 
 Dobson, W., 106, 211. 
 Dominion of Fancy, 115. 
 Dominique, Mr., 6, 7. [139. 
 
 Don Caesar de Bazan, production of, 
 
 Giovanni, 96. 
 
 ,, Sir W., 185, 187. 
 Doran, Dr. (quoted). 
 Douglas (First performance) 21, 41, 44. 
 Dowton, 51. 
 Dred, 185. 
 
 Dramatic Review, 140. 
 Ducrow, 119, 126. 
 Duff, 197. 
 
 Duncan, Miss, 40, 55. 
 ,, Mrs., 40. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Ill 
 
 Dunlop, Colin, 29, 30, 32. 
 Jas., 14. 
 
 Street Theatre, 33, 49, 59, 58, 
 112, 133, 150, 
 195, 219. 
 
 ,, Accident at, 161. 
 
 ,, ,, Alterations in, 121. 
 
 ,, Building of, 30, 33, 
 
 34, 40, 44, 48. 
 Dwyer, 70. 
 Dyas, Mrs., 149. 
 
 EBURNE, Mr., 139, 140. 
 
 ,, Mrs., 106, 184, 211. 
 Edinburgh Theatricals, 10, 12, 37, 
 
 104, 133. 
 
 Egerton, Mrs., 101. 
 Egg, Augustus, 156. 
 Ellerton, W. , 218. 
 Elliston, R. W., 42, 51, 73. 
 Elmore, Marcus, 211. 
 Elphinstone, Mr., 153. 
 
 ,, Miss; no, 126. 
 
 Emery, Sam, 51, 204. 
 Evatt, 54. 
 
 Everett, Geo., 158, 198. 
 Eyre, Mr., 54. 
 Mrs., 54, 97. 
 
 FIRST Appearances of Glasgow 
 
 Actors 
 
 Anderson, J. H., 99. 
 Aitken, Mr., no. 
 Betty, H. W. , 42. 
 Billington, 172. 
 
 Baynham, Mr. and Mrs. Walter, 
 Belton, 149. [195. 
 
 Bland, Harcourt, 179. 
 Calvert, 212. 
 
 ,, Mrs. C., 215. 
 Cooke, G. F.,6o. 
 Courtenay, Lindo, 189. 
 Co well, Sam, 157. 
 Coyne, Gardiner, 198. 
 Daly, Julia, 202. 
 Davison, Mrs., 55. 
 Elliston, 42. 
 Faucit, Helen, 134. 
 Fisher, David, 173. 
 Glover, Edmund, 134. 
 ,, Mrs. E., 176. 
 Houghton, 98. 
 Irving, H., 192. 
 Kendal, W. H., 214. 
 Lind, Jenny, 156. 
 Macready, W. C., 78. 
 Marriott, Miss, 188. 
 Norton, Bruce, 177. 
 
 First Appearances Continued. 
 
 Powrie, Tom, 157. 
 
 Rollason, Miss, 215. 
 
 Roselle, Amy, 213. 
 
 Toole, 182. 
 
 Vincent, Geo., 180. 
 Fanaticism, Religious, 2, 7, 10, 14, 
 
 15, 16, 28, 36. 
 Farren, Miss, 40, 51. 
 
 W., 109. 
 Faucit, Helen, 134, 136, 137, 181, 
 
 186, 189, 195, 198. 
 Faust and Marguerite, 187. 
 Fawcett, 51. 
 Fenton, C., 204, 207. 
 Fielding, Miss, 157, 158. [188. 
 
 Fisher, David, 98, 173, 176, 178, 185, 
 
 ,, ,, First appearance of, 173. 
 
 ,, ,, Sen., 198. 
 
 Fitzroy, J. B., 101, 103, 104, 106, 
 135, 177, 178, 180, 186, 187, 197, 
 198, 202, 210, 211, 214, 218, 219. 
 Fitzwilliam, Mrs., 145, 171. 
 Fletcher, 193. 
 
 Florence, Mr. and Mrs., 185. 
 Flowerden, 54. [175. 
 
 Flying Dragon of Pekin Pantomime, 
 Foote, Sam, 24, 209. 
 Forster, Jno., 156. 
 Fox, C. J., 43. 
 
 GARDEN, Mr., 172. 
 
 "Garrick's Head," 166, 195. 
 
 Gas, Introduction of, 96. 
 
 George the Fourth, 87. 
 
 George the Third, n. 
 
 ,, ,, Madness of, 37. 
 
 Gillies, Rev. Dr., 29, 33. 
 
 Glenney, 203, 211. 
 
 Glover, Edmund, 98, 99, 103, 106, 
 134, 135, 156, 157, 
 159, 174, 175, 177, 
 180, 182, 184, 186, 
 
 193- 
 
 Death of, 194. 
 Mrs. E., 176, 178, 189, 196. 
 F., 193, 203, 
 Miss Julia, 158. 
 Mrs. F., 197, 203, 207, 211. 
 Mrs., 51, 68, 70, 101, 132, 
 
 158, 159- 
 
 Sam, 177, 187, 193. 
 William, 210. 
 Glynn, 173, 178. 
 Goddard, Miss, 189. 
 Gordon, Duchess of, 5. 
 
 J. W.,io6. 
 ,, Rev. Dr., 131. 
 
IV 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Gorman, 6. 
 Gourlay, 100. 
 Grace, Delmon, 211. 
 Graham, Sir Jas. Bill, 130. 
 Grahamstown, 15, 50. 
 Granier, 6. 
 Grant (Actor), 79. 
 Gray, jno. , 124, 130. 
 Great Bed of Ware Pantomime, 176. 
 Gresham, 197, 198, 202. 
 Grisi, 176. 
 Guy, J. , 198. 
 ,, Mannering, 102. 
 
 HAIGH, H., 98, 104. 
 
 ,, Mrs., 104. 
 Hall, H., 150, 173. 
 Hamilton, Eliza, 219. 
 
 ,, Jno., 50. 
 Hamblin, 98, 187, 193, 197, 198, 203, 
 
 207, 210, 211, 218, 219. 
 Harcourt, Miss A. , 158. 
 Hardinge, G., 218. 
 Harris, T. C., 210. 
 Harrison, W. (Vocalist), 104, 159. 
 Haymarket Company, Visit of, 148. 
 Hazlewood, 105. 
 Heart of Mid-Lothian, 104. 
 Heath, Miss, 210. 
 Heir, 178. 
 Henderson, J., 40. 
 Henry the Eighth, 184. 
 Herald, Glasgow, 76, 77. 
 Herbert, Miss, 181, 182. 
 Hield, 84. 
 Hobson, 178. 
 Holland, Mr., 68. 
 Holston, 204. 
 Home, Rev. Mr. , 46, 56. 
 Honey, George, 159. 
 Honeymoon, Cast of, 53. 
 
 Play of the, 53, 55, 73. 
 Horncastle, 121. 
 Houghton, Prompter, 45, 47. 
 
 G., 98, 175, 193, 196, 213, 220. 
 House on the Bridge of Notre Dame, 
 Houston, Jas., loo, 106. [198. 
 
 Howard, J. B., 99, 104. 
 Mrs. J. B., 101. 
 
 W., 139. 
 Hudson, 161. 
 
 Hughes, Miss F., 178, 180. 
 Hunchback, 109, 154. 
 
 INCHBALD, Mrs., 44. 
 Incledon, 51. 
 
 ,, and Cooke, 64. 
 Indian Revolt, 193. 
 
 Ireland, W. H., 71. 
 Irving, Edward, no. 
 
 ,, Henry, First appearance of, 
 Isaacs, Miss, 157. [192. 
 
 Ivanhoe, 180. 
 
 [206. 
 
 JACK the Giant Killer Pantomime, 
 Jackson, J., 12, 26, 28, 30, 31, 34, 40, 
 41, 45, 46, 47, 49, 57, 
 58, 67. 
 
 ,, Death of, 58. 
 House of, 34. 
 , , Letter of, 31. 
 Jane Shore, n, 41, 141. 
 Jewess, The, 146. 
 John King, 178. 
 Johnstone, Harry, 55, 56, 57, 82, 87, 
 
 94.9S.ii3>i22,i32. 
 Mrs. H., 88. 
 Jas., 131. 
 
 ,, Willie, 123, 130. 
 
 Jones, Avonia, 208. 
 ,, Richard, 74. 
 
 ,, ,, Personal Reminis- 
 
 cences, 75. 
 
 Jordan, Mrs. , 26, 40, 51. 
 Josephs, Mr., 193. 
 
 ,, Fanny, 98, 193. 
 Julie, Mad., 183. 
 Julius Cassar (Anecdote), 141. 
 
 KEAN, Charles, 91, 92, 93, 94, 128, 
 
 138, 174. 
 
 ,, Mrs. CHARLES, no, 128, 198. 
 E., 38, 51, 62, 67, 74, 82, 88, 
 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 109, 121, 
 122 et. seq., 124. 
 Keeley, Louise, 186, 189. 
 Kelly, Michael, 68. 
 
 ,, Miss, 68. 
 Kemble, Charles, 76, 99. 
 Mrs. Charles, 76. 
 Fanny, 153. 
 
 John, 38, 40, 51, 61, 67, in. 
 Roger, 39. 
 Stephen, 40, 41. 
 Kendal, W. H., 104, 218, 219. 
 
 ,, ,, First appearance of, 214. 
 Kenneth, 172. 
 King, 40. 
 
 ,, Mr. and Mrs. Donald, 173. 
 Kinloch, 113. 
 Knowles (Lecturer), 59. 
 
 ,, Sheridan, 90, 108, no, 126, 
 138, 149, 155. 
 
 LABLACHE, 176. 
 
 F., 156. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Lady of the Lake, 105. 
 Langley, 99, 161, 164, 165. 
 Lavis, Miss, 104, 214, 218, 219. 
 Lawrence, 197, 202. 
 Leclercq, Carlotta, 187. 
 
 Family, 139. 
 Rose, 101. 
 Lee, Jno., 91. 
 Leeson, Dan, 204. 
 Lemon, Mark, 156. 
 Leveston, 198. 
 Lewis, Lee, 40. 
 
 Lind, Jenny, First appearance of, 156, 
 Lindsay, 101, 193, 218. 
 Listen, 51, 103, 112, 118, 121. 
 Little Bo-Peep Pantomime, 184. 
 Lloyd, 98, 101, 104, 122, 124, 131, 
 133. *35 138, 157. IS 8 . 159. 
 
 173, 178, l8o, 197, 202, 212, 
 
 213, 216, 217, 218, 219. 
 
 ,, Arthur, 190. 
 Lonsdale, 157. 
 Lost and Found, 202. 
 Love, Mr., 7. 
 
 ,, and Beatt, 13, 15, 24. 
 Lowe, W., 193. 
 Loydall, H., 212. 
 Lucombe, Miss, 173. 
 Lyon, Tom, 138, 139. 
 
 MACBETH, 177. 
 
 ,, First performance, 21. 
 Mace, Miss, 218, 219. 
 Macgregor, Helen, 101. 
 M'Intyre, 210. 
 Mackay, 97, 98, 100, 103, 105, 106, 
 
 121, 138, 176. 
 
 Mackintosh (Mechanist), 90, 126. 
 Macready, 43, 44, 51, 61, 77, 78, 79, 
 80 to 86, 108, 109, 174. 
 Sen., 79, 80, 114, 135, 
 
 150, 175. 
 MacSycophant, Cooke as, 62. 
 
 ,, Johnstone as, 56. 
 
 MacSarcasm, 62. 
 Maid and the Magpie, 211. 
 Mail, N.B., 159. 
 Managers, Rival, 116. 
 Mann Byars, 51. 
 Manners, Josephine, 98. 
 Markham, Agnes, 214. 
 Marriott, Miss, 101, 105. 
 
 First appearance of, 188. 
 Mario, 176. 
 Marshall, 158. 
 
 C.E.,98. 
 
 Maskell, Miss Caroline, 181, 183. 
 Massal, Miss, 158, 174. 
 
 Mathews, C., Sen., 25, 51. 
 
 Charles, Jr., 75, 125, 153, 
 
 177, 193, 198. 
 
 ,, Anecdotes of, 198 to 200. 
 Cooke, 63. 
 J. C., 208. 
 M'Alpine, Miss, 98. 
 M'Dowall, W., 13. 
 M'Gregor, 138. 
 M'Neill, 99. 
 Mead, Tom, 187, 188. 
 Meadows, 125. 
 Meg Merrilees, 103, 149. 
 Melbourne, 138. 
 Melville, 158. 
 Mellon, H., 203, 211. 
 Midsummer Night's Dream, 186. 
 Miller and Alexander, quarrel be- 
 tween, 145. 
 
 ,, D. P., 84, 129, 132, 154. 
 
 ,, Jno., of Westerton, 14, 15. 
 
 ,, Second Season, 138. 
 Mills, 26. 
 Mock Doctor, 19. 
 Molyneaux, 59. 
 Monthly Mirror, 58, 
 Montague, Miss, 134. 
 Montgomerie, Dean of Faculty, 12. 
 
 ,, Manager, 76, 114. 
 
 Montignani, 59. 
 Moore, Dr. , 29. 
 
 ,, Sir John, 29. 
 Morgan, W M 98. 
 Morley, 144, 145. 
 Mother Shipton Pantomime, 174. 
 Much Ado about Nothing, First per- 
 formance of, 40. 
 Muir, Mr., 196. 
 Munden, 51, 77. 
 Munroe, 104. 
 Mumford, Mr., 132, 133. 
 Mumfords, 132. 
 Murdoch, Bella, 211. 
 
 M., 206. 
 Murray, Gaston, 178. 
 
 ,, Mr. and Mrs. Leigh, 183. 
 
 W. H., 97, 98, 101, 106, 114, 
 
 159. !75. J 76. 
 NAISMITH, 51. 
 Nesbitt, Mrs., 126. 
 Newcombe, Jno., 185. 
 Nicol, Miss, 101, 139, 140. 
 Norton, Bruce, 100, 196. 
 
 ,, ,, Death of, 205. [177. 
 
 ,, ,, First appearance of, 
 
 Nye (Nye Chart), 172. 
 
 O'BRIEN, Miss, 158. 
 
VI 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Observer (Journal), 47. 
 Octoroon, 211. 
 O'Neil, Miss, 94, 95. 
 Orger, Mrs., 68. 
 Oxberry, 68. 
 
 PANTOMIME, First, 8. 
 Parker, Annie, 193. 
 Parry, George, 174, 189. 
 Paumier, 106, no, 135, 139, 141. 
 Payne, 157. 
 
 ,, Family, 179. 
 Peep o' Day, 209. 
 Penman, Mrs., 104. 
 Penny, 50. 
 Perourou, 189. 
 Perth Theatre, 97. 
 Phelps, 57, 131, 177, 181. 
 Pitt, Charles, 127, 138, 185. 
 
 ,, ,, Mrs., 127. 
 
 ,, Fanny, 127. 
 Plays, First in Scotland, i. 
 Plays, Sunday, i. 
 Playhouses, Number of, i. 
 Playhouse, First, 7. 
 Playhouse, Destruction of First, 8. 
 
 ,, ,, Second, 17. 
 
 Pope, 40. 
 
 Porteous, Rev. Dr., 29. 
 Power, Tyrone, 113, 124. 
 Powrie, 98, 99, 100, 106, 135, 177, 184. 
 186, 197, 206, 213, 214, 215, 
 218. 
 
 ,, First appearance of, 157, 158. 
 Price, Edward, First appearance of, 
 
 202. 
 
 Price, Mrs., First appearance of, 212. 
 Prince's Theatre, 156, 186. 
 Proudfoot, Hosier, 113. 
 Pyne, Louisa, 104. 
 Pyne-Harrison Troupe, 104, 193. 
 Plays Produced 
 
 Aladdin, 80, 109, 119, 132. 
 
 Alma, Battle of, 183. 
 
 As you like It, 178. 
 
 Belphegor, 175. 
 
 Blue Beard, 59, 119. 
 
 Caius Grachus, 113. 
 
 Castle Spectre, 48. 
 
 Children in the Wood, 72. 
 
 Cinderella, 59, 138. 
 
 Citizen, 19. 
 
 Colleen Bawn, 203. 
 
 Comedy of Errors, 193. 
 
 Conrad and Medora, 187. 
 
 Courier of Lyons, 180. 
 
 Cricket on the Hearth, 149. 
 
 Der Freischutz, 146. 
 
 Plays Produced Continued. 
 Don Caesar de Bazan, 139. 
 Don Giovanni, 96. 
 Douglas, 21. 
 Dred, 185. 
 
 Faust and Marguerite, 187. 
 Guy Mannering, 102. 
 Heart of Mid-Lothian, 104. 
 Henry the Eighth, 184. 
 Honeymoon, 53. 
 
 House on the Bridge of Notre 
 Hunchback, 109. [Dame, 198. 
 
 Indian Revolt, 193. 
 Ivanhoe, 180. 
 Jane Shore, n. 
 Jewess, 146. 
 Lady of the Lake, 105. 
 Lost and Found, 202. 
 Macbeth, 21, 177. 
 Maid and the Magpie, Burl. , 210. 
 Midsummer Night's Dream, 186. 
 Mock Doctor, 19. 
 Much Ado about Nothing, 40. 
 Octoroon, 211. 
 Peep o' Day, 209, 
 Perourou, 189. 
 Richelieu, 178. 
 Robespierre, 175. 
 Rob Roy, 97. 
 School for Scandal, 40. 
 Sevastapool, Fall of, 184. 
 Still Waters, 187. 
 Uncle Tom's Cabin, 177. 
 Virginius, 108. 
 Waterloo, Battle of, 118. 
 Woman in White, 198. 
 Pantomimes 
 
 Baron Munchausen, 132, 172. 
 Beauty and the Beast, 59. 
 Blue Beard, 218. 
 Cinderella, 218. 
 Dick Whittington, 178. 
 Flying Dragon of Pekin, 175. 
 Great Bed of Ware, 176. 
 Jack the Giant Killer, 206. 
 Little Bo-Peep, 184. 
 Mother Shipton, 174. 
 Red Riding Hood, 195. 
 St. George and the Dragon, 185. 
 Sinbad the Sailor, 189. 
 Sleeping Beauty, 190. 
 QUEEN Street Theatre, 50, 60, 82. 
 
 Applicant for, 53. 
 
 Building of, 50, 112. 
 
 Burning of, 119. 
 
 Cost of, 50. 
 
 Decorations, 50. 
 Queen's Theatre, 155. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Vll 
 
 RAE, 121. 
 
 Rainforth, Miss, 159. 
 Ray, J. W., 150. 
 
 ,, Stembridge, 181. 
 Raymond, Mr., 132, 138. 
 
 ,, Mrs., 131, 
 
 Red Riding Hood Pantomime, 195. 
 Reddish, 19, 22, 23. 
 Register (Journal), 47. 
 Rignold, 1 80. 
 
 Reeves, Sims, 102, 139, 144, 145, 173. 
 Renaud, Mrs., 98, 101. 
 Revivalism, 8, 10, 16. 
 Reynolds, Miss, 183. 
 
 ,, and Munro, 154. 
 Rice, C., 212, 213. 
 Richardson, Miss, 124. 
 Richelieu, 178. 
 Riot, O.P., 94. 
 Riots, Glasgow, 27. 
 Robertson, Agnes (Mrs. Boucicault), 
 Robespierre, 175. [174. 
 
 Robinson Crusoe, 59. 
 Rob Roy, 97, 98, 101, 114, 118, 121, 
 139, 158, 171. 
 
 Rock, 40, 57, 66. 
 ,, Mrs. ,67. 
 
 Roebuck, Captain, 188. 
 
 Roger, M., 156. 
 
 Rogers, Jas. , 202. 
 
 Rogerson, 139, 140. 
 
 Rollason, Miss, 218. 
 
 , , First appearance, 215. 
 
 Romer, Annie, 156. 
 
 Roselle, Amy, 213. 
 Percy, 213. 
 
 Ross, Mr., 25. 
 
 Rosse, Castle, 126. 
 
 Rowland, Miss, 157. 
 
 Ryder, Corbett, 99. 
 
 SAKER, 131, 187. 
 
 Sampson, Dominie, 103. 
 
 Saunders, Charlotte, as Hamlet, 181, 
 187, 203. 
 
 Saville, Kate, 188, 214. 
 
 School for Scandal, First perfor- 
 mance, 40. 
 
 Scott, Sir Walter, 56, 127. 
 W., 104. 
 
 Seaman, Julia, 101. 
 
 Sennett, Mrs., 202. 
 
 Sevastapool, Fall of, Drama, 184. 
 
 Seymour, Frank, 109, 113, 114, 115, 
 
 117, 118, 119, 120, 121. 
 ,, Mrs., 181. 
 
 Shaw, Willie, 198. 
 
 Sheridan, Mr., 24. 
 
 Siamese Twins, 122. 
 Siddons, Mr., 39. 
 
 ,, Mrs., First appearance, 36, 
 38, Si- 
 
 ,, Henry, 40. 
 Silver, Jno., 98, 100, 103, 158, 177, 178. 
 Simpson, Maria, 186, 218. 
 
 Mercer, 167, 171, 172. 
 Sinbad the Sailor Pantomime, 189. 
 Sinclair, H., 210. 
 Sleeping Beauty, 190. 
 Sloan, Mrs., 204. 
 Smith, Miss, 60. 
 Smyth (Musician), 197. 
 Smythson, Montague, 158. 
 St. Enoch's Croft, 29, 48. 
 St. George, Julia, 185, 212. 
 St. George and the Dragon Panto- 
 
 mime, 185. 
 Stage Coaches, 13. 
 Stanley, Montague, 122. 
 Stark, 138. 
 Stephens, Miss, 51. 
 Stewart, Charles, 197. 
 
 David, 193. 
 Still Waters, 187, 190. 
 Stirling, 139. 
 Strang, Mr., 6, 40. 
 Sullivan, Barry, 145, 168. 
 Superstition regarding Plays, 7, 10, 
 
 THEATRES, Erection of 
 
 Adelphi, 129, 154. 
 
 Alston Street, 15. 
 
 Caledonian, 114. 
 
 City Theatre, 144. 
 
 Dunlop Street, 30. 
 
 Mumford's, 132. 
 
 Prince's, 156. 
 
 Queen Street, 50. 
 
 Queen's, 155. 
 
 York Street, 121. 
 Theatres Destruction of 
 
 Adelphi, 154. 
 
 Alston Street, 26. 
 
 City Theatre, 146. 
 
 Dunlop Street, 217. 
 
 Queen Street, 119. 
 Taglioni, 150. 
 Tait, 108, 113. 
 Talbot, Henry, 101. 
 
 ,, Montague, 68, 71, 72. 
 Taylor, 112. 
 
 ,, Marion, 211. 
 Templeton, 127. 
 Ternan, Fanny, 131. 
 
 Mrs., 101, 121, 157. 
 
Vlll 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Theatre, Alston Street, 26. 
 
 ,, ,, Destruction of, 26. 
 
 ,, First Regular, 15. 
 Thomson, Andrew, 58. 
 
 ,, Dr., 220. 
 
 George, 58. 
 Tobin, 53. 
 
 Tolmaque, Herr, 212. 
 Tom and Jerry, 113, 117, 119. 
 Toms, 40, 54, 70. 
 Toole, 172, 182, 187, 203, 204. 
 
 ,, First appearance of, 182. 
 Tree, M., 51, 112. 
 Turpin, Mr., 54. 
 Mrs., 54. 
 
 UNCLE TOM'S CABIN, 177. 
 
 VALENTINE and Orson, 59. 
 Vandenhoff, H., 172. 
 
 ,, Mrs., 104, I2i. 
 
 Vernon, C., 193. 
 Veroni, 174. 
 Vestris, Madame, 153. 
 Villiers, E., 178. 
 Vincent, G., 106, 180, 186, 187. 
 
 ,, First appearance of, 1 80. 
 
 Virginius, 108. 
 Vivash, 98, 103. 
 
 WALLACK, James, 139. 
 Wallis, Mrs. , 214, 219. 
 Ward, Mrs. , 7. 
 Waterloo, Battle of, 118. 
 Watson, H., 214, 218, 219. 
 Hennetta, 104. 
 
 T., 198. 
 Watt, 98, 106. 
 Webb, Brothers, 193. 
 Charles, 181. 
 
 Webster, 148, 150. 
 
 ,, Benjamin, 191. 
 ,, George, 98, 100, 103, 106, 
 135, 172, 177, 180, 184, 
 194. 
 
 Wesley, Jno., 29. 
 Wewitzer, 68. 
 White, 172. 
 
 ,, Mrs. Buckingham, 204, 211. 
 Whitefield, George, 8. 
 Whittington, Dick, Pantomime, 178. 
 Widdicombe, H., 185, 203. 
 Wigan, Mr. and Mrs., 190. 
 Wilkinson, Tate, 25, 38. 
 Williams, Mr., 24. 
 
 ,, Mr. and Mrs. Barney, 186. 
 ,, as Dougal, 97. 
 ,, Montague, 188. 
 Wilmore, 140. 
 Wilson, Mr., 40. 
 
 ,, Vocalist, 121, 127. 
 Woffington, Peg, n, 70. 
 Woman in-White, 198. 
 Wood, Lizzie, 104. 
 Mr., 40. 
 ,, Mrs., 40. 
 Woolford, Miss, 126. 
 Wright, Alexander, 196. 
 
 ,, Edward, 171, 172, 181. 
 Wyndham, R. H., 101, 131, 194, 220. 
 ,, Mrs., 101, 131, 149, 181. 
 
 YATES, 97. 
 
 York Street Theatre, 121. 
 
 Young, Charles Mayne, 51, 73, 79. 
 
 ,, Anecdote of, 73. 
 
 Mr., 40. 
 Young, Mrs., 54. 
 Younge, Fred, 161, 164. 
 
 Richard, 208. 
 
 ERRATA. 
 
 Page "LOT., for " the original " read " the original in Edinburgh." 
 
 Page n8,yj?r " Bryne" read " Byrne." 
 
 Page i8st,for " 1885" read " 1855." 
 
 Page ig^for " Messrs. Chapman" read "Misses Chapman. ' 
 

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