PUBLICATIONS BY CHARLES WILLIAM WALLACE NEWLY DISCOVERED SHAKESPEARE DOCUMENTS (1905), $.30, prepaid. THE CHILDREN OF THE CHAPEL AT BLACK FRIARS (1908), $2.50 net. Carriage extra. SHAKESPEAREAN RESEARCH, containing Dr. Wal- lace's latest discoveries on Shakespeare and the Globe and Blackfriars theatres, as noticed in the present work, besides the above records of 1905 on the Poet's Blackfriars property, and valuable documents on "The Theatre," etc. Accom- panied by narrative and facsimiles. In prepa- ration. THE CHILDREN OF THE REVELS, their Origin, Course, and Influences. A history based upon original records, documents, and plays, being a contribution to knowledge of the stage and drama of Shakespeare's time. In three volumes. Volume one, Theatres and Companies. Volume two, Plays and Players. Volume three, Original Documents. In preparation. Ex UbrH C. K. OGDEN THE CHILDREN OF THE CHAPEL AT BLACKFRIARS 15-97-1603 INTRODUCTORY TO THE CHILDREN OF THE REVELS THEIR ORIGIN COURSE AND INFLUENCES A HISTORY BASED UPON ORIOINAL RECORDS DOCUMENTS AND PLAYS BEING A CONTRIBUTION TO KNOWLEDOE OF THE STAGE AND DRAMA OF SHAKESPEARE'S TIME :::::::::: By CHARLES WILLIAM WALLACE PhD Associate Professor of English Language and literatlre in the university of nebraska "But there is Sir an ayrie of Chil- dren, littleYafes, that crye out on the top of quef- tion; and are moft tyrannical- ly clap't for't: thefe are now the Fafhion.'" — Hamlet, II, n. ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED BY THE UNIVERSITY OK NEBRASKA IN IMVnisiTY BTUDIB8 AND REPRINTED THEREFROM FOR THE AUTHOR OF THIS THOUSAND ONLY 150 COPIES BOUND at $2.50 W / / copyright, 1908, By CHARLES WILLIAM WALLACE. THE CHILDREN OF THE CHAPEL AT BLACKFRIARS 1^97-1603 INTRODUCTORY TO THE CHILDREN OP THE REVET. S THEIR ORIGIN COURSE AND INFLUENCES A HISTORY BASED UPON ORIGINAL RECORDS DOCUMENTS AND PLAYS BEING A CONTRIBUTION TO KNOWLEDGE OF THE STAGE AND DRAMA OF SHAKESPEARE'S TIME :::::::::: By CHARLES WILLIAM WALLACE PhD Associate Professor of English Language and llterattjbe in the university of nebraska "But tbei ;m i\ rn' of Chil- dren, little Yafes, tli.it crj the top "I quel tion; and are molt tyrannical- ly clap't (or't: tlieU- are now tllf l-'.l'i II, 11. ORIOINAI.I.Y 11 HI.ISHED BT Tin: DNIYBB8IT1 Hi- NEBRASKA 1 \ ONIVBBSITI BTUDIHfl AND BBPBJNTBD THBBBPBOM FOB 1 1 1 1 : 1UTHOB L908 "i' nns THOU8AND ONLY 1."." COPIB8 BOUND \i | BOLD Bl I'HK rjNrVBBSIl v BOOB BTOBI ai LLNOOLN ANNOUNCEMENT The Children of the Chapel at Blackfriars 1597-1603, by Charles William Wallace. Ph.D., of the University of Nebraska, dy for delivery. This volume is introductory to the complete work now in preparation «>n the drama and stage of Shakespeare's time from original records, documents, and plays, under title of The Chil- dren of the Revels, their Origin, Course, and Influences, which German and English scholars have been Looking forward to since its announcemenl from London in 1905. The Author is carrying out extensive explorations in Euro- pean archives on the lines begun five years ago in the search for new materials. In L905 he discovered and published in London, as side-lights on Larger results, three contemporary documents concerning Shakespeare. These, as the first scrap of information since Halliwell's discovery thirty-five years be- fore, were widely reviewed and discussed in the metropolitan newspapers and literarj journals of Europe and America. But their immediate worth was in inducing the realization that not all records touching the Poet were yet known, and inspiring the confidence thai more are still to be found than have hitherto come to light on Shakespeare and contemporaries, their thea- tres and dramas. In the natural course of systematic research, indeed, other Shakespeare documents of unusual importance have come to light, as have a I so records on theatres, dramas, poets, and players. These Shakespeare Documents, the first credited to American scholarship, will be published separately. But the latest of them, containing the most important biographical data since the discovery of Shakespeare's will in 1747, are drawn upon for incidental items in this volume. Other materials, however, of equal or greater worth, though ess exciting interest, constitute the bulk of the present work and are presented in full. Here is a book that is of interest to lovers of Shakespeare and -indents of i he drama and stage of his time. Its contributions of new knowledge make it necessary also to the university, college, school, and public library. The Hamlet chapter alone is a valuable contribution, based upon new evidences of fact. Other chapters present for the first time, on the basis of like final evidences, the establishment of Blackfriars by Elizabeth, her requirements for training the boy-actors, her attendance at plays there, the development of the masque within the play, the ?N 25^0 custom of sitting on the stage from its beginning in England to its termination in France, the historical perspective of the fa- mous "stage-quarrel," and the general course of stage-history from 1597 to 1603 under new aspects, involving Theatre, City, and Crown. Certain dramatic influences touching Shakespeare, Jonson, Chapman, Marston, are presented; the differences be- tween private and public theatres are clearly marked; and a comparative view of all the theatres gives new data. The plats of the Fortune and Blackfriars theatres are the first attempts of the sort ever made. They serve to give new details graphically, and also to correct many current notions concerning the theatres and stages of Shakespeare's time. The matter is new — even in a very old field. The facts and documentary evidences, new and old, from European archives, placed in their own self-established relations, tell a fresh and ifiteresting story. The style ami mode of treatment are simple, direct, con- vincing, bringing details into clear coherence. It is a notable work on the Shakespearean period. An eminent German professor speaks of it as "a very valu- able contribution to the history ©f the Theatre and Drama at the beginning of the seventeenth century, which in fact gives us for the first time a thoroughly solid foundation for the stage- history of this period." All in all, it is a judicial, solid, authoritative work, made at once interesting to the general reader and permanently useful as an indispensable reference book to the scholar. Mechanically well gotten up, with clear, easy type, on extra quality of paper. Large 8vo., bound in buckram, with gold top, and uncut edges. 223pp., with analytical index. The number of copies is limited, and this announcement is sent to a select list of those believed most likely to want the work. Price, $2.50, net, carriage extra. Or sent postpaid on receipt of $2.65. Both foreign and American orders must be accom- panied by remittance. Order direct, with remittance payable to The University Book Store 340 North 11th Street Lincoln, Nebraska PUBLICATIONS BY CHARLES WILLIAM WALLACE NEWLY DISCOVERED SHAKESPEARE DOCUMENTS (1905), $.30, prepaid. THE CHILDREN OF THE CHAPEL AT BLACKFRIARS (1908), $2.50 net. Carriage extra. SHAKESPEAREAN RESEARCH, containing Dr. Wal- lace's latest discoveries on Shakespeare and the Globe and Blackfriars theatres, as noticed in the present work, besides the above records of 1905 on the Poet's Blackfriars property, and valuable documents on "The Theatre," etc. Accom- panied by narrative and facsimiles. In prepa- ration. THE CHILDREN OF THE REVELS, their Origin, Course, and Influences. A history based upon original records, documents, and plays, being a contribution to knowledge of the stage and drama of Shakespeare's time. In three volumes. Volume one, Theatres and Companies. Volume two, Plays and Players. Volume three, Original Documents. In preparation. ijn iflii Iflifr l^uUia Ifrrggren UaUar? (Bnmpantnn anJi 3Frlloui tn Kcacarrlj CONTENTS VII Preface Introduction. — A General View of the Field . i I The Blackfriars Theatre Building ... 17 II The Blackfriars Stage. Its Structure, Arrange- ment, and Furnishings 55 III Establishment of the Blackfriars under Offi- cial Grants 56 IV Actors and Singers. — The Two Functional Di- visions of the Children .... 73 V Star Chamber Proceedings against the Use of the Children of the Chapel as Actors . yy VI Dating Events, and Establishment of New Man- agement 84 VII Queen Elizabeth at the Blackfriars . . 95 VIII The Queen's Maintenance of the Children at Blackfriars 98 IX Status of the Blackfriars Children. The Queen's Requirements 105 X Summary of Evidences on the Official Sanction of Blackfriars 126 XI The Custom of Sitting on the Stage Originating at Blackfriars 130 XII The Queen's Purposes. — Opposing Theatrical and Official Conditions, 1 597-1603 . . 14S vi CONTENTS XIII Relations of Blackfriars to Other Theatres, Poets, and Players 163 XIV The Hamlei Passage on the Blackfriars Chil- dren 173 Index ......... 187 PREFACE Some years ago I undertook to edit an old play of one of the children-companies, prefaced by a historical introduction. I found I could not do it conscientiously without finding out the truth about the company that played the piece. An examination of the published works of Europe and America touching the chil- dren-actors showed a woeful jumble of variegated error as a re- sult of the romantic or unfaithful treatment of the meager facts. Manifestly the truth was not known, and the facts were in chaos. So the two or three paragraphs into which I had intended to con- dense the matter for my introduction, I saw vanish into vapor. This condition of affairs threw me back on the unpromising data, and I began searching archives for new data and investi- gating the sources and relations of both old and new. The ad- vance has been steady since the first day. I soon found the children's company in question was related to other children-com- panies, and these in turn to the men-companies, and all of them to the nature and place of acting, and especially to the spirit and form of the drama. My contemplated two or three paragraphs now expanded into a chapter, then a section, then a volume, and finally I am trying, by excluding the bulkiest and least related documents, to confine results within the limits of three volumes. Meanwhile the contemplated edition of the old play is biding its time. So are certain other editions, all of which can consci- entiously and scientifically be undertaken only when this work as a proper historical basis is complete. The following introductory chapters constitute the first section of volume I. Many of the documents for volume III were as- sembled and the MS. for volume I and partly for volume II was prepared for the press in 1904-6, during my two-years absence from the University of Nebraska, with residence and research in Europe, particularly in Germany. France, and England. This first section was accepted for the doctorate by the Philosophical viii PREFACE Faculty of Albert-Ludwig University, Freiburg i/Br., where I acquired the degree of Ph.D. in the summer semester of 1906. With a larger courtesy than I could have hoped, — a courtesy characteristic of the true lover of learning in the German uni- versities, — that Faculty voted to grant me the privilege of adding results of contemplated further research at a future time. By virtue of this grace, the present publication is delayed two years. I have accordingly reworked and expanded most of the chapters, incorporating such results of my more recent researches as prop- erly fall within the scope of this section. Fortunately my latest finds have, with but rare and minor exceptions, been mainly in the nature of documentary and final substantiation of conclusions reached from the more slender evidences first used. In coming to the study of the children-companies, their widely ramifying influences on stage and drama, and the characteristics of their repertoire in its entirety, every one finds himself, I sup- pose, pretty much in the condition I was in when I set about the work. We are hindered by lack of knowledge, and conditioned by our preconceptions derived from the mass of past error and from false perspectives of sectional studies, as the treatment of isolated dramas, or isolating topics running through a series of dramas, and by special treatises that strain facts to maintain a theme. As for myself, I have been forced to give up one con- ception and one supposed fact after another, until now I find nearly every essential detail in this history is different from what I had supposed from these books and special studies to be the truth. In the preparation of this work, I have had no theme to main- tain, no theory to defend, and none to propose. My sole guide has been the simple desire to find the truth. I have told it as I found it, in plain and simple fashion, so that others may read it. In order that they may judge for themselves, I have given also the evidences, usually in foot-notes. These are therefore the most valuable part of the work. The foot-notes, constituting more than half of the whole work, may seem sometimes burdensome. But, intended for the scholar, they are in fact the only part in which I take special pride, for it has been my desire to assemble materials and references that may hereafter be cited as reliable. PREFACE ix I recognize also that this repository, as all such, must be referred to again and again in working out themes but lightly or not at all touched upon here. Some may find uses for the materials not now anticipated. My narrative, which I hope may never be read separately from the notes, is not intended to be simply a pleasing tale, but is mainly a series of inevitable conclusions thrust up into clear view by the records, data, and events in their own self-es- tablished relations. No page in this work has any other cause or excuse for exist- ence than the presentation of some new fact or conclusion. Among the items of new knowledge some rise into prominence above the others. The clear differences between the private and the public the- atres are sharpened in many details. The influence of the chil- dren-theatres, the boy-actors, and their poets on the form and spirit of the drama is presented only in part, the fuller view neces- sarily awaiting the assembled materials of the complete work. Blackfriars, the model of the modern theatre, is for the first time presented unromantically, on the basis of fresh historical data, with exact dimensions and other details of construction. The location and general structure of the stage is also shown. A comparative view of all the theatres furnishes new items of fact. The accompanying suggestive plats of the Blackfriars and the Fortune, the first attempts of the kind yet made, are in a measure contributive to the same end. While in large part they are merely "suggestive" rather than final, they are at the same time corrective of certain popular impressions, especially as regards the relative positions of stage and audience in theatres of the Elizabethan-Jacobean period. Certain new data are given from documents concerning Shake- speare, the Globe, and Blackfriars. These documents are there- fore now for the first time publicly announced, although they came into my hands long ago. They are vastly more valuable than the three newly discovered Shakespeare documents which I made public in 1905. On the personal side of Shakespeare, they are the most important records brought to light since the dis- covery of the poet's will a century and a half ago ( 17.17 ). On the side of the Globe and Blackfriars, the origin of London theatre x PREFACE "shares" there, and the ownership of them from the first, par- ticularly in reference to Shakespeare's relations to these two the- atres, they are more important than the famous Globe-Black- friars share-papers of 1635, announced by J. O. Halliwell in The Athenaeum, August 13, 1870, p. 212, and published by him four years later in A Fragment of Mr. J. O. Halliwell 's "Illustrations of the Life of Shakespeare." 1 Concerning the counter-petition of the Burbages in the Halliwell discoveries, the reviewer of the above publication, in The Athenaeum, February 21, 1874, in the course of a two-page article, gives the judgment (p. 250), which has ever since rightly prevailed, that "It is not too much to say that this is one of the most important passages regarding Shake- speare that has yet been discovered. As to his connexion with the stage it is the most important." But the discoveries now an- nounced very greatly surpass the former ones in these regards. They also give, besides many other items, for the first time the exact location of the Globe, with complete boundaries, as de- scribed in several legal indentures. The length and nature of these documents require that I give them out later in a separate publication, with adequate accompanying treatment of the mat- ter involved. They constitute also an essential part of the present work in its complete form. The commissions to Edwards, Hunnis, and Gyles are new, and the use of Gyles's commission as authority in establishing the Blackfriars in accord with the Queen's will is peculiarly note- worthy. Queen Elizabeth's connection with the establishment of Blackfriars, the maintenance of the Children of the Chapel there at royal expense, and her own attendance at that theatre are not only new, but of special value in understanding much of the theatrical history of the times. The whole course of stage- history from 1597 to 1603, involving Theatre, City, and Crown, made particularly alluring by several drastic orders, notably of 1600-1, and hitherto baffling to scholars, has been cleared up by evidence that seems final. The stage-quarrel between Jonson on the one side and Marston and Dekker on the other, debated vari- ously by scholars for two centuries, likewise finds for the first time its proper place and perspective in history as merely a minor 1 Privately printed. Fifty copies only. Feb. 1874. PREFACE xi affair subordinate to conditions arising out of the establishment and maintenance of Blackfriars. The long-mooted custom of sitting on the stage has been traced from its origin in the Black- friars to its termination in France and Germany, — reported last by Goethe, — in 1759. The Queen's requirements for the training of the Blackfriars Boys in not only grammar-school subjects but in all arts, par- ticularly singing, instrumental music, dancing, and play-acting, gave rise to the masque within the play, exerting wide influence on Shakespeare as well as his contemporaries and successors. The right chronology of the plays, in some cases differing widely from the varied guesses and ratiocinative datings of the past, is established, the date of each play being fixed either exactly or within the narrow limits of one to two months. Unfortunately the full evidences must await a later volume. Incidentally the date of composition of Hamlet as in the latter half of 1601 and of its first acting as late 1601 to early 1602, probably at the Christ- mas season of 1601-2, also establishes itself by final evidences, — which has hitherto been impossible. The significance of certain known documents is made clear by assembling all evidences. Among these the Hamlet passage on the Children perhaps will claim chief interest. Every slightest detail of that much-debated passage now becomes clear and historically contributive, as pre- sented in a special chapter. Certain long-mooted Hamlet prob- lems not dealt with here must ultimately take account of data presented before they can be finally put beyond speculative de- ductions in the field of debate and established on the simple and final basis of pure history. In no instance is the reader asked to take my conclusion as his own, but in every case he is given the evidence from which the inevitable conclusion forces itself upon the judicial mind. If my own interpretations, therefore, agree with the reader's, I shall merely have anticipated him by having had the first chance at the evidences offered. The materials for this work, as already indicated, were gath- ered with the primary desire to find the truth in the history of the children-companies. But they have led me far beyond. When I got my materials together and found the relations of facts to xii PREFACE each other, I was surprised to discover that they explained finally matters outside the direct line of the history of the children. For example, the chronology of plays having been established, chiefly on external evidences, I found the surprising feature, already mentioned, of the masque within the play originating in and run- ning through the Elizabethan regime at Blackfriars, stopping short with the Queen's death in 1603. Not more than two Black- friars plays prior to her death lack this feature, while under James all lack it but two. Similarly, historical evidence served to fix the succession of incidents in the quarrel between Jonson and the so-called poetasters. The Queen's relations to Blackfriars led to an examination of all official orders and other external his- torical data, clearing up finally, as just said, the unique muddle of opposing royal, municipal, and theatrical conditions of 1597- 1603. The same relations led to the collection of all evidences touching the custom of sitting on the stage, with surprising re- sults. Indeed, the whole course of theatrical and dramatic his- tory of the Elizabethan-Jacobean period turns out to be related as either cause or effect, and no feature consequently can be treated as quite isolated. I have found it necessary to take into account every theatre, company, and drama of the period, for the children-theatres are related to all. As the present work is based wholly upon original sources, the chief weight of reference is given to archives and documents, rather than to interpretative and critical publications. In the course of investigation it has been within my purpose to consult the contributive publications of Europe and America touching upon the field of Elizabethan- Jacobean dramatic literature, crit- icism, and history, — a library of considerable proportions in itself. Yet I have doubtless overlooked some. Few have yielded mate- rials for this work. Books and articles merely reworking old knowledge or old conclusions, — the main bulk, unfortunately, in this field, — have not been taken account of. Such works as I have had occasion to refer to are sufficiently indicated in the foot- notes. They are mainly publications containing original docu- ments. To collect these into a list would in this modern day of special bibliographies be a gratuity by no means complimentary to that select circle for which the work is prepared, and would PREFACE xiii at the same time be but a fractional representation, chiefly a mis- representation, of my labors in research. I had at first intended to cite some of the most important errors passed down to us and repeated steadily in current publications as true. But except in probably a half dozen cases this has not been done. A complete collection would be voluminous, and a mere citation, while calling attention to curious antiquities or their followers, would have been long and of no other than crit- ical-historical service. When the reader comes upon different conclusions in my predecessors, he will find, I am sure, as I have, that the most important differences arise from the fact that the latest materials were not then available and could not then, as now, be assembled and put into order. Indeed, it may be edifying to lay these earlier works by the side of the present matter in judging this history. Malone, Chalmers, Collier, 1 Halliwell- Phillips, Greenstreet, and an occasional other devotee of the true as opposed to romance in stage-history, collected some materials that fancy and time will not change. Their conclusions are often wide of the mark. Aside from these, the scholarship of the past herein has been mainly the scholarship of opinion, or of hypoth- esis, or of unsupported oracular declaration. But opinions or hypotheses or conclusions without basis of fact are worthless. So new are the views given by the present materials that not a single opinion or conclusion of my predecessors has served as a basis for restatement. I have gone to contemporary sources and questioned them in every instance where such sources were avail- able. This work must stand, consequently, not upon the author- ity of predecessors, but upon the merits of its materials and the justness of the conclusions they have called forth. Most of all therefore I commend the judicial perusal of every document, fact, and occurrence offered, in judging the truth of what this history represents. The examination of printed books, mainly for the contempo- rary documents they might hold, has been the smallest part of my labors. Most of all have I searched the original records in *Had he been but content with the truth! His work is marred by colossal forgeries. Yet no one can disregard the vast service of Collier in furnishing us with document after document of genuine worth. xiv PREFACE European archives. Considerably more than half a million orig- inal MS. records of the period of Elizabeth and James, most of them not yet catalogued, have been examined, and the indexes to some million more have been sifted. The resulting discov- eries, some of which appear in these introductory chapters, may seem disproportionately few. On the contrary, I am surprised and gratified to find so old a field even thus rich, and am encour- aged to complete the work I have been gradually drawn into. It is hoped that the following introductory account may be in some measure gratifying also to those readers who hail every item of new knowledge with an open mind. The question they will weigh is not so much whether the discoveries are greater or less than former ones, but first of all whether they add to the store of information, then how much. Looking at results with the grudging eye of a third person, — for they belong not to me but to historical truth, — I recognize that they are at least sufficient to advance knowledge in this field beyond previous bounds, and clear away some difficulties that have troubled scholars more than a single century. Yet this history is by no means final. I regard it as little more than pioneer work in the field. No more can be claimed for my part in it than fidelity and loving-care in stating and interpreting the facts in the light of the evidences collected. For the docu- ments themselves, no more can be claimed than partial assem- blage, and authoritativeness only so far as they speak. The vast body of documents lie yet undiscovered. From definite evidences gathered in the course of research, I know where many of these are to be found. But it requires time, money, and organization, all of which I shall secure, to complete the work. Not only cer- tain discoveries of especial worth, but the numerous minor ones as a result of definite, persistent tracing give confidence of large results in future research. No one can be more keenly conscious of the lacks of the present work than I am. Great gaps in the materials have been tempo- rarily bridged as well as possible, but the gaps remain. There are consequently more statements unimpregnably fortified than is pleasing to one who loves research for the sake of truth. The excuse if not palliation for their being, is that they seem to be in PREFACE xv accord with the known facts. They may not be. Future re- search, and discovery of the facts, not your judgment nor mine, will settle that. I have at least aimed, here as well as throughout the work, to follow whither the evidences lead. In doing this I have spent a due portion of some years in the study of the docu- ments and plays. Every document has been searched many times. The weightier ones have been studied line by line, and every fact or statement compared through a system of copious index notes with other items of possible bearing. That there are errors is to be expected. Many items have doubtless escaped me. Many more, I know, lie yet buried in unrevealed records. Some of these I shall secure before final publication, while some, be- cause of their bulk, I reserve for later presentation, — such as cer- tain signed depositions by George Chapman, Thomas Dekker, Edward Pierce, Thomas Woodford, Gervase Markham, and others, and the voluminous sources of hitherto unknown plays by Chapman, Dekker, Webster, Ford, Rowley, and others. The fragments of the new dramas of course shall be published, with a proper account of them. I purpose that this work when completed shall, by virtue of the materials presented, be authoritative and permanently useful in its own field. I shall therefore be first to hail the comer with new light from any source. It remains to acknowledge my obligations for privileges of research. The institutions to which I am peculiarly indebted for use of books, manuscripts, or documents are the Konigliche Bibliothek, Berlin; Hof- und Stadts-Bibliothek, Miinchen; Universitats-Bib- liothek, Heidelberg; Land- und Stadts-Bibliothek, Strassburg; Universitats-Bibliothek, Freiburg i/Br. ; Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris ; Bodleian Library, Oxford ; University Library, Cambridge ; British Museum, Public Record Office, Library of the House of Lords, Privy Council Office, and the Guildhall Record Office, London. I am particularly grateful to Dean L. A. Sherman, Chancellor E. B. Andrews, and the Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska for allowing me the extended leave of absence of 1904-6. This gave me time to cross to Europe and find means xvi PREFACE to reach original records. Of persons there, I am indebted first of all to former Ambassador Joseph Choate for official courtesies, and to our present Ambassador at the Court of St. James, Mr. Whitelaw Reid, for additional aid in securing me privileges of research. Superintendent G. F. Warner of the MS. department and Superintendent Barrett of the Reading Room of the British Museum and their staffs have, in the course of years, afforded me larger opportunities, I think, than they themselves are aware of. Dr. Sharp, Superintendent of the Guildhall Record Office, has given me unreservedly the benefit of his accurate knowledge as well as his personal help in researches that I could not other- wise have carried out. Superintendent E. Salisbury, of the lit- erary search department of the Public Record Office, to whose unfailing courtesy and generous consideration and help I am most deeply indebted, has placed at my disposal every facility for searching the national records. The officials of the Legal Room and of the Round Room have also been generous with as- sistance at all times. The Chief Clerk of the Privy Council Office has likewise been most courteous in producing the ancient records of the King's Council for my use. To Professors Dr. Wilhelm Wetz, Dr. Roman Woerner, and Dr. Friedrich Kluge, of Albert-Ludwig University, Freiburg i/Br., I owe special thanks for privileges of study with them dur- ing the years of 1904-6. Of all persons concerned, the one to whom I owe most is she to whom alone this work can properly be inscribed, my wife, who since 1906 has been my constant companion and equal fellow in research, and whose vision and judgment have ever been my help. Lincoln, April, 1908. INTRODUCTION A GENERAL VIEW OF THE FIELD There were two regularly constituted companies of children- actors under Elizabeth and four under James I. Those whose history this work aims chiefly 1 to present were, The Children of the Chapel at Blackfriars, 1 597-1603 ; 2 The Children of the Revels to the Queen at Blackfriars, 1604-8; The Children of the King's Revels at Whitefriars, ca. 1603-9 '■> The Children of the Revels to the Queen at Whitefriars, i6io-i6i3-[i5]. 3 The last three may be spoken of in a general way under the common title, Children of the Revels. These three royally patronized Jacobean children-companies and their various imitations and ramifying influences ranging down to the period of the Restoration are traceable directly to their source in Queen Elizabeth's establishment of the Children of the Chapel at Blackfriars, 1 597-1603. The source of that establishment was the Queen's will. But the precedent enabling her by a wide stretch to use the Children of the Chapel in carry- ing out her final theatrical purposes is to be found in the long- standing custom of using them for the divertisement of Royalty and the Court. Practically throughout Elizabeth's reign they had been incidentally employed now and then for this purpose in presenting stage-plays and interludes. Their secular use in acting, singing on festival occasions, and at royal entertainments, precedes the reign of Elizabeth and doubtless antedates our first records of such. The primary function of the Children of the Chapel Roval was to minister to his or her Majesty's spiritual well-being by trained choral singing at times of devotional service. They formed a l Thc Paul's Boys of late Eliza- companies, betii and up to their termination : /. c, to the death of Elizabeth, early in the reign of James are the March 24, 1603. subject of treatment only in their "Practically, 1613; nominally, contributive relations to the history 1615. of these royally patronized children- 2 CHILDREN OF THE CHAPEL AT BLACKFRIARS part of the choral body which takes its name from the place of worship, namely, the Chapel Royal. As Rimbault points out in his Introduction to The Old Cheque- Book, 1 the Chapel Royal is the most ancient choral body of which there is any authentic record. The first account of it I have found is in the Liber Niger Domus Regis 2 of Edward the Fourth's reign, near the middle of the fifteenth century. 3 It was then constituted of one "Deane," twenty-four "Chaplenes and clerkes," two "yeomen" or "Pisteleres," eight "children," one "Master of songe" to teach the Chapel Boys music, and one "Mas- ter of y e Gramere" to provide for these children and others con- nected with the Court somewhat of a liberal education. At the period with which the present work deals, the last six years of Elizabeth and the first half of the reign of James I, the official constitution was, 4 Dean, Sub-Dean, Confessor of his Majesty's household, six chaplains, a Master of the Children, Clerk of the Cheque, first and second Organist, twenty-four Choristers, called Gentlemen in ordinary 5 (and the same or greater number of substitutes called Gentlemen extraordinary, who served without pay but were in line of succession to a va- cancy in the ranks of the ordinary), twelve Children, two Epis- tlers, two Gospelers, besides the officers of the vestry and common servants. The Chapel Royal, thus constituted, attended the sovereign wherever resident, according to ancient custom, and as a whole or in part accompanied him during progresses through the coun- l The Old Cheque-Book, or Book 5 Dec. 15, 1604, as appears from of Remembrance, of the Chapel a warrant, there were thirty-eight Royal from 1561 to 1744 (ed. E. F. Gentlemen of the Chapel. But this Rimbault for The Camden Society, seems to count not only the choris- lg72.) ters but also the chief officers. See 2 Liber Niger Domus Regis (Brit. State Papers, Domestic. James I, Mus., Hart. MS. No. 293, fol. 11-12 ; xxxvi, No. 69, Public Record Of- No. 610, fol. 24-27 ; No. 642, fol. fice. Also noted in the Calendar of 71-74. and fol. 132b. — New pagina- State Papers, Domestic, Addenda tion of 1893). 1 580- 1625, 450. John Stowe (ed. 3 Its exact date is not more nearly E. Howes), Annals, or a general known than that it was written Chronicle of England . . . to end sometime within the limits of Ed- of 1631 (1631), 1037, says there ward IV's reign, — 4 March, 1461, to were thirty-three Gentlemen of the 9 April, 1483. Chapel in the first year of James I. *Cf. Rimbault. op. cit., 60-62, 127- See also the King's grant of aug- 28; but see also 156. mentation, u. i., 3 2 . INTRODUCTION 3 try. For example, James I took his English choristers, men and children, with him on his journey to Scotland in 1617, — greatly offending his countrymen thereby. 1 A place of service was provided at the royal expense; likewise residence for members of the chapter, their keep, and also to all but the children 2 a yearly salary. Since the Restoration, the King's Chapel occupied by the chap- ter has been the little oratory of St. James's Palace. But in James I's time it was the splendidly appointed chapel at White- hall, London.' 5 This was used, not only for the religious services of the royal household, but for the solemnization of treaties be- tween Spain and England, and France and England ; royal and noble baptisms, churchings, and confirmations; marriages of nu- merous of the nobility in presence of the King ; the marriage of Princess Elizabeth and Frederick Prince Elector Count Palatine of the Rhine in 161 3 ; the funeral of James I in 1625 ; the corona- tion of Charles I, &c. 4 On all these and such occasions the Gentlemen of the Chapel partook in the services and shared in the fees, — often 5 /. each. 5 1 A humorous bit of satire on the children were on this date al- Scottish manners and customs, evi- lowed an additional 4 d. daily, — not dently written by an Englishman in as salary, but "as an augmentation James I's retinue on this journey, of their board wages." This war- describes how the Scotch received rant was drawn in accordance with and entertained the King, how they the general grant of augmentation felt about his religious forms, and of salaries in the Chapel Royal se- especially about the "singing men" cured through the influence of sev- and the Children of the Chapel. eral persons, among whom was The document was printed in a Nathaniel Gyles, Master of the chil- pamphlet of twenty-one pages at dren. The grant was dated Dec. London, 1659, under title, A Perfect 5, 1604. It is printed in The Old Description of the People and Conn- Chcquc-Book, op. cit., 60, and in try of Scotland, which is reprinted John Nichols, The Progresses, /'re- in Francis Osborne, Secret History cessions and Magnificent Festiz/ities of the Court of James the First of King Tames the Firs! (1838), 1. (1811), II, 75-89. See appositely 466, from Sir John Hawkin 77. 79, 85. General History of the Science and rhe original MS. is preserved in Practice of Music (1776), IV, li- the British Museum. For the most 12. [Nichols errs in saying ho takes pertinenl part see Harl. MS. No. it from p. 15.] ill, fol. 276a. J. P. Collier, History "See Rev. John Jchb, The Choral of English Dramatic Poetry and Service of the United Church of Annals of the Stage (1879*) , I, 391, England and Ireland (1843), L48. printed the paragraph on the chil- 4 See notices of these various uses dren only. of the Chapel Royal in The (''Id 'The warrant in State Papers, Cheque-Booh (u. s.), passim. Dec. 15, 1604 («. s., 2°) shows 'Idem. 4 CHILDREN OF THE CHAPEL AT BLACKFRIARS The Children never on any occasion received fees. Consequently the Clerk of the Cheque has left no record of any sort concerning them, since his official duty seems to have been largely to record such receipts by members of the chapter. Despite this omission, the Children certainly sang with the men-choristers at all solem- nities and festivals held in the Chapel, as they constituted an essential part of the chorus. During a part of the reign of Elizabeth the children occasion- ally presented plays in the Chapel, — even on Sundays, — before the Queen and her Court. As early as 1569 the first published record of feeling that has reached us concerning the Children as actors shows a bitter Puritanic opposition to this practice. 1 The Queen, however, was passionately fond of the drama, and be- sides patronizing the men's companies and Paul's boys at Court, she continued throughout her reign occasionally to use her own Children of the Chapel to gratify her pleasure. In her closing years she extended their function of acting beyond occasional performances in the Chapel, and established them as a permanent company at the Blackfriars with requirements to act a play every week. With the increase of time, the spirit of Puritanism grew an important factor to be reckoned with in the government, and Elizabeth's theatrical predilections diminished none. In her Ma- jesty's fondness for the drama, however, and in her purpose to carry out certain theatrical plans rather than in Puritanic oppo- sition is to be sought the cause of her removing the performances of the Children permanently from the Chapel Royal and estab- lishing with them in 1597 the Blackfriars theatre. As we shall see later, she in effect divided the Children on the basis of func- tions, and maintained one body of them at the Chapel Royal as choristers, the other at Blackfriars to be taught in music, the ^'Plaies will neuer be supprest, The attack is continued in a later while her majesties unfledged min- page of the same pamphlet thus : — ions flaunt it in silkes and sattens. ''Even in her maiesties chappel do They had as well be at their Popish these pretty vpstart youthes profane service, in the detiils garments." — the Lordes Day by the lascivious The Children of the Chapel strict writhing of their tender limbs, and and whipt (1569), quoted in gorgeous decking of their apparell, Thomas Warton, History of Eng- in feigning bawdie fables gathered lish Poetry (ed. Hazlitt, 1871), IV, from the idolatrous heathen poets." 217. —Ibid. INTRODUCTION 5 drama, and other arts. These actor-children were kept at her ex- pense, and furnished with rich and abundant stage-apparel. Out of the original Court-service of the Children of the Chapel evolved the sort of performance they later presented as actors. It was not a long step from religious worship, solemnizations, and festivities, for the Court to employ their excellent singing at other times simply as a rich musical entertainment. At what time plays were introduced along with the singing, or in addition to it, or in place of it, there are no known records by which we can determine. But as far back as the development can be traced, dialogue and acting seem to have dominated the singing. Near the close of Elizabeth's reign, the entertainment at Blackfriars takes the form of a delightful musicalc followed by an acted play containing song and masque. The plays themselves in both earlier and later periods were in- terspersed with songs as specialties. During the Blackfriars period under Elizabeth, the Boys exhibited their training and skill in instrumental music, singing, and dancing, at intervals through the play. In most of their plays after 1600, and possibly in their lost repertoire of the three years before, they combined these arts into a single exhibition, by putting on the form and variegated dress of fairies, nymphs, or other creatures of fancy and mingling color, music, and dance into the pleasing harmony of the masque. During James I the elements of dainty device in music and pleasing show are less prominent. We have at any rate no record of the combined musical and dramatic entertainment such as the Duke of Stettin in 1602 reported was the custom at Blackfriars. Music between the acts, however, and songs throughout the play remained though a diminished yet a prominent feature. But the feet of the fairies and nymphs grew clogged with a varied clay, and except twice neither their poets found invention nor the grown-up boys practice in the care-free, lissome masque. In these heavier years, too, the tripping step of comedy gave wax- to the serious tread of tragedy. Chiefly out of the Court-performances of the Children in the Queen's Chapel and other royal halls 1 evolved the private thea- l The other influence was the nobility is reflex rather than direct, church. The influence of school and A. Albrecht, Das Englische Kin- 6 CHILDREN OF THE CHAPEL AT BLACKFRIARS truin. Farther contributive also was the practice of public re- hearsals by the Master of the Revels, leading even to such exhi- bitions by the Children as seen at Whitefriars in 1580 and at Blackfriars 1581-84. Nobility imitating royalty provided private plays at weddings, at the Christmas or "Revels" festival, at the entertainment of the Queen upon progresses through the country, and on other fes- tival occasions. Their theatrum likewise was a private apart- ment or hall of the house or castle; and the hearers, invited guests. When finally the private theatre found a permanent home the structure naturally took as its distinguishing feature the privacy of the noble and royal hall. The hearers could not be enter- tained as invited guests ; but the price of admission was placed so high, — from three to twelve times that of the public theatres, — that the audience was aristocratically select. The private theatre of first importance in origin and influence was the Blackfriars, established 1597 under patronage of the Queen. It was in fact what may be called an aristocratic public playhouse, with galleries, private boxes or "lords' rooms," arti- ficial lighting, select audiences, seats in the pit as well as in all dcrtheater (Diss. Halle, 1883), 1, and nobility are seen in such as traces the origin of the private the- Merchant Taylor's (Mulcaster's) atre to the Catholic church, and school, Westminster, Eton, Oxford, specifically to a cathedral school for &c, and in such ephemeral, often training boys to sing in the church elaborate, representations in noble service, established at Rome, 590. houses as historical records report But we should find ourselves on on special occasions, safer ground if we should trace it All these minor influences have back to man's creation, — to the Gar- practically nothing to do with the den of Eden. Or, seriously, the development in question, although source is not an institution, but man some have thought so. I am pre- as the maker of institutions. Man's senting of course the private the- nature is dramatic and craves rep- atre as a factor in the drama, and resentation, as exhibited from the the immediate conditions that led child, the ignorant, and the sage of to it, not the remote or the unre- today, back to the acts of primitive lated. The only period when the man. Church and sovereign became private theatre was such a factor first sources of influence because of is the period treated in the present their larger power to institution- work, 1597-1613. The preceding alize man's innate desire. But the years of Elizabeth were but pre- uninstitutionalized drama and stage paratory to it, and the succeeding is the home, the field, the street, years of James and the two wherever two or more people meet. Charleses but echoes of it. The reflex influences of school INTRODUCTION 1 other parts of the house, and special privileges of sitting on the stage. The only other private playhouse at the close of Elizabeth's reign was Paul's, where a theatre was maintained by the church under favor of the Queen. The Blackfriars, Paul's, and Whitefriars constitute the early Jacobean list of private theatres. All were occupied, as we shall see, by children-companies, — a fact of large significance in the- atrical and dramatic history. Blackfriars and Whitefriars were the "Great Halls" of the old monasteries of these names, refitted to new uses. That is, they were simply large monastic houses rearranged. Paul's was, as it seems, the church Singing School "back of the convocation house." 1 There is no record of any galleries in either Paul's or Whitefriars. They seem to have had no larger seating capacity than that afforded by one doer. Tt appears that Whitefriars room, however, was larger than Blackfriars, while Paul's was smaller. The public theatre, of more plebeian origin and patronage, evolved out of the four-walled coach-court of the public inn. Like man's first temples, it was open to the sky and lighted b) the heavens. The great yard where the groundlings made merry was not seated. But rows of galleries, after the manner of the inn-balconies, ran around three sides and were provided with seats. A thatched shed-like roof overhung the balconies and the tiring-house. A part or all of the stage was protected by a long sloping roof called "the heavens." 2 'Richard Flccknoe, A Short Dis- Gaedertz in Zur Kenntnis dcr Alt- e of the English Stage (ca. englischen Biihne (1888), and since 1660), in English Drama and Stage then has been generously repro- under the Tudor and Stuart duccd in most of the publications Princes, T543-1664 (ed. W. C. Haz- on the period litt, Roxburghe Library. L869), 276. The next oldest picture of an in- 3 In 1888 Dr. K. Th. Gaedertz terior is on the title page of a red in the library at Utrecht play, Roxana, 1632. The Roxana the only known view of the interior and the Messalina I L640) picture, of an Elizabethan theatre. It is a both with full title page from the cacl sketch of the inte- British Museum, are well repro- rior of the Swan, of probablj 1596, duced 1>\ ;;::) by the members of the four Inns of Court, with the elaborate music in charge of Whitelocke) gives incidentally a word on the fame of Blackfriars music thus : — "1 was so conversant with the musitians, and so willing to gaine their favour, especially at this time, that I composed an Aier myselfe, with the assistance of Mr. Ives, and called it Whitelocke' s Coranto: which being cried up, was first played publiquely, by the Blacke- fryar's Musicke, who were then es- teemed the best of common mu- sitians in London. Whenever I came to that house (as I did some- times in those dayes), though not often, to see a play, the musitians would presently play Whitclocke's Cur. into, and it was so often called for, that they would have it played twice or thrice in an afternoon. ... It grew to that request, that all the common musitians in this towne and all over the kingdome, gott the composition of it, and played it publiquely in all places, for above thirtie years after." — Dr. Charles Burney, A General History of Music (1789), TTI, 377, from Whitelocke's MS. then owned by Dr. C. Morton of the British Mu- seum. The last part of this docu- ment containing the payment to the musicians, preparation of the mu- sic, and the above passage, is omitted from Whitelocke's Memo- rials of English Affairs &c. (1709 1 ; 1853 2 ), T, 62, which modernizes spellings, and gives the general air of unfaithful editing. The excellence of the music at the private theatres of Blackfriars, Cockpit, and Salisbury Court is spe- cially mentioned in the well-known little tract of which the only extant copy of the original edition is in the British Museum, entitled. The Actors' Remonstrance (1643), 6-7. Reprinted in The British Stage (1822), VI: The English Drama and Stage (ed. W. C. Hazlitt, The Roxburghe Library, I860) : and Hindley's Miscellanea Antigua An- glicana (1S71). III. 'A large number of instances might he cited. But for examples, see Inductions to Cynthia's Revels and Poetaster al Blackfriars; and Dekker's Address to the Reader in Satiromastix,—f\xs\ played at the Globe, later at Paul's. "See for example Nathan Drake, Shakespeare and 'lis Times (1817), II, 317. 12 CHILDREN OF THE CHAPEL AT BLACKFRIARS consequent rise of the private theatre of 1 597-1613 through them, the differentiation of the private and the public theatres, the na- ture of the entertainments in each, and some of the general re- sults and influences. Yet a farther introductory word. The chief influences of the children-companies are less tangible and concern the drama proper. Here it is not possible to state facts with that gross objectiveness, ease, and precision with which boys plump marbles. Nor have I in the following pages attempted to study this field exhaustively by citations and inter- pretations, — a separate work in itself. The period of supreme dramatic achievement of the world's history is practically the same as the period of growth, develop- ment, and end of the children-companies in the field of competi- tion, — 1597-1613. Is this merely a coincidence, or is there some relation existing between the two? It would be a view too in- judicial to require evidence in disproof to say the children "car- ried it away" in this development. They were simply one of the factors. The passionless glass and forthright scalpel, however, show them as a large factor. It strikes us as somewhat astounding when we look over the list of extant plays written and acted within this period of dra- matic splendor and see that fully one-half were produced for and enacted by these children-companies. In the reign of James I up to 1613, the ratio is greater than one-half. If we take the period from 1604 to 1608, we find the balance even more con- siderable on the side of the children. This is significant. It is further significant that every great dramatist of the period except Shakespeare wrote for the children. Jonson, who by common agreement stands next to Shakespeare as contemporary poet and dramatist, did much more than apprentice work for them. He began his career with the children in 1597. and thir- teen years later made his highest achievement before their public in Epicoene, ' Chapman ranks at farthest close after Jonson. After his apprenticeship for the public theatres under Henslowe. ending in 1599, he wrote for no other players than the children, so long as their companies existed. Beaumont and Fletcher, who INTRODUCTION 13 vie with Jonson and Chapman for place, demonstrated their dra- matic power through the same means of appeal to the public until King James terminated the Blackfriars Children in 1608. Still five more of their chief plays were presented by the Boys at Whitefriars from 1610 to 1612. Only with the beginning of the period of dissolution of the children did these poets give their plays to the King's men at Blackfriars and the Globe. All these are great names. Between these and the numerous minor playwrights stand Marston, Middleton, Webster, Dekker, and Day, all connected, in their best work, with the private- playhouse children. It would not be true to say that the children's theatre, with Blackfriars as chief representative, was a sort of primary school for bringing up play-wrights and developing actors, as the "Nurs- ery" of 1664 aimed chiefly to be. Nevertheless, it gave to genius an opportunity to express itself in both fields. No men's com- pany except Shakespeare's invited or afforded such freedom. The men's plays, with that illustrious exception, were mainly hack-work, many of them collaborations. As a result, they have little originality, inspiration, or individuality. Their jejuneness, staleness of invention and expression, and general paucity was the butt of Jonson's ridicule, — and justly. Such conditions could not inspire great acting. Consequently, not one of these unex- cepted men's companies produced a single renowned actor. Quite different were the conditions in the Burbage-Shake- speare company and the children-companies, particularly the one at Blackfriars. In both instances the plays were written, not for the common pot of a Henslowean dramatic pawn-shop or literary bureau, but directly for the actors. 1 As a result they were gen- erally not collaborations, but the work of individual authors. They showed that the way to develop genius is not to voke it to its fellows, but to free it from the furrow, and let both feel and wings aid in the running. Great genius never did nor can col- laborate great art. The single Praxitiles, or Giotto, or Raphael, l The proposition that the chil- intended to be serious. See V \1- dren acted such plays, mostly sple- brecht. Das Englische Kinderthea- netic, as were rejected by the men- ter (Diss. Halle, 1883), 39. companies would be funny if not 14 CHILDREN OF THE CHAPEL AT BLACKFRIARS or Shakespeare, or Wagner is greater than the collaborating world. The actors too enjoyed a similar freedom, and were not im- pecunious dependents. The conditions under which both author and actor worked were conducive to excellence of art in its kind. It is noteworthy of the authors who wrote for both the chil- dren and the men's companies, aside from Eurbage's, — namely -Mi'ldletom Webster, Dekker, Day, — that their plays for the chil- dren are better than those for the men. Of those who wrote exclusively for the unexcepted men's companies, — as Wilkins, Smith, Rowley, Heywood, Chettle, Monday, Houghton, Wilson, and a few more, 1 — none rank with the chief authors of the chil- dren-actors, and most of them are little if any superior to the poorest, — those who wrote for the Children of the King's Revels exclusively or mainly, — Sharpham, Armin, Mason, Barry, and Markham. Besides several other excellent actors, two of the three Roscii of the time were fledged in this "aery" of "little eyases," and several others became famous. As will fully appear later, the boys of the children-companies, grown men, ultimately dominated the stage. Their members, after their own organizations closed, are found as leaders thereafter in every company but one, and for more than fifty years their influence was a factor in the theatre and drama. But the children-theatre was in no respect a primary school to the "common players." It was a lively competitor, both dra- matically and commercially. Shakespeare felt that the competi- tion was more on the latter than on the former side. It was, so far as immediate effects were concerned. But the perspective of history shows the same result that sharp competition, com- mercial or other, always has, — the putting forth of effort to su- perior excellence. It stimulated genius in the dramatist and in the actor, gave wider range of opportunity to each, and added vastly to the number as well as quality of plays produced. It is not possible to estimate exactly the tremendous stimulus to dramatic effort by this new element of competition in the field. We know from Henslowe's Diary, which has to do only with "Cf. infra, 163 2 . INTRODUCTION 15 men-companies, that from one-half to two-thirds of the plays named therein have never reached us. How many were played by companies of which no diary record was kept we can only conjecture. And how many were written and never accepted it would be futile to attempt to investigate. We can only get from contemporary records that the number of unknown plays was very considerable. Of the children-companies, we can identify only half of the court plays. It is quite probable that more than half of their publicly acted plays have reached us, but there is ample evidence that we do not have them all. In the case of the Children of the King's Revels at Whitefriars, as we shall see, there were condi- tions that practically prevented publishing any of their plays while the company existed. It is remarkable that we have any of their plays at all. It is impossible to characterize the children's plays in the gross except very generally. Some have literary merit, many fall short. With the exception of those by Jonson and Chapman, their com- edies and comic situations of tragedies have generally a low moral tone ; not differing in that respect, however, very greatly from the rest of the plays of the age. On the whole they are fuller of personal, political, and local allusions than those of the men-companies. Their tragedies contain much rant, bombast, and turgidity. Their plays seem to take color not a little from the courtly, fashionable, or smart audiences and from the irre- sponsible nature of the actors. The irresponsibleness of the youthful actors can not but account at least in part for the po- litical indiscretions of Eastward Ho, The Isle of Gulls, and the two Biron tragedies. By Elizabeth's favor and patronage of the Blackfriars Boys, children-companies, and particularly this company, became the fad. It took the genius of Shakespeare to counterbalance their influence. From his testimony of how he felt about them, it is probable that their competition was one of the factors that en- tered into the best efforts of his genius. Good plays and good acting by his company were the necessary countervail. Thus much for a background. A knowledge of the proper place and relation of these chil- 16 CHILDREN OF THE CHAPEL AT BLACKFRIARS dren-companies in the development of both theatre and drama gives just recognition to the value of every slightest detail of their history. Hitherto nothing very definite has been known about the Children of the Chapel at Blackfriars and their off- springs, the Children of the Revels under James, their careers and influences. It is hoped that the following pages, based upon original records, documents, and the plays, may contribute to definiteness and add to the sum of knowledge. The history developing out of preceding conditions and evolv- ing into the influences noted concerns itself specifically with the companies of children, -their playhouses, management, member- ship, and performances. The boys do not emerge into individual prominence until they approach the end of their career. They are from the first little more than puppets in the hands of their superiors. Hence their history is very much the history of their managers. The point of main divergence in the evolution of the Chapel Children, swinging them into the active current of dramatic com- petition, dates from the first royal commission to Nathaniel Gyles for taking up children, and the opening of the Blackfriars by Henry Evans, 1597. The termination of the theatrical activity of the resulting Children of the Revels companies is 1 6 t 3— [ 1 5 ] . Imitations and echoes of this activitv continue to the Restoration. CHAPTER THE BLACKFRIARS THEATRE BUILDING The remodeling of one of the Priory buildings of the dissolved monastery of the Blackfriars at Ixmdon into a theatre, the leas- ing of it by Richard Burbage to Henry Evans for a playhouse, and the taking up of children therefor under the first royal com- mission to Nathaniel Gyles, Master of the Children of the Chapel Royal, date the beginning of this history. These three events took place in 1596-97. February 4, 1596, James Burbage, "the first builder of play- houses," 1 purchased through Sir Thomas Cawarden's executor, Sir William More of Losely, for £6oo 2 certain "romes" of the dissolved monastery "of the late Blackfryers Preachers." 3 In November he was engaged in remodeling the structure for a the- atre, 4 in which month the inhabitants of the precinct petitioned 5 1635 Share Papers (w. s.). "Deed of Sir William More to James Burbage, 4 February, 1595- [6]. Original indenture at Loseley House. Abstracts in Appendix to Seventh Report of the Royal Com- mission on Historical Manuscripts under "The Manuscripts of William More Molyneux, Esq., of Loseley Park, Guildford, co. Surrey" (1879), 653&. In extenso in Halli- well-Phillips, op. cit., I, 299-304. ^Petition of the Inhabitants of Blackfriars, u. i. 'Petition of the Inhabitants of Blackfriars Precinct to the Queen's Privy Council, [Nov., 1596]. The original document has not come to light. But an undated copy of it made ca. 1631 is preserved in the English national archives, the Pub- lic Record Office, State Papers, Do- mestic. Rliz., eclx, 116. Printed frequently; e. g., Halliwell-Phillips, op. cit., I, 304. The petition does not give the 1 The Globe-Blackfriars Share Papers of 1635, i» J- O. Halliwell- Phillips, Outlines of the Life of Shakespeare (9th ed. 1890), I, 317. James Burbage built "The Theatre" in 1576, which was in fact the first modern theatre in England. But the commonly accepted view that this is the earliest theatre-building in England is not quite correct. Upon the contemporary evidence of Bishop Grandisson there was a the- atre in existence in which "ludi" were presented at Exeter in 1348. See two Latin mandates of the Bishop directed against the doings at this theatre, printed in Register of Bishop Grandisson (ed. F. C. IliiiLceston-Randolph), H, 1055, 1120 ; reprinted in part, with com- ments, in E. K. Chambers, The Mediaeval Stage (1903), I, 383, II, 190. 2 "Our father purchased it at ex- treame rates," say Cuthbert, Wini- fred and William Burbage in the 18 CHILDREN OF THE CHAPEL AT BLACKFRIARS against his procedure. 1 The opposition however went for noth- ing. 2 The work of reconstruction was completed and the ancient Priory received, under permission of Elizabeth, the new baptism of the drama by which it became in its time the most famous, and historically as the model of the modern theatre-building, the most important structure in English stage-history. 3 The long prevalent erroneous belief that Shakespeare was con- nected with the Blackfriars from the time of this new birth roused a century of antiquarian interest in the ancient monastery to which it once belonged. As a result, its monastic history has been stated again and again, while the erroneous notions con- cerning it as a theatre permeate the thousands of critical and commentarial writings of the past hundred years touching the Elizabethan-Jacobean drama and stage. The truth concerning Blackfriars for the first twelve years after Burbage's purchase date of the original document. But the date is referred to as Novem- ber, 1596, in An Order for the sup- pression of Blackfriars theatre by the Corporation of the City of Lon- don, the original entry of which I have examined in the City archives of London at the Guild-hall, Rep- ertory 34, fol. 38&, under date "xxi° die Januarij 1618" [=1619]. Fre- quently printed; e. g., in Halliwell- Phillips, op. cit., I, 311. ^or Mr. J. P. Collier's misdat- ing of this petition as 1576 (History of English Dramatic Poetry and Annals of the Stage, 1831 1 ; 1879 1 , I, 218sqq.), to support a certain theory, his assuming another peti- tion in 1596 (I, 287 sqq.) and his forging of a counter-petition thereto concerning Shakespeare and his fel- low-actors (I, 288) in further sup- port of his theory, his consequent placing of Shakespeare's company and the children-actors in competi- tion in the Blackfriars theatre where they "shared a divided kingdom," — the children acting there in summer and the Shakespeare company in winter (I, 360) — , as scholars are still repeating even in this present year; and for the long train of con- nected and consequent errors that permeate the many works of refer- ence, both cyclopaedic and special, in this field, occurring in even some of the most important of recent lit- erary-historical dissertations done for the doctorate, see Historical Preface, vol. I, of my complete work. 2 See infra, 53, 152, 153-54 2 , 161 1 . 3 The Italian-French influences manifested under the D'Avenant- Killigrew theatrical monopoly of London at the beginning of the Res- toration period were mainly scenic, operatic, and otherwise spectacular rather than structural. Agreeable with this conclusion, reached inde- pendently, see the latest scientific research in the field of French in- fluences in England : — L. Charlanne, L'lnfluence Franqaise en Angleterre au xvii e Siecle, Le Theatre et la Critique (These de l'Universite de Paris, 1906), chap. Ill, "L'influence frangaise au theatre," 58-85. The new theatre-buildings of D'Avenant and Killigrew do not seem to have differed widely in form and main features from the Salis- bury Court, the Cockpit (Phoenix), and their model, the Blackfriars. The architecture of the original "public" theatre, of course, — repre- BLACKFRIARS THEATRE BUILDING 19 of the building is interwoven with the history of the company of boy-actors who held its boards. Its earlier history is con- nected with monastic annals and the office of the Master of the Revels, and may here be stated briefly as a necessary preliminary. 1 The Dominican or Black Friars in 1221 made Holborn, Lon- don, their first point of settlement in England. 2 In 1276 they begged a new and larger site. Here they built and for nearly three centuries maintained the famous monastery that has left to commercialized London no other heritage or relic than such com- memorative names as "Blackfriars road," "Blackfriars bridge," "Blackfriars pier," "Blackfriars school." The property lay at the extreme southwest corner of the an- cient City of London, partly within the old Roman wall, but mainly without. 3 The wall then ran straight on from Ludgate down to the Thames. It crossed the grounds soon to be used by the Friars for their fine old conventual church and cloisters, and passed just a few yards east of the site of the later Blackfriars theatre, grounds now occupied mainly by The Times buildings. Very soon after acquiring the tract, the Black Friars through their powerful fellow, Archbishop Kilwardby of Canterbury, were influential enough to secure an order to tear down the old city wall that crossed their acquisition. In compensation they sented by "The Theatre," Curtain, 1846), VIII, 1847; William Bray, Rose, Swan, Globe, Fortune, Bear in Archaeologia, XVIII, 317/r*.; T. Garden, and Hope, — perished in its F. Ordish, in The Antiquary, XIV own generation and left little in- (1886), 23; and item-references, fluence upon the style of the mod- infra. ern theatre-building. For certain 2 John Stowe, op. cit. (1633), data, cf. infra, passim. 487b, 373&. 'For data, see John Stowe, Sur- "In the yeere 1276. Gregory vey of London (1603), 341sqq.; id. Rokefley, Maior, and the Barons of (ed. 1633), 373 sqq.; id. (ed. Strype, London, granted and gave to Rob- 1744), I, 667-80; id. (continued by crt Kilwarby, Archbifhop of Can- Edmond Howes), Annates, or A terburie, two lanes or waves next General Chronicle of England the ftreet of Baynards Caffcll. and (1631) ; A. J. Kemp, Loseley MSS. the Tower of MountHchit, to be de- (1835), 16, 73, 175, 186; Appendix stroyed. On the which place the to Seventh Report of the Royal faid Robert builded the late new Commission on Historical Mann- Church, with the reft of the Stones scripts (1879) under "The Manu- that were left of the faid Tower, scripts of William More Molyneux, And thus the Black-Fryers left their Esq., of Loseley Park, Guildford, co. Church and houfe by Oldboornc. Surrey." 59r>fc-681a; Sir William and departed to their new." — Idem, Dugdale. Monasticon Anglicanum 487; also 373, with slight change in (ed. Caley, Ellis, and Bandinel. wording. 20 CHILDREN OF THE CHAPEL AT BLACKFRIARS built a new wall which served on the one side as a continuation of the city wall shutting them in from outside danger, and on the other side as a means of isolation from the City proper. This new wall ran westward from the old Ludgate down the slope, approximately along what is now Pilgrim street, to a point a few yards south of Fleet bridge, — now the site of Ludgate cir- cus ; — thence southward along the Fleet ditch, — present New Bridge street, — to the Thames ; x thence along the Thames to the east side of the old Baynard castle site; 2 thence with broken saw- teeth irregularity northeastward, enclosing Mountfitchett's Tower and angling up the Ward Row, — later Wardrop, Wardrobe, now St. Andrews Hill, — to Carter lane; thence in an irregular diag- onal northwestward past the end of Creed lane to the original starting corner adjoining Ludgate. 3 This walled precinct of the Blackfriars was a sanctuary in- violate, within which the will of the Friars was supreme over laws of city and state. 4 It was a liberty independent of City and society in matters of control, yet claiming protection from both, just as in the case of all similar religious orders of the time. No one, even though an official from the City, might enter within the four constantly guarded gates of its walls without permission. The monastery with all its rights and possessions was, upon the dissolution of the Catholic religious orders by Henry VIII, surrendered to the Crown November 12, 1538. 5 Its value in yearly income was then 104/. 15^. 4 c/. 6 Upon the dissolution of the order, the liberties and privileges of the Friars were granted by Henry VIII also to the Friars' 1<( Now here is to bee noted, that 1428 by Humphry, Duke of Glou- the Wall of London, at that time, cester, and shown prominently as went ftraight South from Ludgate, "Baynards castle" in all ancient downe to the river of Thames: But maps after that date. See also W. for building of the Blacke Friers J. Loftie (u. i.), 80. Church, the faid Wall in that place *On preceding data as to site, was by commandement taken walls, &c, cf. the various ancient downe, and a new Wall made, maps of London. Also, cf. W. J. ftraight Weft from Ludgate to Loftie, London (Historic Towns, Fleet bridge, and then by the water ed. E. A. Freeman & Wm. Hunt, of Fleet, to the River of Thames, 1887), 76-80. &c."—Idem, 405. *Cf. infra, 21 1 . 2 This is the original castle of 5 John Stowe, op. cit. (1633), 374. Baynard and Fitzwalter, which was "Idem, op. cit. (1603), 342; given to the Friars. It must not be (1633), 374; (ed. Strype, 1744), I, confounded with the later, larger 668a. castle built a little to the east in BLACKFRIARS THEATRE BUILD [NG 21 worldly successors, 1 and became from that time forth matter for constant contention between the inhabitants of the precinct and the Crown on the one side and the persistent City administration assertive of authority on the other until late James I. This chronic condition shows itself acutely in the opposing attitudes of Queen Elizabeth and the City authorities toward the establish- ment and maintenance of Blackfriars theatre as discussed in suc- ceeding chapters. 1 The buildings of the Blackfriars precinct were situated on the high embankment north of the Thames and east of the old Fleet ditch, — now New 1 '.ridge street. They included 8 besides the little church at St. Anne's and numerous shops and dwellings, the im- posing conventual church 220 feet long from east to west by 66 feet wide ; a churchyard on the north 200 feet by 90 feet ; the cloisters on the south, comprised in a square of no feet; and to the west of these, the little chapter-house and the large Priory buildings, one of which standing on the site of the present "Pub- lishing Office" of The Times, and opening on a short, narrow, irregular passage-way, still called "Playhouse Yard," became the Blackfriars theatre in 1597. Edward VI, who succeeded to the throne January 28, 1547, put this particular building to a new use, which probably deter- mined its ultimate service to the drama. Soon after his accession he had all the apparel and furniture for the revels and masks at Court removed to it from Warwick inn. 4 Here also Sir Thomas Cawarden, one of the first Masters of the Revels, 5 had his office and rehearsed, doubtless in the great 'The nature and extent of these tion of the Blackfriars and the lib- liberties and privileges with argu- erties granted the same. Noted in ments in their defense are set forth Hist. MSS. Com., op. cit.. t'.t>3&. in a lengthy brief and the testimony a See infra, .vj'-.">f. L48-62. of witnesses, published under the "For items, see survey, taken by heading, "Notes and Articles for Hugh Losse, the King's sun maintenance of the ancient Liberties 4 January. 3 Edward VI. preserved and Privileges of the late diffolved among the Loseley MSS Noted in Black Friers, neere Ludgate in Lon- A. J. Kemp, op. cit., L75; Hist, don," in John Stowe, op. cit. MSS. Com., op. cit., 801 (163 80, These documents 'See expense account forth gi\<- the inhabitants' side of the movaj in Kemp, oj>. cit., 73, long controversy. l : <>r the City's "Sir Thomas Cawarden is gen- side, see infra, 154\ L54*. See also, erally believed to have been the first at Loselej House, documents (/<•»//' . incumbent of the office of tb Eliz., undated) on the first founda- ter of the Revels, betters patent 22 CHILDREN OF THE CHAPEL AT BLACKFRIARS hall, companies of actors in masques and interludes or plays chiefly for performances at Court, 1 and occasionally also for sim- ilar diversions at the houses of noblemen. 2 After thus using the building for three years, Edward VI made Sir Thomas Cawarden a present of the entire Blackfriars pre- cinct not already donated to other favorites, — the two churches, the cloisters, the priory houses, shops, residences, and lands, — by letters patent dated at Westminster March 12, i549~[5o]. 3 Not long afterwards, the office of the Revels and all the King's theatrical properties were removed to St. John's, Jerusalem, where they remained until ca. 1607. 4 of his appointment, dated March 11, 1545-[6], are printed in extenso in Thomas Rymer, Foedera, XV, 62 ; original at Loseley House, and noted in Hist. MSS. Com., op. cit., 6026-603a. Recently Dr. Rudolf Brotanek, Die Englischen Maskenspiele {Wie- ner Beitr'dge sur Englischen Phi- lologie, ed. Dr. J. Schipper, XV), 99, 110-11, has shown that two men were Cawarden's predecessors, — Harry Wentworth, 1510, and Sir Henry Guildford, 1514. Dr. Bro- tanek's source of information is, Letters and Papers, foreign and do- mestic, of the reign of Henry VIII, arranged and catalogued by J. S. B[rewer] (4 vols. 1862), II, 1492, I, 958, I, 718/f. 1 See documents at Loseley House ; referred to in Hist. MSS. Com., op. cit., 602-15, passim. 2 Idem, 597a; 6086. Here for ex- ample, 20 May, 1553, the Earl of Northumberland, presuming upon the custom, begs Sir Thomas Ca- warden to prepare or "apoynt out a couple of fayre maskes, oon of men and another of women" for presentation the following Thurs- day at a triple wedding, — a daugh- ter of the house of Northumberland with the Lord of Suffolk's son, an- other daughter with Lord Hastings, and one of the Lord of Suffolk's daughters with the Earl of Pem- broke's son. Also idem, 614o. 18 July, 1558. Thomas Coppley entreats Sir Thomas Cawarden of his courtesy to "lend the vse of one of" his "maskes" for the domestic celebra- tion of the writer's marriage. 3 See Deed to James Burbage, in Halliwell-Phillips, op. cit., I, 301c; also Repert. Orig. MS. (Brit. Mus.), Ill, 1276. See farther Let- ter-Book Z, fol. 236 (Guildhall Rec- ord Office, City archives of Lon- don). This date, in the document on the "Liberties" of Blackfriars published in Stowe, op. cit. (1633), 3766, is stated thus : "in his Letters Patents dated the 12. day of May" &c. "May" is certainly error for "March," which is given in all the other records. The present docu- ment, for example, (in Letter Book Z, fol. 236) gives it, "by his lettres patentes dated at Westminster the xij th of Marche, in the fourth yeare of his Reigne." This valuable his- torical document, dated January 27, 1579, has never been printed. See further, infra, 154 1 . *See Privy Seal from James I to Edmund Tilney, Master of the Revels, for allowance of 20 /. yearly for rent of "a house convenient for the Execution of the Office of o r R'evelles" dated "at o r Pallace of Westm r the eight and Twentith daie of December in the ffifte yeere of o r Raigne" &c. [= 28 Dec. 1607]. The document is preserved in the Public Record Office and has not, I believe, been printed. I have BLACKFRIARS THEATRE BUILDING 23 Sir Thomas Cawarden, the new possessor, made material changes in the precinct. One of his first acts was to demolish the noble old conventual church 1 as well as the little church of St. Anne's.'- He seems to have planned to make his acquisition the residence-quarter for nobles and lords. The splendid man- sions and noble society that we find there a little later show how well he succeeded. 3 No material changes were made in the Priory House, for be- tween 1580 and 1584 we hear of plays being acted there. Three evidences establish the fact. made a transcript of it and am pub- lishing it in extenso, u. i. The orig- inal may be consulted in the bundle of Privy Seals for "December, 1607." The new office-rooms, rented thus on account of granting St. John's to Lord Aubigny, were in the old Whitefriars monastery, sep- arated by only a wall from the Whitefriars theatre there, in which the Children of the King's Revels held forth. The removal from St. John's and relocation of the Revels office occurred, as this document shows, at least four years earlier than hitherto supposed. See, for example, Peter Cunningham, Ex- tracts from the Accounts of the Revels at Court, &c. (Shakespeare Society Publications. 1842), xlyiii, where is made the statement, hith- erto universally accepted by schol- ars, that St. John's was granted to Aubigny and the office of the Rev- els removed to St. Peter's Hill in 1611. On the contrary, the office was removed first to Whitefriars, as above, in or before 1607, and to 'tor's Hill later. See further under The Children of the King's Revels at Whitefriars in my forth- coming work on the drama and of Shakespeare's time, vol. I; also, the above document in extenso, vol. m 'In May. 1 '.too. while tearing down an old building on the north side of Ireland Yard, — No. 7, be- tween Friar street and St. Anne's Churchyard, -and excavating for a new structure, workmen brought to light a fine old specimen of Nor- man architecture in the form of walls and arches, 16 feet high, ca. 27 feet wide, and 40 feet long. See description and colored plate from a painting of the ruins by Philip Norman, London Vanished and Vanishing (1905), 115-18, with fur- ther reference to an earlier article by the same author in the London Topographical Society's Annual Record (1901). It has been thought that these ruins, now demolished, were a part of the old Blackfriars conventual church. But taking the known di- mensions of the cemetery 90 x 200 feet, the church 66 x 220 feet, and the cloisters 110 x 110 feet, a total of 266 feet north and south by 220 feet east and west, and measuring down from Carter Lane on any scale map, it seems almost beyond doubt that the ruins occupied the site of one side of the ancient clois- ters. The nature of the architecture and the width of the ruin, 27 feet, divided into two equal aisles by a row of four marble pillars support- ing the stone vaulting of the roof, suggests farther that this is B ruin of the ancient Blackfriars cloister, just south of which stood the theatre. 'See further John Stowe, OP. cit. I 1603), rui -■»:>.; id. (ed. L6SS), 374&-3750. 'Of course there were Others also interested to the same end. See, for example, documents in Stowe, op, at. (ed 16 24 CHILDREN OF THE CHAPEL AT BLACKFRIARS About 1 58 1 Stephen Gossen gives us to understand that a great many comedies were being acted at Blackfriars. 1 In 1584 Lyly's Campaspe and his Sapho and Phao were published. Each con- tains two prologues, — "The prologue at Blackfriars," and "The prologue at Court." There is no known documentary declaration as to what company or companies played at Blackfriars then. But the two plays named were, as their title-pages show, 2 pre- sented conjointly by the Paul's Boys and the Children of the Chapel. It is then likely that under their respective Masters the same joint presentation of at least these two plays and possibly others was made at Blackfriars. There are no further evidences that the house in question was used as a theatre prior to its purchase and remodeling by James Burbage, 1596-97. 3 At some undetermined time between the above use and the purchase by James Burbage Feb. 4, 159 5- [6], the large hall of the second floor was divided into rooms, 4 and the entire building was converted into apartments for residence and lodging. 5 The site of Blackfriars theatre is well known mainly to the- atrical histories. In busy modern London, it is in fact quietly secluded in a tract that corresponds roughly to the ancient pos- sessions of the monastery and that is bounded by two of the busiest streets of London on the north and west, near the lines of the ancient wall. If you are at St. Paul's, and wish to reach the site of the Blackfriars theatre, go southwestward five minutes ^'But in Playes either those "Sapho and Phao, played beefore thinges are found that never were, the Queene's Maiestie on Shrove- as Cupid and Psyche plaid at tewsday by her Maiesties Children, Paules ; and a great many Coedies and the Boyes of Paules. Im- more at y e Blacke friers, and in printed at London by Thomas Cad- euery Playe house in London." — man, 1584." Stephen Gosson, Plays Confuted in 3 For notice of the Collier for- Five Actions (ca. 1581), reprinted geries and the consequent errors in The English Drama and Stage still followed by literary historians, (ed. Hazlitt, Roxburghe Library, see Historical Preface in forthcom- 1869), 188. ing complete work. 2 "A most excellent Comedie of *" . . . all those seaven greate Alexander, Campaspe, and Diog- upper romes as they are now de- enes, played beefore the Queene's vided, beinge all uppon one flower Maiestie on twelfe day at night by and sometyme beinge one greate her Maiesties Children, and the and entire rome." — Deed to James Children of Paules. Imprinted at Burbage, Feb. 4, I595~i96], in Hal- London, for Thomas Cadman, liwell-Phillips, op. cit., I, 299. 1584." [First edition.] 5 See deed, u. s. BLACKFRIARS THEATRE BUILDING 25 through narrow, crooked lanes or little streets or foot-ways down the hill to the elevated railway, thence alongside of it down Water Lane southward to Playhouse Yard. Or if you are at Ludgate circus at the foot of Fleet street, cross New Bridge street diag- onally to the right. Then at the right of the railway station go up Union street, one street south of the line of the old north wall of the Friars, up to Water Lane, thence southward as before. But unless your admiration for things ancient in city construc- tion and for unfrequented aimless little crevasselike streets is strong, you may hesitate to venture alone the whole of either of these shorter general routes. You may, however, take a more frequented way. Suppose you come down Fleet street. When at the bottom you reach Ludgate circus, turn to the right down New Bridge street. Then just be- fore reaching Blackfriars Bridge on the Thames, turn left into Queen Victoria street. A few steps take you to Water Lane, along which runs the elevated Southeastern and Chatham Rail- way. Go north on Water Lane up the hill seventy-five paces, and you reach at your right "Playhouse Yard," — the name given to the little passage in memory of Blackfriars theatre. This is not a "yard" or a court, but a narrow, irregular way used by foot-passengers. With a width varying to 30 feet, it runs east 90 feet butt against a building which occupies probably the site of the old Pipe Office, adjoining the entrance to the "Publishing Office" of The Times, — approximately the place of the north entrance to the Blackfriars theatre. Here the passage jogs left into a wide unsanitary corner pocket, then narrows off in its original direction to about 12 feet for a distance of 90 feet far- ther, where it again jogs off left and becomes Glasshouse Yard. — so named from the glass-factory that used to stand here near the theatre. 1 It is an observation made by foreign visitors to Lon- don and confirmed by maps since the beginning of its history, that a given street undergoes a change of name for every im- '"I.ikc the Glass-house Furnace dwelling adjoining Blackfriars the- in Blacke-friers, the honefires that atre, given by Sir George Moore are kept there [in Hell], neuer goe to Cuthbert and Richard Rurbage out." — Tims. Dekker, Newes from 26 June, 1601, a passage or way Hell (1606), Non-dramatic Works from it is mentioned, "which lead- (ed. Grosart. Ifuth Library), II, 97. eth towards the glassehouse nowe In the deed of a messuage or in the tenure of Sir Jerom Bowes, 26 CHILDREN OF THE CHAPEL AT BLACKFRIARS portant place it passes. So in the present case, this passage in turn, a few steps farther on, is continued as Ireland Yard, which probably was the north boundary of the residence property Shake- speare purchased here in 1613, 1 and takes its name apparently from William Ireland who then occupied the house. 2 Within the fifty years next succeeding Sir Thomas Cawarden's acquisition of the precinct, the immediate environs of the Black- friars theatre site had become one of the most aristocratic resi- dence districts of London. Henry Carey, Lord Hunsdon, Queen Elizabeth's Chamberlain of the Household, had his mansion here. His son, Sir George Carey, who upon the death of Sir Henry succeeded to the title of Lord Hunsdon and in the following year, 1597, became also Lord Chamberlain, 3 had his residence adjoin- ing the south wall of the theatre. The gate to his mansion ad- joined the south entrance to the theatre, and both opened out of the same passage-way. 4 Sir William More of Loseley owned a house on Playhouse Yard (then called Pipe-Office Yard), almost opposite the north entrance to the theatre. It was occupied by Lord Cobham, 5 who during a part of the first year of the the- atre's history was Lord Chamberlain. Elizabeth Dowager Lady Russell resided near. Queen Elizabeth was frequently enter- tained in the neighborhood at noble marriages, great dinners, elaborate masques, &c, particularly at Lord Cobham's and Lord Hunsdon' s ; and at least once, possibly oftener, at a play in Black- friars theatre. 6 knight, on the north parte." — His- Lord Chamberlain in the interval torical MSS. Com., op. cit. (1879), until his death, i. e., from Sunday, 659. August 8, 1596, to March 5, 1597. — 1 See article in connection with See original entries of the Clerk in the three newly discovered Chan- Registers of the Privy Council, pre- cery documents involving Shake- served at Whitehall, London, ad speare as plaintiff in 1615 concern- loc., or the same in Acts of the ing his Blackfriars house, published Privy Council (ed. J. R. Dasent), in extenso by me in The Standard XXV, 4; XXVII, 50; XXVI, 98. (daily), London, Wed., Oct. 18, Cf. also Halliwell-Phillips, op. cit., 1905, p. 5, col. 1-3. I, 366c, and F. G. Fleay, A Chron- 2 Cf. also J. O. Halliwell-Phillips, icle History of the London Stage Outlines of the Life of Shakespeare (1890), 134. (9th ed. 1890), II, 246. *Deed to James Burbage, 1596, "Henry Carey, Lord Hunsdon, in Halliwell-Phillips, op. cit., I, died July 22, 1596. His son George 300a. was appointed to the office of Lord 5 Ibid., I, 301a. Chamberlain Sunday, April 17, 1597. e Cf. infra, 95-97. William Brooke, Lord Cobham, was BLACKFRIARS THEATRE BUILDING 27 According to the Petition of the inhabitants of Blackfriars precincts in 1596, 1 there were others of the nobility and gentry in the neighborhood. The deed of a dwelling-house and grounds by Henry Walker to William Shakespeare in 161 3 2 shows that formerly John Fortescue 3 had lived in that house, and at present Henry, Earl of Northumberland, occupied adjoining property. The prominent families of the Blackwells and the Bacons also resided near. The Chancery documents concerning Shakespeare and others in 161 5, which I recently discovered in the Public Record Office, 4 give the names of others, — particularly Sir Thomas Bendish, Robert Dormer, Edward Newport, and addi- tional members of the Blackwell and Bacon families. In various other unpublished documents in the Public Record Office I have met with the names of additional more or less prominent mem- bers of the nobility and gentry of the time in connection with property transactions in the Blackfriars. Documents published by Stowe 5 give some of the earliest names, in Henry VIII, as Sir John Portenary, Lord Cobham, Lord Zanche, Sir Thomas Cheney, Sir William Kingston, Sir Francis Brian. But certain unpub- lished documents which I have come upon in the Guildhall ar- chives 6 indicate that the most of the Blackfriars inhabitants were not of the wealthy class. The same impression is given by sev- eral allusions to working people in documents published bv Stowe, 7 as also by the mention of the feather-makers, Puritans, &c, of Blackfriars in contemporary dramas. From all evidences I conclude that the aristocratic part was on the higher slope of the hill, limited practically to the district occupied formerly by x Cf. supra, 17 5 . duced facsimiles of two of the doc- *5ee deed and mortgage in Hal- uments (Bill and Answer) in Mew liwell-Phillips, op. cit., II, 31-36. Shakespeariana. April. 1906, front- 3 Sir John? ispieces ; originals in Public Record 'See the three documents in ex- Office, London, under Chancery tenso with introductory article pub- Proceedings, Bills and Answers, lished by me in The Standard James /, Bundle B11. X". '.• : and (daily), London, Oct. 18, 1905, p. 5; Court of Chancery. Decrees and Or- type-facsimiles of them with sep- dcrs, vol. 1614" A," p. 1074. arate article in University of Ne- 'John Stowe, op. cit. (ed 1633), braska Studies, October, 1905, 347- 377b. 56; type-facsimiles with brief article "E. g., Letter Book Z, fol. 23-28. in EngKsche Studien (ed. Johannes T John Stowe. op. cit. (ed. 1633), Hoops, Heidelberg) 1905-6, 375/r". XX XV I. 56-63; photo-engraved re- 28 CHILDREN OF THE CHAPEL AT BLACKFRIARS the cloisters, the pretentious Priory buildings, and the spacious old conventual church. In the midst of this aristocratic district stood the Blackfriars theatre. It was a much more pretentious structure than usually supposed. The fact that James Burbage in 1596 paid 600/. for the house, — about 4800 /. in present values on a conservative basis, 1 — indicates it was of considerable size. Compare this price with the value of the best known property in the district, Shake- speare's house. This was a dwelling of at least two stories, with several rooms, and cost only 140 /. at the time of its purchase by the poet in 161 3. The natural inference follows that the Priory House purchased by Burbage and converted by him into the Blackfriars theatre must have been four to five times as large. This inference is borne out by the available data of certain pub- lished and unpublished 2 documents. At the time of purchase by Burbage the building contained several flats and lodgings. When remodeled into the theatre, it contained one great hall with gal- leries and a stage, and several smaller rooms adjacent and above for specific uses. A further notion of the pretentiousness of the Blackfriars structure is given by a comparison of total costs of contemporary theatres. "The Theatre," built by James Burbage in 1576, approximated 600 /.; and when in 1 598-99/ it was torn down, Gyles Allen, lessor 'It is impossible to state relative On comparative values, see fur- values exactly. A comparison of ther Sidney Lee, Life of Shake- prices then and now shows building speare (4th ed. 1899) 187 1 , where materials about one-tenth to one- also one-eighth is taken as the basis, fifteenth as dear as today, with labor But J. O. Halliwell-Phillips, op. cit., and most necessities of life approx- I, 21, says, "In balancing Shake- imately of the same relative cheap- spearean and present currencies, the ness. As to real estate, values of former may be roughly estimated not only this same property (now from a twelfth to a twentieth of the owned by The Times) but of prop- latter in money, and from a twen- erty throughout London have so in- tieth to a thirtieth in landed or creased that a comparison on that house property." basis would make the price paid by 2 See infra, 36 4 , 39\ Burbage seem fabulous. The esti- 3 The process of demolition began mate I have here allowed of one- Dec. 28, 1598, and seems to have eighth is probably too conservative, been completed in January, 1599. but even on that basis shows the See extracts from suits at law in property highly valuable. Halliwell-Phillips, op. cit., I, 360-61. BLACKFRIARS THEATRE BUILDING 29 of the land on which it had stood, wishing in a suit at law to secure damages, placed upon it the high value of 700 I. 1 The cost of the Globe, constructed in 1599 partly from the old materials of the torn-down "Theatre," cannot have reached near 600 I. 2 The Fortune, erected the next year (1600) on the general plan of the Globe, was contracted for, to be built wholly out of new materials, at 440 /. 3 But the building when completed exceeded the contract-price, amounting to 520 /. 4 The lease of the grounds cost 240 /. Hence the total cost of the Fortune theatre and grounds was 760 I. 5 1 See data from suits in Halli- well-Phillips, op. cit., I, 371c. *Cf. infra, 29*. 'See contract of Henslowe and Alleyn, owners, with Peter Street, carpenter. Original in Dulwich College Library, in the suburbs of London. Printed in E. Malone, Shakespeare Variorum (ed. Bos- well, 1821), III, 338-43; J. O. Hal- liwell-Phillips, op. cit., I, 304-6; G. P. Baker, The Development of Shakespeare as a Dramatist (1907), 315-20 (from Malone, u. s.). * Peter Street was the builder of both the Globe («. s.) and the For- tune. His contract of 440 /. to build the Fortune after the general plan of the Globe is based upon his ex- perience in erecting the Globe. That amount rather than the 520 /., then, gives his approximate estimate of the cost of the Globe if it had been built not of old, but wholly of new material. Upon this basis the Globe, built partly of materials from "The Theatre," cannot have cost so much as 440 /. in actual cash outlay in 1599. "Data from Edward Alleyn's memorandum of "What the Fortune cost me Novemb., 1599," printed from the original MS. at Dulwich Collect' in The Alleyn Papers (ed. J. P. Collier, Shakes. Soc. Pub. L848), mv. Also in J. P. Collier, History of English Dramatic Poetry (1879 J ). III. L19. [Rut there is an error by some one. The contract for the Fortune (w. s., 29 s ) is dated "the eighte daie of Januarye, 1599- [1600], and in the twoe and fortyth yeare of the reigne of our sov- ereigne ladie Elizabeth." At this period the calendar year ended March 24. Has Alleyn in his Pock- et-book note above, "Novemb., 1599," forgot to change the year after passing March 24? It should of course be "1600." For similar errors, see Henslowe's Diary (ed. Collier, 5". S. Pub., 1845), 29, 47, 99, 102, et passim]. Sometimes the cost of the For- tune is stated as 880 /. But that includes private buildings that Al- leyn placed on the same grounds. Sometimes the amount is given as 1320/. But that includes not only these private buildings, but addi- tional houses and leases in Golding Lane purchased by Alleyn, the ex- pense of all being itemized and summed up in the same account ( m. s.). Collier (Memoirs of Ed- ward Alleyn, S. S. Pub. 1841, 59), upon reconsideration after the first edition of his History (1S31), de- cides that the 520 /. was only Al- leyn's half of the expense. But his assumption that Henslowe paid an equal amount is gratuitous and is supported by no document. On the contrary all the known . cit., passim. For later views, cf. Philip Norman, London Vanished and Vanishing ( L905. llluv with 75 colored plates from paintings by the author). "So at least I understand Prof. G. P. Baker, op. cit.. T.'i. in the ex- pression "a cross-timbered con- struction." CHILDREN OF THE CHAPEL AT BLACKFRIARS covered the entire exterior, 1 and was probably marked off so as to give the appearance of stone blocks, 2 or otherwise ornamented. Also the pillars "uppon and over the stage" of the Hope, like those of the Swan, were simply "turned cullumes [columns]," 3 a very plain adornment at best, while the posts supporting the balconies were made of square dimension stuff measuring from ten by ten in the lower story to six by six in the upper. And ^he Fortune was plastered thus outside, as shown by the contract for its construction (u. s., 29 3 ) thus : "And alsoe all the saide frame and the [outside] stearcases thereof to be sufficyently enclosed without with lathe, lyme, and haire." The Globe as the specified model of the For- tune must then have been built in the same manner. The general specifications in the Hope contract (m. s., 31 4 ) calling for the use of "lyme lears [= hears], sand, brickes, tyles, laths, nayles," &c, the whole building "to be made in suche forme and fashion as the said playhouse called the Swan," indicate the same style of plaster exterior for both as for the Fortune and Globe. Cor- roborative of this evidence is the engraving of the Hope ("Bear Gar- den") in R. Wilkinson, Londina Il- lustrate (1819), I, pt. ii (no pag.), which shows a plaster exterior marked off into large stone-shaped blocks. Although Visscher's view of 1616 was used as a basis for this engraving, it is fair to presume the engraver had more tangible evidence than mere imagination upon which to represent such an exterior. Par- ticularly so since it is not contra- dictory but corroborative of the other evidences, and is itself cor- roborated by common custom of the times represented. From the amount of lime, sand, lath, lath-nails, &c. used by Hens- lowe "a bowte my play howsse" (probably the Rose) in 1592, this theatre also had a similar exterior. (See items in Henslowe's Diary, ed. Collier, 5". 5". Pub., 1845, 10-15.) In all these known cases of the Fortune (and Globe), the Hope (and Swan), as also in case of the addition to the Bear Garden in 1606 (cf. contract in Memoirs of Edward Alleyn, ed. Collier, S. S. Pub., 1841, 78-81), the heavy-timbered "frame" is mentioned and emphasized as the main thing in the structure. The plastering over heavy laths or "slates" was of course regarded as part of the "finishing." There seems little room for doubt that the same sort of heavy- timbered "frame" and plaster ex- terior characterized the Globe, the Fortune, the Bear Garden, the Swan, the Hope, and the Rose, and probably all other public theatres prior to the building of the new Globe and Fortune. (Cf. infra, 34 T .) There was good reason why all the Elizabethan and early Jacobean public theatres should avail them- selves of this same general plan of unpretentious and comparatively in- expensive efficiency. In this they were using the mode of building that was most in vogue for common houses, inns, and other structures not intended for the centuries, — a mode, so far as the plaster exterior is concerned, still used widely in southern Europe and parts of Amer- ica, though not always for cheap- ness. The theatre was more or less an uncertain business enterprise, usually located on temporarily leased grounds, and did not war- rant the anticipations of the future in either the expense or permanence that the use of brick or stone, — much less of flint stone, — would carry with it. a See the Wilkinson engraving of the Hope (Bear Garden), u. s., 32 1 . *Cf. contract for Hope, u. s., 30 1 . BLACKFRIARS THEATRE BUILDING 33 neither the Swan nor the Hope could on an architect's estimate accommodate more than one-third the number De Witt guessed. 1 The removable stage of each rested on "tressels" 2 and could be taken up for bull-baiting or bear-baiting, and put down again for play-acting/ 1 — an impermanency and practice that further sug- gests less of fixed excellence in structure and adornment than De Witt gave compliment to. 4 There is no evidence of a pretentiousness of either the Swan or the Hope, built and used thus alike, that warrants a more gen- erous valuation than the liberal 500 I. as already calculated, or a larger estimate of their capacity than that of the Fortune or the Globe. Rather do these estimates of value and size seem too large than too small. In the same year the Hope was built, the original Globe was 'On comparative capacities, see infra, 50 1 . *Cf. Hope contract, u. s., 30*. The De Witt-Van Buchell sketch of the Swan, which is merely suggest- ive, — in the main rightly but some- times wrongly suggestive, — and in no detail exact nor intended to be exact, shows a temporary prosce- nium ; — which however most prob- ably extended much farther back than there shown, with the posts also moved far rearwards, leaving the "heavens" unsupported and pro- jecting forward over the temporary stage, as specified in the Hope con- tract. "'The Hope on the Banks side in Southwarke, commonly called the Beare Garden, A Play house for Stage Playes on Mundayes, Wed- ensdayes, Fridayes and Saterdayes, And for the Baiting of the Beares On Tuesdayes and Thursdayes, the being made to take vp and downe when they please." — MS. notes in a copy of Stowe's Annates or Chronicle (continued by E. >. 1631, in die Phillips col- lection, Thirlestone Mouse, Chelten- ham; reported by Dr. F. J. Furni- vall. "The End of Shakspere's Playhouses," in The Academy (1882), XXII, 314-15. *When one considers De Witt's description and sketch of the Swan, one is divided between gratitude for certain data and the suggestive il- lumination of our knowledge on the one hand, and admiration on the other for the exhilarating quality of dramatic ale that made the dis- tinguished Dutch scholar and priest see the rather plain, moderate-sized plastered wooden bear-baiting and bull-baiting playhouse with gener- ous vision, even in pleasing retro- spect. Ben Jonson in closing The In- duction to his Bartholomcio Fair, under date 30 Oct., 1614, the first play ever presented at the Hope, damned that bull-baiting theatre as not merely unaesthetic, but as "be- ing as durty as Smithfield, and as ftinking euery whit." [The slush and filth of the cattle-market of the Bartholomew fair, held every Au- gust at Smithfield, was proverbial. 1 With the breath of this judgment blown suggestively across from the Hope to its model in structure and use, the Swan, it would seem thai De Witt at a distance with his Latin prose was more poet than Jonson present with his English verse. 34 CHILDREN OF THE CHAPEL AT BLACKFRIARS burned down 1 and the new Globe erected" by the shareholders 3 in its place at a cost of 1400 /.* Although begun in 1613 it was not completed until the spring of 1614, 5 nearly a year after the fire. 6 The reason for the extraordinary expense and the longer time required for construction was that the building was erected much more substantially 7 and fitted out in a manner superior to all "Burned 29 June, 1613. For de- tails, see a letter from John Cham- berlain, 8 July, 1613, in Malone, op. cit., 69; Sir Henry Wotton, Rel- iquae Wottoniae (1685), 425; John Stowe (continued by E. Howes), Annales or a General Chronicle (1631), 1004; "A Sonnet on the pit- iful Burning of the Globe Playhouse in London," in J. P. Collier, His- tory of English Dramatic Poetry and the Stage (1831), I, 387; printed also from another MS. in Halliwell-Phillips, op. cit., I, 310-11. The least known but one of the most nearly contemporary of these accounts is a letter from Rev. Thomas Lorkin to Sir Thomas Puckering the next day after the fire, 30 June, 1613, in [Thomas Birch], The Court and Times of James I (1848), I, 253. 2 For the statement in an early record, but on an unknown basis, that the Globe was "now built vp again in the yeare 1613 at the great charge of King lames, and many Noble men and others," see The Academy, loc. cit. "For a list of the shareholders and their shares at this time, — and from the beginning of the Globe, — see the long and valuable documents on Shakespeare, and the Globe and Blackfriars theatres, which I dis- covered some time ago and shall as soon as possible make known in a separate publication. 4 See Answer of John Shanks in the Globe-Blackfriars Share-papers of 1635, in Halliwell-Phillips, op. cit., I, 316a. 5 " . . . And the next spring T1614] it was builded in farre fairer maner then before." — John Stowe (continued by E. Howes), Annales or a General Chronicle (1631), 1004. The MS. notes in the copy of this edition at Thirlestone House (w. s., 33 3 ) declare that the Globe was burnt down in 1612 and rebuilt in 1613. But those notes are inaccu- rate in dates and data, and can be accepted only when confirmatory of other evidence. 6 It had but recently been opened when Chamberlain wrote Mrs. Carleton (u. i., 35 1 ), just a year and a day after the fire. 7 The new Globe required nearly two to four times as long in con- struction as any former public the- atre, — the Fortune contract (u. s., 290 calling for six and one-half months and the Hope three months. It cost nearly three times as much as any of them. These items indi- cate a better sort of material or bet- ter workmanship or both. The Fortune theatre, the sharp rival of the Globe, was, after the 1621 fire, rebuilt with a brick veneer (cf. The Academy, u. s., "And built againe with brick worke on the out- side in y e yeare 1622"), possibly in continuation of the long emulation. An official return, 1634 (W. Rendle, New Shak. Soc. Pub., 1878, App. I, xvii), declares "The Globe playhouse nere Maide lane built by the Company of Players with tim- ber about 20 yeares past uppon an old foundacion." This seems to preclude any notion of brick-work in the Globe above the foundation. But Wilkinson, who published, 1819 (op. cit.), the famous view of the plastered brick-veneered facade of the second Fortune (Shepherd del., 1811, Wise sculp.), then still stand- ing, engraved also in the same work, from Visscher, a view of the new Globe, showing brick-work in the key-stone arches over the win- BLACKFRIARS THEATRE BUILDING 86 former public theatres. 1 The managers seem to have taken some- what into account the demands of the better class of society that in late Elizabeth had abandoned the public theatres and followed after royalty in the enjoyment of superior accommodations and aristocratic exclusiveness at the Blackfriars. - The Blackfriars Priory House cost Burbage at purchase 600/. The extensive remodeling 8 necessary to convert the building into a theatre cannot, upon conservative estimates, have cost less than 200/., and most likely exceeded that amount. The completed Blackfriars, then, had in 1597 a cash value of at least 800 /. Upon all known evidences, some of which have been adduced in this comparative view of the theatres, the Blackfriars, then, at a value of 800/., was the most expensive theatre building ever established in London prior to the new Globe in 1614. Still a further comparison is serviceable. Since the publication of Wright's Historia Histrionica* all pri- vate theatres have been generally classed together under the word "small," giving rise to absurdly false notions. The Blackfriars was large enough for the Burbage-Shakespeare company to take it for their own use after the termination of the Children of the Queen's Revels there in 1608. 5 Here they were able to assemble such audiences as to enable the company to get more by 1000 /. for their Blackfriars performances in a single winter than thev were used to get at the Globe. This was due mainly of course dows, like those of the upper win- speech of this new playhouse, which (lows of the Fortune fagade. is said to be the fairest that ever An original drawing of the Globe was in England." — John Chamber- in the Trace collection (Brit. Mus., lain. Esq., to Mrs. Alice Carleton, Pennant's London) the antiquity of no June. 10] I. in [Thomas Birch], which is forged, likewise shows the The Court and Times of James I arches of brick. On the whole it (1S4S), I. 329. Cf. also supra seems questionable hut not unlikely 'Cf. infra. 51, 95-97, I05ff., 126- thal the timber framework was 29, L48 62, I73ff. brick-veneered and plastered over, 3 Cf. inf. after the old and still present cus- "James Wright, infra, 36* 43*. torn, as in the cas,- of the Fortune. "See under "Children of the '"I have n"t seen your sister Queen's R vels at Blackfriars" i n Williams since T came to town. forthcoming work. vol. I. though I have been there twice. '"This replyant [Kirkham] sayth, The first time she was at a neigh- and the same will averr and proue Dor's house at cards, and the next to this honorable Courte, thai dur- shc wis gone to the New Globe, inge such time as the said defend- to a play. Indeed. I hear much ants Flemings and Burbidge and 36 CHILDREN OF THE CHAPEL AT BLACKFRIARS not to greater size of auditorium, but to superior accommodations and higher prices in entertaining a more select and exclusive set of patrons. The Blackfriars as we shall see was not so large as the Globe, though of greater size than seems generally believed. It was the standard for Whitefriars (ca. 1604), x an d the model in form and size for the Cockpit (ca. — ?; rebuilt as Phoenix, 1617), and for Salisbury Court theatre (1629). 2 The above comparisons give us general conceptions. Materials at hand enable us to determine with some definiteness the size of the Blackfriars building and. essential features of its exterior at the date of purchase, as also the interior arrangement of rooms, the extent of alterations made by the Burbages, the exact square dimensions of the "Great Hall" used as the theatrical auditorium, the location of the stage, and the general features of arrangement of both auditorium and stage. The evidences are in the Deed to Burbage, 3 the numerous suits at law by Henry Evans, Edward Kirkham, and their associates against each other, 4 Clifton's com- plaint in the Court of Star Chamber against Evans et al., 5 docu- ments concerning Salisbury Court theatre, 6 and contemporary plays. theire Companye contynewed playes and Interludes in the said great Hall in the ffryers, that they gott & as yet dothe, more in one Winter in the said great Hall by a thou- sand powndes then they were vsed to gett in the Banckside." — Kirk- ham's Replication in Kirkham vs. Evans et al., Court of Chancery, 1612, Public Record Office. Printed from the transcript of James Green- street, the discoverer, in F. G. Fleay, A Chronicle History of the London Stage (1890), 248. 'See "Children of the King's Revels at Whitefriars," in forth- coming work, vol. I. 2 "They [Blackfriars, Cockpit, and Salisbury Court] were all three built almost exactly alike for form and bigness." — James Wright, His- toria Histrionica (1699), in Haz- litt's Dodsley, Old Plays (1876), XV, 408. [But Wright is not quite exact here. See infra, 39 3 ]. "Printed in Halliwell-Phillips, op. cit., I, 299-301. 4 These suits take rank among the chief records of the Elizabethan- Jacobean stage. Two of them, con- taining eleven documents, were dis- covered by the late Mr. James Greenstreet, and printed in extenso in F. G. Fleay, op. cit., 210-51. [Later references, "G-F."] Twelve additional suits — contain- ing bills, pleas, answers, replica- tions, depositions, bonds, and articles of agreement — belong among the treasures of my own researches, and will appear in extenso in my forth- coming work, vol. III. Occasional quotations are made from them in the present work. 5 Greenstreet's transcript in Fleay, op. cit., 127-32. [Referred to here- after as "G.-F."] 8 Published by Peter Cunningham in The Shakespeare Society's Papers (1849), IV, 91-108. BLACKFRIARS THEATRE BUILDING 37 The Blackfriars building was a stone 1 structure erected in two sections. The north section adjoining the Pipe Office, — a gov- ernment repository where great drainpipe-like rolls of state parch- ments were kept, — was three stories high, with garret above these and cellars or vaults beneath. 2 The tiled roof was steep, 3 with gable-end facing north on Pipe-Office Yard 4 (now Playhouse Yard), and dormer windows in the third story. 5 In the west half of this section there were two rooms on the second floor 6 and two on the first immediately below. 7 These four rooms were balanced on the east by an entry hall and a great winding stone stair-way. 8 The main entrance of the building was out of Pipe-Office Yard and led by the great winding stair and hall to all the rooms of this north section, as also on the second floor by a passage through the dividing stone wall to that part of the south section described as the "seaven greate upper romes . . . sometyme beinge one greate and entire rome." 9 The south section is of chief literary-historical interest because of its having been made into the "Great Hall" of Blackfriars the- atre. At the date of purchase this section was two stories high 10 with "cellar" or basement rooms besides. 11 The flat roof was cov- ered with lead, 12 up to which from the "seaven greate upper romes" ran a stone stair-way. 13 The lower floor of this section, 1 Cf. Deed to Burbage in Halli- Johnson. Thev had a separate en- well-Phillips, op. cit., I, 299-300, trance.— Idem, "300, 38-43. Passim. "Idem, 299, 21-23, 31-32; 300. 20- 2 Ibid. The parts describing the 21, 24-25. north section are 299, 21-35; 300, 'Idem, 299. 21-23; 300, 20-21, 26- 17-36. 38-53. 28, 28-31, 34~36. "See Deed, u. s., description of "Idem, 299. 14-21; 299, 35—300, the two rooms in third story occu- 17; 300, 36-38. pied by Edward Merry (300, 21-31) "Idem, 300, 11-17. and of the garret above (300, 31- "Idem, 299, 16-19. Steep roofs 36). were covered with tile, and flat roofs 'Idem, 299, 23, 32; 300, 41-46. with lead. During a recent delight- 'The location of the rooms occu- ful itinerary of Hampton Court Pal- pied by Edward Merry (id.. 300, ace by members and friends of the I would seem to require this London Shakespeare League con- BOrl of structure so common to the ducted by Mr. Ernest Law. I was times. impressed with the appearance of a 'Tins, urn- occupied by Charles similar flat lead-covered roof of a Bradshaw. They had an entrance contemporary part of the structure from the main stairway, and also that we crossed in passing from an outside stairway Idem. 300, IT- "the Great Hall" to another portion II, 50 of that Shakespeare haunted palace. 'These were occupied by Peter "Idem. 299, 17-18. 38 CHILDREN OF THE CHAPEL AT BLACKFRIARS immediately under the "seaven greate upper romes," was divided into lodgings and apartments. 1 The rooms occupied by Thomas Bruskett, called "Midle Romes or Midle Stories," 2 comprised an area 52 feet by 37 feet and extended southward to the mansion of Sir George Carey. 3 Two other rooms in the north end of this sec- tion were occupied by Peter Johnson, and were connected with the two rooms he had on the same floor in the north section. 4 The Deed to Burbage locates Bruskett' s apartments as being under the west part of the "seaven greate upper romes," 5 but omits to mention what was under the east part. But from the size of the auditorium made by Burbage, 6 it is likely there was at date of purchase a passageway 9 feet wide in the undescribed location. The entrance to the lower floor of this section was on the south and adjoined the gate to Sir George Carey's mansion, both open- ing out of the same passageway or lane. 7 As this south section alone was converted into the theatre-audi- torium, its size is of interest. The supposition is general that both auditorium and stage were small. The comparative view already given and the definite data now at hand show this is not quite a correct view. The dimensions of 52 x 37 feet, specifically stated in the deed as the measure of only those apartments of the lower floor occu- pied by Thomas Bruskett, 8 have been assumed to be the size of the entire theatre. 9 But in fact the auditorium alone was more than one and one-half and the entire building possibly more than two and one-half times that size. x Part of these were occupied by The two rooms at the north end Thomas Bruskett (idem, 299, 35 — occupied by Johnson on the same 300, 11), and the others by Peter floor with Bruskett are called Johnson (idem, 300, 36-38). "lower rooms," doubtless because 2 The designation "middle rooms" there the basement rooms are not or "middle story" was regularly mainly above ground, used to mean the second one of 3 Deed, u. s., 299, 38 — 300, 11. three stories. [For convenient ex- i Idem, 300, 36-41. ample, see contract for Hope the- 5 "lyeing and beinge directlye un- atre, u. s., 30 2 , where the second der parte of those of the sayd seaven of the three galleries is called "the upper romes which lye westwardes." midall storie."] In the present case — Idem, 300, 1-3. these rooms are called "middle" be- "Cf. infra, 39\ cause the basement rooms, on ac- "Deed, u. s., 300, 6-11. count of the rapid southward slope 8 Cf. supra, 38 1 . of the grounds, constitute the first "See for example, C. I. Elton, story. Hence they are described in Shakespeare's Family and Friends the deed as "adjoining" the gardens. (1904), 458. BLACKFRIARS THEATRE BUILDING 39 In certain documents which I have recently found, the exact size of the "Great Hall" or auditorium is stated as 66 x 46 feet, with the length running north and south. 1 It is made clear that this is the full size of the south section. The dimensions of the north section can only be approximated from this, in connection with items already referred to in the deed, and others yet to be mentioned from other documents. The width was certainly 46 feet, while no possible conception of the arrangement of rooms from first floor to garret would seem to allow an approximation of less than 40 feet north and south. This would make the entire building 46 feet wide and something over 100 feet long. The auditorium section of Blackfriars theatre, therefore, was about half the size of the Globe or the Fortune. 2 The entire build- ing was also at least four feet wider than Salisbury Court theatre, but may or may not have exceeded it in length. :} The alterations by the Ilurbages in converting the Blackfriars building into a theatre were extensive and cost much time and money.' The north section alone required but little change to /The "Great Hall" of the Black- friars is described as "existeiu pars et parcella illorMui domor»m et oedificactonum ibidem quae fuerunt tunc nuper perquisitae ct emptor de Willf/mo Moore Militr per Jaco- bum Burbidge defunctutn patrem pra^dicfi R\cardi et per dictum Ri- cardum Burbidge continent per es- timan'onem in longitudine ah aus- trale ad borealem partem eiusd^m sexaginta et sex pedes assissae sit plus siue minus ct in latitudine ab occidental ad orientalltM partem eiusdfm quadraginta et sex pedes oe --it plus sine minus." [Ital- pplied by me in place of the original characters of abbreviation]. documents in extenso in vol. Ill of forthcoming work. 'The Fortune, BO x BO 6400 sqft (See Contract for Fortune, in II d- liwell-Phillips, op. cit., I, 305a.) The Blackfriar I tall," *'■<< \ 038 sqft Tin- Globe, though the model for tin- Fortune in struc- tural details, was nut square but mal. 'The grounds purchased for the erection of Salisbury Court theatre (1G29) were 42x140 feet. It is not likely that the theatre occupied the full length of the grounds, but its width was certainly narrow enough at 42 feet. — See Indenture, rj July, 1629, Brit. Mus., Add. eh. 9290. See this and other documents on Salis- bury Court theatre published by Pe- ter Cunningham in The Shakespeare Society's Papers (1849), IV, 91-92, 102. From the preceding data, the statement of James Wright, His- toria Histrionica (1699), in Haz- litt's Dodsley, Old flays < L876), XV, 4os (u. s., 36") that Black- friars, the Cockpit, ami Salisbury Court "were all three built almost alike for form and bigness," is not quite exact — nor is it intended to be. No farther data are known as to dimensions of the Cockpit "'Now for the Blackfriars, that is our inheritance; our father pur- chased it at extreame rates, and made it into a playhouse with great charge and troble," saj Cuthbert, Winifred, and young William Bur- 40 CHILDREN OF THE CHAPEL AT BLACKFRIARS make it adaptable to the new uses. The lower room just west of the main entrance and the room just above it were still kept for residence purposes, and were reserved by Richard Burbage in making the later lease of the premises to Evans. 1 The other west lower room was converted into "the Scholehouse" 2 where the Children of the Chapel maintained at Blackfriars as actors were taught various subjects, including those of the Grammar school. 3 The room immediately above was later made into a dining-room or commons for the boy-actors by Henry Evans, the lessee, at his own expense. 4 The south section underwent a thorough transformation. The two stories were converted into the auditorium called "the great Hall or Room," 5 which was separated from "the Scholehouse" and dining-room above 6 by the stone wall 7 between the two sec- tions of the building. The roof was changed, and rooms, prob- ably of the usual dormer sort, were built above the Great Hall. 8 bage in the Globe-Black friars Share- Papers of 1635. In Halliwell-Phil- lips, op. cit., I, 317. 'See supra, 36 4 . 5 "A certen roome, called the Scholehouse, and a certen chamber over the same." — Evans's Bill of Complaint in Evans vs. Kirkham, G.-F., 213c. These same two rooms are mentioned over and over in the documents discovered by both Mr. Greenstreet and myself. In one of the latter, for example, "the schoole- howse" is definitely located as "schola anglice schoolehowse ad borealem finem Aulae pracdictae." 8 See Diary of the Duke of Stet- tin, infra, 106-7, 113-25. * Evans speaks of the chamber over "the Scholehouse" as "made fitt by your oratour, at his owne proper costs and chardges, to dyne and supp in." — Evans's Bill of Com- plaint in Evans vs. Kirkham, G.-F., 214&. 5 See documents in G.-F, 211a, 215c, 223c, 2276, 228c, 230a, 233&, 239c, &c. The same appears with equal frequency in my more recent discoveries referred to supra, 36 4 . 6 "w ch said scholehouse and cham- ber over the same were seuered from the said great hall." — Evans vs. Kirkham, G.-F., 214&. 7 See Deed {op. cit., 299c) de- scribing the vault under the north entrance-hall with a great stone wall on the south side of it. The different height and method of roofing of each section indicates this wall extended from the vaults to the roof. Also, if it had not been for this stone wall in the way, the auditorium would doubtless have been made larger. 8 The deed to Burbage (w. s., 17 3 ) minutely describes and lo- cates every part of the building, except the space to the east of the rooms occupied on the first floor by Thomas Bruskett (cf. supra, 38\ 38 5 ). The stairs in the north section led up into the gabled garret. The stone stairway out of "the seaven greate upper romes" ran di- rectly up to the leads of the flat roof of the south section. There were no rooms above the second story of this auditorium section then. But when the building was finally remodeled into a theatre and Evans leased it, there were. They are mentioned in the lawsuits nu- merous times in connection with the BLACKFRIARS THEATRE BUILDING 41 These by their adaptation for the purpose must have served for the lodgings of the Children of the Chapel who, as shown later, 1 were boarded, lodged, and instructed at the theatre under the su- pervision of Henry Evans. 2 Evans and his wife had residence in "one or two rooms" 3 in the building, — doubtless the two on the third floor fronting Pipe Office Yard. In the Great Hall, galleries 4 and lords' rooms 5 or private boxes with lock and key were built around the sides. No published lease ; e. g., "All that great Hall or Rome w th the roomes over the same." — Evans vs. Kirkham, G.-F., 211. "Whereas Richard Burbage . . . hath leased and to farme letten vnto henrye Evans all that greate hall or Roome with the roomes ouer the same in the said indenture men- ctoned." — The 200 /. bond of Evans to Kirkham et al. in one of the doc- uments which I recently discovered. Cf. infra, 92*. That the "roomes ouer the same" were of little use except in connec- tion with the theatre is shown by the Plea of Burbage and Hemings in the suit of Kirkham vs. Painton, G.-F., 228o. 'Infra, 71, 73ff, 98ff, lOoff. 2 If the new roof was given a pitch similar to that of the north section, there would have been a space at least 66 feet long and about 32 feet wide to divide into rooms. Allowing a hall of 6 feet, the re- maining space would have made twelve rooms, each 11x13 feet. With two in each room, this would have accommodated twenty-four boys, — approximately the number required in most of the plays pre- sented by the Children of the Chapel maintained at the Blackfriars. (Cf. infra, 78 > "... one or two roomes where- in your subiecl then inhabited." - Kirkham, G.-F., 211r. 'Galleries are mentioned in dif- ferent documents that I have re- cently brought to light; c. g., . . . tocius ilHug magnae Aulae vel loci anglice Roome cum locis anglice roomes supra ead^m . . . cum Theatro anglice a Stage por- ticibi^ anglice Galleryes et sedilibus de quantitate specificate in scedula ad hide annexato" &c. — Cf. supra, 36*. As Ben Jonson was writing for no other company than the Children of the Chapel during 1600-1601, the following can but refer to incidents at Blackfriars. Also every identi- fiable reference in Satiroinastix to Jonson as a playwright is to his Poetaster, played first at Blackfriars ca. April, 1601. Horace [Jonson] is made to swear, "You shall not sit in a gal- lery when your comedies and inter- ludes have entered their actions and there make vile and bad faces at every line," &c. — Thomas Dekker, Satiromastix (ed. T. Hawkins, Ori- gin of the English Drama, I III, 193. See further infra, 42. 5 Horace [Jonson] is further sworn, "You must forswear to ven- ture on the stage when your play i> ended, and to exchange court'sies and complements with gallanN in the lord's rooms, to make all the house rise up in arms and to cry, — That's Horace, that's he, that's he."— Ibid. 6 "A little Pique happened be- twixt the Duke of Lenox and the Lord Chamberlain about a Box at a new Play in the Black IVyars. of which the Duke had got the Key." — Letter from Rev. G. Garrard dated Jan. 25, L635, in The Earl of Straf- forde's Letters and Dispatches ( 1739), I. 51] Quote. 1 also, but inexactly, in E. Malotic, op. cit., Ill, 42 CHILDREN OF THE CHAPEL AT BLACKFRIARS document declares how many galleries there were. But one of the recent discoveries from which quotation has just been made uses the plural "porticibn^ anglice Galleryes," 1 by which it is sure there were two or more, while The Dutch Courtesan by reference to "the middle region" makes it clear there were three. 2 Also the available space of two full stories 3 would have allowed an upper gallery, a middle gallery, and the usual lower gallery on the level with the stage. 4 In that part of the lower gallery that adjoined the stage must have been the chief loges or boxes or rooms for gentlemen and lords, 5 — to which reference is made when Horace [Jonson] in Satironiastix is accused of coming on the stage at the close of his play and exchanging courtesies and compliments with 74 9 , and J. P. Collier, op. cit., Ill, 145. Although the date of this notice is 1635, there are reasons to believe that the structure and arrangement of the "rooms" was the same from the first. x Cf. supra, 41 4 . 2 " ... And now, my very fine Heliconian gallants, and you, my worshipful friends in the middle region." — Cockledemov's Epilogue to Marston's The Dutch Courtesan, V, iii, 162-64. Played at Black- friars ca. autumn 1602. Cf. also "middle rooms" and "middle stories," supra, 38 2 . 3 The Fortune contract (u. s., 29 3 ) calls for three stories, the first 12 feet, the second 11 feet, and the third 9 feet, a total of 32 feet Blackfriars auditorium must have been of nearly or quite an equal height. This might well have been. Any one familiar with the nobler mediaeval monastic or conventual buildings is aware that their ceil- ings are generally very high. The upper story of Blackfriars seems to have been built and roofed by the friars as a single room for audi- torial purposes, and certainly dur- ing Sir Thomas Cawarden's time was used as such, even for presen- tation of plays, and for rehearsals of interludes, masques, &c, in prep- aration for Court entertainment. A room 66 x 46 feet built and used for such purposes could hardly be less than 16 to 18 feet in height, — pos- sibly rather more than less. If then the lower floor was but 12 to 14 feet high, the reconstructed "Great Hall" had a height of 28 to 32 feet. With 4 feet as the height of the stage-level gallery, this 28 to 32 feet of space allowed an average height of 8 to 9 feet for each gallery-story. 4 This low gallery was charac- teristic of contemporary public the- atres. (See for example the De Witt — Van Buchell sketch of the Swan.) It is still found in Euro- pean theatres, especially in those of a date not quite modern. No better example could be cited than the old Stadttheater of Freiburg in Baden, not only in this particular of the lower gallery but in most other par- ticulars ; for it was remodeled as Blackfriars was from part of a me- diaeval monastery. (Cf. infra, com- plete work, vol. I.) This feature of a stage-level gal- lery around the whole room appears in the American theatre in only the most rudimentary form, extending no farther back from the stage than the two or three private boxes and the one or two open loges at their rear. ''Cf. supra, 41 5 , 41 6 , 42 2 . In the public theatres these "gen- tlemen's rooms" were at right and left of the stage with a passage be- tween. In the Swan sketch they BLACKFRIARS THEATRE BUILDING 43 gallants in the lords' rooms. 1 Dekker evidently thinking in an- other instance of the gallantly dressed audience on the Blackfriars stage as constituting the chief part of the "city" of elegance calls these lords' rooms "now but the Stages Suburbs. "- The stage was in the south end of the "Great Hall." 3 It has been assumed since the days of Wright's Historia llis- trionica (1699)/ and widely disseminated on the authority of Malone 5 that the Blackfriars stage was small. But "small" and "large" are such merely relative terms that upon the basis of mod- ern notions no private or public stage of Shakespeare's time could be regarded as "large." The best we can do is to take a com- parative view of the stages of the time on their own basis. The assumption that Blackfriars stage was small is based upon the primary assumption that all the private theatres — Blackfriars, Whitefriars, Paul's, Cockpit Salisbury Court — were built alike and had stages alike. But in fact the only reference cited by Malone, Collier, and the rest on the size of Blackfriars stage is taken from a Paul's play. Quite the reverse of the usual opinion, the truth seems to be that the stages of the public theatres had are labeled "orchestra" (i. e,, in the hall and under the east end of the Latin sense), and are mentioned in stage. It speaks of the need of re- the Fortune contract, the Hope con- pair "in extcriori ostio ducente ad tract, and numerous plays as "gen- praedicta. dimissa pra 130-31 1 . "The stage could not have been Malone (op. at.. III. «]■), how- placed in the way of the main en- ever > seems to base his conclusion trance, which was at the north when on James Wright's statement in the purchase was made by Burbage. Htstoria Htstrtontca (u. s., 36 No other entrance after the remod- concerning the similar size and eling could have led to all the de- form of Blackfriars. ( ockpit, and raised premises. The stage is fur- Salisbury Court, coupled with two ther excluded from the north end Ilncs of the epilogue to Liiomaa as also from the sides of the hall Nabbes's Tottenham ted at ■ of the recently discovered Salisbury Court 1638 (cf. tith- documents («. s., 36*) which men- page), which read as folio* : rions minor repairs in the en- "When others' fill'd rooms with trance leading to all the premises, neglect disdain ye, and In the easl and west walls and My little house with thanks shall the floor along the east side of the entertain ye." 44 CHILDREN OF THE CHAPEL AT BLACKFRIARS only general features alike, with important, particular differences ; while the stages of the three earliest contemporary private the- atres, Blackfriars, Whitefriars, and Paul's, differed widely not only from these but also from each other. 1 Again, it is assumed that in all three of these private theatres gallants sat on the stage, for which practice stools were provided. This assumption likewise is based upon the same primary assump- tion that the stages of all the private theatres were alike, and that the custom practiced on one was the custom also on the others. On the contrary, every reference to this practice quoted by Ma- lone, Collier, and others, and every one that my own research re- veals, in the period of late Elizabeth and early James I prior to the establishment of the Cockpit, is either from Blackfriars plays or in reference to that stage. The custom, as pointed out else- where, spread to later theatres. 2 But there is no evidence of it at either Paul's or Whitefriars. On the contrary, we are distinctly informed that the stage at Paul's was "so very little," 3 that auditors were not allowed to sit there. As to Whitefriars there is no evi- dence on either side. The fact that gallants sat on the Blackfriars stage without "wronging the general eye" 3 or hindering the players, 4 while at Paul's they could not 3 and at the Globe were not allowed to 5 and at other public theatres were not provided for 6 indicates that Blackfriars stage was, if not large, at least not small ; and also that it was of a different construction from its earliest contem- poraries. 7 Even more under these circumstances than if they were lacking is the presentation of elaborate dance and masque, 8 — that attractive spectacular feature of nearly every Blackfriars play from 1600 to the death of Elizabeth, 9 — further indicative of an adequate stage. After August 9, 1608, 10 even with gallants 1 The stages of Cockpit and ' Infra, 137-41. Salisbury Court, built later on the 7 Cf. infra, 46-49, and plats, 50-51. model of Blackfriars, are not here 8 Infra, 118-19. in question. "Infra, 119-22. 2 For the full discussion on the 10 The Blackfriars was taken over origin and influence of the custom by the Burbage company by six sep- of sitting on the stage, see infra, arate indentures of lease from Rich- 130-47. ard Burbage to his fellow share- z Infra, 131 1 . holders, — Shakespeare among the *Infra, 142. number. — August 9, 1608, just fol- * Infra, 134 4 , 136. lowing the termination of the Chil- BLACKFRIARS THEATRE BUILDING 45 still frequenting their accustomed places, the Blackfriars stage was of sufficient proportions and equipment for the Burbage company, 1 the largest in London, to present on its boards the great Shakespearean plays with an excellence that is doubtless not disproportionately measured by the satisfaction of the audi- ence and the consequent financial returns exceeding by a thou- sand pounds in a single winter die amount usually received at the Globe. 2 The preceding comparative view gives a general notion of Blackfriars stage more nearly true than the "little" conception current in stage annals. While no published document declares the exact dimensions, it is possible from data now at hand to translate this general notion into nearer mathematical definiteness. It was the physical limitations at Blackfriars that determined the width of the stage and made it in its relation to galleries and audience different from all public theatre stages. In the case of the Fortune, modeled after the Globe, the stage was 43 feet wide, with a passage of 6 feet on each side between the stage and that part of the lower gallery where the gentle- men's rooms were, 3 — the place labeled "orchestra" (in the classical sense) in the sketch of the Swan showing a similar arrangement. 4 As pointed out later 5 this condition made it im- possible for the custom of sitting on the stage to receive encour- agement at the Globe, the Fortune, the Swan, and other public theatres, for such spectators would have cut off the view of the patrons in the gentlemen's rooms. dren of the Queen's Revels there to Burbage (cf. infra, I, part ii), through the drastic action of James which is later regarded by the Bur- I. See documents from English bages as a "purchase" of the lease and French archives in my forth- (cf. infra, I, part ii). According to coming three-volume work on the the newly discovered documents drama and stage of Shakespeare's concerning Shakespeare and the the- time. Also see other extensive doc- atres just referred to (supra, H >. uments which T have recently dis- the Blackfriars was then leased to covered on Shakespeare, Globe, and Shakespeare and fellows for the Blackfriars, in forthcoming separate same amount as Evans had been publication. paying. They took it over at once 'Any possible notion that the just as it was when Evans was stage or theatre was changed in ar- forced by the King to give it up. rangement or equipment to accom- *Cf. supra, 35*. modate the needs of the Burbage *Cf. Fortune contract, u. s.. 29*. company is precluded by documen- *See the Van Buchell — Do Witt tary evidence. The former lessee, sketch, u. s., 31*. Henry Evans, surrendered his lease 'Infra. 136-38. 46 CHILDREN OF THE CHAPEL AT BLACKFRIARS But if at Blackfriars the stage had been modeled after those of the public theatres with an aisle of six feet or even of three feet between stage and galleries, the stage would have been but about 13 to 19 feet wide, — too narrow for acting, even with no spectators sharing it. So the Blackfriars stage was through necessity built on a plan of its own. The aisle-space as well as the gallery-space at right and left had to be utilized as the wings of the new-style stage. The width of the hall allowed the limit of 46 feet as the width of this extended stage. It was this construction that gave Black- friars a stage roomy enough for unhampered acting and at the same time allowed gallants to occupy coveted places "on the stage" at right and left cf the actors, in the full admiration of the house, but without "wronging the general eye" 1 or obstruct- ing the view of any one. When the Blackfriars custom of sitting on the stage was im- ported into France, 2 it carried with it also the form of stage- structure on which it originated. The arrangement of seats at the sides of the stage in French theatres as shown by the testi- mony of Tallemant des Reaux, 3 Moliere, 4 Voltaire, 5 and Goethe, 6 is therefore reflexively contributive to a correct conception of the stage-structure at Blackfriars. In the evidences from per- formances at Blackfriars, 7 Dekker's The Guts' Horn-Booke, 8 and other sources, 9 the stage-patrons occupied the same level as the actors. This fact is likewise shown by the testimony of the above chief French contemporaries of the custom on the Paris stage. Goethe, however, who saw the last of this practice in a French theatre at Frankfurt in 1759, reports that the seats at the sides of the stage there were ranged on a slope slightly above the stage level, but with special reservations still on the stage for officers and other people of importance. 10 The galleries of Blackfriars as of its foreign followers ended at the line of the stage-front, — just where our evolved first pri- vate boxes now are. 11 But there was no wall, nothing more than "■Infra, 131 1 . 'Infra, 132-134. 2 Infra, 143-47. s Infra, 133 4 , 140 2 , 140 4 . 3 Infra, 143 3 . "Infra, 132\ 132 3 , 142 5 , 143 1 . 4 Infra, 143*. 10 Infra, 146 2 . 5 Infra, 145\ 145 2 . "Supra, 42-43, and plat, 50-51. "Infra, 146 2 . BLACKFRIARS THEATRE BUILDING 47 a railing, between the termination of the lower gallery and the wings of the stage where the gallants were wont to sit in full view. Allowing 103/2 feet for the width of each gallery, 1 with a cor- responding but more elastic space on the stage at right and left for gallants, there was still a minimum width of 25 feet for the actors, — as great a space as sometimes used on the modern stage. 2 The full 46 feet might have been used on occasion.' But such practice could have been but rarely necessary or expedient. Hence the use of these wings rather as a source of revenue from social fops whose prime object was not to see the acting but to display their fine dress, especially to those in the high-priced seats of the first gallery, or to patronize the house with their grand presence. From the available evidences there is no reason to suppose a stage at Blackfriars much smaller than the public theatres had, as has hitherto been done. 4 The Fortune stage, certainly one of the largest in London, extended to the middle of the yard, — a distance of 40 feet. But a tiring-house at the rear took off 12 J/ feet, leaving a depth of 2j]/ 2 feet for the actors. The construction of Blackfriars necessitated a different ar- rangement for tiring-house and stage. The accompanying sug- gestive plat of the seating capacity of Blackfriars, 5 drawn to scale and with reference to known details, shows the possibility of an ample stage of 25 feet in depth, with a passage of four feet at the rear connecting the two lower rooms of the tiring-house. With an expandable stage approximately 25 feet deep and 'The galleries in the Globe and feet, ranging down to 20 and up to Fortune were 12% feet wide from 40 or more. — See Julius Cohn's OM- the outside of the building, or about cial Theatrical Guide (1907), XII. 12 t . with a 10-inch "juttey passim. forwards" in the two upper galler- 'An actor at the extreme limits ies. — See Fortune contract, u. s., 29*. of the stage would have been cut See further, infra, plats, 50-51. off from the view of only those OO 2 The modern proscenium opening the same side in the two upper gal- ranges from about 20 to 40 feet, — leries. Sometimes in a modern the- the latter serving for the most elab- atre he is cut oft from all specta- orate grand opera, and the former tors tvt that side of the house. in plays and "shows" in the smaller *Cf. supra, •!"•. theatres Tn the chief American cit- ' 'Infra, 50 51. ies the average is about 30 to 35 48 CHILDREN OF THE CHAPEL AT BLACKFRIARS from 25 to 46 feet wide as occasion might require, the genera) notion of the size and structure of Blackfriars stage derived from known conditions as presented on preceding pages, is merely translated into nearer definiteness. 1 At the rear of the stage and over the passage was a permanent balcony extending doubtless the full width between the two lower rooms of the tiring-house. The balcony did occasional service for certain situations in the plays, but seems to have been used mainly as the station for the musicians. 2 The Blackfriars stage was elastic in depth as well as in width, and could according to the demands of the given play be varied by curtains or traverses of any required number placed at any required distance between the balcony and the front of the stage. 3 This flexibility was further increased by the use of a canopy 4 as occasion required, which could be set anywhere on the stage to be removed at will. But the evidences of structure, arrangement, furnishing, and equipment of Blackfriars stage must be deferred to a later work. 5 1 While I have little doubt that the dimensions and other items here presented will ultimately prove to be substantially correct, I shall not be satisfied until I turn up certain documents I am now on trace of, which I am confident from the na- ture of them will settle details with finality. 2 It is this close juxtaposition of the music to the tiring-house that gives point to the remark, in one of the Chapel Children's plays, about the author's swearing in the tiring- house, and thereby railing the music out of tune, as follows : "I assure you sir we are not so officiously befriended by him [the author, Ben Jonson], as to have his presence in the tiring-house, to prompt us aloud, stamp at the book- holder, swear for our properties, curse the poor tire-man, rayle the musick out of tune," &c. — Induction to Cynthia's Revels. At Blackfriars ca. April, 1600. 8 The gallants on the stage, — whose chief end at the theatre was not to see but to be seen, — are some- times made the butt of pleasantry for ostentatiously "standing at the helme to steere the passage of scaenes" («. i., 140 1 ), solely for the opportunity of displaying themselves and their fine dresses the better to the audience. The crossing of traverses opposite their seats therefore could not have been an annoyance to them but may the rather have contributed to their notion of pleasure by the opportu- nity afforded for officious service. 4 The canopy was a cloth or can- vas affair in the shape of a covered room, a shop, a high wall, or other necessary enclosing apparatus. It is still an accessory more common on the European than the American stage. One of the most effective uses comes to mind in connection with a recent masterly presentation of Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Niimberg on a German stage with acting and staging as perfect as the singing. "There is some hope that the chapter on this head may be ready for the completed work. But there BLACKFRIARS THEATRE BUILDING 49 It may be said here simply that an examination of even such ma- terials as now are known shows a stage plastic to the play in hand in all particulars, a stage of real and individual existence, different in certain essentials from the ratiocinative results of studies hitherto made, in which piays of private and public the- atres have been in judicially thrown together to make a sort of universalized or theoretical stage that has no historical basis. 1 It seems hardly necessary to add that the rooms, galleries, and pit of Blackfriars were all provided with seats. 2 As already pointed out, the Great Hall of Blackfriars was about half the size of the Globe or Fortune. 3 Its capacity for accommodating spectators was also not far from half. is nothing sure about it. Not all evidences are available which are necessary in putting out a final statement of the facts. I have con- fidence from the definite clues un- earthed that ultimately I shall reach documents giving schedules of the furnishing and equipment of Black- friars stage and theatre, as also of the Globe. It is merely a question of time and means. 'For a late example, based upon and supporting Professor Brandl's alternation theory, see Cecil Brod- meier, Die Shakespeare-Buhne nach den alten Buhnenanweisungen (Diss. Jena, 1904). This work takes the plays of Shakespeare per- formed at "The Theatre," the Cur- tain, Globe, and Blackfriars, and constructs of those four dissimilar stages a single composite. More commendable in theory and generally combative of Brodmeier's position is the recent work of G. F. Reynolds, Some Principles of Eliz- abethan Staging, in Modem Philol- ogy, April and June, 1905, later reprinted in separate form (Diss. University of Chicago). It is unfor- tunate that the author did not from the first follow the plan he leaned toward, and use his masses of ma- terial in studying the individual the- atres to which the respective plays belonged, — as lie must ultimately do. Instead he has followed up one sin- gle stage-feature after another in plays ranging through Elizabeth's reign and into the period of James I, which were presented at various theatres or not presented anywhere (e. g., the Percy plays), and tried to establish or disestablish there- from certain principles of staging or facts of stage structure and equipment for the dissimilar thea- tres throughout that long time. In both these works there is the impairing spirit of "proving" some- thing and of establishing history by deductive argument. With the great industry displayed and the splendid collection of materials in each study, it would be high satis- faction to find one new fact of dra- matic or stage history brought to light or one point of debate placed beyond controversy. It must not be expected however that any study of stage-directions or other internal evidence can ever be final in mat- ters of stage-history. Such a study at best can be but corroborative, never determinative of data, and may thus rightly serve to illuminate and enliven placid realities. *A schedule of seats was at- tached to the lease of Burbage to Evans. See supra, 36*. 3 Cf. supra, 39. The outside dimensions of the Fortune were SO x 80 = 6400 sqft. The inside dimensions of Blackfri- ars auditorium were 66 x 46 = 3036 sqft. 50 CHILDREN OF THE CHAPEL AT BLACKFRIARS To exhibit at once the size, capacity, and general features in a single view, I have inserted a suggestive plat of the seating capacity of the Blackfriars, and another of the Fortune, side by side, — the only two theatres whose dimensions are exactly known. Both are drawn to a scale of 1 / l6 "=i'. In the absence of exact data as to size, number, and arrange- ment of seats, I first experimented with several conceivable modes of seating before allowing these plats to stand. If, for example, De Witt was correct in saying the Swan held 3000 people, then the Fortune, certainly considerably more capacious, must have accommodated more than 3000. But no method of arrangement, without reducing the seats to an impossible size, filling up the aisles, and standing the audience of the yard like corpses packed on end would make even the Fortune accommodate 3000. Since this larger theatre could not contain 3000, Priest De Witt's dec- laration that the smaller Swan could may be laid to rest for all time as an over-enthusiastic and very inaccurate guess. 1 From the many thousands of contemporary documents I have examined, directly bearing upon the life of the times, I am more and more convinced that the people of the time of Elizabeth and James were as solicitous for means of comfort as we are today. Quite contrary to the ill-founded notion commonly circulated by 'Some farther conception of the Boston, monstrousness of De Witt's estimate Hollis Street Theatre . . 1640 may be gained by a comparison of Park 1277 the size of modern theatres. As Tremont 1405 America boasts some of the largest Colonial .... 1653 of the world, I quote certain sta- Chicago. tistics on seating capacity as pre- Illinois 1285 sented in Julius Cohn's Official The- Powers 1113 atrical Guide (1907), XII, passim. Garrick 1400 But it will be noticed that the best Grand Opera House . . 1700 of these theatres are not the largest. The Studebaker .... 1549 Great music halls, auditoriums, col- Chicago Opera House . 1700 iseums, gardens, &c, are left out Auditorium (largest in the of the lists. world) 4079 New York. These are representative exam- Belasco's theatre . . . 950 pies. An examination of official Criterion 1100 statistics shows the seating capacity Daly's 1150 of the majority of American thea- Empire 1100 tres ranges from less than 1000 to Garrick (Ch. Frohman) . 910 about 1500, — approximately a third New Amsterdam . . . 1675 to a half De Witt's reported size of Lvceum (Dan Frohman) . 909 the Swan. Wallack's 1274 BLACKFRIARS THEATRE BUILDING 51 writers on stage-history that audiences put up with woeful dis- comforts simply to see a great play well enacted, it would seem that reasonable consideration was given the tastes of different classes of patrons, and that those in the choicer parts of the house were charged the higher prices on account of the better accom- modations as well as the better view. The theatre was then a larger centre of social contact than now, — a spirit still somewhat preserved in parts of Europe, but wholly lost to the amusement- loving theatre-goer of America. The best boxes or rooms were patronized by lords, nobles, and other gentlemen used to the best at home and in society, and it is unlikely that they should have gone in such numbers if discomforts had been so great as to cause them to do penance while watching the play. The Black- friars especially was frequented by the London elite, both gentle- men and ladies, in the wake of Queen and Court, who must have found ample provision for comfort there, in seats not too crowded to accommodate farthingale and puffed trunk-hose. Thomas Platter of Basel, who visited London in 1599, in speaking of cer- tain unnamed theatres, mentions the fact that the higher priced seats there — costing but 3 d. however — were provided with cush- ions. 1 All this is suggestive that if the common art of upholster- ing of the time may not have contributed even more to the com- fort of seats ranging up to a shilling in price, at least the general comfort was satisfactory. In finally drawing these plats of Blackfriars and the Fortune, such width and arrangement of seats has been indicated as would reasonably provide for the comfortable and safe care of the audi- ence. In both plats all rows of seats in all galleries are 30 inches apart from heel to heel, and each seat in the side galleries is 22 l / 2 inches wide, while in the rear galleries of the Fortune they are 19 and of the Blackfriars 18 inches wide. 2 The width of aisles and all other dimensions are sufficiently indicated in the plats. "... begeret er aber am lustig- Prof. Giistav Binz. "Londoner The- esten orl auf kissen ze sitzen, ater und Scbauspicle im Tahre tlicht allcin alles woll sihet. 1590." in AngUa (1899), XXTl". 459. Bondern auch gesehen kan werden, 5 In modern theatres the seats so giht er bey e-ner anderen thiiren are generally 30 inches apart from noch 1 Englischen pfennig." — heel to heel and from IS to 20 Thomas Platter's Rcischcncht, ex- inches wide. Theatre managers tell tracts df which are published by me they provide the wider seats in 52 CHILDREN OF THE CHAPEL AT BLACKFRIARS Blackfriars pit is seated with an allowance of 18 x 30 inches for each person. Ample aisle space is allowed for handling the audience. The Fortune yard was used only as standing room. It is possible for average men to stand on a space 18 x 20 inches or, by closer crowding, [8 x 18 inches. But comfortable space for two or three hours' endurance requires as much as 24 x 24 inches, as allowed. It is generally supposed that the audience stood on all three sides of the public theatre stage. Indeed the Red Bull picture of 1672 seems to indicate this. Such may have been the condi- tion earlier at the Globe, Fortune, and others, but it is doubtful. The entrance to the first gallery, the narrowest of the three gal- leries at the Fortune, 1 seems to have been from the inside. In fact the Van Buchell — De Witt sketch of the Swan shows this en- trance in the passage at right and left of the stage. It is unlikely that the yard-crowd was allowed to block the passage to the gen- tlemen's rooms, or to bob and sweat between these privileged places and the stage. Contrary to the common impression that the stage was in the middle of the yard, with the audience fairly distributed on three sides of it, any sort of plat is serviceable in showing that very little of the audience could have been at right and left of the stage, even with the aisles packed, and that the major portion of it was in front in similar relation to the stage as in the present day. On a conservative and reasonable basis therefore the Fortune, probably a little larger than the Globe, could accommodate 1320 spectators, while the suggestive plat of Blackfriars shows besides the habitues of the stage a capacity of 528, or a total of ca. 558 to 608. There is no known picture of Blackfriars theatre. 2 the more expensive sections of the 2 Professor G. P. Baker has re- house. But the majority of seats cently published a picture, which he are about 18 inches. believes to be authentic, in Beau- 1 The entrance to the two upper mont and Fletcher's The Maid's galleries is indicated in the Fortune Tragedy and Philaster (ed. A. H. contract as from the outside. It is Thorndike, 1906, Belles-Lettres im- probably on account of the need ries, ed. G. P. Baker) frontispiece; of wider rear passageways to and and again in his The Development from these outside entrances that of Shakespeare as a Dramatist the two upper galleries were con- (1907), 78. In the latter work (p. structed ten inches wider than the 44) he says in a note, "The print lower gallery. seems to have been lost sight of, BLACKFRIARS THEATRE BUILDING 53 The extensive alterations necessary to convert the Blackfriars building into a theatre such as the preceding pages show, re- quired time. The property was purchased February 4, 1596. In November following, the work of reconstruction was under way. The petition to the Privy Council in that month declares the owner meant "very shortly" to convert the building into a play- house. 1 It is not likely that James Burbage finished the work, for he died the following February, and the property came into the hands of his son Richard, the famous Shakespearean man- ager-actor. There is slight probability and no evidence that the new theatre was occupied prior to about September, 1597. The cause of this delay was doubtless, first, the expiration of leases to tenants before work could begin ; second, the death of James Burbage ; third, the extent of the remodeling required ; fourth, time necessary for Gyles and Evans to assemble and train the Children after the enabling royal commission to Gyles in July, 1597- It has generally been supposed that work was delayed by act of the Privy Council. This supposition is based upon the state- ment twenty-one years later in the presumptuous and futile order of the Corporation of the City of London to suppress the Flack- friars. It is there stated that the Privy Council in response to the petition of November, 1596, "then forbad the use of the said house for playes." 2 But I find upon personal examination that the original Privy Council Registers, preserved at the Privy Council Office, Whitehall Palace, giving all the official acts of that body, record no such order. It is certain therefore that the statement of the City Council in i6i8-[iq] is in error. The City but Mr. Gardiner [the owner] and be most glad to believe. The doc- antiquarians to whom I have sub- uments show it differs in all essen- mitted it believe it genuine." tials from the Blackfriars theatre. I have not seen the original, nor l Supra, 17 B . do I know the basis of this con- 2 Order for Suppressing the elusion. The documentary evi- Blackfriars Theatre by the City dences. which this chapter attempts Council "xxi° die Januarii 1618- to assemble, disprove the relative [191" — Original in the Guildhall proportions, shape, height, roof, &c, Archives, Repertory 34, Pol. as shown in the picture. I fear Printed in Ualliwell-Phillips, op. therefore that the print may not be cit., I, 311. Cf. supra, 17 5 . so authentic as I especially should 54 CHILDREN OF THE CHAPEL AT BLACKFRIARS was simply trying to substantiate its long -contended claim, 1 and in doing it, assumed evidence that did not exist. 2 It may be noted in this connection that, beginning with 1597 and extending to the close of Elizabeth's reign, the Privy Coun- cil directed numerous severe orders against the public theatres, but not one against Blackfriars. These cases will be considered in a subsequent chapter. 3 The reasons for this attitude become clear when we know the Queen's relations to Blackfriars, and the City's contention. 4 Whether James Burbage intended the Blackfriars building thus altered to replace "The Theatre," the lease to the grounds of which was just expiring in 1596, or whether a "theatrum anglice Stage" was set up in it for the Children of the Chapel on the Queen's initiative, as the Diary of the Duke of Stettin might seem to indicate, 6 will be taken up in later paragraphs. 6 J See supra, 21, 161\ and infra, * Infra, 126-29, 148-62. 153-54. 'Infra, 106-7. 2 See infra, 154 2 , 161 1 . ''Infra, 112, 128 3 -29, 151, 152. 3 Infra, 148-62. CHAPTER II THE BLACKFRIARS STAGE.— ITS STRUCTURE, ARRANGE- MENT, AND FURNISHINGS 1 'Treatment of materials in this chapter reserved for the complete work. CHAPTER III ESTABLISHMENT OF BLACKFRIARS THEATRE UNDER OFFICIAL GRANTS The first and only lessee of the Blackfriars thus fitted up for a private theatre was one Henry Evans. 1 He took it for the pur- pose of exercising - one branch of the Queen's Children of the Chapel in the acting of plays under certain official documentary assurances 2 that allowed him the privilege of private profit from rehearsing them publicly. The date of Evans's first contract with Burbage is difficult if not impossible at present to determine. Certain considerations indicate a very early date. The statement in the Diary of the Duke of Stettin 3 concerning the Queen's establishing this theatre for the special training of the Children, taken in connection with the fact that Evans had certain official assurances concerning the exercise and employment of these Boys theatrically, suggests a possible date prior to the purchase and refitting. On the other hand, the statement of the Burbages in the Globe-Blackfriars x "The pleas in the lawsuit of theatre was established in 1597. (6) 1635 show that the Burbages, the These last three items, as also that owners, leased the Blackfriars The- of the "long term of years" are atre after its establishment in 1597 shown not by the 1635 suit (cf. for a long term of years to the pertinent part in full, infra, 57 1 ), master of the Children of the Chap- but in two suits of 1612, — Evans vs. el."— Sidney Lee, A Life of Wil- Kirkham (G.-F. 210-22) and Kirk- liam Shakespeare (5th ed. 1905), ham vs. Painton (G.-F. 223-51). 209. [Since making this note on the pub- The above sentence contains cer- lished documents containing the tain errors of fact overlooked by above items, I have discovered sev- Mr. Lee: — (1) The pleas in the eral others containing the same 1635 suit show none of the items items, — but not yet published, — mentioned, and (2) they do not those on the Blackfriars («. s., 36*), name or otherwise mention the and those which give the origin master of the Children of the Chap- of "shares" in London theatres and el (Nathaniel Gyles) but do name Shakespeare's financial interest Henry Evans as lessee. (3) The from the first in the Globe and Blackfriars was owned, at the time Blackfriars (m. s., ix-x, 34 s , 44 10 , of the lease, by Richard Burbage 45 1 )]. alone who (4) was the lessor to 2 Infra, 81-82. Evans (5) before, not after, the s Infra, 106-7. ESTABLISHMENT OF BLACKFRIARS 57 Share-papers of 1635 1 points to a date "after" the refitting was completed. This no doubt refers to the long-term lease of 1600, but it seems also inclusive of the first lease or tenancy prior to 1600. From the documents in the case of Evans vs. Kirkham, 2 as also from various documents in the suit of Kirkham vs. Painton, 3 and likewise from numerous recently discovered documents not yet published, 4 it is learned that Evans on Sept. 2, 1600, leased the Blackfriars for a period of twenty-one years, term to begin Michaelmas, — i. e., Friday, September 29, — at 40 /. per year, giv- ing bond of 400 /., with Alexander Hawkins, his son-in-law, as security, for payment of the rentals. But he had possession and was conducting the theatre long before this date. In his Bill of Complaint against Kirkham, May 5, 1612, Evans in connection with the twenty-one-year lease of 1600, speaks of the Blackfriars as "Then or late in the tenure or occupation of your said orator." 6 Richard Burbage in his own behalf replying to Kirkham in the suit of Kirkham vs. Painton 6 substantiates this fact. In explain- ing why he as owner and lessor exacted a bond of 400 /. as se- curity for payment of the lease, he says he considered that "ex- cept the said Evans could erect & keepe a companye of Playinge boyes or others to playe playes & interludes in the said Playhouse in such sort as before tyme had bene there vsed, that he was lyke- lye to be beh[ind with] the said rent of fortie pounds." 7 The words I have italicized indicate the theatre had been in operation for some time. Also, Evans was making a financial success and had previously met his payments of rent. Since '"Now for the Blackfriars, that *Cf. supra, 36\ is our inheritance; our father pur- 5 See document, G.-F., 21 h/. chased it at extreame rates, and "Tn G.-F., 223-51. made it into a playhouse with great 7 In G.-F., 234a. The statement charge and trohle ; which after was in the document just preceding leased out to one Evans that first this that "Henrye Evans . . . in- sert up the boyes commonly called tended then [*. <\, when lease was the Queenes Majesties Children of made] presentlye to erect or sett the Chappell." — Tn Halliwell-Phil- vpp a Companye of boyes . . . lips. Outlines of the Life of Shake- in the same" is of course made with spcarc (Oth ed. 1890), I, 317. strict legal reference to the opera- *See documents in G.-F., espe- tions of the twenty-one-year lease, cially 21 la. The lease is not retroactive and "See documents in G.-F., espe- takes no account <>f what preceded cially 223r-224a, 2306, 239c~240a. it 58 CHILDREN OF THE CHAPEL AT BLACKFRIARS Evans and no one else was in possession both immediately and for some time prior to the lease of 1600, there seems no uncer- tainty that he was in possession when Ben Jonson's The Case is Altered was first presented there by the Children in 1597, ca. Sept.— Oct. 1 We have no record of any earlier play at the new theatre. Also, there are no other known documentary statements as to the date of its first occupancy. It is quite possible that the long-term lease, dated Sept. 2, 1600, with term to begin at Michaelmas, was taken by Evans at or near the expiration of his rental year. If so, the date of his first occu- pancy would be about Sept. 1597, — approximately two to three months after Nathaniel Gyles was granted the royal commission that enabled these two men to unite in carrying out the Queen's purposes. 2 Nathaniel Gyles, 3 a musician graduated from Magdalen Col- lege, Oxford, was sworn Gentleman of the Chapel Royal and Master of the Children June 9, 1597, 4 three days after the death of his predecessor, William Hunnis. The appointment was made by the Queen through the Lord Chamberlain, 5 Lord 'See "Plays," in vol. II, of com- 49 years is an error for 39, as above plete work. dates show. The same inscription "It is hardly probable that boys allots him 75 years, could be taken up and put into Between 1597 and 1626, Gyles was condition for singing and acting the recipient of at least nine royal in less time. It is noteworthy here grants. The chief ones are con- that the Canons of Windsor al- nected with the present history and lowed to this same Nathaniel Gyles are printed or sufficiently noticed in their Commission of Oct. 1, 1595, in the pages of this and succeeding "the space of three months" for col- volumes. lecting a similar company of boys 4 "1597. William Hunnis died the for singing and acting. See infra, 6th of June, Master of 68\ the Children, and Na- 3 Nathaniel Gyles (1559-1634, Jan. thaniell Giles sworne gent 24): Mus. Bac. June 26, 1585; and Master of the Chil- Mus. Doc. 1622 ; Master of the Chil- dren in his place the 9th dren of St. George's Chapel, Wind- of the same, from Win- sor, Oct. 1, 1595, to Jan. 24, 1634, sore." — The Old Cheque- and Master cf the Children of the Book or Book of Remembrance of Chapel Royal June 9, 1597, to Jan. the Chapel Royal (ed. E. F. Rim- 24, 1634. The inscription over his bault, for The Camden Society, grave in the aisle adjoining St. 1872), 5. George's Chapel gives 49 years as "1597 June. Master of St. George's, and 38 years The Right Honorable the Lord as Master of the Children of his Chamberlaine, upon the 9th day of Majesty's Chapel Royal. But the June, commanded me, Bartholomew ESTABLISHMENT OF BLACKFRIARS 59 Hunsdon. 1 This is Gyles's first connection with the Children of the Chapel. 2 July 2, 1597, the Queen issued her Privy Seal for a Patent to Nathaniel Gyles as Master of the Children and Gentleman of her Chapel. The Patent was issued accordingly July I4. a Mason, Substitute at Greenwich, to sweare Nathaniell Gyles Gentleman of her Majestes Chappell (being be- fore extraordinary), whoe accord- ingly receaved his oth as other gen- tlemen before him hath done, in the presence of us whose names are subscribed." — Idem, 37 [fol. 24]. ^ee supra, 26 3 . 2 "The Children of the Chapel, who disappeared when their play- place was shut up early in 1583, are met with again in 1581, as acting at Croydon, under N. Giles, their master, before the Queen." — F. G. Fleay, A Chronicle History of the London Stage (1890), 81. Fleay is mistaken here concern- ing Gyles. Hermann Maas, Die Kindertrup- pen (Diss. Gottingen, 1901), 8, ac- cepts Fleay's error seriously and adds a worse one. He refers to John Nichols, Progresses, &c., of Queen Elizabeth, III, 124, 227, as proof that the Children of the Chap- el under Gyles acted before Eliza- beth at Croydon in 1591. Maas takes these references from Fleay, op. cit., 78 (to which also he refers for his proof), but gives them as his own, although he had certainly not seen Nichols's work. On the pages referred to, Nichols deals with a different matter, — the pres- ence of the Queen in Windsor in 1593, to which indeed Fleay prop- erly refers. But Maas in appropri- ating Fleay's references mistook them as referring to the first point rather than the last in the sentence in which Fleay has given them. 8 Both these documents I have found in the Public Record Office. Neither seems ever to have been published. The Privy Seal can be reached by consulting Privy Signet Index, under July, 1597. The Pat- ent is obtainable under the index "Duodecima Pars Patentium de Anno XXXIX. Elizabeth Regina." As in all such cases, the Patent is engrossed from the Privy Seal, and is identical with it in wording of the grant, except where the en- grosser has erred or has spelled differently. I quote therefore here and in all similar cases from the Privy Seal as of prior authority. The pertinent part of this docu- ment provides for the instruction and care of only twelve children, — a point of significant interest in the succeeding history. The Privy Seal (the many signs of abbreviation ex- panded into italics however) with the customary memorandum (in a separate hand) of the date of the Great Seal to the Letters Patent follows : — Memorandum quod xiiij die Julij Anno infra scripto istud brew delib~— :,7' ), and that he did "vpon the earnest and ymportunate request of his this def ts wife, graunt & convey vnto him the said Alexander Hawkins, who married this def t8 daughter, all his goodes chattels and leases implem" hows- hold-stuff, wares, comodities, & all his goods. Notw th standing w cB graunt this deP kept the said orig- inall Lease made by the said Rich- ard Burbadge, and hath ever since enioyed and contynued the posses- sion aswell of all his said goodes, leases, implements & other the premises," &c. It does not seem to have oc- curred to Hawkins or Evans or the wife that Mich security was needed when a year ago the lease was made. The cause of the present act cannot lie in lack of prosperity. For the Children a1 Blackfriars were never more popular than in this year of ifioi (sec. for example on Hamlet, infra, 1 76 77 1 and doubtless the plays broughl Evans more money than formerly. The sudden an of all parties concerned, — especially of the wife, — the wholesale nature of the assignment, and the fact that in spite of the transfer (non bona fide) Evans still kept and enjoyed all, coupled with the circumstance that Clifton about this time pre- sented his case in Star Chamber, seem conclusive circumstantial evi- dence. [Later. — As shown supra, S4\ Clifton's Bill was filed Dec. 15, 1601, seven weeks after this transfer. This does not alter the probability that Evans had learned of the impending danger, but rather strengthens it. For had Evans not made the transfer until after the filing of the complaint, his act would have been held in law as an attempt to defraud.] -Infra, 87-91. 'Court terms of this period un- der Elizabeth and James I : — Michaelmas term begins or 10 Oct. Hilary term begins 23 or '.' 1 Jan. Hilary term ends 12 or 13 Feb Easter term begins 17 days after Easter. Trinity term begins Friday Corpus Christi day (June). — See John J. Bond, Assistant Keeper of Public Records, Handy- of Rules and Tables for veri- fying Dates with the Christian Era, &c. (1869) 86 CHILDREN OF THE CHAPEL AT BLACKFRIARS replication already quoted from, 1 dates it "in or about the three and ffortieth yeare" of Elizabeth. 1 Her forty-third year ended November 16, 1601. The "in or about" might mean, — since Kirk- ham is giving purposely a twist to events, — either the closing of the forty-third year or opening of the forty-fourth, and therefore fit either Michaelmas or Hilary term. Also, the Kirkham docu- ments in this suit assign to forty-third Elizabeth certain other events closely connected with Clifton's Complaint and the Star Chamber Decree, but belonging in April, 1602. 2 It may be there is similarly here in Kirkham's dating the Decree an error of two or three months in the regnal year. There is strong probability then that the Decree fell in Hilary term (Jan.-Feb.) 1602. Other considerations are contributive to the same conclusion. It is not likely that the new arrangements in management were held in suspense from October to the following April. The new partners were eager to join Evans, 3 and Evans himself could not openly continue in personal charge. The briefer interval, from Hilary to April 20, seems the more probable one for making new arrangements. Also, the evidences are convincing that the Decree fell after Hamlet was on the stage. Both Hamlet and the Decree are an- swered from the Blackfriars stage in this order. In his May Day, acted in the spring of 1602, Chapman ridiculously parodies some of the striking parts of Hamlet, as the "To be" soliloquy, "What a piece of work is man," &c, with numerous other scrappy satiric drives, all of which sound as if Chapman had heard the new trag- edy a time or two while his May Day was in progress and had caught just enough to serve as basis for absurd take-offs. 4 May Day seems thus Chapman's and the Children-company's laughing answer to Shakespeare's and the Globe's strictures in Hamlet on the Blackfriars establishment. But in Chapman's next play, The Widow's Tears, seen on the Blackfriars stage Sept. 18, 1602, 5 doubtless the opening play of the season, is the sharp satire, as already noticed, 6 apparently aimed at results of the Star Chamber 1 Supra, 81 4 -82\ 4 See infra, 168. 2 Infra, 89. "See infra, 106, 115, 118 1 , 120. 3 Infra, 87-88 1 . "See infra, 82-83. DATING EVENTS— NEW MANAGEMENT 87 case. It seems quite likely that the satire is directed not merely at the Decree, but also at Lord Hunsdon's consequent driving Evans into the country in May, 1602. 1 It would be comforting to know exactly whether the Queen's attendance at a play at Blackfriars Dec. 29, 1601,'- preceded or followed the Decree. It was certainly [cf. 84*, g6 4 ] later than the Complaint. I should be glad to believe if probabilities would al- low, that it was subsequent also to the Decree ; for that would give an added item in the Queen's determination with reference to Blackfriars. However, as the Queen seems to have been accus- tomed to attend plays there, the discovery of the exact date of the Decree as antecedent to this single event would probably do no more in the present regard than reenforce our knowledge of the favor and support she gave in the theatrical use of the Chapel Boys. The slight probability that the Decree preceded is out- weighed by the stronger probability, as shown above, that it fell in Hilary term. 3 After the Decree, the concessions for use of the Chapel Chil- dren were apparently granted to Kirkham, 4 Rastell, and Ken- dall. 5 But Evans still held the lease. So these men came to him 'See infra, 93. the Revels at Court, ed. P. Cun- *See infra, 95-96°. ningham, Shakes. Soc. Pub., 1842, "This latter probability is made 175). Kirkham's name appears a certainty by the dates of filing thereafter under Tyllney and Buck, and trial endorsed on the back of Its first appearance is to the report Clifton's Bill of Complaint, discov- of [Oct. 31]— Feb. 14, 1582-[3]. ered since writing these paragraphs, (Idem, 187.) He was still Yeoman as noted supra, 84\ 84 4 . The last under Buck in 1615 (Public Record line of the endorsement, "p octab Office, Declared Accounts of the Hiliur," indicates the trial was in Pipe Office, Roll 2005). He was Hilary term (Jan. — Feb.). There granted letters patent for his office was no postponement. Easter term 28 April, 28 Eliz. (15S6). (Pub- in L602 did not begin until May 1, lished in A Collection of Ancient but the Decree had already been Documents Respecting, the Office of rendered prior to April 20, 1602, Master of the Revels, &c, ed. J. O. when Evans through consequent ne- Halliwell, 1870. Only 11 copies v entered into new arrange- printed. Quoted in part, infra, 99'. naents for the conduct of the Black- But he had already been occupying friars. This settles the Decree as the place for at least three years, in Hilary, 1. <\, between Jan. 23 as shown above, and Feb. 13, 1602. Kirkham was Yeoman during the 'Edward Kirkham succeeded whole existence of the _ children- Walter F] Yeoman of the companies. In their history, he Revels. Fyssche's name is signed through his official position is even for the last time to the report of a more important factor than F.vans. the Master of the Revels, Ed. Tyll- 'From various newly found doc- ney, Oct. 31, 1581. (Extracts from uments touching the managers per- 88 CHILDREN OF THE CHAPEL AT BLACKFRIARS and "earnestly labored with and entreated" 1 him with the result that on April 20, 1602, Articles of Agreement were entered into between Evans and his son-in-law Hawkins on the one side and these three men on the other to form a copartnership and share expenses and profits half-and-half.- That the new partners felt they had valuable concessions which, however, were dependent upon a place of acting and which Evans as lessee of the theatre might easily injure if not bound in a penal sum, is shown by the fact that they exacted of Evans and Haw- kins a 200 /. bond 3 of even date for the faithful performance of the contract, but gave none in return. Apparently to circumvent the Star Chamber decree, a separate agreement was entered into by which the new men were to pay Evans eight shillings a week, evidently as salary for managing the theatre, 4 for the carrying out of which thev gave Evans a bond under the same date for 50 I- 5 Evans could not be known openly in the management. 6 So by the new arrangement his son-in-law Hawkins and these three men became nominally the Masters, while he was their hired manager, although he still held chief control. — And the Children of the Chapel continued at Blackfriars practically as before. Since the company was operated under these Articles until its termination in 1608, it seems worth while to settle once and for sonally as well as in their conduct Kirkham, Bill of Complaint, G.-F., of the Blackfriars, particularly un- 211b. der James I, William Rastell was That these solicitations came a London merchant who, however, from the new men, not from Evans, had no large part in the manage- is admitted by Kirkham in replying ment, and Thomas Kendall was a to the above paragraph : — "true yt haberdasher, who later, under James is that he this def te and the said I., became the Blackfriars manager. William Rastell and Thomas Ken- See further, complete work, vol. I, dall in the bill likewise named did and vol. III. treate and had communication w th *"And he your said oratour be- the said compl* to such end and inge soe possessed one Edward purpose as in the bill is set forthe, Kyrkham of London gent' William and that thervpon it was agreed Rastell and Thomas Kendall late and concluded," &c. — Evans vs. of London deceased ernestlye la- Kirkham, Answer, G.-F., 216a. bored w th and entreated your said 2 Infra, S9 7 , 92 2 . oratour that he your said oratour 3 Infra, ibid. would suffer them to have and en- *Cf. infra, 98, 102-4. ioye some parte of the demised * Infra, 102 3 . premisses wherevppon it was agreed "Cf. infra, 93. and concluded," &c. — Evans vs. DATING EVENTS— NEW MANAGEMENT 89 all the elate above stated. Except for this reason and certain items of essential reference, the rest of this chapter might better be omitted. Kirkham puts the date of the Assignment 1 and Articles to- gether "in or about" 43 Elizabeth, 2 declaring that the assignment of one-half of the lease was made by Evans to Hawkins in trust for the new partners, Kirkham, Rastell, and Kendall, in consid- eration that they "would disburse about the premises the summe of ffouer hundred pounds," 3 — all as a part of the Agreement. 4 But Kirkham's dating throws both Assignment and Articles to- gether, — which proves erroneous. The statement, "in or about" 43 Elizabeth, is general enough to fit the known dates of late 1601, or early 1602 (44 Eliz.). His dating is further vitiated by proof 5 that he fabricates both the transfer of the lease and the 400 /. expenditure 7 stated in connection with it. 1 Supra, 85. 2 Kirkham vs. Painton, Bill of Complaint, G.-R, 224. *Ibid. *The bond including the terms of these Articles proves his conten- tion false. See infra, 92". "Kirkham vs. Painton, The Joint and Several Anszvers of Heminges and Burbage, G.-F., 234-39. Sup- ported by Painton's Anszver, G.-R, 230-32; Evans's Anszver, G.-F., 243; and Decision of the Court, G.-F., 250. "If the lease had been assigned in trust as claimed, it would have required Burbage's knowledge and consent in order to be legal. But Burbage knew of no such transfer. (See reference, ". s., note 5 ). The decision of the court (u. s. note 5 ) settles it that there was no such assignment, by declaring, "yet neu- erthcles the said conveyance was never perfected and sealled." The assignment of lease and all prop- erty and goi ids by Evans was, as we have seen {supra, 85), solely to 1 rawkins. 'Since the building itself was bul recently refitted, of course no such expenditure "about the premisses" was required. [Recently I have found documents giving the full ex- tent of repairs in detail with their cost as 11 /. 2 d, paid 8 Dec. 1603, by Henry Evans alone. See docu- ments in vol. Ill of complete work.] Burbage and Hemings show (u. s., 89"; G.-R, 236) that no such sum as Kirkham claims was thus ex- pended. They say that if any sum was spent, it was, as they think, for "playinge apparell & other im- plements & properties touchinge & concerninge the furnishinge & set- tinge forth of Players & Plays," and seem by their "if" to cast doubt upon outlay even for these. But as shown in later chapters (vol. E. of complete work), no sum was spent for apparel, &c, by the com- pany until the reign of lame- I. Kirkham is never reliable. His present claim (July I, 1612) IS WO /. (G.-F.. 224), but in a suil two months earlier (May 5, 1612) it is, for the same expenditure, "three hundred pounds at the leaste" (G.- F. 217o). His statements concern- in- "disbui ■ mentS," taken with the rest of the history, make one t'eel there is something in what h( though not a- lie would have the Courl believe. In his official ca- pacity a- Yeoman of the Revels, he 90 CHILDREN OF THE CHAPEL AT BLACKFRIARS It is sure that the Assignment was Oct. 21, 1601, and was made to Hawkins alone. Painton gives this date, 1 and Evans declares the conveyance, drawn solely to indemnify Hawkins, his surety on the 400 /. bond to Burbage, was made "long tyme before any communication had between this def fc and Alexander Hawkins on the one partie, and the compl 1 , Rastall, and Kendall on the other partie." 2 This puts the Articles later than the Assignment. Evans him- self dates them April 20, 1602. 3 Painton also declares the date of "certayn articles" was April 20, 1602. 4 But Painton mentions only one item contained, the acknowledgment of the absolute as- signment to Hawkins, for that alone concerns him. Evans, how- ever, says these Articles contained not only this item, 5 but were "the said Articles of Agreement 6 . . . mencioned in the said bill." 7 In the same document, he claims the operation of these Articles up to the termination of the company in 1608. 8 His statements here are simply an expanded (partly verbatim) copy from his Replication in a suit 9 two months earlier, in which both he 10 and Kirkham 11 agree the Articles in question (the date of continued as formerly, during the the gist of much else agreed to. remaining year of Elizabeth after Kirkham's Bill in this suit was the 1602 contract with Evans, to "absolutely dismissed" by the Court furnish the necessary supplies of (G.-F., 251). — Which is a final apparel, &c, — even to superabun- commentary on the merits of his dance (infra, 99 3 , 106 1 ), — but at the claim. Queen's expense. He seems to be l Kirkham vs. Painton, Painton's claiming now (1612) personally Answer, G.-F., 230. what he had expended officially. 2 Idem, Evans's Answer, G.-F., Of course by the terms of the 244. lease (G.-F, 212 and 241) Evans 3 Idem, 245. was bound to keep the building in *Idem, Painton's Answer, G.-F., repair. Hence, when he took in 231. Kirkham et al., who were to share "Idem, Evans's Answer, G.-F., expenses and profits half-and-half 243a. with him, he exacted their share in "Idem, 245c. this also. (Ibid. Also infra, 92 2 .) V. e., Bill of Complaint in Kirk- Although Burbage and Hemings ham vs. Painton, to which he is an- show (w. s., G.-F., 234-39) this pro- swering. vision in their contract was not the 8 Kirkham vs. Painton, Evans's basis of the 400 /. expenditure, it Answer, G.-F., 245-46. seems to be the only basis Kirk- "Evans vs. Kirkham (May 5, ham could show the Court in the 1612), Replication, G.-F., 221-22. Articles for his fictitious claim. 10 Idem, Evans's Bill of Com- The Articles are not known to ex- plaint, G.-F., 211 ; and Replication, ist. But doubtless the coincident G.-F., 221. Obligation or 200/. bond (G.-F, u Idem, Kirkham's Answer, G.- 211-12; 240-41; [and infra, 92 2 ]) F., 217. give this provision fully, as well as DATING EVENTS— NEW MANAGEMENT 91 which is not there mentioned) were the ones under which they began the copartnership. 1 There was then but one set of Articles under which the com- pany was operated till its termination in 1608, and these bore date of April 20, 1602. This is unequivocally settled by the identifi- cation of the Articles by both Kirkham and Evans in the earlier suit with those of the later suit; the declaration of both Evans and Painton as to the date ; Evans's willingness to bring the Ar- ticles into court: and the fact that the Court had the Articles before him in rendering a decree against Kirkham's petition in the later suit. 2 [Since writing the above, I have found two separate copies of the 200 /. bond, each under date of April 20. 1602 ; also one copy of the 50 /. bond under same date. Both were made on the same day as the Articles merely as security for fulfilment of the con- tract. This settles the question of date. These two bonds are valuable in many respects. The 50 /. bond is quoted and discussed later. The 200 /. bond is especially valu- able as containing the terms of the Articles of Agreement. By these it is seen that the partners were to share the profits and expenses. But the only expenses provided for are rent and re- pairs. No mention is made of the chief items of expense. — as maintenance of the company, apparel, and furniture.'' This is suggestive in itself and is corroborated in its significance by other 'In reading the forty pages of 211-12; 240-41). [Also infra, 92 5 .] documents in these two suits, it is Another bond was given at the difficult to keep apart the Articles same time by Kirkbam et al. to of Agreement and the 200 /. Obli- Evans for 50 /. But there is no gation based on them. Hence I danger of confusing it with the Ar- note here that the Articles were tides. It is taken up in proper or- drawn up by Evans (G.-F. 245&) der under James I. [But cf. also with date of April 20, 1602 (ibid.), infra, 102 2 .] and "concluded" or agreed to by 2 It would not seem necessary to all (G.-F., 2llb, 216a). Kirkham give such elaborate proof were it and partners in their behalf drew not that F. G. Fleay, o/\ cit.. 132- up a 200/. bond or "Obligation" 33, 209, by his misdating has thrown (G.-F., 211c, 216o), which was events into confusion, and led later signed by Evans and Hawkins as writers in the field into gross error, a guarantee to carry out the Arti- Also in reading the documents pub- cles. _ The two instruments were lished in his work, one should first coincident. The Obligation seems of all blol oul the date- In- has in- to recite much of the Articles, and serted. is given substantially twice (G.-F, i Cf. infra, 101-2. 113, 1 92 CHILDREN OF THE CHAPEL AT BLACKFRIARS documents that these were provided by the Queen, 1 and were not therefore matters of charge to be shared. Consequently they are not mentioned among the company's items of expense in either Articles or bond. The Condition of the 200 /. bond as giving these significant terms of the Articles of Agreement on which the new manage- ment was established is here subjoined. 2 ] 1 Infra, 101-2, 106 1 , 126-29, 148/: 2 (Marks of abbreviation are translated into italics.) The suits in which this document is enrolled occurred under James I. Hence the date of the Obligation is given as "vicesimo die Aprilis Anno regni dominae Elizabeth nup^r Reginae Anglice quadragesimo quarto." The Condio'on of this obligacion is such That Whereas Richard Bur- bage of the parishe of S' leonard es in Shorditch in the Countie of Mid- dlesex gentleman by his Jndenture of lease bearinge date the second day of September in the two and fortith yere of the raigne of our sou claim of losing 300 /. by his enforced absence is an undoubted fiction, as his son-in-laws seems fully to have guarded his interests. profytt together with them the said 2 "And the CompF further for William Edward and Thomas their Replicacion saith that he was, by the executors Administrators and As- def and his said Associates vpon signs and cume of them of and in false informacion made to the late the aide greate hall and prrmisses Lord Hunsdon, late Lord Cham- without their or any of their letter herlain. against this Compl*, corn- troubles and interrupcions That aunded by In- Lo* to avoyd and then the present obligacton to be leave the same, for fear of whose voide and of none effect or els it to displeasure the Compl 1 was forced stand in full force and venue, to leaue the Country, and lost in For document in extenso from want of not looking to hi- proffitt which this is taken, see complete there and Charge otherwise neere work, vol. Ill three hundred pounds," &C— Evans 'Evans vs. Etirkham, Bill of vs. Kirkham, Evans's Replia Complaint. G.-F., 312c 2130. G.-F.. 220c. 94 CHILDREN OF THE CHAPEL AT BLACKFRIARS The theatre was in no way interfered with. The Queen's con- tinned favor to the last and the constant popularity of the Chil- dren are shown in later pages. CHAPTER VII QUEEN ELIZABETH AT THE BLACKFRIARS The history of the Children of the Chapel at Blackfriars, with the influences under which they became a large factor in the lit- erary and social life of London and the conditions that made them the source of widely ramifying influences from late Eliza- beth to the Restoration, throws much of the stage and dramatic history of the period into a new perspective. This arises pri- marily out of the Queen's attitude. From the fact that her Majesty's Children of the Chapel were used at Blackfriars to present plays, every student of the drama has for a long time felt she extended to them special favor. But just what part she had in their establishment and maintenance and what interest she took in their performances has been made possible for us to know only through a study of original records, plays, and other contemporary evidences. These I have attempted to assemble in the present work. Important testimony has al- ready been adduced. But valuable records and other materials are yet to be examined in the following eight chapters. The Queen's attendance at Blackfriars theatre Tuesday, De- cember 29, 1601, has already been mentioned incidentally. 1 On that date Sir Dudley Carleton in a gossipy letter of Court-news to John Chamberlain wrote : "The Q : dined this day priuatly at my L d Chamberlains ; I came euen now from the blackfriers where I saw her at the play w th all her candidae auditrices." 2 1 5 "fra, 26, 87. There are five pages of the orig- * Transcribed from the original inal MS., gossipy, but nothing rar- MS. in the Public Record Office, ther on Blackfriars or Elizabeth's State Papers. Domestic Series, Eliz- attendance there. The letter is abeth, CCLXXXIII, No. 48. [The dated at the close, "29 of deceb r Calendar of State Papers. Don. r6or." On the hack it is addressed Eliz.. 1601-3, 136, prints this part "To my very louing trend John of the letter, hut with incorrect Chamberlain these at Kncbworth." wording and spelling.] 96 CHILDREN OF THE CHAPEL AT BLACKFRIARS This authoritative record associated with the rest of the present history has significance. 1 Those familiar with the voluminous letters of Dudley Carleton are aware that an unusual event at Court or concerning the Queen receives some dilation, while the customary or ordinary doings or mere news items, if mentioned at all, are passed with a sentence or two, as in the present five- page document, making his letters almost as gossipy and discon- nected as the local column of an American country-newspaper. When one examines this record from every possible stand- point, the conclusion becomes irresistible that the Queen at least occasionally attended the Blackfriars. Also, as this was only one in a series of such attendance, there is no reason to suppose it the last. This conclusion harmonizes with items in other documents touching the conduct of the theatre, and insofar as it involves her attitude toward the Blackfriars, not only is supported by cir- cumstances and declaration, but also itself adds support and clear- ness to others. Among other things, it becomes evident why the Blackfriars Children were not more than one season at Court, 2 although they were Elizabeth's own company, and enjoyed the most fashionable and aristocratic patronage of London. 3 It be- comes clear also from this particular occasion of attendance after the filing of Clifton's Complaint, 4 — just a fortnight after, — that she was steadfast in her support of Blackfriars. and was willing in the face of opposition to proclaim by her presence her purpose of continued support. 5 Numerous other occurrences and condi- tions also grow clearer. — But an analysis here would merelv anticipate conclusions that come of themselves through examining other documents. So we may pass this record for the present, with noting the at- tendance also of the ladies of the Court and hazarding the sup- position that the Lord Chamberlain, Lord Hunsdon, with whom 'I find that A. W. Ward, His- the document itself that the Queen tory of English Dramatic Litera- attended the Blackfriars theatre. ture (1899 2 ), I, 445 2 , notes the 2 Infra, 112, 115 1 , 121-22 1 , 157 4 . existence of this record, with a ref- 'Infra, 112, 124, 128, 164-66, 176- erence to the Calendar of State Pa- 77. pers (u. s.). But he gives no hint 4 Supra, 84 4 , 87. of its connection or significance, be- 'Infra, 159-61. yond the mere fact contained in QUEEN' ELIZABETH AT BLACKFRIARS 97 the Queen dined, the gate to whose mansion adjoined the south entrance to the theatre, 1 did himself the honor likewise to attend the same performance. This is the only known record of Elizabeth's attending a the- atre,- and is the first known instance of such attendance by any sovereign. 1 'Supra, 26 3 -26\ ""Neither Elizabeth nor King James the First, nor Charles the First. I believe, ever went to the public theatre." — E Malone, Shakc- speare I 'ariorum (ed. Boswell, 1821), III, 166. Some i me who has made pains- taking marginal notes in the copy of the above volume of Malone in the Hof- mid Siadts-Bibliothek, Miinchen, says against Elizabeth's name here, "She went, however, to the Blackfriars in Cynth. Revels." There are reasons to believe she did. Proof of it would be most gratifying. On the evidence of the play itself, the masque in Cynthia's Revels if not the whole play seems written in compliance with the Queen's requirements in the train- ing and use of the Children. ( In- fra, 122 1 ). But this does not prove she saw the play. On page 504 of the above volume, the sig- nature "Dibdin" to a note would seem to indicate not an author quoted, but the author of the mar- ginal comments. — But which "Dib- din" ? 3 It has hitherto been supposed, as Malone («. s.), J. P. Collier, op. cit. (is:?l l ), II, 64; (1879 2 ), I, 489; F. G. Fleay, op. cit., 313, and the rest, have taken it, that Queen Henrietta, wife of Charles I, was the first person of royalty to attend a theatre. She attended the private theatres of Blackfriars, Phoenix (Cockpit), and Salisbury Court. But this record shows Elizabeth in priority. CHAPTER VIII THE QUEEN'S MAINTENANCE OF THE CHILDREN AT BLACKFRIARS The next record touching the Queen's relations to Blackfriars is a single paragraph in Evans's Answer in the suit of Kirkham vs. Painton, 1 seemingly unimportant at first sight. It deals with one item arising out of the 1602 Articles and touches the conduct of the theatre both before and after. It reads thus : — "And towching the Eight shillings weekely to be paid, 2 . . . this def 1 saith that there was a bond of ffiftye powndes made by the said compl 1 and his said partners condicioned for paiement of the said some of eight shillings weekely vnto this def 1 because after the said agreements made, the compl 1 and his said Partners would at their directions haue the dietting and ordering of the Boyes vsed about the plaies there, w ch before the said Compl 1 had, and for the w ch he had weekely before that disbursed and allowed great Somes of monie." 3 This looks like a trivial paragraph merely "towching the Eight shillings." No one has hitherto found it significant. 4 But what is meant by "the said Complainant" ? For several months, before I had thoroughly worked the field, I was puzzled to understand this paragraph. I could make noth- ing of it except that it dealt with eight shillings to be paid for some unknown reason, and that there was an apparent clerical error in "the said Complainant" for "this defendant." It seemed 1 Supra, 89 5 . Painton, The Aunswere of Henrie 2 See the 50/. bond for the pay- Evans, gent 3 , &c). My transcript ment of this amount weekly, infra, of the paragraph from the original 102 3 . See also the paragraph {infra, document as here printed differs 104 3 ) in Kirkham's Bill of Com- only slightly (in the spelling) from plaint, to which Evans is here an- the print of Mr. Greenstreet's tran- swering. script as it appears in F. G. Fleay, 3 Public Record Office, Chancery A Chronicle History of the London Proceedings, James I, Bills and An- Stage (1890), 244a. swers, K 5, No. 25 (Kirkham vs. *Cf. infra, 104*. MAINTENANCE OF THE CHILDREN 98 to make sense thus, for then it meant that Evans had made the outlay. — Which 1 erroneously then took to be the case. But no one has a right to declare a document incorrect upon assumption. There must first be proof of error. I examined the original document in the Public Record Office, and accepted it as it stood. Taken thus it meant that Kirkham, "the said Complainant," had made the disbursements and allow- ances weekly. But Kirkham had nothing to do with either the taking up of the Children or the personal management of the the- atre prior to the 1602 Articles referred to. Moreover, no other document mentions him as having any connection with the Black- friars Children prior to that date. I knew he was the Queen's Yeoman of the Revels, but I could not see how that had anything to do with the point. With the discovery of new materials and a consideration of all evidences in every aspect, the field cleared. The Decree of the Court of Star Chamber showed that Evans had official papers, and the Clifton Complaint suggested the same. The Commis- sion to Gyles and the practices under it, with the Queen's attend- ance at the theatre, were indubitable testimony of more than mere official countenance. The Diary of the Duke of Stettin, dis- cussed in the next chapter, was clear-cut declaration. All the numerous evidences in fact, a summary of which is given later, 1 thrust upon me conclusions as incontrovertible as new. They were a harmonious unit in revealing an official conduct of the theatre hitherto unguessed. Among other statements in the Diary of the Duke o\ Stettin is the one that the Queen furnished these Children for their the- atrical performances with a "superabundance of rich apparel." 2 This helped explain the paragraph in question. All the Queen's theatrical apparel was in the care of the Yeoman of the Revels who, by virtue of the letters patent of hi^ appointment, was in- dependent of the Master of the Revels in administering his office." 'Infra, 126-29. of all and singuler our Maskes 'Infra, in--.-:. 123 < -24 , I L78 To'. Revells and disguiseinges and alsoe "'Wee doe ordtyne constitute of the apparrrll and Trappers of and make the same Edward Kirk- all and singuler our horses or- ham by thois presentea yeoman or deyned and appointed or hereafter keeper of our Vestures or apparrell to bee ordeyned and appointed for 100 CHILDREN OF THE CHAPEL AT BLACKFRIARS It was he who had charge over expenditures in the "setting out" of plays at Court. 1 It was through him, then, that this "super- abundance of rich apparel" was furnished the Blackfriars Chil- dren. And as the Queen maintained this division of the Children of the Chapel as actors, it was through him, from some account yet to be discovered, that the weekly expenditures were made. "The said complainant," then, meant the Yeoman of the Rev- els, Edward Kirkham, who as the Queen's official had, prior to any personal connection with the management, "disbursed and allowed great Somes of monie" for "the dietting and ordering of the Boyes vsed about the plaies there." Both the expenditures 2 and the furnishing of apparel 3 were official. The possibility of surreptitiousness by "confederacy" or "conspiracy" is precluded by the nature of the case. Clifton's charges of illegitimate conduct of the theatre under color of au- thority, with his implication in the word "others" by which he our iustes and Turneys," &c. Also he is "to have and enioye one suf- ficient house or mansion as here- after shalbe assigned vnto the said Edward Kirkham for the suer bet- ter and safe keeping of our said Vestures apparrell and Trappers," &c. — From the Patent creating Ed- ward Kirkham Yeoman for life, dated 28 April, 28 Elizabeth (1586). Printed in A Collection of Ancient Documents Respecting the Office of Master of the Revels, &c. (ed. J. O. Halliwell, 1870. Only 11 copies printed. No. 11 in British Mu- seum.) x The respective duties of the Master and the Yeoman of the Rev- els are not exactly known. But an examination of the Revels Accounts indicates that the Yeoman of the Revels, agreeable with the Patent, had full charge over purchase and use of apparel required in Court entertainments, while the Master's duties related to the larger func- tions of providing appropriate en- tertainments, plays, masques, &c, and especially for the "rehersinge and choise makinge" of plays, in- terludes, and masques. — See Ex- tracts from the Accounts of the Revels at Court (ed. P. Cunning- ham, Shakesp. Soc. Pub., 1842), passim. Cunningham here gives only part of the accounts. See fur- ther the original documents, u. %., 101 1 . Expenditures for board and lodging of children-actors through- out the year are new to the close of Elizabeth's reign. But tempo- rary board and lodging for several days at a time were given different sets of children during their re- hearsals and on their journeyings to and from the place of acting, as shown by various items in the ac- counts relating to such. See for example under year 1573, "Item for the diettw & Lodging of dyvers childre at saint Jones whiles thay Learned theier partes & Jestures meete for the Mask in w ch ix of them did serve at Hampton Coo r te xxxiij 3 iiij d ." — Extracts, from the Accounts of the Revels at Court (ed. P. Cun- ningham, 5". S. Pub., 1842), 73. Here the amount would indicate about ten days maintenance. 'Infra, 106-7, 178. MAINTENANCE OF THE CHILDREN 1U1 seems to mean at least the Yeoman of the Revels, have no basis in fact. It is not certain to what account these expenditures were charged. It they went through the Office of the Revels the) passed under the signatures of Kirkham and the Master of the Revels, Ed. Tilney, thence to the Audit ( >ffice where they were allowed. < >r if they passed through any other office or set of accounts, the amounts in any case had to be allowed in like manner b\ —me official near the Queen. 1 Such expenditure as also the furnishing of apparel and the fact of allowing the Children to act in her name, to say nothing of the grants to < ryles and Evans and the attendance of Queen and Court at the theatre, settles the conduct of the Blackfriars as be- in- under the knowledge and sanction of Queen Elizabeth. Additional proof of the official conduct of the theatre is con- tained in Clifton's own statement of its surreptitiousness, which is here added. - Standing alone this would not be valuable testimony. But it is 'The discovery of the record containing these allowances would be a valuable contribution to Elizabethan-Jacobean stage-history. Among the records of the Office of the Revels preserved at the Public Record Office, from which Mr. P. Cunningham published merely Ex- tracts (». s., 100 s ) and some of them incorrectly, are Declared Ac- counts, Audit Office, Bundle 2045- 8046, years L573-1670; and Declared Accounts of the Pipe Office, Roll years 1603-38. I have gone through these with hope of some evidence. But in both sets of ac- counts the records of Oct. 31, l"' ss - Oct. 31, L603 are wanting. There are numerous other gaps in tin- rec on!-. I have likewise examined the ■ne of the most valuable documents yet discovered in revealing the relations of Queen Elizabeth to the setting up and maintenance of her Chapel Children as actors at Blackfriars, as well as illu- minating their whole history, consists of two paragraphs in the Diary of Philipp Julius, Duke of Stettin-I'omerania, under date of September l8, 1602. The statements there, taken with the documents and evidences offered in other chapters, change all previous conceptions not only of this company and the I'dack- friars theatre, but also of the relations of the children-companies under Elizabeth and James to the dramatic and theatrical history of the times. A word therefore seems necessary on the value of the present record as evidence. Minor but essential details I subjoin in a note. 1 Other considerations throwing light upon the present history follow the quoted record. 'Philip Julius, Duke of Stettin- Philippi Gulii Herzogen zu Stettin, Pomerania, Prussia, in his eigh- Pommcrn, etc.. Reise durch teenth year (1602) was sent on a Deutschland, Engelland, und Italien, grand tour of the chief states of 1602. Europe for the purpose of com- The MS. of this Diary is now pleting his education, shaping his in the library of Count von der character, and preparing him for the Osten of Plathe. Pomerania, and duties of government in his own has never yet been fullj country. One of the important Only a part of it is the original members of his retinue was Fred- MS., according to the doubtful eric Gerschow, former tutor to the statement of the recent publishers. Duke, and later (1605 35) Profes- In 1892, Dr. Gottfried von B • Law at the University of Superintendent of the Royal Ar- .vald. In accordance with the chives in Stettin, assisted by Mr. Duke's command to write down ac- Wilfred Powell. Enj sul in curately, day by day, everything Stettin, published in Transactions they saw or heard on the journey, of the Royal Hii how kepi a careful diary from (New Series, 1892), VI, 1-67, all the daj of departure, Feb. 1. 1602, that part of the Diary pertaining to the day of return, under the head- to the journey in England They ing: — give also an English translation Der Durchlauchtigsten Herrn page for page with the Germai 106 CHILDREN OF THE CHAPEL AT BLACKFRIARS The original record runs as follows: 1 "18. [Sept., Samstag, 1602] . . . Von dannen [i. e., von einer Kunstkammer] sind wir auf die Kinder-comoediam gangen, welche im Argument iudiciret eine castam viduam, war eine his- toria einer koniglichen Wittwe aus Engellandt. Es hat aber mit dieser Kinder-comoedia die Gelegenheit: die Konigin halt viel junger Knaben, die sich der Singekunst mit Ernst befleissigen miissen und auf alien Instrumenten lernen, auch dabenebenst studieren. Diese Knaben haben ihre besondere praeceptores in alien Kiinsten, insonderheit sehr gute musicos. Damit sie nun hofliche Sitten anwenden, ist ihnen aufgelegt, wochentlich eine comoedia zu agiren, wozu ihnen denn die Konig- in ein sonderlich theatrum erbauet und mit kostlichen Kleidern zum Ueberfluss versorget hat. Wer solcher Action zusehen will, From this portion of the Diary we learn that the Duke and retinue landed at Dover Friday, Sept. 10, 1602, and reached London on the 12th where they remained eight days. They spent the next two weeks in the country, including /is- its to Cambridge and Oxford, and finally sailed from Dover for Calais Oct. 3 on a Man of War specially provided by Queen Elizabeth. During this three-weeks visit in England, they met the leading of- ficials, statesmen, and scholars, and had every facility for learning facts recorded. Friday, Sept. 17, they dined with the Lord Mayor of Lon- don. On the same day in the after- noon they were entertained at the Royal Palace, Whitehall, though the Queen was absent, and were shown into the privacies of her Majesty, — her library, bedroom, prayer-book written in her own hand, &c, &c. Those who entertained them, though not named, must have been officials close to the Queen. On the following day, Saturday, Sept. 18, they went to the Chil- dren's theatre at Blackfriars, and Gerschow wrote down the two par- agraphs concerning it. 'From Transactions of the Royal Historical Society (New Series, 1892), VI, 26, 28. The editors publish an English translation on parallel pages. But as they certainly missed the mean- ing in places, I offer the follow- ing :— 18 [Sept., Saturday, 1602] . . . From there [*. e., from an Art-mu- seum] we went to the play at the Children's Theatre, which in its plot deals with a chaste widow. It was the story of a royal widow of England. — -But with reference to this Chil- dren's Theatre this is the state of affairs : The Queen maintains a number of young boys who are re- quired to devote themselves ear- nestly to the art of singing, and to learn to perform on various sorts of musical instruments, also at the same time to carry on their studies. These boys have their special pre- ceptors in all the various arts, and in particular excellent instructors in music. Now, in order that they may practice courtly manners, it is re- quired of them to act a play every week, for which purpose indeed the Queen has established for them a special theatre and has provided them with a superabundance of rich apparel. THE QUEEN'S REQUIREMENTS 1U7 muss so gut als unserer Munze acht sundische Schillings geben, unci findet sich doch stets vicl Volks auch viele ehrbare Fraueus, weil nutze argumenta und viele schone Lehren, als von andern berichtet, sollen tractiret werden ; alle bey Lichte agiret, welches ein gross Ansehen macht. Eine ganze Stunde vorher horet man eine kostliche musicam instrumentalem von Orgeln, Lauten, Pan- doren, Mandoren, Geigen und Pfeiffen, wie denn damahlen ein Knabe cum voce tremula in einer Basgeigen so lieblich gesungen, dass wo es die Xonnen zu Mailand ihnen nicht vorgethan, wir seines Gleichen auf der Reise nicht gehoret hatten." This document is here given for the first time in its relation to the Children of the Chapel at Blackfriars, 1 and is as new in its significance to dramatic and stage history as if it had never before been printed. All details so fit into the history of the Chil- dren of the Chapel at Blackfriars that any attempt at demon- strating the identity would be gratuitous. 2 Whoever wishes to be a specta- tor at one of their performances must pay as much as eight shill- ings of our [Pomeranian] coinage [ca. 12 d.]. And yet there is al- ways present a large audience, in- cluding many respectable women, because entertaining plot-develop- ments and many excellent teach- ings, as we were informed by oth- er-, are expected to be presented. All their performances are acted by candle-light, which nroduces a fine spectacular effect. For a whole hour preceding the play one listens to a delightful mu- sical entertainment on organs, lutes, pandorins, mandolins, violins and as "ii the present occasion, ■i. when a boy cum voce t rein- ing so charmingly to the ac- companimenl of '>1 that un- less possibly the nun- at Milan may have excelled him, we had not heard his equal Of] our iournev. l Dr. A. W. Ward, History nglish Dramatic Literature .1. 453, discussing the im- icnt <>f children for the choir of St. Paul's by royal warrant of 1585 (cf. supra, 67 s ), subjoins a translation of this document. While admitting he anticipates the date rather too much, lie neverthe- less holds the "curious passage" to be illustrative of the Paul's plays of 1585!! But Dr. Ward makes no special claim to a knowledge of stage-history, depending very frank- ly in such matters mainly upon the Rev. Mr. Fleay. except where, as here, Fleay has not written. Had he given the subject personal in- vestigation, he would have seen that this Diary has nothing to do with Paul's even in 1602, much less sev- enteen years earlier. 2 Numerous commentator- and reviewers have seen that this record meant the Queen's Children, for the document says thus much. But no one of them has recognized that it meant the famous organization of the Children of the Chapel at Black- friars. No analysis of it- historical relations has hitherto been made, and no statement of its significance !- a single sentence The rec- ognition and analysis of its value is confined to the adjectives, "cu- 108 CHILDREN OF THE CHAPEL AT BLACKFRIARS Much of the document by its clear-cut authoritative declara- tion substantiates conditions already examined. A few items are found in no other record. These so harmonize with the entire history and so substantiate logical conclusions and are so sup- ported by certain conditions that the authoritativeness of the rec- ord on the whole may be regarded as final. Other considerations are significant, strongly suggesting con- ditions not declared outright in any document. The Duke and his retinue visited the Blackfriars the next day after dining with the Lord Mayor and being entertained at the Queen's Palace at Whitehall. Gerschow wrote a brief history and description of this Children's theatre, while in the case of two plays seen at the public theatres he passes them with bare mention, — one, no doubt at the Globe, with two lines -, 1 the other, rious." "remarkable," "auffallend," "merkwiirdig," and "wertvoll." Herman Hager in Englische Stu- dien (1S93), XVIII, 315, reprints the English translation from Trans- actions of the Royal Historical So- ciety (u. s., 106 1 ). After quoting from F. G. Fleay, A Chronicle His- tory of the London Stage (1890), 125, 133, on the place of acting by the Children of the Chapel and by Paul's Boys, he concludes, "I can- not find any reference to a theatre specially built for such a company by the Queen." Since its first appearance in the parallel German-English publication in Transactions of the Royal His- torical Society (m. s., 106 1 ), the German has been printed again from the original MS. by Professor Binz, of the University of Basel, in Beilage zur Allgemcincn Zeitung (Miinchen, Aug. 23, 1902). Dr. Binz erred in giving this out "als ein ineditum." He prefaces his print of it by a single generalizing sentence, but gives no hint as to the contributive value of the document. C. F. Meyer in an article Eng- lische Konwdianten am Hofe Phil- ipp Julius von Pommern-Wolgast, published in Jahrbuch der Deutsch- en Shakcspeare-Gesellschaft (1902), XXXVIII, 196-211, reprints the document but says nothing of its significance. Edward Engle, Shakespeare in Pommern, in National-Zeitung (Berlin, Sept. 27, 1902), reviewing Meyers's article (u. s.), again prints the document. He regrets that the Duke of Stettin did not instead attend the Globe. — Which however he certainly did do. Be- sides recognizing it as "einen wert- vollen Beitrag," Engle says no word on its value. Numerous other publications have given the matter mention. la 13 [Sept. 1602].— Den 13. ward eine comedia agirt, wie Stuhl-Weis- senburg erstlich von den Ttirken hernacher von den Christen wie- derum erobert." — From the Diary in Transactions of the Royal Histori- cal Society (New Series, 1892), VI, 6. As the visitors had all opportu- nity to inform themselves, and also saw the chief sights of London, — the Temple, Exchange, Tower, Westminster, St. Paul's, Whitehall, &c, — there is reason to conclude that they visited, not the minor, but the chief theatres. The Globe and the Fortune were the two public theatres of chief importance in 1602. On the 14th, the company attended a play at the Fortune («. *., 109 1 ). THE QUEEN'S REQUIREMENTS low the play of Samson at the Fortune, with a line and a half. 1 A bear- and bull-fight, of course at the Dear Garden, gets four lines. With no other evidence than the comparative length of notices given to Blackfriars on the one side and the Globe, Fortune, and Bear Garden on the oilier, we should be justified in concluding the relative weight of impressions the visitors carried home with them. I hit the important evidence more than bearing out this conclusion is the action taken by the Duke in establishing a the- atre at his own court shortly after returning to Germany. In 1 004 Duke Philip was declared of age, and took charge of the government of the dukedom of Pommern-Wolgast. Within two years we find a theatre of "etliche unci zwantzig Englamkr"- establidied and maintained at his court at heavy expense. 3 It seems unlikely that this company traveled, as other English actors in Germany did. There is no evidence of it. Nor do we- lt is hardly likely that they visited the same theatre twice. They were doing tin' sights. There is no known case of repetition on the whole journey. So I take it as practically certain that this notice of their first visit to a theatre re- fers to the more famous Globe. If the play they saw could be identi- fied, that would probably make the conclusion final. "14 [Sept. 1G02].— Auf den Nachmittag ward cine tragica co- moedia vom Samsone und dem halben Stamm Benjamin agirt." — Idem, VI. 10. The play of Sampson was then new. It is identified by the fol- lowing: — "Lent vnto Samwell Rowley & edwarde Jewbe to pave for the of Samson the 29 of Julye L602 the some of. . .vi" " — Henslowe's Diary (e& \V. W. . L904), LI This play was never published. mpson. Play, by Edward Jubye, d by Samuel Row- V-to! in L602. \' . I ' '. iker. Biographia Dramatica (1812) , II. ! Jewby belonged to the company playing at the Fortune, in which Henslowe was interested. It is therefore established that the visitors attended the Fortune Sept. 14, 1602. 2 See full notice in Hausbuch des Horn Joachim von Wedel auf Krempzoiv Schloss und Blumbcrg sessen, first published by J. von Bohlen Bohlendorf in Die Bib- liothek des Litterarischcn Vereins in Stuttgart (1882), CLXI. :.:::.. Quoted by C. F. Meyer in Shake- speare-Jahrbuch (1902), XXXVIII, 199. 3 The establishment of the thea- tre, particularly the purpose on a festival court occasion to ad in the church at Loitz, the home of the Duke's mother, roused the Court Preacher, Gregorius Hagius, to strenuous opposition. Of seven let- ters written by Hagius to the Puke and his mother between the 25 and 28 of August, 1606, three are pre-erved. Th. \ are published in Shakespeare - J ahrbuch < XXXVIII, F Meyer, and make a contribution more val- uable. I think, than even Heir Meyer believed no CHILDREN OF THE CHAPEL AT BLACKFRIARS know how long it was maintained. But judging from the infor- mation at hand, it seems different from any other English troop in Germany, as a brief notice may suffice to show. 1 The first English company of actors came to Germany under Robert Brown 2 in 1592. This organization developed by segre- gations and accretions into other companies. In 1594 one of these player-troops received the patronage of Landgraf Moritz von Hessen-Cassel. Another, possibly about the same time, was patronized by Herzog Heinrich Julius von Braunschweig, who himself through influence of English actors was stirred to write ten dramas. In 1604 another company was patronized by Markgraf Christian von Brandenburg. These com- panies for several years and their offsprings for three-quarters of a century wandered over Germany presenting English plays or plays modeled after them, on the market square, in the town hall, or other temporary place, and laid the foundations for the modern German theatre and drama. 3 1 Conclusions on the English act- ors in Germany in the paragraphs here, and later under the Children of the Queen's Revels at White- friars, are based upon an examina- tion of the original documents as published in the following: — — Albert Cohn, Shakespeare in Germany (1865). — Karl Goedeke, Grundriss zur Geschichte der Deutschen Dichtung (2 Auflage, 1SS6), II, 524-42 (Materials assem- bled in chronological order) . — Archiv fiir Litteratur -geschichte, XIII -XV (Trautmann ; Criiger). — Jahrbuch der Deutschen Shakespeare Gesell- schaft, XVIII (Menzel) ; XIX (Meissner) ; XXI (Cohn) ; XXIII (Bolte) ; XXXVIII (Meyer).— E. Menzel, Geschichte der Schauspiel- kunst in Frankfurt (1882). — Jo- hannes Meissner, Die Englischen Komodianten cur Zeit Shakespeares in Ocstcrreich (Diss. Wien, 1884). — W. Creizenach, Die Schauspiele der Englischen Komodianten. Ein- leitung. (J. Kiirschner's Deutsche National-Littcratur, XXIII, 1889). — Zeitschrift fiir Ver^leichende Litteraturgeschichte und Renais- sance Litteratur (Neue Folge. Ber- lin.), I, (Konneke); VII, (Traut- mann). — Emil Herz, Englische Schauspiele und Englisches Schau- spiel zur Zeit Shakespeares in Deutschland (Teil I, Diss. Bonn, 1901. Vollstangige Arbeit in Litzmann's Theatergeschichtliche Forschungen, Heft XVIII, 1903). 2 As Brown, Kingman, Jones, and Reeve, who have much to do with these beginnings of the modern German theatre, were later active in London in establishing the Chil- dren of the Queen's Revels at Whitefriars (1610), they are no- ticed sufficiently in that connection. — See complete work, vols. I, II. 3 See further in complete work, vol. I, on German imitations of "English comedians" after ca. 1660, when the Davenant-Killigrew the- atrical monopoly of London throt- tled competition and aspiration in the art of acting in England, and so made the organization of addi- tional English companies at home or abroad from that time on im- possible. THE QUEEN'S REQUIREMENTS HI The patronage of the companies named was modeled after the patronage extended to companies in England by the nobility un- der Elizabeth. Indeed, the patents by Landgraf Moritz to Brown and Kingman 1 read like English commissions adapted to German conditions. In a word, then, these traveling troops of English actors in Germany were established on the general plan of the patronage extended to the companies playing in the London pub- lic theatres. These public-theatre companies of this period were composed of actors. There was among them only an occasional dancer, and a rarer musician. On the other hand, the company set up at the court of the Duke of Stettin, composed of actors, musicians, and dancers, and apparently not traveling about like the other English-German troops, but remaining at the court, not patronized moreover merely by a protecting commission but maintained at court as a charge on the ducal exchequer, seems modeled more after the private establishment of Blackfriars. Whether the Duke brought the troop directly from London, as seems not unlikely from Ha- gius's calling them "die von E. F. G. bestellte Comedianten," 2 or whether he took up with actors, musicians, and dancers already on the continent, a point of difference from the other instances is that he intended them for and, as Hagius's letters show, used them for the pleasure and entertainment of his court and friends. It looks like the case of a small prince overdoing great royalty. — such as those numerous, almost universal, European exaggerated imitations in dress, language, and customs inspired half a century later by the dazzling court of Louis XIV. I think Herr Meyer quite right, so far as he goes, in saying that the Duke acquired while in London a special fondness for the English theatre. 3 But from the chief theatrical interest of the Duke as shown by the Diary and from the kind of company 'Published by Konnecke in Zcit- dass der Herzoer eine Icbhafte Vor- sehrift fur Vergleichende I.ittera- liebe fur das englische Theatre turgeschichte und Renaissance Lit- fasste, die ihn dann spaterhin ver- tcratur (Neue Fol^e. Berlin.). I. anlasste, englische Komodianten 'See letter published by C F. und Musiker an seinen eignen Hof Meyer in Shakespcarc-Jahrbuch 7u Ziehen und mit grossetn Kosten- i, XXXVIII, 200. with Mey- aufwand lance daselbst 7ii unter- ers's view. Iialtcn. C F Meyer, EngHsch* 'Zitr Zcit dieses T^ondnner Auf- Komodianten am Hofe des Ffrrzotzs enthalts geschah es denn wohl auch, Philipp Julius von Pommem-Wol- 112 CHILDREN OF THE CHAPEL AT BLACKFRIARS he established as a result, it is clear that this fondness turns not upon the public theatres, but upon the Queen's establishment of the Children at Blackfriars. There are good grounds for concluding that Elizabeth intended the establishment of the Children of her Chapel as actors at Black- friars not merely to give the Boys polish of manners, but also to pleasure herself and entertain the Court. Her own presence there in company with her court-ladies, the testimony from other sources that lords attended, and that my fine gentleman took up the fashion while the better paying part of the audiences at the public theatres correspondingly dwindled, all indicate that this was at any rate the result, if not the original intention. I have already pointed out that this probably accounts for the Children's not being oftener at Court from 1597 to 1603. 1 The high price of admission also indicates the aristocratic na- ture of the audience. If a shilling was, as it seems from the Diary, the lowest admission, the prices of the choicer seats, par- ticularly in the lords' rooms, must have been considerable. In general, the admission fee so far as known seems to have been from two to twelve times as great as at any other theatre of the period. 2 gast, in Jahrbuch der Deutschen fered also in part among themselves. Shakespeare Gesellschaft (1902), It is not a fruitful field, but such XXXVIII, 198. as it is it should be reworked for 1 Supra, 96 2 . what it may yield, with regard to 2 It seems remarkable that con- definite periods and conditions of temporary literature offers no state- each theatre considered. ment of the price of admission at Known examples allow the fol- Blackfriars for the period in hand. lowing tentative conclusions for No proper study of entrance fees 1597 to 1608. Admission to the to London theatres, however, has yard and upper gallery of the pub- ever been made. Malone, op. cit., lie theatres was one penny. There III, 73ff., assembled numerous ex- were also two-penny galleries, or amples ranging over about three- two-penny rooms, in the Globe, For- quarters of a century. Collier, op. tune and others. So far as known, cit., Ill, 146ff., reworked these, with the best rooms there were a shill- a few additions and omissions. The ing. The price at Paul's was six- conclusions of both Malone and pence. There are no known rec- Collier melt time and individual ords as to Whitefriars fees for the theatres into a single composite. period. At Blackfriars the lowest But clearly the prices and condi- price in 1602 was a shilling. But in tions of, say, 1640, are not those 1607 under very different conditions of 1600, much less of 1576. Private during the reign of James I, it theatres are all classed together as seems sixpence. The boxes and having simply higher prices than rooms were doubtless dear. Gal- the public theatres. But they dif- lants who sat on the Blackfriars THE QUEEN'S REQUIREMENTS 113 The provision, noted by Gerschow, for the training of the Boys in singing, instrumental music, play-acting, and other arts, as well as in general culture, accords not merely with the material condi- tions and provisions of an ample instructorate, school-house, the- atre, apparel, and financial expenditures. It accords most par- ticularly with Elizabeth's passion for the drama and her special loves and liberal-mindedness toward all means that make for broader living, — characteristics which make her age the era of unprecedented progress, and for which the world of letters and arts has long done her honor. The entertainment attended by the Duke of Stettin was, as the Diary lets us know, of the usual sort. From this it is made clear that the new management under Kirkham and associates was carrying out requirements to the Queen's wish. The chief train- ing of the lads that could be practiced or exhibited on the stage is shown, — their skill in singing, instrumental music, acting, and dancing. It may be concluded that the other requirements were being complied with equally. The stage directions of the Blackfriars plays during Elizabeth, though admittedly meager, are nevertheless corroborative of the Diary's statements on these heads. Still more, they show that these requirements were complied with from first to last, under Evans alone as well as under the Evans-Kirkham company, and that the plays were specially written to fit the company and meet these conditions. The evidence becomes more emphatic by com- paring with the same company's plays under James. There we find comparatively little singing, dancing, and instrumental mu- sic. 1 It is of importance also that the combined evidence wholly disproves Clifton's charge before the Star Chamber to the effect that the boys taken up under the commission to Gyles could not sing and were not taught to sing. 2 but were abusively used solely paid besides the admission fee way able or fitt for singing, nor by an additional sixpence to a shilling anie the sayd confederates endev- for a stool there. onred to be taught to singe, but by 'See The Children of the Queen's them the sayd confederates abas- Revels at Blackfriars in complete ively employed, as aforesayd, only work", vol I in playes ft interludes." — Suf_>. says this provision is carried out and shows by an example how extensive the training must have been. So charmingly sang one of the Boys cum voce trcmula that unless juvenum cantantes et saltantes. II, iii, 85, "Cantat" [Mulligrub, all [Exeunt saltan." Ill, i. p. '290a, lathered with shaving-suds, here The "Chimney-sweep" song by Lo- seems the singer]. Ill, i, 3, Bea- renzo. IV. i. p. 296a, Quintiliano trice sings. Three lines of song sings. given, then "&c" TV, v. 70-83, The Wi&ovfs Tears (Sept. Cockledemoy disguised as the Bell- 1603). — I. i. "He dances and sings." man sings rather than speaks a [This is the only direction for sing- rhymed ribald cry. V. i. 19, ing in the play. Yet it was this "[Franc] Cantat saltatque cum plaj that was preceded by a musi- cithera." V, ii, 35, Freevill sings; cale of an hour's duration, with the 3G-4.'!. the song. charming singing, as reported by The Malcontent ( spring. 160:i). — the Diary of the Duke of Stettin. — I, i, A song. II. iii. A song within. •>". 115-18*.] While the son) nging, enter The (hitch Courtezan (fall — Mendoza, &C. III. ii, Song bj wint, 1602). — (ed. 1633, and Bui- ond and third pages V. ii. Enter len, 1887), I, ii. 1. 213, Enter from opposite sides Malevole and Franceschina with her lute; 219, she Maquerelle singing. [On the omis- sings to her lute; 220 27, the song, skra of the music elements of this II. i. Enter Freevill, pages with play as originally presented at hes, and gentlemen with music. Blackfriars, s< 116 it] Then at 1. 8, a serenade of music and 'See complete work. vol. u, under Beatrice's window. II, Plays at Court Also cf if-'. 181*- i. 68, The nightingales sing. II, ii, ! Franc I I llice." 1 1, ii. i Subra, so 1 , n Franceschina sings, with al- *ro, 180 ternating comments on the lines. 116 CHILDREN OF THE CHAPEL AT BLACKFRIARS the nuns at Milan might be compared with him, the travelers felt they had not heard his equal in Germany, Italy, or France. Training in instrumental music 1 was also extensive, requiring an acquaintance with the principal instruments of the time, — or- gan, lute, bandora, manolin, violin, bass-viol, 'cello, flute, and cornet. But the plays give necessarily slight indications of the music. The Malcontent, for example, as it has reached us, is pretty well shorn of this attraction, as the Induction declares. 2 The delight- 1 The Case is Altered (ca. Sept. — Oct., 1597).— I, i, "A flourish" pre- cedes the opening. I, ii ends with "a tucket." Cynthia's Revels (ca. April, 1600) . — (ed. Gifford - Cunningham) IV, i, p. 178, Amorphus sings to the lyre. V, ii, p. 186b, Music. Idem, 187a, charge; flourish. Idem, 189, charge (twice) ; flourish (twice). Idem, 193b, charge; flour- ish. Idem, 194b, charge; flourish. V, iii opens with "Music accompa- nied. Hesperus sings." V, iii, p. 200a, Music. A dance by the two masques, &c. Idem, 200b, Music. Second dance. Idem, 201b, Music. Third dance. Sir Giles Goose cap (ca. fall, 1600).— (ed. Bullen) I, iv, p. 21, Enter Clarence, Musicians. Idem, 22, A song to the Violls. Idem, 23, Exeunt Musicians. Poetaster (ca. April, 1601). — (ed. Gifford-Cunningham), II, i, p. 221b, Hermogines sings accompa- nied. IV, i, p. 238b, Crispinus plays and sings. IV, iii, p. 243a, Music. Albius sings. IV, iii, p. 243a, Mu- sic. Hermes sings. The Gentleman Usher (ca. sum. 1601).— (ed. Shepherd, 1873), II, i, p. 87a, Music. Monsieur D'Olive (ca. Oct. — Dec, 1601.) — No music indicated. May Day (ca. May, 1602).— (ed. Shepherd, 1873), III, iv, p. 295b, "Tapster, call us in some music." IV, i, p. 295b, Enter . . . &c, with music. Quintiliano. — "Strike up, scrapers." Idem, 296a, Qu. — "(strike up fiddlers)"; and farther on, "Farewell, scrapers," &c. The Widow's Tears (Sept., 1602). — (ed. Shepherd, 1873), III, ii, p. 325b, Music. Two lines farther on, "Music. Hymen descends" &c. [See comment supra, 115, col. 1.] The Dutch Courtesan (fall-wint, 1602).— (ed. 1633 and Bullen, 1887), I, ii, 1. 213, Enter Franceschina with her lute; 219, she sings to her lute. II, i, Enter Freevill, pages with torches, and gentlemen with music. Then at 1. 8, a serenade of music and song under Beatrice's window. V, i, 1. 18 "[Franc] Cantat saltatque cum cithera." The Malcontent (spring, 1603). — I, i, The vilest of out-of-tune mu- sic being heard, &c II, iii, Music within. Ill, ii, Cornets like horns within. IV, i, Cornets sound with- in. — Amelia. — "We will dance: — music ! — we will dance." Amelia calls for "music" five times in this scene, for the dance of the inter- rupted masque. IV, i, Cornets flourish. V, ii, ,: ... Peace! cornets !" V, iii, "The music !" i. e., for the masque. Ibid., "cornets, cornets I" V, iii, Enter Mercury with loud music. Ibid., "Cornets : the song to the cornets, which play- ing, the mask enters." Ibid., "the cornets sound the measure" (first dance). Repeated, in second dance. Ibid., "Cornets, a flourish." Re- peated at close of play. 2 The Malcontent was first played at Blackfriars in the spring of 1603. During the unsettled state of affairs of that year (cf. Children of the Queen's Revels at Blackfriars, 1603- 1608, in complete work, vol. I) it fell into the hands of the Burbage THE QUEEN'S KEQUIREMEN I S m ful concert of instruments and voices 1 preceding the play and lasting an hour was, as the Diary informs us, the customary pre- lude. It was ii< > part of the play, and is not mentioned, therefore, company, who cut out the music elements, in the main, because that company could not present them, as the following from the Induction spoken in 1G04 from the Globe stage indicates : — "Sly. What are your additi Hurbage. Sooth, not greatly needful ; only as your salad to your great feast, to entertain a little more time, and to abridge the not- received custom of music in our theatre." 'It is likely and seems as nearly certain as circumstantial evidence can render it that Blackfriars pop- ularized the vocal-instrumental con- cert. A few years later (1609), special provision is made for con- certs as well as for plays in the articles of agreement by the com- pany at Whitefriars called Children of the King's Revels, — a company modeled after Blackfriars. (cf. in- fra, 121 2 .) If the activity of Blackfriars in producing such concerts while car- rying out the Queen's requirements and wishes did not cause a corre- sponding (and the first known) ac- tivity of musicians in collecting and publishing suitable songs and scores for such vocal and instrumental concerts, then it must be considered as at least remarkable that the two activities, each closely related to the other, sprang up independently and simultaneously. Hie earhesl known English books of songs with accompani- hief musical instru- ments used at Blackfriars were published about 1600 Thomas gentlemen of the Chape! Royal, published "The first book of \irrs or little short Songes to sing and play to the lute with the bass viol. London, 1f>00." About the same time, John Dow- land published " I he first booke of Songes 01 'ire Parts with Tablature for the Lute." In L600 he published a second book of "Songes and Aires" for "the lute or Orpherian, with the viol de gam- ba" (entered on Stationers' Regis- ter 15 July, 1600), in which he styles himself lutenist to the King of Den- mark. His third work appeared in L603 with the title, "Songs or Aires to sing to the lute, Orpharion, or Violls." Philip Rosseter, lutenist, whom we later (1610 ff., complete work, vol. I ) find an important figure in the history of the Children of the Queen's Revels at Whitefriars, pub- lished in 1601 "A Booke of Ayres set foorth to be song to the Lute, Orpherian, and base Violl" (en- tered on Stationers' Register 8 May, 1603 ). Another work by Ros- seter was entered on the Stationers' Register 14 April, 1609, under title "A booke of Consortes to the treble lute, bandora, treble viall, base viall, the Citterne and the fflute." The poet Samuel Daniel's broth- er, John Daniel, — whom we meet later ( 1615ft.. complete work. vol. I) as the leader of that old-men's company practicing on the reputa- tion of the children-companies as an asset under the name of The Children of her Majesty's Royal Chamber of Bristol, — -published in 1606 a volume of "Songs for the Lute. Vial, and Voice, in fol — For data above, see Sir John Hawkins, .7 General History of the Science and Practice of Music, etc. (1776 1 ; 1853*), I 1826; 11. 570a, 571&. Also, 1". \rl»T. A Tran- script of the Registers of the Com- pany of Stationers of London, /s's"/- i6.fb (1875-94), III. These h< cert music for voice and instrument are not only the earliest of their kind, but form a collection more numerous than the product in tin's branch at any later period of similar brevity. If they did not arise out of the na- ture and popularity of the Black- 118 CHILDREN OF THE CHAPEL AT BLACKFRIARS in either Chapman's The Widow's Tears, — the "chaste widow" which the Duke of Stettin saw, 1 — nor in any other play. It is quite clear that the musical training of the Children amply balanced the dramatic. The notable thing about the dancing 2 is that it differs from the public theatre jig and Morris. It is treated more as an art and seems modeled on the masques long practiced at Court. This is true especially of Jonson's Cynthia's Revels and four of Chap- man's plays, Sir Giles Goosecap, The Gentleman Usher, May Day, The Widow's Tears; also Marston's The Dutch Courtezan and The Malcontent. The ancient custom of masques at Court 3 was carried out by Elizabeth and her predecessors with elaborate detail and at great friars entertainments which had be- come the great new fad of London, the suggestion of it at least is diffi- cult to repress, and no other ex- planation of the simultaneity pre- sents itself. x See further, infra, "Plays," vol. II. 2 The Case is Altered (ca. Sept. — Oct., 1597). — No dancing indicated. Cynthia's Revels (ca. Apl. 1600). — (ed. Gifford-Cunningham), III, iii, p. 170, Asotus sings and dances. V, iii, p. 200a-202a, three several dances, each composed of eight maskers in rich attire, — four nymphs of Cynthia's court and four sylvan brethren. Sir Giles Goosecap (ca. fall, 1600).— (ed. Bullen), II, i, p. 31,. "He daunceth speaking." ' . . . Your Lord is very dancitive me- thinkes." V, ii, p. 92, A masque closes the play, "In form whereof first daunce, . . . sing and daunce The Measure. Now to the song and do this gar- land grace." Canto. Poetaster (ca. Apl. 1601). — No dancing indicated. See further, in- fra, 119. The Gentleman Usher (ca. sum., 1601).— (ed. Shepherd. 1873), II, i, p. 88a, Dance of Broom-man, Rush- man, Broom-maid, Rush-maid in a masque. Monsieur D' Olive (ca. Oct. — Dec, 1601). — No dancing indicated. May Day (ca. May, 1602).— (ed. Shepherd, 1873), I, i, preceded by "Chorus juvenum cantantes et sal- tantes. [Exeunt saltan." IV, i, p. 296, Quintiliano skips about while singing to music of fiddles. V, i, p. 3036, Enter Aurelia, &c, . . . masked, dancing. The masque is danced in three rounds. The play ends with all joining hands and dancing. Exeunt. The Widow's Tears (Sept., 1602).— (ed. idem), III, ii, p. 326a, A masque. Six sylvans with torches dance. They take out the bride and the rest. All dance. V, i, p. 382a, "He dances and sings." The Dutch Courtesan (fall — wint, 1602).— IV, i, Enter the Masquers ; they dance. The Malcontent (spring, 1603). — In IV, i, the masque begun on elaborate scale of the "brawl" is in- terrupted and not taken up again. The movements to be executed in the court dance described. V, iii, A masque, in which additional coup- les join at intervals. 3 See especially A. Soergel, Die Englischen Maskenspicle (Diss., Halle, 1882) ; and Rudolf Brotanek, Die Englischen Maskenspiele (1902). I III. QUEEN'S REQUIREMENTS H9 expense during the annual period of relaxation of the Christmas Revels. But these masques within the play at Blackfriars were a wholl} new feature in the evolution of the drama, 1 and cannot have been but Strikingly attractive and popular with the aristo- cratic patrons. The dance was made up of nymphs, or sylphs, or other airy, mythological, or fanciful shapes. The effect was heightened by special costumes calculated to lead the eye through the maze of masque into pleasing bewilderment. In Cynthia's Revels the masque is danced by four nymphs and four fairy brethren. All are dressed to the taste of the Royal Court of Fancy. The nymphs in citron, green, vari-colored, and white, match their sylvan partners in green and blue, purple em- pal, d with -old. l.lnsh-color, and watchet-tinsel. The whole sit- uation is phantastic. The evolutions are executed under the magic of Cupid and .Mercury in the presence of the throned Cynthia. Doubtless the masque was danced to the level of Jonson's con- ception of the mingling of colors, movement, and music into har- monious charm. Sir Giles Gooseeap closes with a dance of lords and ladies, fol- lowed by a song. This is on the order of a Court-masque, and is danced in honor of Hymen. Doubtless it was executed with elaboration, giving the light play its chief attraction. Merely its place of occurrence, at the end of the play, is mentioned in the printed drama as it has reached us. Poetaster may be mentioned in this connection, although it con- tains no stage directions for dancing. But it has in act IV "a pretty fiction" of "a heavenly banquet" represented as played at the Court. It is "a pageant" or masque of the Bacchanalian revels of the gods in the full habit of deities, with the effect too much nectar riotously dominant in the ichor of their deity- ships. The revel closes with irregular singing and loud music, ami might appropriately have had the reeling accompaniment of the Bacchanalian dance ending with the usual joyous whoop in swinging die fair goddess clean from the floor at the great final leap of "the swaggering upspring." 1 The "pretty show" in 77;,- Gentleman ('slier is a masque pre- infra, 119 21, in Ei " to see tin-- manner 'This i- a CUStOtn Still familiar and finish of a (I. nice in its native 120 CHILDREN OF THE CHAPEL AT BLACKFRIARS sented in the presence of Duchess Margaret as she sits on her throne surrounded by the splendor of lords and ladies of the Court. The dancers and singers are sylvans and nymphs under the names of Man-bug, Woman-bug, Broom-man, Rush-man, Broom-maid, Rush-maid. The entertainment was voted as "pleas- ingly performed." May Day opens with a chorus of youths dancing and closes with "the May-night show at Signor Honorio's." The whole play is preparation for this masque, and the most of the conver- sation of act V is simply lively setting for it. It is the life and entertainment at the home of a lord transferred with heightened coloring to the stage. In The Widow's Tears, seen by the Duke of Stettin, "the revels and nuptial sports" at the palace of the "chaste widow," the Countess Eudora, make up much of act III. It is a royal bridal scene, containing a masque of "rare device." With Tharsalio in the chair of honor, the bride Eudora, surrounded by her court- ladies, takes her place at his side. The show and masque are the spiritualization of the ceremony of marriage. At the sound of music, Hymen, represented by one of the players who "hangs in the clouds deified," descends toward the bridal pair, while a chorus of "fresh and flowry sylvans" bearing torches enter be- neath, "curveting and tripping ath' toe, as the ground they trod on were too hot for their feet." With such courtship as they make to the Dryads, they lead the bride and her court-ladies into the sylvan nuptial dance. The Dutch Courtesan presents a masque at the opening of act IV. From previous mention in the play concerning the proposed masque, we rightly expect large entertainment from the perform- ance of it. Possibly it may have fulfilled expectations, but neither the dialogue nor the stage directions let us know. The masquers at Sir Hubert Subboy's house are about to enter as the act opens. Servants are standing with lights to lend brilliance to the per- formance. More lights are called for. As the masquers arrive, Sir Lionel Freevill calls out "Call down our daughter. Hark! woodland and mountain perfection and atmosphere, visit sometime a of thrilling wildness as inspired dance in any valley of the Alps of originally into the reveling Pan and the German Tyrol. Bacchus by similar surroundings THE QUEEN'S REQUIREMENTS 121 they are at hand : rank handsomely." As the masque is in cele- bration of the pending- nuptials of the son of Sir Lionel with the daughter Beatrice of Sir Hubert, doubtless some magnificence was given the setting. But the masque is quickly broken up by a challenge to a duel, — feigned and prearranged. Altogether the reader is given to know very little of how the masque went. Cer- tainly the action does not seem to allow great elaboration of the dance, but that could have been shaped to the will of the actors. Twice in The Malcontent are we presented with a masque. The first, in which the elaborate evolutions of "The Brawl" were about to be danced, was interrupted and not carried out. The second closes the play. Mercury is the master of the revels. In the midst of a song to the accompaniment of cornets, the masque of four crowned Dukes, dressed in white robes, enters. They choose their ladies, and dance and chat to the accompaniment of cornets. It is not a highly successful show, and fully justifies Jonson in not including Marston with himself, Chapman, and Fletcher as the only ones who could write a masque. 1 The indications in the plays for singing, music, and dancing as cited above, though amply substantiating Gerschow's state- ment of the Queen's requirements, cover only the incidental prac- ticing of these arts. The chief exhibitions in music and singing had nothing to do with the plays, as already noted in the evidence from the Diary. It is probable also that musical entertainments were given exclusive of dramatic performances. For later, in certain articles of agreement concerning the conduct of the Chil- dren of the King's Revels at Whitefriars, 2 a company modeled after the Blackfriars organization, there is special provision made concerning the receipts from musicales as well as plays. Also, the special "show" 3 presented at Court Feb. 6. 1601. is l "Nex1 himself, only Fletcher for only one separate masque by and Chapman could make a Mask." Chapman is now known. Certainly — Not, I Laing, Shakesp. Soc. Pub., 1601, Eor no other poets were then 1842). 4. employed to prepare their plays, and It is doubtless upon the eminent no others were turning out thai ■uccess of Chapman's masques in of work. the plays of the Blackfriars Roys 'See complete work. vols. I. III. that Jonson gave him this praise, 'Supra. LIS 1 . 122 CHILDREN OF THE CHAPEL AT BLACKFRIARS further suggestive. Although nothing further is known of it, there is little likelihood that Gyles and Evans took the trouble of preparing such an entertainment without reaping the benefits of its re-presentation at the theatre. Moreover, the Queen would hardly have called for such a specialty if the Children had not been previously trained in similar performances. Documentary proof of such "shows" would explain the gap in the period of 1597 to 1600. But at present it seems only highly probable that an important part of their lost repertoire consisted of these mu- sical and dramatic ephemera. 1 The requirements for the training of the Children at Black- friars gave rise to new features in the drama. Music of minor sort as also singing are known earlier, particularly in plays of the Children of the Chapel and Paul's from their beginnings on. The public theatres had less of either. But the origin of musical praeludia, interludia, and intermezzos, cannot be traced farther than this period at Blackfriars. The masque as an integral part of the play is unknown in dra- matic history prior to the establishment of Blackfriars theatre. 2 1 It is probable that the Queen 'T is Cynthia's pleasure." not infrequently called for such *r> r . a. Soergel, Die Englischen ephemeral "shows." Jonson may Maskenspiele (Diss. Halle, 1882), well have got that training here in 88> dates the beginning of the masques which made him under maS que within the play as ca. 1600 James the foremost man of all time but without knowing the influences in that special form of entertain- here mentioned. It is probable that ment. In his Conversations zvith t hi s new species of drama that had Drummond (ed. Lame S. S. Pub., suc h w jde following in the next 1S42), 27, he says, "that the half half century began three years ear- of his Comedies were not in print. ij er than Soergel puts it, with the Why? Jonson was generally care- opening of Blackfriars. This part ful to preserve his work. Were a f h is thesis Dr. Soergel has only good part of his inventions among touched upon, leaving a thorough these evanescences, which the Queen wor king to the future. But it has may have commanded? His Cyn- not yet been made pu blic, if ever ihia's Revels is a tribute to her as undertaken. such a patroness. In that play she D r . R u dolf Brotanek, Die Eng- is Cynthia and he is Cntes. It is Hschen Maskenspiele (Wien, 1902), so suggestive of the mode of ful- 99i has assembled the known evi- filling the Queen's requirements at dences to show that the masque Blackfriars as to seem to be drawn w ithin the play is of earlier ori- from life when in that play, near gj n • , the close of V, ii, just preceding ' j> as friiheste Zeugnis fur die in the masque of 111, Arete says to d e r Bliitezeit der Maske sehr be- Cntes, liebte Einschiebung in andere "Crites you must provide straight Stiicke stammt aus dem Jahre 1514 for a masque, und bezieht sich auf ein Interlu- THE QUEEN'S REQUIREMENTS 128 The example there was followed almost immediately by others. 1 In general the ( ihapd Children's plays did much to set the dra- matic tone of the time. Novelty indeed carried it away, for the Children were "now the fashion.*'- The influence especially on Shakespeare as well as other contemporaries, likewise also on the character of the Court entertainments under James I, particu- larly the masques, 8 requires extensive investigation in detail, and i> reserved of necessity for a later publication. The furnishing of apparel at the Queen's cost has already been presented.' The prodigal lavishness of the rich costuming is mentioned in the Diary and abundantly supported by the plays. The sense of unlimited resources gave the Blackfriars dramatists, Jonson, Chapman, and Marston, a free hand and enabled them to undertake plots and present characters and situations requiring the most elaborate courtly elegance. Theatrical conditions in this phase as in all others had much to do with shaping the nature of the drama. — more than is commonly supposed. By virtue of the conditions of management and distributed shareship originally peculiar to the Globe, 5 Shakespeare alone of all the numerous other dramatists of this period" enjoyed a similar sense of unre- strained freedom in choice and artistic treatment of dramatic material. The masques already mentioned, with fairies, nymphs, gods, dium "devysed by Sir Harry Gyll- dialogue are of course of even very forth, Master of the Revells . . . much earlier date than these cases in tin- whiche conteyned a moresk cited by Brotanek. Rut all of VI. p«r-< >u-a ami li. ladys." cases fall into a class wholly out- [Foot-note reference, Collier, I, si0\ 'Supra. Mr. in". 71. 'Supra, 70 Tl. "Supra. L06 7. "Suf>ra, 83. "Supra. 106-7, I 13. *Supi "Supra, ibid; 98 101, 123 24 178 '"Supra. 57 "Supra. 101". "Supra, 75, 73-76. "Supra. 70 71, 98 L0l\ L06-7, 178 ''Supra, - "See Court Plays complete 'Supra, 73. work. vol. II. 128 CHILDREN OF THE CHAPEL AT BLACKFRIARS by her at Blackfriars. The public talked about it as did also the Queen's officials. Clifton based his suit on it, and the Duke of Stettin gained such official or semi-official information about it as enabled him to leave a record of the conditions that later moved him, as it seems, to action in establishing a troop of English actors at his court at heavy expense. The aristocratic folk of London, including members of the Court, knew these conditions under which Blackfriars was established and maintained, and were at- tracted to the plays there. 1 The Queen herself, accompanied by her court-ladies, granted the grace of her presence there. 2 In the light of the evidence, the declaration of Gerschow's "erbauet" 3 is not remarkable. The simple explanation is that her Majesty provided for the establishment or setting up 4 and main- tenance of the theatre at Blackfriars under royal favor and at 1 Infra, 164-66, 174, 176-77. 2 Supra, 95-97. 3 It would be a matter of great interest if it could be shown that James Burbage in 1596 purchased and set about remodeling the Black- friars in accordance with the Queen's desire to set up these boys as actors, and that Gyles, then Mas- ter at Windsor, or Hunnis, whom Gyles in 1597 succeeded as Master of the Children of the Chapel Royal, had at the same time joined with Evans, the lessee of the theatre, to carry out these plans. But there is no evidence of it, I think, even in "erbauet" that has set some on a false scent. On the contrary, Clifton's charges (though not much reliance is to be placed upon them for reasons al- ready shown, unless they are cor- roborative) indicate a date after the purchase, while the Globe- Blackfriars Share-Papers of 1635 declare in reference to the purchase of Blackfriars that it "after was leased out to one Evans" (supra, 57 1 ). Also the fact that Evans did not take the twenty-one-year lease until he had proved the ven- ture a success points to the same. But I must admit the force of opposing considerations. In re- sponse to the petition of 1596 against Blackfriars, the Queen's Council did nothing (supra, 18 2 , 53). The size of Blackfriars is against supposing Burbage intended it to supplant "The Theatre." The new rooms built above the theatre were also peculiarly adaptable. But there is nothing more than unexplained suggestiveness in these points. It is to be hoped that other documents, traces of which are known to me, may yet be brought to light and contribute something conclusive. *"Set up" and "erect" were used in a double sense in and long after Elizabeth's time. Applied to the theatre as a physical structure, the sense was "build" ; as a company, "establish." The following, out of a large number of examples, suffice to illustrate : — "for erectinge, buildinge, and settinge upp of a newe howse and stadge for a plaie-howse." — Con- tract for the Fortune (1600), in J. 0. Halliwell-Phillips, Outlines of the Life of Shakespeare (9th ed., 1890), I, 305a. "nowe erectinge a Newe Play- house in that place." — Privy Coun- cil Register, 26 Sept., 1615, on sup- pression of Rosseter's Blackfriars theatre. See complete work, vols. 1, III. "... to sett vp a Playhowse in SUMMARY OF EVIDENCES 129 royal expense as the combined evidences abundantly show. Even the expense for the rental of the building was provided for, not specifically, but generally, by the granted privilege of private gain to the management. The maintenance of a player company and the furnishing of apparel was the chief expense in theatrical business. With these provided, not only expense free but under royal patronage, and with no charges to be met by the management except the minor sum of rental and repairs, there is little wonder that the Queen is regarded as "establishing" this theatre. Her part in it amounts to nothing less. The results that arose immediately out of this theatrical estab- lishment, — the Queen's official acts in carrying out her purposes, the City's opposition, the unfriendly attitude of the public the- atres, the championship of their cause in Hamlet, as also the ori- gin of certain theatrical modes and customs, — are reflexively con- tributive to a knowledge of the Queen's relations to Blackfriars, and are discussed in succeeding chapters. the Blackfrya"." — Idem, 27 Jan., "which after was leased out to 1617, on suppression of the same one Evans that first sett up the theatre. Cf. ut praeantca cit. boyes commonly called the Queenes "A common playhowse then Majesties Children of the Chap- [1596, Nov.] preparing to be pell." — Globe-Blackfriars Share-pa- erected there." — City's order to sup- pcrs of 1635 ' n Halliwell-Phillips, press Blackfriars (1618-[19] ) , in op. cit., I, 317. Halliwell-Phillips, op. cit., I, 311. "to erect a company for repre- "to errecte, sett vpp, furnish and sentation of tragedies." — Patent to mayntevne a play house or place in George Jolly (Dec. 24, 1660) in E. the Blacke-fryers."— Clifton's Com- Malone, op. cit.. III. plaint in Court of Star Chamber Gerschow's "erbauet" is a cor- net in, supra, 101 2 . rect translation of "set up" or "lctt the said Playhowse vnto "erect" in either the literal 4, every identifying evidence of sitting on the stage is associated with Blackfriars. Also, as shown be- low, no public theatre of this j>eriod had the custom. 4 The logi- cal conclusion is that every allusion to the practice within these limits refers to Blackfriars, whether specifically so declared or not. 1 Atticus says to Philomuse (sup- posed gallants on the stage), "Let's place ourselves within the curtains, for good faith the stage is so very little, we shall wrong the general eye else very much." — John Mars- ton, Induction to What You Will, in Marston's Works (ed. Bullen, Acted at Paul's ca. April, 1601. (Cf. Plays, complete work, vol. II. ) "'Courtesan. — ... I know some i' th' town that have done as much, and there took such a good conceit of their parts into the two- penny room, that the actors have been found i' th' morning in a less compass than their stage, though twere ne'er so full of gentlemen." Thomas Middleton. A Mad World My Masters, in Middleton's Works Bullen, L886), [II, 347. Acted at Paul's ca. 16061 ?). "A stage-direct inn in W. Percy's The Faery Past or all (published MS. by Joseph Ilaslewood for The Roxburghe Club, L824) re- .1 word here After mention- ing si rties to be used, the author says, "Now if so be thai the if any of I hese, that be outward, will not seme the turne CUT e of the People on tli' I hen you may onutt • '1 Properties" &c. Wh Percy mean? It is nol infrequently supposed that this play was acted at Paul's. The author in writing had in mind all possible companies that might ac- cept his plays, and would have been glad to appear at Paul's. This is shown by "A note to the Master of the Children of Powles" (printed in Collier, op. cit* Ill, 181) at the mantes; also in the directions concerning the double closing of The Faery Pastor all (in op. cit. supra) and in the direction for the Prologue in The Cuck- queanes and Cuckolds Errants (idem ). But there is no evidence that The Faery Pastorall or any other play in the MS. volume by Percy was ever acted by any company. His works doubtless belong to that nu- merous host (cf. Collier, op. at. 1 1 1 1. 233 32 ) that, for unsuitable- ness or other reasons, never trod the boards. Hence 1 sel no special value upon the elaborate and im- possible stage-directions or other items taken seriously by many as touching vital points m stage-his- tory. Bui see on the o mtrai Grabau, Zw Englischen Buhne mm 1600 in Shakespeare-Jahrbuch ( 1902), XXXVIII, 285; G I nolds. Some Principles of Elisa- bethan Staging, in Modem Phi- 5), II. 607 (later published separately); ti P. Baker, The Development of Shakespeare as <» Dramatist | r.<". 'Inft 132 CHILDREN OF THE CHAPEL AT BLACKFRIARS About 1598, Sir John Davies in a satirizing- sonnet-epigram gives the first evidence. 1 Here the gallant is conceived as at the Blackfriars, on the stage (1. 3) ; or at the public theatre, over the stage (I.4). Ben Jonson twice in Every Man out of his Humour (ca. Aug., 1599, 2 at the Globe) satirizing the fashionable courtier, gallant, and would-be gentleman, gives this practice a caustic touch. 3 In the Induction to Cynthia's Revels at Blackfriars the following year {ca. April, 1600 4 ) Jonson uses "one of your genteel audi- tors" of the unfriendly sort (not on the stage) to break a jest over, and follows it up with a dialogue flattering to the well- wishing stage-patron of the house. 5 1 In Rufum. Rufus the Courtier at the theatre Leauing the best and most conspic- uous place, Doth either to the stage himselfe transfer, Or through a grate doth show his doubtful face. For that the clamorous frie of Innes of court, Filles vp the priuate roomes of greater prise: And such a place where all may haue resort, He in his singularitie doth despise. Yet doth not his particular humour shunne, The common stews and brothels of the towne, Though all the world in troupes do thither runne Cleane and vncleane, the gentle and the clowne : Then why should Rufus in his pride abhorre A common seate that loues a com- mon whore. —Sir John Davies, Epigram 3 (be- fore 1599), in Isham Reprints (ed. Charles Edmonds, 1870), sig. 3. This careful reprint differs from the partial quotation of the same offered in Malone, op. cit., Ill, 81. 2 See infra, Plays, complete work, vol. II. 3 Boorish Sogliardo, characterized by Jonson as being "so enamored of the name of gentleman that he will have it though he buys it," finds himself in tow of Carlo Buffone : — ■ Carlo. . . \ when you come to plays, be humorous, look with a good starched face, and ruffle your brow like a new boot, laugh at nothing but your own jests, or else as the noblemen laugh. That 's a special grace you must observe. Sogliardo. — I warrant you, sir. Car. — Ay, and sit on the stage and flout, provided you have a good suit. Sog. — O, I '11 have a suit only for that, sir. — Every Man out of his Humour, in Jonson's Works (ed. Gifford- Cunningham), I, i, p. 72. Fastidious Brisk. — Why, assure you, signior, rich apparel has strange virtues : it makes him that hath it without means, esteemed for an ex- cellent wit: . . . takes possession of your stage at your new play. — Idem, II, ii, p. 94fe. *Supra, 75. 5 3 Child [Sal Pavy].— Stay; you shall see me do another now, but a more sober, or better-gathered gallant ; that is, as it may be SITTING ON THE STAGE 133 Thomas Dekker later, remembering Jonson's satire upon him 1 in Poetaster (ea. April, 1601-) and the punishment he himself administered through Satirumastix 3 (summer, 1601) by having Horace [Jonson] tossed in a blanket, unequivocally in this in- stance has in mind the custom of sitting on the stage as being at Blackfriars. 4 In 1 60 1, Hamlet, in the excitement of bitter joy at the close of the play before the King, finds in the custom a means of satiric exultation. 5 Indeed the whole play within the play, — not as a new form, for it was old, but in manner, — seems intended for Blackfriars done in miniature, with grandees, even of the Ham- let sort, in patronizing display, familiar ease, and chorus-com- ment on the mimic stage. George Chapman's All Fools, at Blackfriars after close of the 1603 plague, twice shows us the audience on the stage. The Pro- logue defers humbly to their judgments and craves their special thought, some friend, or well- wisher to the house : and here I enter. 1 Child [Nat Field].— What, upon the stage too? 2 Child [Jack Underwood]. — Yes ; and I step forth like one of the children, and ask you, Would you have a stool, sir? — In this quotation I have used the Gifford-Cunningham edition, and inserted the names of the Boy- actors who played these parts in the first representation at Black- friars. They are easily determin- able from the Induction itself. 'Infra, 171. *Subra, 75\ 'Infra, 171. '"Now sir, if the writer be a fellow that hath either epigrammed you, or hath had a flirt at your mistris, or hath brought either your feather, or your red beard, or your little ' n the stage, you shall disgrace linn nurse then by tossing him in a hlanckct. <>r giving him the bastinado in a Tauerne, if, in die middle of His play (bee it Pas- toral or Comedy, Morall or Trag- edie) you rise with a screwd and discontented face from your stoole to be gone: no matter whether the scenes be good or no ; the better they are the worse do you distaste them : and, beeing on your feet, sneake not away like a coward, but salute all your gentle acquaintance, that are spread either on the rushes, or on stooles about you, and draw what troope you can from the stage after you."' — Thomas Dekker. How a Gallant should behaue himself in a Play-house, chapter VI of The Cuts Horn-Booke (1609), in The Non-Dramatic Works of Thomas Dekker (ed. Grosart, The Hut:: Li- brary, 1885), II, 253. ""Would not this Sir, and a For- rest of Feathers, if the rest of my Fortunes turne Turke with me; with two Prouinciall Roses <>n my rac'd Shooes, gel mo a Fellowship in a crie of Players sir" Mr. Wil- liam Shakespeare- Comedies, His- tories cr Tragedies (folio 1623), The Tragedie of Hamlet. [III. ii] p. 2G8&. 134 CHILDREN OF THE CHAPEL AT BLACKFRIARS favor. 1 The Epilogue shows them sitting less wise than they were flatteringly invited to be. 2 In the spring of 1603, Marston's The Malcontent apparently touched the matter, though the present form of the play doubt- fully shows the manner of it. 3 The Globe having annexed The Malcontent played it in 1604 with a special Induction, wherein the fixed privilege of sitting on the Blackfriars stage is specific- ally declared, and the similar privilege at the Globe explicitly denied. 4 These are the known references to the custom of sitting on the stage up to 1604. They establish its origin in the Blackfriars. This fashion is not to be confused with a certain practice orig- inating in the public theatres. We know there was in more than one of them the custom of sitting "above" or "over" the stage at the rear. 5 This is shown in the De Witt — Van Buchell sketch of 1 Great are the gifts given to united heads, To gifts, attire, to fair attire, the stage Helps much ; for if our other au- dience see You on the stage depart before we end; Our wits go with you all, and we are fools. — Shepherd's edition (1874), p. 77. 2 We can but bring you meat and set you stools And to our best cheer say you all are ( ) welcome. — Idem, p. 77. 3 Compare the Induction, "Black- friars has almost spoiled Black- friars for feathers" and the follow- ing in II, ii : — "no fool but hath his feather." The allusion is to the prevalent custom, as shown by other examples, of gallants wear- ing on the stage ornamental feath- ers, costing sometimes several pounds. *The Induction opens with these data, thus : — Tire-man. — Sir, the gentlemen will be angry if you sit here. Sly. — Why, we may sit upon the stage at the private house. Thou dost not take me for a country- gentleman, dost? dost think I fear hissing? [See further infra, 138.] 5 These were the choice places. It is most probable that the actors of England of that day acted for art's sake, as their heirs the mod- ern German actors do, and conse- quently faced the rear or sides as often as the front, if the faithful representation of the situation re- quired it. To Americans and to many Englishmen, accustomed to spectacular display and studied ar- tificiality in acting, with the funda- mental rule "face the audience," it is as preposterous to think of these rear seats "over" the stage as the best as it is astounding and con- vincing in its artistry to see the modern German actor face any di- rection the case requires, in utter disregard of the audience but with all faithfulness to the life he is por- traying, so that you forget you are in the theatre, and feel that you are living through real experiences. But these rear seats "over" the stage were choice, not merely for hearing (for which we should be glad to believe they were mainly used), but most especially for be- ing seen and making a display of SITTING ON THE STAGE 136 the Swan (ca. 1596), the Roxana print (1632), and the Red Bull picture (1672). Skialetheia or a Shadow of Truth (1598) de- clares it. 1 The epigram already quoted from Sir John Davies (ca. 1598) refers to the same,- and another epigram by him uses the same or same sort of person for ridicule^ as is satirized in epigram 53 of Skialetheia. Jests to Make you Merry, by Thomas Dekker and George Wil- kins, testifies to the practice of this custom in some unidentifiable theatre in 1607. 4 fine dress, as numerous contempo- rary witnesses testify. Of Cornelius See you him yonder who sits o're the stage, With the Tobacco-pipe now at his mouth ? It is Cornelius that braue gallant youth, Who is new printed to this fangled age; He wears Ierkin cudgeled with gold lace, A profound slop, a hat scarce pipkin high, For boots, a paire of dagge cafes ; his face, Furr'd with Cad-s-beard : his poynard on his thigh. He wallows in his walk his slop to grace, Swears by the Lord, daines no sal- utation But to some iade that 's sick of his own fashion, As fareivcll sweet Captainc, or (boy) come apace: Yet this Sir Beuis, or the fayery Knight Put vp the lie because he durst in it tight. — [Fdward Guilpin], Skialetheia Of A Shadowe of Truth, in certaine Epigrams and Satyrcs (1598), epi- gram 53 'Supra, 132', 1. 4. In Sillam Who dares affirm that Silla dares not fight? When 1 dare sware he dares ad- uenture more then the most braue, and most al- daring wight, that euer armes whith resolution bore, He that dare touch the most vn- wholsome whore, that euer was retirde into the spittle, And dares court wenches stand- ing at a dore, The portion of his wit being pass- ing little. He that dares giue his dearest friend offences, Which other valiant fooles doe feare to do, And when a feuer doth confound his senses, Dare eate raw biefe and drinke strong wine thereto. He that dares take Tobaco on the stage, Dares man a whore at noon-day through the street Dares daunce in Poules, and in tins formall age, Dares say and doe what euer is vnnK ete, Whom feare or shame could neuer yet affright, Who dares affirme that Silla dares not fight? — Sir John Davies, ''p. cit., epigram 28. 4 "A wench hailing : face, a good body, and good clothes <>n. but of had conditions, sitting one day in the two penny roome of a play-house, & a number of jrong Gentlemen about her. againsl all whom she maintained talke, One that sat ouer the stage sayd to his 136 CHILDREN OF THE CHAPEL AT BLACKFRIARS From the stage-requirements of the Globe and Fortune, we are warranted in concluding, at least tentatively, that such references as these last three do not relate to those theatres. Nearer ap- proach to identification seems not now possible. How late this practice of sitting above the stage at the public theatres or at any one of them was still maintained I do not know. Just when, if ever, the Blackfriars fashion was taken up in emulation by any one of the public theatres cannot be said. Their stages were not all alike, nor all adaptable to similar conditions. There is doubt whether the custom spread widely amongst them. The evidence of its existence there at all is most slender. It was not allowed at the Globe in 1604, when The Malcontent was played. 1 I question whether it was ever tolerated there. The introductory address To the great Variety of Readers, signed by John Heminge and Henrie Condell, prefixed to the 1623 folio edition of Shakespeare's plays, singles out the Blackfriars and the Cockpit, the two private theatres then in existence, the first of which their company owned, and does not name the company's other house, the Globe, as the place of this practice. 2 Moreover, the physical conditions of the Globe building and stage, with the choicest seats in the gentlemen's rooms at right and left, could not have allowed the presence of an intervening audience of gal- lants any better at a later date than in 1604. There is, however, one direct evidence apparently on the other side, which may here be subjoined. 3 But as it is merely a hypothetical case, in a satire friend : doe you not thinke that yon- Black-Friers, or the Palace-garden der flesh will stincke anon, hauing Beare, so many flyes blowing vpon it?" — Are subiects fittest to content your Thomas Dekker, op. cit., II, 292. - care. 1 Supra, 134 4 . An amorous discourse, a Poets wit, 2 "Censure will not driue a Trade, Doth humor best your melancholy fit. or make the Iacke go. And though The Globe to morrow acts a pleas- you be a Magistrate of wit, and sit ant play, on the Stage at Black-Friers, or the In hearing it consume the irkesome Cock-pit, to arraigne Playes dailie, day. know, these Playes haue had their Goe take a pipe of To. the crowded triall alreadie, and stood out all Ap- stage peales." Must needs be graced with you and s Yong Gallants glories soone will _ y° r ur P a S e - Ladies charm Sweare for a place with each con- S'foot walke the streets, in cringing trolling foole, vse your wits And send your hackney seruant for Suruey your Loue, which in her a stoole. window sits. — Henry Hutton, Folhe s Anatomie, SITTING ON THE STAGE 137 at that, I doubt its value. It is even questionable whether this, upon close examination, can be taken to mean the Globe more than the Blackfriars. Besides, the advice is the same as given a little while before in the same work concerning Blackfriars. 1 Middleton's The Roaring Girl, acted at the Fortune ca. 1610, 2 satirizes the practice throughout the greater part of the first scene of act II, and specifically ridicules 3 it as belonging to the private stage.' No further evidence comes from or relates to the Fortune. From the evidence given and in the absence of contradictory testimony, I conclude that neither the Globe nor the Fortune made provision to entertain visitors on the stage. To have done so would have required a probable rebuilding of the stage, or of the best paying part of the theatre, the gentlemen's rooms at the sides. The structure of certain stages furnishes further negative evi- dence. The Fortune. 5 eighty feet square outside and fifty-five within, built in other respects on the model of the Globe, had a stage forty-three feet wide which extended in depth to the middle of the yard, i. e., excluding the tiring-house, twenty-seven and one-half feet. At left and right of the stage was the "orchestra" 3 or Satyres and Satyrical Epigrams 4 This meant, of course, the (1619), sign. B2. Blackfriars. It is not certain dancing attendance on the whether the Cockpit was yet built, Blackfriers stage, which was the next theatre to take Call for a stoole with a command- up the fashion. ing rage. "For details see Contract for the — Idem, sign. A. See infra, 139*-40. Fortune in 1 1 alliwt-ll- Phillips, op. 'Published 1611 with the state- cit., I, 304-306. See also plat of ment on the title-page, "As it hath the Fortune, supra. 50-.">l. lately beene Acted on the Fortune- "Dr. Cecil Brodmeier, Die stage by the Prince his Players." Shakespeare Bi'thne nach den alten [At the feather-shop Buhnenanweisungen (Diss. Halle, Jack Dapper.— Pooh, I like it not. l904 )> loa . following Pro! Mistress Tiltyard.— -What feather Brandl, evidently misunderstand- is't you'd have sir? ,n K the designation "orchestra" in These are most worn and most in the Swan sketch as having not the fashion: Latin sense but the modern mean- Amongst the beaver-gallants, the >"£• P laces tlu ' n,u - u ' here!! To ,. riders De sur e. Brodmeier does tlOl deal The private stage's audience the witM thc Fortune Bui as lie melts twelvepenny-stool gentlemen, the stages of "The rheatre, Cur- I can inform you 'tis the general ta,n - Globe, and Blackfriars into • !, cr one. the addition ^i the I-ortune —Thomas Middlet.m. The Roaring cannot disturb his resulting com- Girl. II. 1. 151-56, In Middleton's posite. Cf. supra. UT, 44-45. Works 4) goes on This of course is on the Black- with this advice concerning the friars Boys. Yet eight lines beyond, Blackfriars Boys: — "mewe at pas- in the same paragraph, without sionate speeches, blare at merrie. break of thought, the mind of the finde fault with the musicke, whew author is mi the situation as if it at the childrens Action, whistle at were in the public theatre, thus: — the songs" &C "Neither are you to be hunted ' Supra, 8\ from thence, though the Scarcrows 'Built 1629. See documents, «. in the yard hoot at you, hisse at 5 you, spit at you, yea, throw durt * Supra, 36*, 39*. euen in your teeth &c. 'It is without the Bcope of the Again (252) he has the gallant present work to assemble all these, take a pair of oars for the play- But see for example supra. 43*, IStf house ($. <•.. to the Bankside), lias and infra, 143 s him on the stage playing carets and 'Supra, "■<'•'. 46, 50-61, plats. 142 CHILDREN OF THE CHAPEL AT BLACKFRIARS urbs." 1 The gallants occupied the right and left wings of the stage itself, built and reserved especially for such use. 2 There is no reason to suppose with Gifford that the audience on the Blackfriars stage of the Chapel Boys was indecent; 3 nor with Collier that their presence there annoyed the actors and dis- turbed the play/ On the contrary they seem to have been gen- teel and ultra-fashionable, and the stage was specially adapted, fitted, and reserved for their presence. But in the course of years the custom was, presumably, abused and undue liberties were taken. Even in 1616 Jonson in the Prologue to The Devil is an Ass 5 indicates the fad was pushed to such popularity among the grandees that at a new play at Blackfriars the actors were left barely elbow-room for their performance. Sometime prior to 1 Supra, 43, 140 2 . 2 Supra, 46, 50-51 (plat), 147. 3 Works of Ben Jonson (ed. Gif- ford-Cunningham, 1816), I, 146 1 . Gifford seems to have taken Dek- ker's satire on conditions in any theatre of a later time (or of no time) as applicable at any time or all times to this particular theatre. •j[. P. Collier, op. cit., 2 Ill, 144. Collier seems to be transferring to English territory conditions exist- ing half a century to a century and a half later on the French stage, or basing conclusions upon conditions of 1616 and later, u. i., 142-43 1 . Prologue. The Devil is an Ass : that is to- day, The name of what you are met for, a new play. Yet grandees, would you were not come to grace Our matter, with allowing us no place. Though you presume Satan, a sub- tle thing, And may have heard he's worn in a thumb-ring; Do not on these presumptions force us act In compass of a cheese-trencher. This tract Will ne'er admit our Vice, because of yours. Anon, who worse than you, the fault endures That yourselves make? when you will thrust and spurn And knock us on the elbows; and bid, turn ; As if, when we had spoke, we must be gone, Or, till we speak, must all run in, to one, Like the young adders, at the old ones mouth ! Would we could stand due north, or had no south, If that offend ; or were Muscovy glass, That you might look our scenes through as they pass. We know not how to affect you. If you'll come To see new plays, pray you afford us room, And shew this but the same face you have done Your dear delight, The Devil of Edmonston. Or, if for want of room it must miscarry, 'Twill be but justice that your cen- sure tarry, Till you give some : and when six times you have seen't If this play do not like, the Devil is in't." — The Works of Ben Jonson (with a Memoir by Gifford, 1838), 343. SITTING ON THE STAGE 143 Sept. 14, 1639, Charles I had put an end to the custom of sitting on the stage. 1 The influence did not end here. It spread even to France and Germany. Once imported to spectacular Paris, the custom was more tenacious than in London. For nearly a century and a half it shaped the structure of the stage and influenced the form of both drama and acting. There can be no great doubt that its im- portation dates from the period of high favor in London. Yet D'Aubignac- in 1657 fails to mention it. However in the same year or the year after, Tallemant des Reaux speaks of its abuse as an intolerable nuisance, with no suggestion that it is a novelty. 3 And only three or four years later, Moliere satirizes it in the open- ing speech of Les Facheux ( 1661) as a mature practice having features of refinement for the refined, but abused by the parasitic bore and the creature of pretentious worth and ostentatious gen- tility, to the annoyance of the actors and the displeasure of the better sort of spectators. 4 During the next hundred years it is 'See "Instructions touching Sales- bcry Co T i Playhouse, 14 Septem., 1639," in The Shakespeare Society's Papers ( 1S49), IV, 99-100, commu- nicated by Peter Cunningham from the papers of Mr. Richard Heaton, manager of the Salisbury Court theatre, in which Heaton makes memorandum, in certain articles with the players : — "And one dayes p'ffitt wholly to themselves every yeare in consid- eration of their want of stooles on the stage, w' h were taken away by \I" comaiul " ' Francois Hedelin (Abbe d'Au- bignac), I. a Practique du Theatre 57). *"I1 y a, a cette heure, tine in- commoditd epouvantable a la Co- mldie, c'esl que les deux cotes du theatre sont tout pleins de jeunes pens as^m sur des chaises de paille; cela vienl de ce qu'ils ne veulent pas aller au parterre, quoiqu'il y ait souvent des soldats a la porn-, el cjiu- li 1 lea laquais ne por tent [tin- di '■• 1 es logea sont fort chores, el 1! y faut songer de bonne heure: pour un ecu, 00 pour un demi-louis, on est sur le theatre; mais cela gate tout, et il ne faut quelquefois qu'un insolent pour tout troubler." — Tallemant des Reaux, Mondory, on Yhistoire des prin- cipaux comidiens froncois: Les Historiettes. VII, 178. *JSraste. — Sous quel astre, bon Dieu, faut-il que je sois in.'-. Pour etre de Facheux toujours as- sassine ! II semble que partout le sort me les adr< Et j'en vois chaque jour quelque nouvelle espece ; Mais il n'est Hen d'egal au Facheux d'aujotird'hui ; J'ai cm n'etre jamais d6bara lui, Et cent fois j'ai maudit cette inno- cente envie Qui m'a pris a dine de voir la co- medie. Ou pensanl m'egayer, j'ai mis&- rablement Trouve de mes pechea le rude cha- timont. II faut que je te Easae an real d<* 1'afTaire. 144 CHILDREN OF THE CHAPEL AT BLACKFRIARS again and again subject of adverse comment. In 1731 Voltaire condemns it as a cause of dramatic and histrionic de- Car je m'en sens encor tout emu de colere. J'etois sur le theatre, en humeur d'ecouter La piece, qu'a plusieurs j'avois oul vanter ; Les acteurs commencoient, chacun pretoit silence, Lorsque d'un air bruyant et plein d'extravagance, Un homme a grands canons est en- tre brusquement, En criant : "Hola-ho ! un siege promptement I" Et de son grand fracas surprenant l'assemblee, Dans le plus bel endroit a la piece troublee. He ! mon Dieu ! nos Francois, si souvent redresses, Ne prendront-ils jamais un air de gens senses, Ai-je dit, et faut-il sur nos defauts extremes Qu'en theatre public nous nous jouions nous-memes, Et confirmions ainsi par des eclats de fous Ce que chez nos voisins on dit par- tout de nous? Tandis que la-dessus je haussois les epaules, Les acteurs ont voulu continuer leurs roles ; Mais l'homme pour s'asseoir a fait nouveau fracas, Et traversant encor le theatre a grands pas, Bien que dans les cotes il put etre a son aise, Au milieu du devant il a plante sa chaise, Et de son large dos morguant les spectateurs, Aux trois quarts du parterre a cache les acteurs. Un bruit s'est eleve, dont un autre eut eu honte ; Mais lui, ferme et constant, n'en a fait aucun compte, Et se seroit tenu comme il s'etoit pose, Si, pour mon infortune, il ne m'eiit avise. "Ha! Marquis, m'a-t-il dit, prenant pres de mois place, Comment te portes-tu? Souffre que je t'embrasse." Au visage sur l'heure un rouge m'est monte Que Ton me vit connu d'un pareil evente. Je l'etois peu pourtant ; mais on en voit paroitre, De ces gens qui de rien veulent fort vous connoitre, Dont il faut au salut les baisers essuyer, Et qui sont familiers jusqu'a vous tutoyer. II m'a fait a l'abord cent questions frivoles, Plus haut que les acteurs elevant ses paroles. Chacun le maudissoit; et moi, pour l'arreter : "Je serois, ai-je dit, bien aise d'ecouter. — Tu n'as point vu ceci, Marquis? Ah ! Dieu me damne, Je le trouve assez droles, et je n'y suis pas ane ; Je sais par quelles lois un ouvrage est parfait, Et Corneille me vient lire tout ce qu'il fait." La-dessus de la piece il m'a fait un sommaire, Scene a scene averti de ce qui s'al- loit faire ; Et jusques a des vers qu'il en savoit par coeur, II me les recitoit tout haut avant l'acteur. J'avois beau m'en defendre, il a pousse sa chance, Et s'est devers la fin leve longtemps d'avance ; Car les gens du bel air, pour agir galamment, Se gardent bien surtout d'ouir le denouement. Je rendois grace au Ciel, et croyois de justice Qu'avec la comedie eut fini mou supplice; SITTING ON THE STAGE 145 cay. 1 Later, in the introduction to S emir amis (1748), he com- plains more sharply of the abuses of the custom as noxious and pestilential in both dramatic composition and stage representation. 1 Mais, coninic si e'en eiit ete trop bon marche, Sur nouveaux frais mon homme a moi s'est attache, M'a conte ses exploits, ses vertus non communes, Parle de ses chevaux, de ses bonnes fortunes, Et de ce qu' a la cour il avoit de favour, Disant qu'a m'y servir il s'offroit de grand cceur. Je le remerciois doucement de la Minutant a tous coups quelque re- traite honnete ; Mais lui, pour le quitter me voyant ebranle* : "Sortons, ce m'a-t-il dit, le monde est ecoule;" Et sortis de ce lieu, me la donnant plus seche: "Marquis, allons au Cours faire voir ma galeche. . ." — Les Facheux, Comedie (1661), I, i, 1-76. CEuvrcs de Moliere (nou- velle edition, par M. Eugene Des- pois, 1876), III, 35-39. For a convenient prose transla- tion see Henri van Laun, The Dra- matic Works of Moliere rendered into English (The Bores), I, 309- 11. "'The place in which plays are acted, and the abuses which are crept into it, are also a cause of that dryness which may be objected to some of our dramatic pieces. The benches set on the stage for the spectators, contract the space of it, and make it almost impos- Sl'ble to represent the whole action. To this defect 't is owing, that the and decorations which are so strongly recommended by the antienl Idom suit with the play. Above all, it hinders the act- ors from passiiiL- out <>f one room into another before the spectators, as was the judicious practice of the Greeks and Romans, in order to preserve at one and the same time the unity of place and proba- bility. I low could we attempt, for in- stance, to bring Pompey's ghost, or the genius of Brutus, on our stage, among so many young people, who view the most serious inci- dents purely that it may give them an opportunity of saying some smart thing." — Voltaire, A Discourse on Tragedy, with Reflections on the English and French Drama. Pub- lished with An Essay upon the Civil Wars of France (London, 1731), 7-8. Written by Voltaire in both English and French as an introduc- tion to his Henriade and Brutus, and addressed to Mylord Boling- I > r< ike. 2 Un de plus grands obstacles qui s'opposent, sur notre theatre, a toute action grande et nathetique, est la foule des spectateurs confondus sur la scene avec les acteurs: cette in- decence se fit sentir particuliere- ment a la premiere representation de ScHiiramis. La principale ac- trice de Londres, qui etait presente a ce spectacle, ne revenait point de son etonnement ; elle ne pouvait concevoir comment il y avait des hommes assez ennemis de leur^ plai- sirs pour gater ainsi le spectacle sans en jouir. Cet abus a ete cr- rige dans la suite aux representa- tions de SSmiramis, et il pourrait aisement ctre supprime pour jamais. II ne faut pas s'y meprendrc: un inconvenient tel que celui-la seul a suffi pour priver la France de bean- coup de chefs-d'oeuvre, qu'on aurait as assurement le seul <|iii doive etre corrigeV Te ne puis assez m'ltonner ni me plaindre du pen de soin qu'on a en France de rendre les tb 146 CHILDREN OF THE CHAPEL AT BLACKFRIARS Through Voltaire's efforts it was suppressed in the acting of Se- miramis after the first night. The custom was eleven years later (1759) abolished from the French stage through the payment of a considerable sum of money by the Count de Lauraguais to the actors on the condition of not allowing thereafter any spectators on the stage. 1 The custom was never adopted on the stage of the serious Ger- man. Its only known appearance in Germany is on a French stage in French plays by a French company at Frankfurt, the home of Goethe, while the French troops of the Seven Years War were quartered there. In the same year in which the custom was abolished from the Parisian stage, 1759, the youthful and pre- cocious Goethe, then ten years old, saw and even shared in its practices in this French theatre at Frankfurt. 2 dignes des excellents ouvrages qu'on y represente et de la nation qui en fait ses delices. Cinna, Atha- lie, meritaient d'etre represented ail- leurs que dans un jeu de paume, au bout duquel on a eleve quelques decorations du plus mauvais gout, et dans lequel les spectateurs sont places, contre tout ordre et contre toute raison, les uns debout sur le theatre meme, les autres debout dans ce qu'on apelle parterre, ou ils sont genes et presses indecem- ment, et ou ils se precipitent quelquefois en tumulte les uns sur les autres, comme dans une sedition populaire. On represente au fond du Nord nos ouvrages dramatiques dans des salles mille fois plus mag- nifiques, mieux entendues, et avec beaucoup plus de decence. — Voltaire, Dissertation sur la Tragedie An- cicnne et Modernc (seconde partie). Published as an introduction to Semiramis, tragedie (1748). ^'Enfin, en 1759, M. le comte de Lauraguais, aujourd'hui due de Brancas, l'a fait cesser en donnant aux comediens une somme consi- derable pour les indemniser de la perte que devait leur faire eprouver la suppression des banquettes de l'avant-scene" (Auger, 1819) — Quoted in Les Fachcux, Oeuvres de Moliere (nouvelle edition, par M. o Eugene Despois, 1876), III, 36 lfl . 2 Was mir meine Besuche auf dem Theater sehr erleichterte, war, dasz mir mein Freibillett, als aus den Handen des Schultheiszen, den Weg zu alien Platzen eroffnete, und also audi zu den Sitzen im Pro- scenium. Dieses war nach fran- zosischer Art sehr tief und an bei- den Seiten mit Sitzen eingefaszt, die, durch eine niedrige Barriere be- schrankt, sich in mehrern Reihen hinter einande aufbauten und zwar dergestalt, dasz die ersten Sitze nur wenig iiber die Biihne erhoben war- en. Das Ganze gait fur einen be- sondern Ehrenplatz ; nur Offiziere bedienten sich gewohnlich desselben, obgleich die Nahe der Schauspieler, ich will nicht sagen jede Illusion, sondern gewissermaszen jedes Ge- fallen aufhob. Sogar jenen Ge- brauch oder Miszbrauch, iiber den sich Voltaire so sehr beschwert, habe ich noch erlebt und mit augen gesehen. Wenn bei sehr vollem Hause und etwa zur Zeit von Durch- marschen angesehene Offiziere nach jenem Ehrenplatz strebten, der aber gewohnlich schon besetzt war, so stellte man noch einige Reihen Banke und Stuhle ins Proscenium auf die Biihne selbst, und es blieb den Helden und Heldinnen nichts iibrig als in einem sehr maszigen SITTING ON THE STAGE 147 This is the Last contemporary testimony. The adaptation of the foreign stage to the Blackfriars custom, as shown m the testimony of Tallemant des Reaux, Motiere, Vol- taire, and Goethe, is corroborative evidence of the stage-structure at Blackfriars where it originated. In all cases the seats were at right and left of the actors. In the earliest form, as we know from the evidence at Blackfriars and from Dekker's The Guls Home-Book, the wings and the scats there were on a level with the stage of action. Bui in a century and a half the structural form had evolved from that unvarying level into the latest phase ported by Goethe, with the elevated seats at the side- p] on an amphitheatrical slope down to the low dividing rail about the stage proper, but with the highest privileges still reserved within the narrowed borders of the act.> r - themseh I have given thus much -pace to this custom of sitting on the Stage because it show- the tendency and potency of influences begun at Blackfriars under Queen Elizabeth's patronage. Raumc zwischen den Uniformen Werke, XVII, lVahrheit und Dicht- und Orden ihre Geheimnisse zu ent- ung (ed Prof. Dr. II. Duntzer in hullen. Ich habe die "ilypermnes- J. Kurschner's Deutsche tra selbst unter solchen Uinstand- Littcmiur, Rand 9s), Teil I Drittcs en auflFiihren sehen. — Goethe's Buch. llfl CHAPTER XII THE QUEEN'S PURPOSES.— OPPOSING THEATRICAL AND OFFICIAL CONDITIONS, 1597-1603 With 1597 began that attempt at state control of the theatres which later under James I put on the novel cloak of exclusive royal patronage, 1 and ultimately degenerated into the principle of monopoly first granted by Charles II to Killigrew and Dave- nant, 2 whence it passed on down even into the reign of Victoria. From 1597 to the close of Elizabeth's reign more official orders were directed against the public theatres than in all the rest of the years together from 1576 to the Puritan suppressions begin- ning with the civil war in 1642. 3 No order of permanent suppression emanated from the Queen prior to 1597. There had been, however, numerous orders touch- ing regulation of the theatres for various causes, especially dur- ing periods of infectious disease. 4 From 1597 to the close of Eliz- abeth's reign, five orders of suppression were issued by the Privy Council in her name, besides unimportant temporary regulations. The cause for this brief strenuousness has been taken for granted to be Puritanism. 5 No one has ever given a basis for the x See complete work, vol. I. 1821), III, 414-57. All are avail- 2 Idem. able in the published Acts of the 3 The facts in this sentence and Privy Council (u. s.). in the following paragraphs in this 5 J. P. Collier, History of English relation are taken from the original Dramatic Poetry (1831 1 , 1879 2 ), 305, Registers of the Privy Council, at 329-30, is, so far as I know, the Whitehall Palace. Only a part of first to make the assumption as a these, up to 1602, are as yet avail- matter of course. Since then it has able in the government publications, been accepted as fact by Halliwell- Acts of the Privy Council. Phillips, op. cit., I, 367ff. ; Sidney * The orders touching the The- Lee, A Life of William Shakespeare atre and Curtain are collected by (5th ed., 1905), 219-20; Karl Mant- J. O. Halliwell-Phillips, Outlines of zius, A History of Theatrical Art the Life of Shakespeare (9th ed. (translated into English by Louise 1890), I, 346-75, passim. Numer- von Cossel, 1904), III, 8, 19, 69ff. ; ous others are in George Chalmers, and nearly every one who has Farther Account of the English touched the field. Recently the as- Stage, published in Malone's Shake- sumption has been used as an in- speare Variorum (ed. Boswell, tegral part of a dissertation for the THE QUEEN'S PURPOS. utf theory. Presumably it arises out of attacks of Puritan pam- phleteers on the theatres, and the general knowledge that Puri- tanism was a strong and growing element which steadily more and more had to be reckoned with in matters of church and state. Puritanism was always ascetically opposed to games, plays, and amusements as ungodly. As early as 1569, for example, a Puri- tanic pamphlet sharply attacks Elizabeth for using the Children of the Chapel in theatrical performances. 1 The years from that time on are strewn with lost waifs of opposition to theatres. 2 But are these conditions an adequate explanation of the official manoeuvers in theatrical regulation from 1597 to 1603? The Queen was not Puritan, nor were her privy councillors, nor were the several Lord Mayors, nor the city council of London. Yet these are the sources of the actions. There is no documentary evidence of any other. We find, for example, the Lord Mayor and City Council on certain occasions asking for general orders of suppression, and the Privy Council in the Queen's name giving, not the general orders solicited, but instead very definite and specific orders against only the public theatres,'' which in turn the same city officials who made the solicitations refuse to carry out. This is not Puritanism. Puritanism would have been quick to embrace the opportunity to enforce the slightest restriction against any theatre. Again, a little over two years after the most drastic of all the orders of the Privy Council under Elizabeth, we find that same body as constituted under James not merely revoking its own acts of 1600 and 1 601, but even commanding the City and other offi- cials to allow the very conditions they had in the closing years of Elizabeth so vigorously attempted to restrict. 4 doctorate by E. N. S. Thompson, ' The Children of the Chapel The Controversy between the Puri- Strict iind ll'hipt ( L660). & tans and the Stage (Yale Studies pra, 4\ in English, cd \ S. Cook, ioo.t, 'See a collection of these touch- XX), particularly on pages L23 87. inp the Theatre and Curtain t F. C Fleay, A Chronicle History of in I. O. Halliwell-Phillips. op, cit., the l.nnd.m Stage (1890), 161, saw I. 368-71, See also the error of this common assnmp- S. Thompson, op. cit., 40 sqq. don, and recognized a conflict of •• the orders of 1597, n>oo, City and royal authority, without 1601, inft I 81. however reaching the cause. 'See the order of April, 1004. 150 CHILDREN OF THE CHAPEL AT BLACKFRIARS Instead of having any relation to Puritanism, these instances rather exemplify the action of officials in the one case in carrying out the will of Elizabeth and the very different will of James in the other. I suppose Elizabeth in affairs generally felt the need of taking Puritanism into account. 1 This she generally did by steering around it. Incidental traces of such seem evident in the quiet nature of her permissions for establishing and conducting Black- friars, 2 and again in the disposition of the consequent Clifton affair. 3 But the causes of the Queen's official attitude toward the the- atres lay not in Puritanism, but in her own purposes. Elizabeth, always a patron and lover of the drama, 4 had some definite notion of what the theatre should be. Not the complete- ness nor the incompleteness with which her notion was executed by officials, but her purpose therein is the point of main concern in this consideration. Upon the numerous public theatres, particularly those of sec- ond-rate sort, the Queen looked with no more favor than did the City. 5 The Lord Mayor and aldermen attempted reformation by In E. Malone, An Inquiry &c. See further complete work, vol. (1797), 215; J. O. Halliwell-Phil- I. Et infra, 152-53, 156, 160-61 1 . lips, op. cit., I, 310. Original MS. 'Some of the complaints against in Dulwich College. See also G. F. the theatres originated with the Warner, Catalogue of the Manu- church. Which however was a long scripts and Muniments of Alleyn's ways from Puritanism. But the College of God's Gift at Duhuich church of St. Saviors in Southwark, (1881), 26-27, showing J. P. Col- the district in which most of the lier's forgeries in this document as public theatres then were, in 1600 printed in his New Facts Regard- accepted them as fixed institutions, ing Shakespeare (1835). and sought to use them as means In this act of 1604 the Privy of church support through tithes. Council specifically commands the — See extracts from Parish-regis- Lord Mayor and the Magistrates to ters, in Chalmers, Farther Account, allow the Globe, Fortune, and Cur- &c, in op. cit., Ill, 452. Cf. sup., 4. tain unrestrained liberty, expressly 'Supra, 70-71. mentioning and revoking the re- 3 Supra, 81-83 ; infra, 159. strictive and suppressive orders of 4 Even in her school-days she 1600-1601 thus : — "without any lett translated a part of one of Seneca's or interruption in respect of any dramas into blank-verse, — the first former Letters or Prohibition here- example of blank-verse in the tofore written by us to your Lord- English, ship," &c. 5 " . . . forasmuch as it is man- Blackfriars is here not men- ifestly knowen and graunted tioned, because it was not included that the multitude of the saide in the famous orders of 1600-1601. houses and the mys-government of THE QUEEN'S PURPOSES 151 driving the theatres out The Queen attempted reformation by fostering meritorious exclusiveness. 1 Her declared purpose was to reform abuses and increase the usefulness of the stag In carrying out her notion the Queen established a restrictive law on strolling players. She established the Blackfriars, which, whether so intended or not, became at once the envy and the model of the time. She fostered the privacy of Paul's. She at- tempted to suppress the less worthy of the public theatres, and to put the Globe and Fortune on the basis of exclusiveness their companies merited. Had Elizabeth's notions met with full support from even those who most pretended to want reform, the inferior theatres would have been suppressed, and the necessarily high prices would have shut out the troublesome rabble from the Globe and Fortune as completely as from the 1 'lack friars. This would at once have corrected the evils complained of by the City, and at the same time therein have disarmed the City of the pretentions it was using merely as a cover for a very different contention. 3 How the City authorities and the public theatres felt about it we shall - them hath bin and is dayly occa- sion of the ydle, ryotous and dis- solute living of great nomhers of people, that, leavinge all such hon- est and painefull course of life as they should followe, doc mecte and ible there, and of many par- ticular abuses and disorders that doe thereupon ensue; '[This is shown by her acts next noticed, and by her declaration in the words next following the quo- tation supracit.:] "and yet, never- theless, it i> considered that the use am! exercise "i such playes, not be- inge evill in ytself, may with a good order and moderacion be suffered in a well-governed state, and thai her Majestie, beinge pleased at som tymes to take delight and recrea tion in tlie sighl and hearing- of them, SOme order i- titt to he taken for tlie allowance and maynteiiaiince ; i persons as are thought meet- cst in that kinde to veahlc her Maj- estic recreation and delighte, and consequently of the houses that must serve for publike playinge to them in exercise. '[This is best shown hy her acts. But the declaration is in the con- cluding next word- of the preamble quoted above in notes i <*/ supra:] "To the endc. therefore, that both the greate abuses of playes and playinge houses may he redi ami set the a fore-aide use and mod- eration of them retayned, the 1 ami the reste of her Majesties Priv- ie Counsel!, with one and full con- sent, have ordered" &c Preamble to the order of the Lord'- of the Privy Council for the restrainte of the {moderate use and Componye of Playehowses ami Players, in Reg- isters of the Privy Council, White- hall. 22 June, it m Halli- well PI - ci*., I. 307 B, and George Chalmers, Farther A in op. ci*., 111. 'Infra, Li 152 CHILDREN OF THE CHAPEL AT BLACKFRIARS The beginning of the Queen's reformatory purpose shows itself during Burbage's remodeling of the Blackfriars Priory-house into a theatre, in the latter part of 1596. Whether she intended then to have the Children of the Chapel established there, or whether Burbage purposed to use it in place of the Theatre, the lease of which was just expiring, does not affect the present con- sideration. The new establishment was at least to be in a most aristocratic neighborhood, and its exclusiveness and privacy were assured. Hence, when certain petitioners in November, 1596, 1 appealed to her through the Privy Council to suppress Burbage's project, the request was ignored. 2 The next appearance of definite plans was in the wholesome lopping off of the nuisance of unlicensed strolling players by the sharply restrictive law of 1597 reducing and confining the num- ber of companies to those under noble patronage. 3 Act now succeeds act along the line of one clear purpose. Whatever may have been the original plan or expectation in build- ing the Blackfriars theatre, the Commission for taking up children issued to Nathaniel Gyles, 4 the operations of which we have seen, 6 settles the question as to what determination the Queen had reached by July 3, 1597, the date of the Privy Seal. 6 It is not likely that Gyles lost any time in collecting a company of chil- dren, nor that the City authorities and the public theatres were unaware of the new state of affairs. July 28, 1597, within a month after the Privy Seal, and two weeks after the Patent, 7 doubtless while Gyles and Evans were collecting and organizing the new children-actors, the Lord Mayor asked the Privy Council for orders to suppress plays "as well at the Theatre, Curten, and Bankside, as in all other places in and about the Citie." 8 1 Supra, 17 5 . hand and seale of arms of such 2 Supra, 18 2 , 53, 153-54 2 , 161 1 . baron or personage, shall be ad- 3 The statute of 39 Elizabeth judged and deemed rogues and vag- (1597) declares that "all common abonds." players of interludes wandering *Supra, 60\ abroad, other than players of inter- 5 Supra, 70-72, et sqq. ludes belonging to anie baron of "Supra, 60 1 . this realme, or anie other honour- 7 Supra, ibid. able personage of greater degree, "See letter in J. O. Halliwell- to be authorized to play under the Phillips, op. cit., I, 356-57. THE QUEEN'S PURPOSES 153 The designation "Theatre, Curten, and liankside" included all the public theatres then in existence. 1 The only "other" known theatre "in or about the Citie" in 1597 was the private establish- ment of Blackiriar.->.- The Privy Council so understood it, and immediately, on the same day, sent a reply "in her Majesty's name" expressing "her Majesties pleasure and commandment" for drastic measures against the "common playhouses," thereby excluding the private theatre of Blackfriars, the suppression of which seems t<> have been the desired object of the request. The Theatre and Curtain are specifically named. They shall be dis- mantled and made unfit for further use as places for acting. All other "common playhouses"' are \>> Ik- restrained until Allhallow- tide. 4 In response to this order the Lord Mayor and City Council did nothing, although their request had exhibited great anxiety for power to act. This is the beginning of what seems to be a political game of chess, with the theatres as pieces. The City had long before driven the theatres out of its pre- cincts. Still the City authorities, always jealous of power and craving more, wished to control them. Still more, they wished to establish their long-contested claim to civic control of the pre- cincts of Blackfriars. The establishment of a theatre within the liberties of Blackfriars gave them renewed eagerness. Permis- sion granted to control all theatres, and therefore this theatre, 'The Theatre and Curtain were plete work. vol. II. under Plays.) on the north (Middlesex county) It is prohable that Paul'* side of the Thames, and north of opened as a result of the establish- the City "in the fields." The Swan, ment of Blackfriars. Rose, Bear Garden, and Newington These and all Other later private Butts were on the Bankside (south theatres were on the north ( Mid- or Surry county side). The other dlesex county) side.— Whitefriara Bankside theatres were built at later (<. 133; infra, 11 All evidences tend to show that *Cf. supra. 10 no dramatist of his time influenced 8 On the plays in question, except his fellows more than Shakespeare Sir Giles Goosecap, see also EL Kop- did, and none was influenced by pel, Quellenstudicn cu den Dranien them more than he. Professor Dr. George Chapmans, &c {Quelienund Emil Koppel, of the University at Forschungen, Heft B2., Strassb. Strassburg, who has made extensive 18 researches in the Elizabethan-Jaco- 'For evidences fixing the dates bean drama. says, with refer- and further discussion see Flays in ence to the influence of Shake- complete work, vol. II. 168 CHILDREN OF THE CHAPEL AT BLACKFRIARS modeled after Malvolio of Twelfth Night (ca. 1600), while the title character of M. D 'Olive (ca. Oct -Dec. 1601) is Bassiolo developed. May Day (ca. May, 1602) contains an answer to the attack on Blackfriars in Hamlet (late 1601 — early 1602) 1 in the form of satirizing parodies on the "To be" soliloquy and other parts. These read as if Chapman had heard Hamlet once or twice while May Day was in progress, and had caught the general trend. Acts III and IV contain bits of satire certainly made thus. The Widow's Tears (Sept., 1602) in overcoming of feminine scruples is mindatory of The Taming of the Shrew (early 1602?). Did Chapman intend these character-extensions as ridicule of Shakespeare? Or did he simply find good comedial material here ready for further development? At any rate, even if it is proved that Chapman here imitated, that fact would not disprove that his and Jonson's plays at Blackfriars in turn were imitated. Both seem true. Opposition to a rival institution upon principle and imitation of its successes at the same time are not incom- patible. The opposition of the Globe to the Blackfriars is only typical of conditions in all the other public theatres. Hamlet tells us thus much. Dekker's "the puppet-teacher" 2 in Satiromastix (at the Globe, summer, 1601) is a thrust at the Boys as well as at Jonson. The minor reference in the Prologue to Troihis and Cressida (ca. 1602, late) can hardly be called friendly. 3 Paul's Boys and the Chapel Children in 1580-84 and at other periods had performed together. But under the new conditions Paul's and the public theatres made common cause against Blackfriars, and found a convenient means of expressing their attitude through furthering on their stages the personal quarrels of certain dram- atists opposed to Jonson of the Chapel Boys' theatre. I must here notice this incident, since it is connected with the theatrical conditions in hand. 1 Written late 1601. First acted A Prologue arm'd, but not in con- late 1601 — early 1602, doubtless at fidence the Christmas season. See also su- Of Authors pen, or Actors voyce." pra, 86, and infra, 174-75, 182-84 1 . This is in reference and reply to s "Hold, silence, the puppet- Jonson's armed Prologue to Poet- teacher speaks." — Satiromastix, op. aster, in which the public theatres, cit., Ill, 171. and particularly the Globe in the * . . . "And hither am I come anticipated Satiromastix there, are RELATIONS OF BLACKFRIARS 169 The personal quarrel between Jonson on the one side and Mars- ton and Dekker on the other, conducted on the battle-field of the stage, was merely incidental to the general state, arising partly out of theatrical, partly out of personal relations. But had it not been fostered by the theatres it could never have been tolerated, could not even have come into existence before an audience. An institution does not easily lend itself as an organ of mere per- sonal animus. It served the theatres as a temporary vent. 1 The personal phases of the quarrel can be briefly stated, so far as they appear in literary form. They have been elaborately dis- cussed by Fleay, Penniman, and Small, and treated somewhat by practically every literary historian or critic that has touched upon the period. 2 But as the main events have been given incorrect historical perspective by the confusion of chronology, I sum- marize certain conclusions here in accordance with the dates es- tablished upon final evidence under the list of plays, following. 3 The first traces are not vicious, and consist of literary jibes. In The Scourge of Villainy (Stationers' Register, Sept. 8, 1598) Marston glanced at Jonson through the character of "judicial Torquatus" in the address "To those that seem judicial Perusers." and expected that Torquatus would vouchsafe the new volume "some of his new-minted epithets (as real, intrinsecate, Del- phic)," without understanding a word of it. Late in the same year, Marston in his revision of Histriomastix (1598) reshaped represented as so hostile as to re- volume to disproving the positions quire such armed protection of both of his predecessors, and on the author and actors at Blackfriars. whole is sound in his own identifi- 1 See further, infra, 180 4 . cations but wide of the mark in his 'The Rev. F. G. Fleay, A Chron- datings. icle History of the London Stage By all these scholars the quarrel (1890), passim, and A Biographical is given wrong aspects through non- Chronicle of the English Drama sequential relation of plays and I559~i(>42 (1891), I— II, ad loc., fol- events. The personal side is incor- lows the ministerial method of find- rectly regarded as having consid- ing allegory in the plays concerned, erable independent importance in- an Un- tie identifications of characters. J. larger conditions that made it pos- H. Penniman. The War of the The- sible. atres (1897), likewise finds unten- 'See the respective titles under able identifications. R. A. Small, Plays, complete work. vol. II. for The Stage-Quarrel between Ben all evidences and full treatment in Jonson and the so-called Poetasters elaborate detail, with extensive ref- (1899), devotes a large part of his erences. 170 CHILDREN OF THE CHAPEL AT BLACKFRIARS the features of Chrysogonus and gave them a few touches that must undoubtedly have reminded the audience of Jonson. Jonson's Every Man in his Humour (ca. Aug.-Sept. 1598) had appeared before either of the above, and consequently con- tains no trace of the quarrel in even its mildest form. But his next play, Every Man out of his Humour (ca. Aug., 1599) re- plied to both of Marston's jibes by making a character, Clove, evidently introduced for no other purpose, talk fustian words culled out of The Scourge of Villainy and Histriomastix. Mean- while, Marston had given Antonio and Mellida (ca. first half of 1599) to the stage at Paul's without a word of bickering against Jonson. Jonson and Dekker during August and September, 1599, worked in collaboration for Henslowe on Page of Plymouth and Robert II King of Scots. Probably also Marston worked with them in September on this latter play. Up to this time (Sept., 1599) there seems to be no serious per- sonal feeling between Jonson and Marston. Dekker had not yet been in the least concerned. It is most probable that the inti- macy of collaboration sowed the seeds of discord. Jonson's per- sonality could brook little opposition. He had no patience with such as we know Dekker and his work to have been. But on Marston's side there appears as yet no rankling, for about Nov., 1599, appeared at Paul's his Antonio's Revenge, with no word directed at Jonson. In September, 1599, Chettle, Dekker, and Haughton completed Patient Grisell, probably first acted ca. January, 1 599-1600. The Emulo-Owen duel of this play is a clear imitation of Jonson's Brisk-Lentulo duel in Every Man out of his Humour that had appeared at least four months before. From Jonson's later at- tack (i. e., in Poetaster) he apparently charged this imitation up as one of Dekker's plagiarisms. Cynthia's Revels (ca. April-May, 1600) gives us the first real personal bitterness of the quarrel and its first importance on the stage. There Jonson caricatured some of the features of Mars- ton in Hedon, and of Dekker in Anaides, while assuming to him- self some of the general excellences of Crites. This was played by the Blackfriars Boys. Almost simultaneously Marston pre- RELATIONS OF BLACKFRIARS 171 sented Jack Drum's Entertainment (ca. May, 1600) on the stage by the Paul's Boys, unfavorably representing Jonson as Brabant Senior and mentioning himself as "the new poet Mcllidus." There is no known cause in any existing drama or other writ- ing by either Marston or Jonson for the sharp personal attacks of these two plays. As both appeared at practically the same time, neither Is the cause of the other, and neither play refers to the other. The only explanation of the personalities seems to be that the close literary relations of August-September, 1599, had bred enmity between .Marston and Dekker on the one side and Jonson on the other. The only explanation of the stage-publicity of these personal relations is the theatrical status that fostered it, as already discussed and as indicated further in Hamlet.' 1 A year later. Marston replied in his behalf to Cynthia's Revels by What You Will {ca. April, 1601) at Paul's, making some of Jonson's features unpleasantly prominent in Lampatho and him- self assuming the better traits of "squareness" in I Juadratus. Simultaneously appeared at Blackfriars Jonson's Poetaster (ca. April, 1601), violently attacking Marston and Dekker as Cris- pinus and Demetrius respectively, while Jonson martyred him- self as Horace. This attack is not in reply to anything in any of the former plays, but in anticipation of a lampoon that Jonson believed Marston and Dekker were preparing against him in a play to be presented at the Globe. There seems no explanation of this rabidness except that personal relations had become se- verely acute, and that theatrical conditions made such public ex- hibition possible. Hitherto Dekker had made no reply to Jonson. But after Poetaster he flamed out with Satiro)nastix (ca. June-July, 1601). Marston seems to have furnished some of the fuel. Jonson's final reply was his Apologetical Dialogue, "spoken onl) <»nce upon the stage" and then by himself as "The Author," apparently in the spring of 1602. This was the end of the personal quarrel on the stage. Jonson no more refers to it. Marston thereafter took Jonson's place as poet for the Blackfriars Boys, and in his Dutch Courtezan | fall- wint.. [602) and The Malcontent (spring, 1603) no reference is 1 Supra, 158*; infra, 174, F>, 180*. 172 CHILDREN OF THE CHAPEL AT BLACKFRIARS made to the recent unpleasantness. Absence of reference in these two plays is negative proof that the personal war-cloud had passed, by 1602. Positive proof is in the year 1604, when Mars- ton dedicated The Malcontent to Jonson, and also wrote com- mendatory verses for Sejanus. Dekker, however, cherished ill- feeling as late as 1609, in The Guls Home-Book. 1 The quarrel in its personal aspects was of much less impor- tance than usually supposed. So far as we can now identify them, it includes only these three men. But from Jonson's Apol- ogetical Dialogue and from Dekker's address To the World in Satiromastix, we are led to believe that other poets and their theatres were involved. Doubtless they were. But as the plays have not come to light and are probably irretrievably lost, we can now say no more about them. The attempt to identify Shakespeare on this personal side in Troilus and Cressida hardly needs refutation. Beyond the minor reference in the Prologue, 2 I find nothing in the play touching either the personal or the impersonal side. 3 1 have given this incident of the personal quarrel more space than its relative importance demands, but not more than seems required to put it into its proper perspective as a minor matter in the history of stage-relations. 4 'See supra, 133 4 , 140 s . of William Shakespeare (5th ed., 2 Supra, 168 3 . 1905) 237 1 ; R. Boyle, Troilus and * Scholars differ widely on the Cressida, in Englische Studien play. See for example, R. A. Small, (1902), XXX, 21-59. op. cit., 139-71; Sidney Lee, A Life 4 See further, infra, 180*. CHAPTER XIV THE HAMLET PASSAGE ON THE BLACKFRIARS CHILDREN The Shakespeare student has already anticipated conclusions made possible by the documents treated in the foregoing pages. I have little more left to do than to transcribe those conclusions in the briefest possible manner. Shakespeare's reference to the Children-players is at once the best known and yet the newest record touching contemporary stage conditions. Explanations have been attempted by every student of Hamlet. 1 These range from the guess of dilettanteism to the plausible hypothesis and occasional statement of fact. Not only does the evidence now at hand explain practically every item in this passage, but in turn Shakespeare's record be- comes available thereby as one of the most important contribu- tions made to the history of this royally favored company of Children-actors at Blackfriars. For purposes of comparison, I here subjoin the passage 2 as it appears in Q lt Q 2 , and F x . 1 For a convenient collection of ness, Variorum Shakespeare, Hamlet representative examples from fore- (1877), I, 162-168. No collection most scholars to the date of that of the recent and better interpreta- publication, see Dr. H. H. Fur- tions has been made. 'The passages are quoted as they appear in H. H. Furness, Variorum Shakespeare, Hamlet (1877), II, 59, and I, 162-68. Q. (1603) 968. Ham. Players, what Players be tiny? Ross. My Lord, the Tragedians of the Citty, Those that you took delight to see so often. Ham. How comes it that they trauell? Do they grow restie? GU. No my Lord, their reputation holds as it was wont Ham. I low then? Gil. Yfaith my Lord, noueltie carries it away. For tlu- principal] publike audience that Came to them, arc turned to priuate playes, And to the humour of children. 174 CHILDREN OF THE CHAPEL AT BLACKFRIARS I accept it as a conclusion now beyond debate that the whole passage in F x was written in 1601 and first acted by the closing months of that year or the opening of 1602, the only period in Q 2 (1604), II, ii, 315-24 315 Ham. What players are they? Ros. Even those you were wont to take such delight in, the tragedians of the city. Ham. How chances it they trauaile? their residence, both in reputation and profit, was better both ways. 320 Ros. I think their inhibition comes by the means of the late innovation. Ham. Do they hold the same estimation they did when I was in the city? are they so followed? Ros. No, indeed, are they not. Lines 325-45 ("Ham. How comes it? . . . Hercules and his load too") are omitted from Q 2 , Q3, Qt, Qs. In all the Qq, the next speech begins, "Ham. It is not very strange ; for my uncle," &c, as in Fi, infra, 1. 346. Fi (1623), II, ii, 315-50 Fi gives 315-24 exactly as Q 2 , with the exception of transposing "they" and "are" in 324, and continues with 325-45, omitted from the Q 2 , Q3, Q*, Q 6 , thus:— 325 Ham. How comes it? Do they grow rusty? Ros. Nay, their endeavour keeps in the wonted pace; but there is, sir, an aerie of children, little eyases, that cry out on the top of question and are most tyrannically clapped for't; these are now the fashion, and so berattle the cora- 330 mon stages — so they call them' — that many wearing rapiers are afraid of goose-quills, and dare scarce come thither. Ham. What, are they children? who maintains 'em? how are they escoted? Will they pursue the quality no longer than they can sing? will they not say afterwards, if 335 they should grow themselves to common players, — as it is most like, if their means are no better, — their writers do them wrong, to make them exclaim against their own succession? Ros. 'Faith, there has been much to-do on both sides, and the nation holds it no sin to tarre them to controversy; 340 there was for a while no money bid for argument, unless the poet and the player went to cuffs in the question. Ham. Is't possible? Guil. Oh, there has been much throwing about of brains. Ham. Do the boys carry it away? 345 Ros. Ay. that they do, my lord; Hercules and his load too. Ham. It is not very strange ; for my uncle is king of Denmark, and those, that would make mows at him while my father lived give twenty, forty, fifty, a hundred ducats a-piece, for his picture in little. 'Sblood, there is something in this more than natural, if philosophy could find it out. THE HAMLET PASSAGE 175 the history of the drama and stage at which the allusions could have point or fit the facts. 1 The strolling players arc those of the public theatres, — men. In giving the reason for their traveling, Shakespeare glances at the theatrical conditions of the times, as already examined. The Queen in carrying out her notions of what she wished in the way of a theatre, established the Blackfriars with the Children of the Chapel. With this grew up die notion of restrictions and pro- hibitions of the public theatres. For the Queen to maintain a theatre at all was an innovation in itself. But to maintain a pri- vate theatre and at the same time to attempt to shut up all but two of the public playhouses, with severe restrictions on even those two. was Wh an innovation and an inhibition at once, that seemed related to each other as cause and effect. 1 This not only diminished the reputation and profit of the unfavored players and drove them into the country,' but also justly called for so much [1(502] xxvj to Julij James Roberts Kntivd tor his Copie vnder the handes of master Pasfeild and master waterson warden A booke called 'the Revenge of HAMLETT Prince [of] Denmark/ as yt was late- lit' Acted by the Lord Chamber- leyne his servantes vj d — E. Arber, A Transcript of the Registers of the Compa)iv of Sta- tioners 1354-1640 ( IST.-.-'.H ) , 1 1 1, 212. play in final form, from which the above publication was garbled, was on the stage long enough before this entry to inspire the surreptitious issue. See also on the dating, supra, May Pay (86, L68), Widovfs Tears (ibid.), Clifton's Complaint (86), the stage-quarrel ( L68* m. L81), the -trained official and theatrical relation- (157). Also sec infra, 1-; B4\ All evidences combine to show Hamlet was written late 1601, and first acted late L601 — early L602, doubtless the chief attraction of the Christmas season. '"I think their inhibition comes by the means of the late innova- tion " M do not know the detailed basis for Shakespeare's claim as to the players having to travel. This might be ascertained by long re- search in the archives of munici- palities. But the preceding pages have shown sufficiently that the statement is based upon actual con- ditions of hardship resulting from the Queen's attitude. The few known details of the traveling com- panies at this period are these: In L599, a company of English actors under Laurence Fletcher (sometimes, hut erroneously, sup- posed to have been Shakespeare's company) visited Scotland, and were patronized by James VI State Papers, Elizabeth. Scotland. LXV, Nfos. 'W and •; 1 I. dated Nov., Public Record ( >ffic in Oct., 1601, Fletcher led a com- pany thither. Shakespeare's own company was at Oxford and Cambridge some- time prior to the publication of Hamlet. < See title-page "t' Q fra. 182* 1. Whether these visits antedated the Stationers' R< 1 1 entry. 86 July. 1608, is undeter- mined. 1 [enslowe's Diary • ed W. W fa, -how- Lord Worcester's men, of the Kosp, went 176 CHILDREN OF THE CHAPEL AT BLACKFRIARS at least as the mild righteousness of this passage, despite Eliza- beth's absolute law against criticism of the state in public plays. Under these conditions of course the public theatres were not and could not be "followed" as formerly. The immediate source of grief to the "common stages," 1 as people now, since the new fashion, were calling the public theatres, whose cause Shakespeare champions, lay in this "aerie" of "little eyases" 2 that the Queen- care was fledging. The rivalry is not with inferior children-actors, but with a company of boys whose unquestioned excellence receives the gen- into the country March 12, 160 [l]-2. They returned to London and re- newed acting Aug. 17, 1602 (idem, 179). Strolling players, of course, had been in earlier stage-history per- mitted to wander at will. But Shakespeare cannot have these in mind, for the law of 1597 (supra, 152 3 ) put a stop to this by the regulating control of noble patron- age. Besides, the satire on the Children and theatrical conditions could not have had point in refer- ence to this earlier period. The company to which Shakespeare be- longed traveled in 1593, 1594, 1597, but not again, it seems, prior to the Hamlet presentations at the univer- sities. (See Sidney Lee, A Life of William Shakespeare, 5th edition, 1905, 40, for list, from which, how- ever, this last item is omitted). No company traveled except when its profits in London were un- satisfactory. For this condition at the present period, the Blackfriars stands as the cause. In only two plays does Shake- speare mention strolling players, — in Hamlet (1601-2) and The Tam- ing of the Shrew (1602?), just at the time when the Queen's pur- poses were bearing bitter fruit for the public theatres. 1 The practice of so calling them originated in the Queen's orders through the Privy Council in dif- ferentiation from Blackfriars. (See supra, 156-57 1 .) Jonson in The Case is Altered, II, iv, (at Blackfriars ca. Sept. — Oct., 1597) uses "common theatres" and "public theatre" in a long and sharp satire on the sort of audi- ences frequenting them. In Cyn- thia's Revels, Induction (ca. April, 1600), he uses "common stages" and "public theatre" opprobriously. Doubtless the frequenters of the- atres made the same distinction ; — conveying thereby the stigma of in- feriority that Shakespeare here dis- relishes. But "common" in reference to plays in the sense of "ordinary" or "usual" is found very early. E. g., in 1552, Bishop of London Bonner issued to the clergy an order pro- hibiting in churches "all manner of common plays, games, or inter- ludes" &c. (See E. Malone, Shake- speare Variorum, ed. Boswell, 1821, III, 45). But no opprobrium seems to attach to the word then as is laid upon it later in distinguishing Blackfriars and public theatres. Examples of this earlier inoffensive use in application to plays, games, etc., are numerous even in official papers prior to 1597. But the op- probrious sense of both "common" and "public" applied to theatres dates from that year. 2 The terms "aerie" (eagles- nest) and "eyases" (eaglets) ap- plied to the Queen's establishment present in a single view actors and supporter. There is conveyed also the sense of security of position against all interference. See fur- ther on this meaning under "aerie," The New English Dictionary (ed. Murray). Compare also "her mai- THE HAMLET PASSAGE 177 erous applause of the most select and judicial audiences of London. 1 The men-players are doin.L; their best to maintain their pres- tige; but they are unable to stem the tide of popularity and fash- ion. The followers after illustrious example have taken up the theatre with its privileges of privacy, high prices, novelties, and spectacular effect as the fad of the day. The Boy-actors and their poets have rather got the best of it in the wit-combat be- tween them and the "common stages" and have given the latter such a shaking up with their rattling fire as to diminish their pop- ularity still farther in comparison. The local and personal drives have caused my rapier-girdled courtier and fine gentleman to avoid the public theatres rather than make himself for coming thither the subject of later stage-jest before his fashionable set at Blackfriars. 2 esties unfledged minions" in The Children of the Chapel Stript and ll'lupt (1569), supra, 4 l , and "neast of boys able to ravish a man" in Father Hubbard's Tales, by T. M. (1604), infra, chap. XVI. '"Cry out on the top of ques- tion" is usually explained as a de- traction of the Boys ; as, "at the top of their voices," "with bad elo- cution," &c. I cannot find any de- traction of the Boys in the whole passage. It is not they, but the manner of their establishment and support that is objectionable. Moreover, I find no untruth in the passage. It would be not only false, but would kill Shakespeare's own point, for him to say the act- ing was bad. The whole history of the Roys shows it was good. At the time Hamlet was written, young Pavy, Field, Underwood, and Ostler were among the chief Chil- ctors Pavy was famous then as a boy who acted old men's parts luperbly, and at hi*; death ( L601 or L602?) was made the subject of Jonson's noble tribute to him as an actor, one of the most delicate and appreciate of excel- lence ever written. ( See further, Careers of Actors, infra, vol. II.) latter thl a ere also superior actors, and were all, a few years later, taken into Shakespeare's own company, where they were among the leaders. Field was sec- ond only to Burbage. (See their careers, u. s.) Also, at the time Hamlet was written, the Boys were pleasing to Quern. Court, and critical London. (See audiences, supra. 112, L64 Historically, the notion of bad acting has no basis. I hat "cry out on the top of question" means "excel." "do with unquestioned excellence," "exhibit superiority" is clear from the Ham- let text in the light of the fact-, as It is substantiated by the only two known similar uses of Shakespeare's time. In this same scene (II, ii, 417) Hamlet speaks of "others whose judgments cried in the top of mine" ( excelled. were superior to]. In R<>hert Ar- min's Nest of Ninnies I L608, ed Collier, S. S. Pub., 1842, X the author speaks of "miking them I fencers or players at single-stick] expert till they cry it up in the top of question," This seems tinal as a commentary. 'It was the custom at Black- friars (and probably at other the- atres) to break jests up, mi the 178 CHILDREN OF THE CHAPEL AT BLACKFRIARS The question of maintaining a company and appareling them, or dressing them out, was, as already noted, 1 of first importance in enabling theatrical and financial success. The expense of maintenance was first. But as Elizabethan theatres had little scenery, they made up for the lack in appropriate apparel. As practically every play of the time represents people of station, — kings, queens, courtiers, lords, &c, — the expense of apparel prob- ably equaled or exceeded the keep of the company. A glance through Henslowe's Diary shows the cost of a pair of silk stock- ings from 15 to 20 shillings; a doublet and hose, 3/. to J I.; a black satin suit, 5 /. A single rich cloak cost 19 /., — almost half as much for only part of one costume as Evans was paying for the annual rental of Blackfriars. The total value of a theatrical wardrobe probably exceeded the value of the given theatre itself. 2 It is quite certain from all testimony that the Children's ap- parel furnished by the Queen was of superior elegance. Since it was generally known who "maintained" the Boys and thus "escoted" them, Shakespeare desiring merely to raise the notion suggestively above the mental horizon, accomplishes his object fully by simply asking the question and not allowing an answer other than that which comes at once to the mind of the audience. To this he adds the touch of deft diminution by the coinage of a word for the occasion which no one of the audience could fail to catch by the intonation, a slight gesture, or even the very punning nature of the word, indicating these lads were audience or some prominent person- uations of the wardrobes of public age. Such local hits did not then theatres. Henslowe's Diary gives and do not now appear in the by inventories and purchases a gen- printed play. See such a jest in eral notion. The Diary of Thomas the Induction to Cynthia's Revels; Platter (1599) says, "Die Comedien- also the statement of its prevalence spieler sindt beim allerkostlich- at Blackfriars made by Sly in the sten vnndt zierlichsten bekleidet." — Induction to The Malcontent. To (See extracts by Prof. Binz in An- the same effect see The Guls Home- glia (1899), XXII, 459.) Even in Book (u. s., 133 4 ). 1590 a player is represented by Rob- This practice grew worse under ert Green as saying "his very share James I. Again and again the in playing apparel would not be sold King was made the target. This for 200 1." (Quoted in Sidney Lee, was one of the chief causes for his op. cit., 1899, 198.) In 1608 the putting a summary end to the wardrobe of the Children of the Blackfriars Boys in 1608. (See doc- King's Revels at Whitefriars was uments in later chapters.) valued at 400/., — apparently in that 1 Supra, 128-29. special case, however, too high. 2 There are no known exact val- (See following chapters.) THE HAMLET PASSAGE 179 hardly old enough to wear players' "apparel," but must needs wear the "cotes" of children. 1 Then with the skill of the master wit innocently foreswearing *The meaning of "escoted" lies thus near home. It has hitherto been explained as derived from the rare OF. cscottcr, — dead even to the French more than a hundred years when Shakespeare wrote, and long supplanted by ecoter!! The etymological treatment of "cote," "coat," "escoted" ; and "es- cotter," "ecoter," "escot," "scot," "shot," "shoot," is too long for in- sertion here. I note simply that "escotter" seems to have died in French about the middle of the 15th century. (See Godefroy, Dictionnoire f.'.ln- cienne Langue Francois, du IX* au XV Steele, 1898. The one late ex- ample there given is clearly an ob- solete use.) Cotgrave's frequently quoted re- port of the word in 1611 is the result of mere compilation of older dictionaries, not the report of cur- rent usage. The form "escotter" is not found in current French liter- ature of Shakespeare's time, nor in the hundred years preceding. The title-page of Cotgrave's work claims only compilation, — "A Dic- Honarie of the French and English Tongues. Compiled by Randle Cot- grave. London. Ifili." But it is not only a compilation, and there- fore of no value as an authority on the current French, but it is also merely a French-English not an English-French dictionary, and hence of no value on the English. Cotgrave defines "Escotter. Euery one to pay his shot, or to contribute somewhat towards it, &c." The meaning is correct. But such a meaning and such an ety- mology from such or any reference. applied to the ephemeral word-play "escoted," is but fair game for laughter as the lean and wrinkled nonsense of despairing pedantry. No contemporary English dic- tionary giv< ■ " I have ex- amined every English and every English-foreign dictionary (and every extant edition of each) pub- lished from the beginning of the language up to Samuel Johnson's English Dictionary (1755). (For list, but giving first editions only, see li. P.. Wheatley, Chronological Notices of Dictionaries of the Eng- lish Language, in Transactions of the Philological Society, London, 1865.) The word is in none of them till Johnson, where the mean- ing was assumed that has been fol- lower! to the present. An indefinite number of exam- ples of "cote," "coat," meaning dress, apparel, or to dress. &c. can easily be collected by any one from Chaucer's "medlee cote" (see also picture in Egerton MS.) to a period much later than Shakespeare. Two from contemporary authors suffice here. "Scarce will their Studies stipend them, their wiues, and Children cote." — William Warner, Albion's England (revised ed. 1602), 238. Not in the earlier (15S9) edition. This example is interesting not only as contemporary to the year, but also as juxtaposing the common no- tions of maintenance and apparel- ing as in Hamlet. "After they four first parents] got coates to their backes. they were turned out of doores. Put on therefore either no apparel at all, or put it on carelesslv." — Tho Pek- ker. The Culs Home-Book (1609), in op. cit.. II, 220. Shakespeare seems the only one who ever used the word "e.">: — sufficient index of it cial coinage. It originated and died with the 'ts components are "cote" (coat") with a sliding prefix ex- (es-). Puns however do not come into existence through lawful etymologic unions but de- spite them. They are the begotten waifs of occasion. 180 CHILDREN OF THE CHAPEL AT BLACKFRIARS himself by leaving with the audience the satisfied sense of dis- covering the meaning themselves, he turns aside and proceeds to blame the poets who write for the Children for making them utter jibes against the public theatres, to which they must ulti- mately succeed. For upon the general knowledge that the primary function of singing is the basic consideration of their im- pressment and maintenance while their acting is simply a conse- quence that must be conterminal with the cause, it is warrantably assumed that these Chapel Boys will be continued at the theatre as actors only so long as they can sing. 1 If then they keep on act- ing until their voices at puberty begin to break and unfit them for choir-singing and taking part in the varied sort of entertain- ment they now furnish at Blackfriars, they will at the time of voice-change be deprived of their present superior position; and not being gentlemen's sons but lads who have no better means than their own resources for support, 2 it is like-most that they themselves, despite their present raillery, will then have to seek employment as a means of livelihood among these same "com- mon players" their poets now make them cry down. 3 But the contest has not been one-sided. With a glance at the more general conditions in which there has been "much to-do on both sides," Shakespeare having made Hamlet apparently talk away from the question raised as to maintenance and appareling of the lads, now purposely causes Rosencranz to avoid directly answering it, but nevertheless reenforces the answer in the minds of the audience by shifting, after all, the blame from the poets to the "nation" for allowing and encouraging the present state of affairs. For a while the controversy was so hot that plays were purchased by neither side unless 4 the poet took the part of the 1 See supra, 115. grown-up children of Blackfriars 2 Shakespeare by his "as is like and Whitefriars are found among most if their meanes are no better" the leaders in every men's company {1623 folio) understands that these but one, and practically dominate are not gentlemen's children. Clif- the stage during that later period, ton's boy, who never acted, was * "There was for a while no probably the only one of rank taken money bid for argument unless" &c. up. See also supra, 80 s , 82 4 . This is as clear a declaration as 'Shakespeare prophesied soundly one need make that the personal here. This is exactly what did hap- was subordinate to the theatrical pen later, as the history from 1610 quarrel and came before the public to the Restoration, taken up in sue- .solely through demands of the lat- ceeding chapters, shows. The ter. Cf. supra, 158*, 169-72. THE HAMLET PASSAGE 181 players he wrote for and jibed at their opposition poets and play- ers, 1 as notably in Jonson's Poetaster (ca. April, 1601) at Black- friars and Dekker's Satirumastix (summer, 1601) at the Globe and Paul's. Although there is a law (Elizabeth 1559) 2 which absolutely forbids any allusion or criticism by the stage with reference to affairs of state and religion, "the nation holds it no sin" even thus to countenance and set on such a controversy as the present one. 3 It is a condition of affairs much to be deplored, and "in a well- governed state" 4 seems hardly "possible." 5 Where the blame rests for this "throwing about of brains" and for the whole unsatisfactory theatrical status is thus shadowed forth with such consummate skill that the audience, familiar with the circumstances, could not miss the chief cause of grievance, though no breach of open declaration is made. The conclusion as to whether the boys win or not is a pregnant summary of conditions in a single line. Rosencranz puns on "carry it away," and says that they not only have won but they have carried off the chief audience and income of the Globe. — '"Unless the poet and the player Also in New Shakespeare Society went to cuffs [Fi, "Cuffs"] in the Transactions (1880-85), Appendix question." "Cuffs" was a common to Part II, 19t. nickname for a schoolmaster be- For punishments inflicted on the cause of his bad habit. "To go to Rose in 1597 and the Curtain early cuffs" about anything therefore 1601, doubtless under the interpre- came to have a quadruple signifi- tation of this law, see supra, 155, 158. cation, — primarily "to cuff or fight," It seems remarkable that Shake- then "to go to a master who cuffs," speare was permitted so much as "to go to school," and "to study, the present deft passage in Hamlet study up, study how, find ways and against the same law. See supra, means." 164. Shakespeare plays with the pun- 8 Tschischwitz (quoted in Fur- ning nature of the expression, with ness. Variorum Shakespeare, Ilam- the final sense of course resting let, I, 167) could not see the "logic" upon the last of the quartet. of 332-37, as they stand. — for a very Compare the following from good reason! But really was ever Satiromostix (summer, 1601, ed. a cause that required the most del- Hawkins, op. cit.. Ill, 135) : — "He icate handling presented to the [Horace-Jonsonl has as desperate minds of the audience with more a wit as any scholar ever went to consummate "logic" ? cuffs for" f= went to school for, 'Order of the Privy Council. 22 acquired bv study], June, L600, w. s. t 151\ 'Printed in J. P. Collier, op. cit., 'Hamlet, u. s.. 174. !•",, 1 I (1831 1 ), 168-69; (1879'), 166 1 . 182 CHILDREN OF THE CHAPEL AT BLACKFRIARS for which "Hercules and his load," the sign of the theatre, stands. 1 That is, of course, they have attracted away the better paying and more genteel class. In the next speech, the fickle fawning of a public after the fashion of royalty without regard to the justness of the cause it represents is made the common basis upon which Shakespeare rises from the consideration of local theatrical conditions to the fuller swing of physical and psychic difficulties that beset Hamlet in the tragic execution of the high purpose laid upon him. Thus ends this valuable record touching the Children of the Chapel at Blackfriars. Seen in its proper relation to their history- it becomes also contributive to certain Hamlet problems, which cannot be taken up here. I am however compelled to take notice of one item which further connects with this history. The 1603 quarto, 2 admitted on both sides of a long contro- versy 3 to be at least maimed and mutilated, contains no reference to the innovation and inhibition, but does give in four lines a gen- eral summarized sense of the twenty lines (325-345) found first in the 1623 folio. On the other hand, the second quarto (1604) 4 omits these twenty lines, but gives the rest of the passage as a practical iden- tity with the same in the 1623 folio. 5 This omission in Q 2 is Calorie, op. cit., Ill, 67, thinks ers on the other side (that the play the sign of the Globe was painted was completed before printed or on the river-side wall, — "a figure played), quoted in H. H. Furness, of Hercules supporting the Globe, Shakespeare Variorum, Hamlet under which was written Totus (1877), II, 14-33. mundus agit histrionem." I do not The controversy still continues know his authority. in recent books and periodicals. 'The I Tragicall Historie of | See infra, 184 1 . Hamlet | Prince of Denmarke | By 4 The | Tragicall Historie of | William Shake-speare.| As it hath Hamlet, | Prince of Denmarke. | By beene diuerse times acted by his William Shakespeare. | Newly im- Highnesse ser-|uants in the Cittie printed and enlarged to almost as of London : as also in the two much | againe as it was, according V-|niuersities of Cambridge and to the true and perfect | Coppie. \ Oxford, and else-where| [vignette] [vignette] At London,| Printed by At London printed for N. L. and I. R. for N. L. and are to be sold John Trundell.| 1603 :| — Title-page, at his | shoppe vnder Saint Dun- 1603 quarto. stons Church in | Fleetstreet. 1604. | "See discussions by Caldecott, — Title-page, 1604 quarto. Knight, Delius, Staunton, Elze, 'The only difference is in the Dyce, and others on the one side transposition of "they" and "are" (that Qi is a first conception, later in line 324. See note on Fi, supra, reworked), and Collier, Tycho 174. Mommsen, Grant White, and oth- THE HAMLET PASSAGE 1»3 made in the face of the statement on the title-page that the edi- tion is "enlarged to almost as much againe as it was, according to the true and perfect Coppie." Without entering into argument, I must, though anticipating a date by two years, simply state the significance of these facts. 1 When James I came to the throne, the royal maintenance and appareling of the Blackfriars Boys ceased. In January, 1604, they were put on an exact level with the public theatres. The cause of grievance to the public theatres being thus removed, the continuance of Shakespeare's attack thereafter would have been pointless and absurd, — an attack upon a mere historical foe. Hence it was omitted from the 1604 edition. — Which incidentally indicates that that edition was, as it claimed to be, printed from "the true and perfect copy" as Shakespeare and his company then wished it. It was likewise omitted from Q 3 (1605), Q 4 (1611), Q 6 (undated, but after 161 1), and was never printed until the 1623 folio, which aims to preserve to literature and history the plays of Shakespeare from their most authentic source. I have no doubt that the 1623 folio text was from the original manu- script containing minor changes made from time to time for the stage. This passage containing the attack, crossed out and not acted after the death of Elizabeth, was restored in the folios as a part of the original play. In the 1604 and later quartos, just enough of the original mat- ter is retained to make the transition from the necessary talk about the players to the matters of dramatic concern expressed in Hamlet's, "It is not very strange" &c. It is clear that the part retained was kept solely for this transitional step. 2 We no longer need to rely upon the four-line summary in the 1603 quarto as sole proof that the complete passage (315-345) was in the play as originally acted ; for, as seen, the passage in its 'The matter is taken up fully in p. 129, Dr. Tanger has as clear a proper chronological order, com- statement as can well be made on plete work, vol. I, chap. XV I. the awkward gap caused by the 2 See Dr. Gustav Tanger, The omission (325-45). His conclu- First and Second Quartos and the sion, however, that this part was First Folio of Hamlet ( \ r ezv Shake- left OUt by accident is an unfor- speare Society Publications, Series tnnatc guess. I, Nos. s and 9, 1880), 109-97. On 184 CHILDREN OF THE CHAPEL AT BLACKFRIARS entirety fits the facts of no other period than at the close of 1601 and opening of 1602. 1 No farther documents touching the status or popularity of the Children of the Chapel at Blackfriars are known. The evidences adduced give us the "gelegenheit" or state of affairs through a brilliant career from 1597 to September 18, 1602. We know from subsequent events that the same condition continued to the close of Elizabeth's reign, — March 24, 1603. What occurred there- ^he facts on the above Hamlet passage are established on a purely historical basis with reference to the Children of the Chapel as act- ors at Blackfriars. — Which has hith- erto not been possible. The larger significance to certain Hamlet prob- lems must be taken up elsewhere. I add here only a word. The certainty that this impor- tant passage was written and acted in its entirety in late 1601 to early 1602 is established. (See supra, 174-75 1 ). The logical acceptance of it as a representative example of "the true and perfect copy" as orig- inally written and acted is unavoid- able; — just as in similar cases in certain other Shakespearean and contemporary plays. It stands thus for the first time as an incon- trovertible fact among the proofs that Shakespeare wrote Hamlet in 1601 just as he wrote his other great dramas before and after, — once and for all. The later stage- changes are unimportant. It is cor- respondingly disproof of the theory, comfortable to some, that between the quartos of 1603 and 1604 Shake- speare's mind and art underwent a century-long Homeric development. (See commentators cited supra, 182 3 . Also, among later theorists, see J. Schick, Die Entstehung des Hamlet. Festvortrag, gehalten auf der General - Versammlung der Deutschen Shakespeare-Gcsellschaft am 23. April 1902; in Shakespeare- Jahrbuch, 1902, XXXVIII, xiii- xlviii.) With the play in final form in 1601, there is no longer need of supposing, with some, an earlier form, or with others an intermedi- ate form, from which the pirated 1603 quarto and Der Bestrafte Bru- dermord were derived, nor with others that the latter is derived from the former. (See W. Crei- zenach, Der Bestrafte Brudermord and its Relations to Shakespeare's Hamlet, in Modern Philology (1904- 5), II, 249-60. This is in the main a defense of the author's views on the same subject in Berichte der philol.-histor. Classe der Konigl. Sachs. Gesellschaft der Wissen- schaften, 1887, Iff., and in Schau- spiele der Englischen Komodianten in Kurschner's Deutsche National- Litteratur, 1889, XXIII. At the same time it is an answer to the review of Creizenach's views by Dr. Gustav Tanger, Der Bestrafte Bru- dermord oder Prinz Hamlet aus Ddnnemark und sein Verhaltniss su Shakespeare's Hamlet, in Shake- speare-Jahrbuch, 1888, XXIII, 224ff. To Creizenach's article in Modern Philology, u. s., M. B. Evans, "Der Bestrafte Brudermord" and Shake- speare's "Hamlet," in eod., 433-49, makes reply. This is mainly a de- fense of Evans's Der Bestrafte Bru- dermord sein Verhaltniss su Shake- speare's Hamlet. Diss. Bonn, 1902.) Both versions were written from the original play as presented on the Globe stage from ca. late 1601 to early 1602 on. Who wrote them and why they have certain simi- larities and differences requires in- vestigation on wholly new lines that are not bounded by the defense of theories. Known facts concern- ing certain actors long in Germany THE HAMLET PASSAGE 185 after, with its larger significance to the drama and stage, is the subject of following chapters. and but recently in the Burbage- on a matter of mere history can be Shakespeare company may be of established, conclusions based on use in a first research for external theory were better unexpressed. data. But unless historical facts SUBJECT INDEX [This analytical index of chief subjects, supplemented by cross-refer- ences in the foot-notes, may serve for most purposes in lieu of the more severely scientific index rcrum et nominum el titulorum, which is too ex- tensive to be practicable in this introductory volume.] Accommodations for comfort of au- diences, 8, 34-35, 35\ 50-.". 1, 5l\ 52. Actors, Children of the Chapel as, 1, 4, 5, 11, 13, 16, 18, 40, 41, 53, 54, 56 1 , 58, 59 2 -62, 65, 66, 68-70 1 , 70- 72, 73-76, 77-83, 92, 105, 106-7, 113, 115, 127, 141, 150, 151, 163, 165% 166, 174, 176-82, 183; devel- oped by children-companies, 13- 14, ISO 3 ; irresponsibieness of chil- dren, 15 ; hindered by stage-pa- trons, 44, 46, 142, 143-46 ; view of, on Blackfriars and modern stage, 47 3 ; number of, at Blackfriars, 74-76, 127; names of, at Black- friars, 76, 80 l , 132 5 , 163, 165 2 , 177 1 ; impressment of boys as, 17, 53, 57, 60-68 1 , 70, 71, 73-74, 77-83, 99, 101, 102, 114, 127, 152; contract for employment of boys as, at Blackfriars, 80 3 ; not "gentlemen's children" at Blackfriars, 82, 180 = ; English, in Germany, 110-12, 128; art of Elizabethan-Jacobean and modern, 134 5 ; law against stroll- ing, 150, 152 3 , 173 3 ; relations of, at Blackfriars and other theatres, 163-72; strolling or traveling of, caused by Blackfriars, 175 3 -76 ; Fletcher's, patronized by James VI of Scotland, 175"-76 ; superi- ority of, at Blackfriars, 176-77*. See Blackfriars, Children, Eliza- beth, Theatre. Admission price, at Blackfriars, 36, 112, 177; comparative view of, 6, 112*. Alleyn, Edward, Fortune contract by, 7 2 -8; on cost of Fortune, 29'. All Fools. See Chapman. Allusions, local. See Plays. Antimasque. See Masque. Antonio and Mellida. See Marston. Antonio's Revenge. See Marston. Apologctical Dialogue. See Jonson. Apparel. See Stage-apparel. Archives and original documents, xii, xiv-xv. Art of Elizabethan-Jacobean and modern acting, 134 5 . Articles of agreement, by Black- friars managers, 85, 87-91, 102; date of, 85, 87 a , 88-91 ; 200 /. bond as security in, 88, 92 2 ; lawsuits concerning, 89-91 ; terms of, in 200/. bond, 91-92". See Bond. Artificial lighting of Blackfriars, 106-7, 124. Assignment of Blackfriars lease by Evans to Hawkins, purpose of, 85-86, 93; date of, 89-91; not in trust, 89*. Attitude of Elizabeth toward thea- tres, results of, 155, 156-57, 158, 159, 163-72, 175-82. Audiences, relative position of, to stage, ix, 50-plat-51. 52; -elect, at Blackfriars, 6, 7, 8, 35-:;r,. | 18*, 51, 52, 71, B2 B3, 95, 96, '.»7, 106-7. 1 L2, L19, L24, L28, I I ! 157, 164-60. 175-77, 1M B2; pro- visions for comfort of, S, 34-35, 35\ 50-plat-51, 51 1 , 52; Hamlet on losses of genteel, to Blackfriars, 164, 175-77, 181-82; Poetaster on, 165-66; Cynthia's Revels on, i * "» •■ > ; Satiromastix on, 166; Case is Altered on, 176\ Balcony of Blackfriar-. 18, :.0-plat- *'i ; use of, for musicians, 18 . 50- plat-.". 1 . Bear Garden. Thomas Platter on, 7 2 -8; date of, 9"; architecture of. 18*; cost of, 30; structure and fin- ishing of. :::.•' ; location of, 153*. Bestrafte Brudennord, Der, rela- tions of, to Hamlet. L84*. 188 CHILDREN OF THE CHAPEL AT BLACKFRIARS Biron. See Byron. Blackfriars monastery, history of, 18-20; dissolution and value of, 20. Blackfriars precinct, petition of in- habitants of, 17 5 , 27, 53\ 128", 152, 154" ; boundaries of, 19-20 ; a sanctuary inviolate, 20; liberties and privileges of, City and Crown's contention over, 20-21 1 , 53, 54, 152-54, 156, 159, 160, 161 1 - 62 ; buildings of, 21 ; granted to Cawarden, 22; changes in, by Cawarden, 23 ; aristocracy of, 23, 26-28, 38, 96, 152; property of Shakespeare in, 26 1 , 27, 28; poorer inhabitants of, 27 ; on history of, 154 1 ; suppression of Rossiter's theatre in, 154 2 , 16l\ 161 2 -62. See Blackfriars theatre, City, Eliza- beth. Blackfriars theatre, historical im- portance of, ix, 6, 18, 151, 163; as a model, ix, 8-9, 18 3 , 35, 36', 36 2 , 39 3 , 43 8 , 141, 151, 163; size of, ix, 7, 28, 35, 36, 38-39, 43 e , 46, 49 3 , 50-plat-51, 128 3 ; structural details of, ix, 37-54; plat of, ix, 50-51; new documents concerning, ix-x, 10 s , 36 4 , 39\ 40 2 , 41 4 , 42, 44 10 , 45\ 48\ 48 5 , 49 2 , 56\ 57, 60-62, 80 3 , 84 1 , 84 4 , 87 s , 87 5 , 89 7 , 95, 106-7 2 , 123 5 , 125 4 , 128 3 , 158 1 ; Elizabeth's relations to, x, xii, 54, 94, 99, 101, 105, 126-29, 148-62; maintenance of Children of the Chapel at, x, 4, 40, 71, 73-76, 91~92, 95, 98-104, 105, 106-7, 126, 127, 128-29, 178- 82; the Queen attends, x, 1, 26, 51, 71, 87, 95-97, 99, 112, 115, 125, 128, 160 ; relations of, to other the- atres, poets, and players, x-xi, xii, 133, 140, 158, 165-66 2 , 167, 168, 169-72, 178-81; and the "stage- quarrel," x-xi, xii, 133, 140, 158, 165-66 2 , 168, 169-72, 178-81; sit- ting on the stage, as a custom at, xi, 7, 42-43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48 1 , 50-plat-51,52, 124, 130-47 ; Queen's requirements for training Children in various arts at, xi, 4-5, 9-11, 40, 56, 59 3 -60, 71, 74, 80\ 105-25, 127, 163, 180; singing at, xi, 4, 5, 9, 71, 80\ 106-7, 113-14 4 , 115, 117, 121-22, 163, 180 ; instrumental mu- sic at, xi, 4, 5, 9, 10, 11, 71, 106^7, 113, 114, 115, 116-18, 121, 122, 163; dancing at, xi, 5, 44, 71, 118, 163 ; masque at, xi, xii, 5, 10 4 , 44, 113, 114, 119-21, 122-24, 163, 167; Children of the Chapel as act- ors at, 1, 4, 5, 13, 16, 18, 40, 41, 53, 54, 56 1 , 58, 59 2 -62, 65, 66, 70-72, 73-76, 80 1 , 82, 83, 85, 86, 87-94, 95, 96, 103, 106-7, 112, 113, 115, 117 1 , 121, 123, 126-29, 132 5 , 141, 150, 151, 163, 165 2 , 166, 174, 176-82, 183 ; Children of the Rev- els to the Queen at, 1, 13, 15, 44 10 , 74, 80 3 , 163, 177 2 , 183; audiences of, select, 6, 7, 8, 35-36, 43, 45, 48 3 , 51, 52, 71, 82-83, 95, 96, 97, 106-7, 112, 119, 124, 128, 142, 155, 157, 164-66, 175-77, 181-82; boxes or lords' rooms at, 6, 41 5 -43, 49, 50-plat-51, 124, 140 1 , 141; earliest companies at, 6, 21-22, 23-24, 42 3 ; seats at, 6, 49 2 , 50-plat-51, 52 ; gal- leries at, 6, 41 4 -43, 46, 50-plat-51, 124; as foremost theatre, 6, 18, 163 ; remodeled from Priory house, 7, 17, 35, 36, 38, 39~54, 152 ; "Great Hall" or auditorium of, 7, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 43, 49, 74; a social centre for the elite, 7, 35-36, 43, 45, 48 3 , 51, 95-97, 161; influence of, on theatre-structures, 8-9, 18 3 , 35, 36, 39 3 , 43 e , 141; ac- commodations for comfort of au- diences in, 8, 34-35, 50-51, 52; influence of, on accommodations of the new Globe, 8, 35 ; as model for Cockpit and Salisbury Court, 8, 18 3 , 36, 39 3 , 43", 141 ; date of, 9\ 53, 56 1 , 57, 128 3 ; leased to Shake- speare and fellows, 10, 34 3 , 35, 44 10 , 45 1 , 56 1 ; orchestra of, 10 4 - 11; practice of jests at, 15, 48 s , 132 5 , 133 4 , 163, 165 2 , 177 2 ; not a "nursery," 13 ; opening of, by Ev- ans, 16, 53, 56 1 ; leased to Evans, 17, 40, 56\ 57-58, 84, 88, 127, 128 3 ; purchased by Burbage, 17, 35, 36, 53, 128 3 ; cost of, 17, 35; deed for, 17 s ; petition to Privy Council against, 17 5 , 27, 53\ 128 3 , 152, 154 1 ; City's order to suppress, 17 5 , 53 2 , 154 2 , 161 1 ; errors in history of, 18- 18\ 24 s , 107\ 107 2 -8, 130 4 -30*; present site of, 21, 24-28 ; early use of, for Revels Office and plays, 21- 22, 23-24, 42 s ; part of royal grant SUBJECT INDEX 189 to Cawarden, 22 ; Lyly's plays at, 23-24 ; aristocratic environs of, 23, 26-28, 38, 96, 132 ; pretentiousness of, compared with other theatres, 28-35 ; annual rental of, 30 1 , 45\ 57, 178 ; superior accommodations of, 35-36, 51; Clifton's Complaint against, 30, 70, 71, 73-74, 77-83, 84-87", 100, 101, 102, 113-14', 115, 126, 128 3 , 159, 160, 180; stage at, 36, 42\ 43-47, 48, 49', 50-plat-51, 52, 5."., 12 1. L37 9 , 141-42; materials of, 37, 40 7 ; "the Scholehouse" of, 40, 71, 74, 127 ; rooms above the "Great Hall" of, 40-41, and their use, 41, 74, 128 3 ; resemblance of, to Freiburg Stadttheater, 42'; tir- ing-house of, 47, 48", 50-plat-51 ; plat of, 47, 50-51" ; capacity of, 47, 49, 50-plat-51, 52; balcony of, 48, 50-plat~51 ; place for musi- cians in, 48% 50-plat-51, 137'; un- historical stage of, 49\ 137"; no picture of, 52; owned by Richard Burbage, 53, 56 1 ; whether built to supplant "The Theatre," 54, 128 s , 152 ; provisions for rent, repairs, and expenses of, 57, 89 3 , 89 7 , 91- 92, 100, 101-2, 103, 104, 106-7, 113, 126, 127, 128-29, 173"-74, 175, 178-79 ; number of plays per week at, 71, 106-7, 124-25; plays at, 75, 113-25, 165-72; number of actors at, 74-76, 127 ; names of actors at, 76, 80', 132 5 , 163, 105 J , 177 1 ; con- tract for employment of children at, 80'; tonduct of, official, 81, 83, 99, m 1-2, 126-29, 130; not gentle- men's children at, 82, 180% 180 3 ; Star Chamber decree concerning, 81-83, 87, 88, 93-94, 115, 126, 159; assignment of lease of, by Evans, 6 ; new management of, 85, 86, 87-94, 102, 103-4, 113, L15; and Hamlet, 86, 1 15, L29, L33, 158, 164, 167, L68, 173-85; Queen Hen- rietta attends, Vf\ status of Chil- dren at, L05 25; Duke of Stettin's Diary on, L06-7, L08-25, 128; ar- tificial lighting of, L06-7, i:i: popularization and musical in- fluence of concerts at, i it 1 , 121 ; days of week for acting at, 125; imitation of customs of, L30, L36, 141-47, 163; imitation of plays and playwrights of, 166 88; no suppressive order against, 14'j'-50, 153; alliance of City and theatre against, 151, 153-55, 156—57, 158- 02, 108 ; protected by Queen's the- atrical orders, 153, 161 1 , 175-70; results of Queen's attitude toward, 155, L57, L58, 159, 102, 104-66, 175-70 ; temporary restraint of, 158'; as a "public" theatre, L61 , relations of, to theatres, poets, and players, 103-72, 178-81; list of dramatists for, 103 J ; plays of, with local allusions, 104-72; pat- ronage drawn to, from public the- atres, 104-00, 170, 181-82; as cause of public theatre companies having to travel, 175' ; reduced by James 1 to public-theatre level, 183. See Children, Clifton, Duke, Elizabeth, Evans, Gyles, James, Plays, Shakespeare, Sitting on the stage, Stage, Stage-quarrel, The- atre, &c. Bond, for 400 /., as security to Bur- bage for rent of Blackfriars 57, 85 1 ; for 200 /., as security in new management of Blackfriars, 88, 1)2"; contains terms of agreement. 89 7 -90, 91-92"; for 50 /., for sal- ary, 88, 102 3 , 125. See Articles, "Eight Shillings." Boxes, private, at Blackfriars, 6, 41°-43, 49, 124, 140', 141; of French theatres, 40, 147 ; of pri- vate theatres, 141 ; origin of mod- ern, i :.' . Hi. :.o-plat-5l. Bugle-blast at opening of a play, ll 1 . Burbage, James, purchase of Black- friars by, 17, 35, 36, 53, 128' ; con- verts Priory into theatre, L7-18, 152; alterations in Blackfriars building by, 7, 17. 35, 36, 38 {See Burbage, Richard); death of, 53; purpose of, concerning Blackfriars ami "The I lu-atre." 54, L28', 152. Burbage. Richard, leases Blackfriars to Shakespeare and fellows, L0, 34*, ::.">. 14 . leases Black- friars to Evans, 17, 40, 84, 88; alterations in Blackfriars by ( See But bage, James 1 . 39 S i : owner of 1 '.lack friar-. 53, .">!">': dis- proves assignment of Blackfriars lease in trust, Burbag peare company, lease of Blackfriars by, i". :i . ::.">. 44'°, 190 CHILDREN OF THE CHAPEL AT BLACKFRIARS 45 1 , 56 1 ; The Tempest, first piay at Blackfriars by, 10 3 ; dramatic freedom conduced to by, 13, 123; profits of, at Blackfriars, 35, 45 ; retained but restricted by Eliza- beth, 155, 156 ; connection of, with Essex conspiracy, 157 ; strolling or traveling of, 175 3 ; not the com- pany patronized by James VI of Scotland, 175 3 . Byron tragedies. See Chapman. Campaspe. See Lyly. Candle-light, at Blackfriars, 106-7, 124. Canopy, 48*. Capacity, of the Swan and Hope, 30-31 1 , 33, 50 1 ; of the Fortune and Globe, 49, 50-plat-51, 52; of Blackfriars, 47, 49, 50-plat-51, 52; comparison of, in Elizabethan- Jacobean and modern theatres, 50\ Case is Altered, The. See Jonson. Cawarden, Sir Thomas, owner of Blackfriars, 17 ; royal grant of Blackfriars to, 22; not first Mas- ter of the Revels, 21 5 -22; uses hall at Blackfriars for play-act- ing, 22 1 -22 2 , 42 3 ; makes changes in Blackfriars precinct, 23. Chapel Royal, place of, 2-3 ; uses of, 2, 3 ; constitution of, 2 ; duties of, 2-3 ; James I and choristers of, in Scotland, 3 ; salaries and fees of, 3, 3*, 4 ; Nathaniel Gyles's connection with, 3 2 , 58, 59 8 -62 ; as a theatre, 4 1 ; as source of private theatre, 5-6 ; children not to be taken from, 64. See Children, Commission, Elizabeth, Gyles. Chapman, George, source of an un- known play by, xv, 164 2 ; rank of, 12; as dramatist for children- companies, 12 ; Biron tragedies, indiscretions of, 15, 163 1 , 177 2 -78 ; as writer of masques, 121 ; recip- rocal influences of, on Shake- speare, 167-68. All Fools, on sitting on the stage, 133-34 2 . Gentleman Usher, The, act- — — May Day, actors required in, 75 2 ; as laughing answer to Ham- let, 86, 168 ; evidences in, of sing- ing, 114 4 ; instrumental music, 116 1 ; dancing, 118 2 ; masque, 120. M. D'Olive, actors required in, 75 2 ; evidences in, of singing, 114*; music, 116 1 ; dancing, 118 2 ; character-extension of Malvolio in, 168. Sir Giles Goosecap, actors required in, 75"; evidences in, of singing, 114 4 ; music, 116 1 ; danc- ing, 118; masque, 119; character- extension of Dogberry in, 167. Widdowes Teares, The, act- ors required in, 75 2 ; evidences in, of singing, 114* ; music, 116 1 ; dancing, 118 2 ; masque, 119; obli- gations of, to Twelfth Night, 167- 68. ors required in, 75 2 ; satire of, on Star Chamber decree, 82-83, 86- 87; date of, 82, 86, 114 4 -15, 118\ 120 ; evidences in, of singing, 114 4 ; music, 116 1 ; dancing, 118; musical prelude to, 106-7, 115-16, 117-18; masque in, 120; elaborate costuming of, 106-7, 124; obliga- tions of, to The Taming of the Shrew, 168. Characteristics of children-plays, 9- 10, 14-15, 113, 114-19, 119-21, 122, 123-24. Characteristics of theatres, private, 5-7, 18 3 , 35, 43-49, 50-plat-51, 141-42; public, 7, 18 3 , 42 5 , 44-49, 50-plat-51, 52, 137-38. Charles I, suppresses custom of sit- ting on stage, 143 1 . Charles II, grant of theatrical mo- nopoly by, 110 3 , 148. Children-companies, on history of, vii, viii, xii; publications on, vii, xii ; on editing plays of, vii ; re- lations of, to dramatic and his- trionic art, vii, viii, ix, xii, 1, 9, 12, 13, 14-15, 16, 105, 122, 141, 147, 180 3 ; under Elizabeth, 1, 9, 12, 105; under James I, 1, 5, 9, 12, 13, 15, 16, 44 10 -45\ 74, 105, HO 2 , 113, 117 1 , 121, 163, 177 2 , 183 ; early, at Blackfriars, 6, 24, 42 3 ; period of, 1, 12, 16 ; imitations and echoes of, 1, 16, 117\ 121, 163; at White- friars, 1, 6, 13, 14, 15 ; in private theatres, 7 ; characteristics of plays by, 9-10, 14-15, 113, 114-19, 119-21, 122, 123-24; period of, 1, 12, 16; proportion of plays by, 12, 163-64 ; chief dramatists as poets SUBJECT INDEX 191 for, 12-14, 163 2 ; not a "nursery, 13; and dramatic freedom, 13, 123; developed great actors, 13-14, 163, 177', ISO"; quality of dramas of, 15, 165. Children of the Chapel, as choris- ters, 1-6, 11, 60-68, 73; Court- service of and its evolution, 1, 4-5, 11, 68-70, 71, 73, 74; secular uses of, 1, and origin, 5; salary and fees of, 3", 4; maintenance of, 3, 71, 73, 127; with James I in Scot- land, 3 l ; pay of, 3', 4; double functions of, 4, 11, 68-70, 71, 73, 74. . ■ as actors, 1, 4, 5, 11, 13, 16, 18, 40, 41, 53, 54, 56', 58, 5'.' 65, 66, 68-70 1 , 70-72, 73-76, 77-83, 92, 105, 106-7, 113, 115, 127, 141, 150, 151, 163, 165", 166, 174, 176-82, 183 ; Puritanic opposition to, 4, 79, 126, 149, L50, L59; evolution of court-service of, 5, 11, 68-70, 71, 73, 74; court-performances of, as source of private theatre, 5; with Paul's Boys at Blackfriars, 24. Sec Chapel, Children at Black- friars, Commission, Elizabeth, Evans, Gyles. Children of the Chapel at Black- friars, maintenance of, x, 4, 40, 71, 73-76, 91-92, 95, 98-104, 105, 106- 7, 126, 127, 128-29, 178-82; Queen's requirements for train- ing of, in various arts, xi, 4-5, 9-11, 40, 56, 59 8 -60, 71, 74, 80 l , 105-25, 127, 163, 180; singing of, xi, 5, 9, 71, SO 1 , 106-7, 113-14*. 115, 121, 163, ISO; music of, xi, 4, 5, 9, 10, 11, 71, 106-7, 113, 114. 115, 116-18, 121, 122, 163; danc- ing of, xi, 5, 44, 71, 118, 163^; masque in plays of, xi, xii, 5, 10*, 44, in. 114, 119-21, 122-24, 163, 167; period of, 1, 184-85; Queen's establishment of, as actors, 1, 4, 5, 13, 16, 18, 40, 41, 53, 54, 56 1 , 58, 59"-fi2, 65, 66, 70~72, 73-76, 80 l , 82, 83, 85, 86, 87-94, 95, 96, 103, 106-7, I l'-'. l L3, L15, 11T 1 . L21, L23, 126-29, 1 '•'-'. ill. L50, LSI, 163, l. ■,:,-. 166, L74, 17(1 82, L83 ; prec- edent^ for establishment <>f. L, 82- r,u, 68-70; source of. the Queen's will. 1. 7". 71. II-'. 1"' ( >: as source of Revels children, I, 74; imita- tions and echoes of, 1, 16, 117 , 121, 163 ; evolved performances of, 4-5 ; the lost repertoire of, 5, 122 ; stage-apparel for, furnished by the Queen, 5, 83, 91-92, 99-100, 101, 106-7, 123, 124, 126, 127, 129, 178, 183; comedy-period of, fol- lowed by tragedy, 5, 183; wide influences of, 12, 13, 14-15, 16, 95 105, 141, 163, 177', 1S0 J ; chief dramatists as poets for, 12-14, 163"; conduced to dramatic free- dom, 13, 113, 123; in competition with Shakespeare, 14, 15, 174, 175- 82; and offsprings of, 14, 16^; errors in history of, IS 1 , 59", 77 , 177'; boarding and lodging of, 11, 71 73-76, 103; Court-perform- ances of, 72, 96, 112, 115, 121-22 1 , 157; number of, as actors, 74-76, 127; plays of, 7:., L13-25, 165-72; names of, 76, si) 1 . 132 5 , 163, 165', age of, 76; popularity of, 80 3 , 85', 94. L04, 117'-18, 123, 124, 166, 173-74, 17C-77; use of, as actors, officially sanctioned, 81, 83, 99, 101-2, 126-29, 130; not gentle- men's children, 82, ISO 2 , 180 1 ; un- der new management, 85, SO. 87- 94 102, 103-4, 113. 115; and Ham- let, 86, 115, 129, 133, 15S\ 164, 167, 168, 173-85; status of, 1" Duke of Stettin on, 106-7, 108-25 ; model for Duke of Stettin's es- tablishment, 109-12; concert-mu- sic popularized by, H7 1 . 121; as "the fashion," L23, L66, 173-74, 176-77; reduced to public-theatre level, 1S3. See Blackfriars, Clif- ton, Commission, Duke, Elizabeth, Evans, Gyles, Hamlet, Music, Plays, Singing. Children of her Majesty's Royal Chamber of Bristol, old men as, U7\ Children of the King's Revels at Whitefriars, period of, i : dram- atists and dramas of, L4, L5 ; con- certs by, 1 17\ r.'i ; value of ward- robe of, i> Children of the Revels, three com- panies of, ' Children of the Revels to the Queen at Blackfriars, p> riod of, i i ,d by James I. L3, H the Kine.. i.v 192 CHILDREN OF THE CHAPEL AT BLACKFRIARS 177 2 ; placed on public-theatre level, 74, 183 ; contract for em- ployment of, 80 3 . Children of the Revels to the Queen at Whitefriars, period of, 1, 13, 16; managers of, as founders of German theatre, 110 2 ; and Philip Rossiter, 117 1 ; musical entertain- ments by, 117 1 , 121. Children of St. Paul's. See Paul's Boys. Choristers. See Chapel, Children, Commission, Elizabeth. Chronology, of Blackfriars plays, xi, xii, 75, 114 3 -18; of events and plays, in stage-quarrel, xi, xii, 169 2 -72. See play-titles under Chapman, Dekker, Jonson, Mars- ton, Shakespeare. Church, in evolution of private the- atre, 5 1 . See Paul's. City of London, contention of, with Crown, over Blackfriars, x, xii, 20-21 1 , 53, 54, 152-54, 156, 159, 160, 161 a -62; order of, to sup- press Blackfriars, 17 s , 53 2 , 1*54 2 , 161 1 ; false statement of, concern- ing Privy Council order against Blackfriars, 53-54 ; opposition of, to Elizabeth's theatrical purposes, 129, 149-62 ; requests by, for priv- ilege to suppress theatres, 149, 152, 154, 155, 156, 160; neglects execution of Queen's orders, 149, 153, 154, 155, 156, 16 1\ 161 l -62; methods of theatrical reformation by, 150-51, 153 ; insincerity of, 151, 153, 159, 160, 161 1 -62; alli- ance of, with theatres, against Blackfriars, 151, 153-55, 156-57, 158-62; political chess-game of, , 153-54, 160, 161 1 -62; suppresses Rossiter's Blackfriars theatre, 154 2 , 161 1 ; connection of, with Clifton's Complaint, 159, 160. See Elizabeth, Reformation. Clifton's Complaint in Star Cham- ber, against Blackfriars, 36, 70, 71, 73-74, 77-83, 84~87 3 , 100, 101, 102, 113-14 4 , 115, 126, 128 3 , 159, 160, 180; purpose of, 73-74, 79, 82, 126, 159; date of.^ 77 2 -78, 79, 84; historical unreliability of, 79, 80, 100-1, lOf-2, 113-14 4 , 115, 126, 128 3 , 180; Puritanism in, 79, 126, 150, 159 ; disproof of charges by, 80 s , 113, 113 2 -14 4 , 115, 180; decree in favor of, 81-83, 159; date of decree for, 84-87 3 , 159; furthers City's opposition to Elizabeth, 159, 160; false pretenses of, 159. See Decree, Elizabeth, Evans, Star Chamber. Cockpit, the, modeled after Black- friars, 8, 18 3 , 36, 39 3 , 43", 141 ; date of, 8 1 , 9 1 ; as private theatre, 8, 130 5 ; music at, 10 4 ; size of, 36, 39 3 , 43 6 , 141; stage of, 43; sitting on stage of, 44, 130, 136, 141; Queen Henrietta attends, 97 3 ; lo- cation of, 153 2 . Comfort in theatres, required and provided, 8, 34-35, 35\ 50-51, 5l\ 52. Commission to take up Children, to Edwards, x, 65 1 ; to Hunnis, x, 65, 66 2 , 70; to Nathaniel Gyles, x, 17, 53, 57, 60 1 -62, 65, 66, 68, 70, 71, 73-74, 77-83, 84, 99, 101, 102, 113, 114, 126, 127, 152; precedents for, to Gyles, 62-70; interpreta- tion of Gyles's, in practice, 70-72, 73^76, 77-83, 95-97, 106-7, 127, 152, 155-62, 175; to Abingdon, 62 1 ; to Banester, 62 2 ; to Melyonek, 62 3 ; to Cornysh, 63 ; to Crane, 63 ; to Van Wilder, 63 2 ; to Bower, 63 4 , 64; to [unnamed], 64 ; ; to Thomas Gyles, 67 2 ; to Nathaniel Gyles, at Windsor, 68 1 . See Blackfriars, Children, Elizabeth, Gyles. "Common." See "Public." Companies, theatres, and poets, re- lated to Blackfriars, x-xi, xii, 133, 140, 158, 165-66 2 , 167, 168, 169-72, 178-81. Comparative view of theatre-struc- tures, ix, 28-54. See Stage, The- atre. Concert, as musicale or "showe," exclusive of drama, by Black- friars Boys, 5, 9, 10, 106-7, 113, 115, 117-18, 121; Blackfriars as source of popularity of, 117 1 ; in- fluence of, 117\ 121; first collec- tions of music for, 117 1 . See Music. Concert-music, first collections of, and Blackfriars, 117 1 . Construction. See Comparative view. SUBJECT INDEX 193 Contention between Liberality and Prodigality, 114. Contention, of City and Crown, over Blackfriars, x, xii, 20-21 1 , 53, 54, l.".:: 54, L56, L59, 1.60, L61 1 - 62; of City and Theatre against Crown, in relation to Blackfriars, x, 129, 149-62, 168. Corporation of the City of London. See City. Court, Paul's Boys at, 4, 24, 07, 157; Children of the Chapel at, 4, 24; masques at, 22, 118-19, 122', 123; Children of Blackfriars at, 72, 96, 112, 115, 121-22', 157; "showe" at, 115, 121; records of Children of Chapel at, 127 ; late Elizabethan public-theatre companies at, 155; no plays at, Christmas, 1601-[2], 1 59-60. Court, the, attends Blackfriars, 95- 97, 101, 112, 128, 177\ Court-entertainments, rehearsals for, 22; of Children at Blackfriars, 72, 90, 112, 115, 121-22', 157; in- fluenced by Blackfriars drama, 123; omitted, Christmas, 1001- [2], 159-60. Court-performances of Children in the Chapel, as source of private theatre, 5-6. Court-service of Children of the Chapel, primary, 1, 4 ; evolution of, 4-5, 11, 68-70, 71, 73, 74. Crown. See Blackfriars, City, Con- tention, Elizabeth, James, Theatre. Cuckqueanes and Cuckolds Errants, The. See Percy. "Cuffs," meaning of, 18l\ Curtain theatre, the, Thomas Plat- ter on, 7"-8 ; date of, 9 5 ; archi- tecture of, 18 s ; cost of, :h>; unhistorical stage of, 49', 137"; sit- ting on the stage of, 138; orders ilating, L48 ; opposition to, 149*; orders against, revoked, 149*-50; City's request to sup- press, 152-53; orders to suppress, 153, 156, 1'.'.'; location of 153'; restrained by Privy Council, 158, 181*. Customs. See Theatrical. Cynthia's Revels. See Jonson. Dancing, taught ami practiced at Blackfriars, xi, 4-5, 71, 118; within the play, 5, 44, 118, 163; in early German theatre, 111; evi- dences of, in Blackfriars plays, L18*; 'th, daggering upsprmg," 1 r.»". See Masque. Daniel, Samuel, and John, 117'. Dates of plays. See Chapman, Chronology, Dekker, Jonson, Marston, Shakespeare. D'Avenant-Killigrew theatrical mo- nopoly, 11, HO 3 , 148. Davies, Sir John, on sitting on the stage, 132' ; on sitting "over" the stage, 135; on the "gull," 138 K -39. Day, John, The Isle of Guls, indis- cretions of, 15. Decree of Star Chamber, shows grants to Evans, 56, 71-72, 81-83, 99; effect of, on Gyles, 70-71, S3, 127; nature of, 81-83; satirized by Chapman, 82-83, 86-87; effect of, on Blackfriars, ^''.. 87, 88, 93- 94, 11'., L59; prohibitive effect of, "ii I. vans only, 83, 87-91, 93~94, I"::. LIS, L59; date of, 84-s7 ; ', 159; basis of, 126, 159. Dekker, Thomas, new play by, xv, iii4 J . Culs Home-Book, The, on lords' rooms, 43, ill; on sitting on the stage, 46, 133*, 140% 140*; on the "gull," 140 1 ; on stage- quarrel, 133, 140, 172 Patient Crisell. with Chettle and Haughton, plagiarianism of, 170. Satiromastix, on bugle- blast, 11'; at Globe and Paul's, LI 1 , L58, 1*1 ; on Jonson at Black- friars. 4 1'. L33; thrusts Jonson and Blackfriars Boys, 16S ; satir- izes Poetaster, L71. See Stage- quarrel. and Wilkins, George, Jests to Make you Merry, on sitting "over" the stage, i Devil is an Ass, The. See Jonson. De Witt, Johannes. See Swan. Diary. See Duke. Henslowe, Plat- ter. Differentiation of "public" and "pri- vate" theatres, 9, 12, 156 57, L61\ Documents, new. See Blackfriars, Children, Globe, Shakespeare. Documents, original, and archives, xii, xiv-xv. 194 CHILDREN OF THE CHAPEL AT BLACKFRIARS Drama, Elizabeth's fondness for, 4, 70, 113, 150; private theatre as factor in, 5 1 , 12 ; characteristics of, 9-10, 14-15, 113, 114-19, 119-21, 122, 123-24; period of splendor in, 12 ; shaped by conditions, 13- 14, 113, 123; losses in, 14-15, 122, 163-64, 172 ; quality of, 14-15, 165- 66; origin of new features in, at Blackfriars, 122 ; influences of, at Blackfriars, 167. See Blackfriars, Children, Plays, Theatre. Drama and stage, relations of chil- dren-companies to, vii, viii, ix, xii, 1, 9, 12, 13, 14-15, 16, 105, 122, 141, 147, 180 3 . Dramatic freedom, allowed at Blackfriars and Globe, 13-14, 123 ; influences of, on dramatic form, 113, 123. Dramatists, effect of theatrical con- ditions upon, ix, 12-14, 113, 123; relations of, at Blackfriars and other theatres, 163-72 ; names of, 12-14, 163 2 . Drolls. See Kirkman. Duke of Stettin, and retinue, at Blackfriars, 106-7, 124; at Globe, 108 1 ; at Fortune, 109 1 ; at Bear Garden, 109 ; chief interest of, in Blackfriars, and establishment of company after, 109-12, 128. Diary, on maintenance, in- struction and performances of Children at Blackfriars, 5, 10, 40 3 , 74, 99, 106-7, 113-25, 126; on es- tablishment of Blackfriars, 54, 56, G9, 105, 106-7, 126; on apparel, 99, 124 ; value and significance of, 105, 107-8; original and transla- tion of, 106-7 ; disproves Clifton's charges, 115. Dutch Courtesan. See Marston. Eastward Ho. See Marston, Chap- man, Jonson. Edward IV, Liber Niger Domus Regis of, 2 ; commissions of, to Abingdon and Banester, 62; uses Children of Chapel as actors, 68. Edward VI, uses Blackfriars for Revels Office, 21 ; grants Black- friars to favorites, 22 ; commission by, to Van Wilder, 63; and to Bower, 63 ; reappointment of of- ficers of, 64 ; uses Children of Chapel as actors, 69. Edwards, Richard, commission to, to take up children, x, 64, 65 1 , 70 ; allowances to, for children, 64 7 , 73. "Eight shillings" item, the, as man- ager's salary to Evans, 88, 125 ; 50 /. bond as security for, 88, 102 3 , 125 ; quoted, 98 ; significance of, 98-100, 102, 104; determines day of week for acting at Blackfriars, 125 ; on official conduct of Black- friars, 126. Elizabeth, Queen, relations of, to Blackfriars, x, xii, 54, 94, 99, 101, 105, 126-29, 148-62; maintains Children at Blackfriars, x, 4, 40, 71, 73-76, 91-92, 95, 98-104, 105, 106-7, 126, 127, 128-29, 178-82; commission by, to take up chil- dren, — to Nathaniel Gyles, x, 17, 53, 57, 60-62, 65, 66, 68, 70, 71, 73-74, 77-83, 84, 99, 101, 102, 113, 114, 126, 127, 152;— to Edwards, x, 64, 65 1 , 70;— to Hunnis, x, 65, 66 2 , 70; attends Blackfriars, x, 1, 26, 51, 71, 87, 95-97, 99, 112, 115, 125, 128, 160; expenditures by, at Blackfriars, x, 5, 91-92, 100, 101 1 , 103, 104, 126, 127, 128-29, 178; contention of, against City, over Blackfriars, x, xii, 20-21 1 , 53, 54, 152-54, 156, 159, 160, 161 1 ~62 ; re- quirements of, for training Chil- dren at Blackfriars, xi, 4-5, 9-11, 40, 56, 59-60, 71, 74, 80\ 105-25, 127, 163, 180; masque within play originating under, xi, xii, 5, 10 4 , 44, 114, 119-21, 122-24, 167; chil- dren-companies under, 1, 9, 12, 105 ; will of, as source of Black- friars, 1, 70, 71, 112, 150; estab- lishes Children of Chapel at Blackfriars, 1, 4, 5, 13, 16, 18, 40, 41, 53, 54, 56 1 , 58, 59 2 -62, 65, 66, 70-72, 73-76, 80\ 82, 83, 85, 86, 87-94, 95, 96, 103, 106-7, 112, 113, 115, 117 1 , 121, 123, 126-29, 132°, 141, 150, 151, 163, 165 2 , 166, 174, 176-82, 183; theatrical plans and purposes of, 1, 4, 71, 87, 96, 112, 113, 125, 127, 128 s , 129, 148-62, 150 5 , 151 2 , 152, 154, 157, 159, 175; patronizes Paul's, l 1 , 4, 67, 151, 157 ; fondness of, for drama, 4, 70, 113, 150; early used Children of Chapel as actors, 4, 70 ; Puri- SUBJECT INDEX 195 tanic opposition to, 4, 79, 126, 149, 150, 159 ; functional divisions of Children of the Chapel by, 4, 71, 73-70; stage-apparel provided by, 5, 83, 91-92, 99-100, 101, 10G-7, 123, 124, 126, 127, L29, 17-, L83 ; differentiation of "public" and "private" theatres by, '■>, 12, 156- 57, 161 1 , 176'; entertained at Blackfriars, 20; death of, 44, 1(12', L83; orders of, against theatres, 54, lis, int. i.-,o •-;, I-', L52, 153, 155, 156, 157-58, 160; grants by, to Evans, for using Children as actors, 56, i l 72, Bl -82, 99, 101, L26, L27; Latin patent by, to Gyles, as Master of Children, 59*- 60, 71, 7:5-7-1; commission by, to take up children, — to [unnamed], 64"; — to Bower, 64 7 ; — to Thomas Gyles, 67' ; interpretation of Na- thaniel Gyles's commission al- lowed by, in practice, 70 72 76, 77-83, 95-97, L06 7, 127, 152, 155-62, 17."i ; theatrical plans and orders of, revoked by James I, 74, L49 50, L61 1 , L83; general pardon by, meaning of, 77" ; and Clifton's Complaint, 81-83, 159 ; attends Blackfriars after Clifton's Com- plaint, 84*, 87, 96*, L60, and before decree, 87 3 ; first sovereign at a theatre, 97 3 ; "showe" at Court of, 115, 121-22; masques at Court of, 118-19, 122-'. 12:;; theatrical pur- poses of, official acts by, and op- position to, 129, 148-62, L75; state control of theatres begun by, 148, 148-62 ; methods of theatrical reformation by, 150*-51*, 152 53, 154-55; law of, against .strolling players, L50, 152*, 175* ; purposes of, for Globe and Fortune, 151, L55; protects Blackfriars, 153, l.vi, 155, L56-57, L60-61 1 , 176 ; results of theatrical attitude of, L55, 156- 158, 1 59, 163 72, L75 -82 ; dis- pleasure of, \\ ith ( rlobe company, L57, 160; partisanship of, for Blackfriars, censured by Shake- speare, L58*, 1 78-8] ; law of, nst criticism in stage-plays, 164, L76, 181". See Blackfriars, Chapel, Children. Commission, . Evans, < >rders, Privy. English actors, art of Elizabethan- Jacobean and modern, 134 3 . English actors in Germany, docu- ments on, 110'; first companies of, 110-12; imitations of, 110'; throt- tled by monopoly, 110*; patronage of, modeled after London public theatres, ill; Duke of Stettin's, and Blackfriars, 111, 12s; music and dancing of. 111. "Erect" or "set up," meaning of, 128*. "Escoted," meaning of, 178-79'. conspiracy, Globe company's connection with, L57, 160; cause of closing theatres, L58. Establishment of Blackfriars. See Actors, Blackfriars, Children, I Elizabeth. Evans, Henry, opens Blackfriars, 16, 53, 56 1 ; leases Blackfriars, L7, 40, 56 1 , 57 58, 84, 88, L27, L28*; rent by, for Blackfriars. 30 , 15 . 57, L78; suits at law by, :;<">'; expen- ditures by, at Blackfriars, 40, B9 T , 91, 92*, L26, 129; boards and lodges Children. II, 71, 73-76, L03; re- sides at Blackfriars, 41, L03; sur- renders lea-e of Blackfriar grants to, for using Children as actor-. 56, 71 32, 99, 101, 126, 127; unites with Gyles, 71- 72, 73-76, 81, 128*, L52; as theat- rical proprietor, 7 7. s;-^; im- pressment of Children for, 1 32, III. 126; Clifton's cl against, 79-S3, 85-86, 11 L26; Star Chamber decree against, sis;:. 85-S7*; I feci of decree against, 83, 87-91, 93-94, L03, l L5, L59; assignment by, to Hawkins, 85 st;. 89 91, 93 : circumvent cree. B5, 81 -91, L03 : articles of agreement by, with ECirkham «'/ tu., 85, 87-91, L02; compelled to leave London. B7, 93*; "eight shillings" salary of, B8, 102 , 103*, L25; agreement with ECirkham rt al. to share profits and exp at Blackfriar 129. Every Man in his Humour. See Jon Every Man out of his Humour. See Ji hisi in. Evidences, summary of, on Black- friars. L2I 196 CHILDREN OF THE CHAPEL AT BLACKFRIARS Evolution of Court-services of Chil- dren of Chapel, 5, 11, 68-70, 71, 73, 74. Evolved performances of Children at Blackfriars, 4-5. Expenditures at Blackfriars, agree- ment to share, 89 7 -90, 91, 92'; royal provisions for, 91-92, 100, 10l'-2, 103, 104, 106-7, 113, 126, 127, 128-29, 173M4, 175, 178-79 1 . Faery Pastorall, The. See Percy. Favor of Elizabeth to Blackfriars, 94, 95, 96, 99, 126-29, &c. See Actors, Blackfriars, Children, Elizabeth, &c. Fletcher, John. See Beaumont. Ford, John, new-found play by, xv, 164 2 . Fortune theatre, plat of, ix, 50-51; contract for, 7 2 -8, 29 2 , 42 3 , 42\ 45 3 , 47 1 , 52\ 137 5 ; Thomas Platter on, 7 2 -8; Globe as model for, 7 2 -8, 29 4 , 32 1 , 39 2 , 47\ 137; date of, 9 s , 29, 156; architecture of, 18 3 ; cost of, 29; structure and finishing of, 32 1 , 42 3 ; burned, and rebuilt with brick veneer, 34 7 ; engraving of, 34 T ; size of, 39, 49 3 , 50-plat-51, 52, 137 ; gentlemen's rooms of, 42 5 , 50-plat-51, 137-38; size of stage of, 45, 47, 50-plat-51, 137; sitting on the stage at, 45, 137-41; gal- leries in, 47 1 , 50-plat-51, 52; seats and capacity of, 49, 50-plat~52; audiences of, relative to stage, 50- plat-51, 52 ; gentlemen and yard- crowd of, 52; Duke of Stettin at, 109 1 ; Samson at, 109 1 ; sitting "over" stage of, 136; orders against, revoked, 149 1 -50, 161 1 ; location of, 153 1 , 156; complaints against, 156 ; company of, re- tained but restricted by Elizabeth, 155, 156; list of dramatists for, 163 2 . See Blackfriars, Elizabeth, Globe, Theatre. Freiburg Stadttheater, stage-level gallery in, 42*; resemblance of, to Blackfriars, 42*. French theatre. See Theatre, in France. French Stage. See Stage, in France. Furniture, at Blackfriars, 91-92, 101 2 , 126, 127. G.-F. = Greenstreet's transcripts, in Fleay's Stage, 36 4 , 36 5 , et passim. Galleries, at Blackfriars, 6, 41-43, 46, 50-plat-51, 124; not at Paul's and Whitefriars, 7 ; at public the- atres, 7, 42 4 , 52; on stage-level, in early and modern theatres, 42*, 52 ; in French theatres, 46-47 ; at Globe and Fortune, 47\ 50-platr 51, 52. "General pardon," meaning of, 77 2 . Gentleman Usher. See Chapman. Gentlemen, attendance of, at Black- friars and public theatres. See Audiences. Gentlemen's rooms, in public the- atres, 42 5 -43, 45, 49 1 , SO^-plat-Sl, 134 4 , 136, 137 6 -38, 141; and the yard-crowd, 52 ; in relation to gal- lants on the stage, 44, 45, 134*, 136, 137-41; in private theatres, 141. See Blackfriars, Boxes, Lords' rooms, "Orchestra." German actors, art of, 48 4 , 134 J . German theatre, sitting on the stage of, xi, 46, 146-47 ; acting and stag- ing in, 48 4 , 134 5 ; Duke of Stet- tin's, modeled after Blackfriars, 109-12, 128; foundation for mod- ern, 110 ; English actors as founders of, HO 2 , 184 1 -85 ; patron- age of early English companies in, after English noble patronage, 111. See Stage, Theatre. Globe theatre, new documents on, ix-x, 10 3 , 34 3 , 44 10 , 45\ 56 1 , 123; as model for Fortune, 7 2 -8, 29*, 32\ 39 2 , 47 1 , 137; influence of Blackfriars on accommodations of, 8, 35; date of, 8, 9 2 , 29, 34, 77*, 155 ; Satiromastix at, ll 1 , 158, 181; architecture of, 18 3 ; cost of, 29; erection of, 29, 77 2 , 155-56; structure and finishing of, 32 1 ; burned, 33-34 ; date, materials, and cost of the new, 34; size of, 36, 39, 52; sitting on the stage of, 45, 134*, 136-41; galleries in, 47 1 ; capacity of, 49, 52; unhistorical stage of, 49 1 , 137"; gentlemen and the yard-crowd at, 52 ; gentlemen and stage-gallants at, 45, 134 4 , 136, 138 ; strictures in Hamlet at, an- swered by May Day at Black- friars, 86, 168; Duke of Stettin at, 108 1 ; unknown play at, 108 1 ; annexes Malcontent, 134; sitting SUBJECT INDEX 197 "over" stage of, 136 ; orders against, revoked, 149-50, 161 1 ; location of, 153 1 ; company of, re- tained but restricted by Elizabeth, 155, 156; connected with Essex conspiracy, 157, 160; Richard II at, 157, 160; list of dramatists for, 163 2 ; plays of, with local allu- sions, 164, 166 ; decency of plays at, 165. See Blackfriars, Eliza- beth, Fortune, Shakespeare, The- atre. '"Great Hall" or auditorium, of Blackfriars, 7, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 43, 49, 74; of Whitefriars, 7; earliest use of, for play-acting, 21-22, 23-24, 42 3 ; rooms above, at Blackfriars, 40-41, and their uses, 41, 74, 128 3 . Gull, the, subject of satire, 138 8 ; Davies on, 138 8 -39; Skialctheia on, 138 8 -39; Folhe's Anatomie on, 138 s -40; as pretended gallant, 139; The Guls Home-Book on, 140 2 . Gyles, Nathaniel, commission to, to take up children, x, 17, 53, 57, 60 , -62, 65, 66, 68, 70, 71, 73-74, 77-83, 84, 99, 101, 102, 113, 114, 126, 127, 152; and augmentation of Chapel salaries, 3" ; not lessee of Blackfriars, 56 1 ; biography of, 58 s ; succeeds Hunnis, 58; privy seal and patent to, as Master of Chapel Children, 59 3 -60, 71, 74 77 ; allowances to, for keep of Children, 59 3 -60, 64 7 , 73; commis- sion to, as Master at Windsor, 68 1 ; interpretation of commission to take up children, in practice, 70-72, 73-76, 77-83, 95-97, 106-7, 127, 152, 155-62, 175; effect of Star Chamber decree on, 70-71, 83, 127; unites with Evans, 71-72, 73-76, si, 128 s , 152; Clifton's charge against, 77-83, 113 J -14*. 126. Hamlet. See Shakespeare. Hawkins, Alexander, surety for rent of Blackfriars, 57, 90; as- signment of lease to, S5-86, 89-91 ; partner in Blackfriars manage- ment. 88. See Evans, Kirkham. Heminges and Condell, on sitting on the stage, L36. Henrietta, Queen, attends theatre, 97". Henry VII, and Master of the Chil- dren, 63 ; uses Children of Chapel as actors, 69. Henry VIII, dissolves monasteries, and grants Blackfriars to favor- ites, 20-21 ; residents of Black- friars under, 27 ; and Master of Children, 63; uses Children of Chapel as actors, 69. Henslowe, Philip, contract by, for Fortune, 7"-8, 29 ; contract by, for Hope, 7'-8, 30; list of dramatists employed by, 163 a ; lost dramas of, with local allusions, 164; on Rose players in the country, L75\ History of children-companies, un- known, vii, viii. Histriotnastix. See Marston. Hope theatre, contract for, 7"'-8, 30', 31 J date of, 9'; cost of, 30, 33; size and capacity of, 30-31, 33, 50'; modeled on Swan, 30, 31* ; engraving of, 32 1 ; stage of, 33, 45, 134, L38; document on uses of, 33 3 ; location of, 33*, 153'; gen- tlemen's rooms of, 42 5 ; "orches- tra" of, 42", 138. Hunnis. William, commission to, to take up children, x, 6."), 66". 70 ; death of, 5S 4 ; succeeded by Gyles as Master of Children of Chapel, 58 4 , 128 s . Imitations, of Blackfriars Children and offsprings, 1, 16, 117', 121, 163; of Blackfriars in Germany, 109, ill; of English actors in Germany, no 3 ; of Court of Louis XI Y, 111 ; of Blackfriars customs, 130, L36, 14 1-17. L63; of Black- friars plays, 166-6S; evidences of, incomplete, 166; by Blackfriars dramatists. L61 Impressment of children, under Elizabeth, x. 60' 62, 64 before Eli sabeth, 62 64 See Commission. luterludia, at Blackfriars, and of modern drama, 9, 122, See Mu- sic, Sing Intermezzos, at Blackfriars, and in modern drama. •.'. 122. See Mu- sic, Singing. Internal evidences of plays, historic- al unsnbstantiativencss of, 7'~8, LSI", L37", 167, L67*. See Stage directions. 198 CHILDREN OF THE CHAPEL AT BLACKFRIARS Isle of Dogs. See Nash. Isle of Guls. See Day. Jack Drum's Entertainment. See Marston. James I, masque within the play under, xii, 5, 113; children-com- panies under, 1, 5, 9, 12, 13, 15, 16, 44 10 -4d\ 74, 105, HO 2 , 113, 117\ 121, 163, 177 2 , 183; offends Scotland with choristers, 3; fu- neral of, 3 ; music and dancing in plays under, 5, 113; private the- atres under, 7, 8, 9 1 ; suppresses Blackfriars children, 13, 44 l0 -45 , 177 2 ; satirized by Blackfriars, 15, 163 1 , 177 2 -78; and building of new Globe, 34 2 ; reduces Blackfriars to public-theatre level, 74, 183; state control of theatres under, 74, 148, 183; Court-entertainments of, and Blackfriars influences, 123 ; re- vokes Elizabeth's theatrical or- ders, 149 4 -50, 16 1 1 ; contention of, with City over Blackfriars, 154 2 ; as James VI of Scotland, patron- izes Fletcher's actors, 175 3 . Jests at Blackfriars, in Byron trag- edies, 15, 44 10 , 163; in Cynthia's Revels, 132 5 , 165 2 ; on my fine gentleman, 48 3 , 132 5 , 133 4 , 165% 177 a . Jests to Make you Merry. See Dekker. Jig, us. Jonson, Ben, in stage-quarrel, x-xi, xii, 133, 140, 158, 165-66 2 , 168, 169-72, 178-81 ; rank of, 12 ; as dramatist for children-companies, 12, 41 4 , 171; "in a gallery" at Blackfriars, 41 4 ; and "gallants in the lords' rooms," 41 4 ; and Chap- man as writers of masques, 121 1 ; Malcontent dedicated to, 172. Apologetical Dialogue, reply to Satiromastix, 171. Case is Altered, The, ear- liest play at Blackfriars, 58 ; act ors required in, 75 2 ; evidences in, of singing, 114 4 ; music, 116 1 ; dancing, 118 ; satirizes "public" theatres and their audiences, 176 1 . Cynthia's Revels, on bugle blast at opening of play, ll 1 ; on music and tiring-house at Black- friars, 48 2 ; actors in, 75 2 , 76% 132 5 ; masque in, and Queen's re- quirements at Blackfriars, 97% 122 1 ; evidences in, of singing, 114 4 ; music, 116 1 ; dancing, 118*; masque within, 119; on sitting on stage, 132* ; on audiences, 165 ; satirizes Marston and Dekker, 170; satirized in What you Will, 171; satirizes "public" theatres, 176 1 . Devil is an Ass, The, on sitting on the stage, 142 s . Epicoene, and children-act- ors, 12. Every Man in his Humour, and stage-quarrel, 170. Every Man out of his Hu- mour, on sitting on the stage, 132 3 ; on Marston, 170; plagiarized by Dekker et al., 170. Page of Plymouth, with Dekker, 170. Poetaster, on bugle-blast at opening of play, ll 1 ; satirized in Satiromastix, 41 4 , 133, 171 ; actors in, 75 2 , 76 3 ; evidences in, of sing- ing, 114 4 ; music, 116 1 ; dancing, 118 2 ; masque within, 119; satir- izes Dekker, 133 ; Dekker's late reference to, 133 4 ; on audiences, 165-66. Robert II King of Scots, with Dekker, 170. See Blackfriars, Plays, Stage- quarrel. Jonson-Marston-Dekker, quarrel of, x-xi, xii, 133, 140, 158, 165-66', 168, 169-72, 178-81. Killigrew. See D'Avenant-Killi- grew. Kirkham, Edward, suits at law by, 36 4 , 89-91 ; provides apparel for Children, 83, 98-100, 103-4, 126; articles by, with Evans et al., 85, 87-91, 102; as Yeoman of the Revels, 87 4 , 89 7 , 99, 101, 103-4; as important factor at Blackfriars, 87 4 ; unreliability of testimony of, 89 7 ; "the said complainant," 98- 100. Kirkham, Rastell, and Kendall, ar- ticles of agreement by, with Ev- ans, 85, 87 3 -91 ; new partners with Evans at Blackfriars, 87, 102, 103- 4 ; agreement of, to share profits SUBJECT INDEX 199 and expenses at Blackfriars, 89 7 - 90, 91, 92", 126, 129; carry out Queen's will, 113, 115. Kirkman's Drolls, picture of Red Bull from, 7 : -8. Law, against strolling players, 150, i;v; against criticism in stage-plays, 164, 176, 181 2 . Lease of Blackfriars, to Shakespeare and fellows, 10, 34 3 , 35, 44'°, 45\ 56 1 ; to Evans, 17, 40, 56 l , 57-58, 84, 88, 127, 128*; date of, 10, 17, 35, 44"', 57, S4 ; amount for, 45\ 57 ; surety and bond for, 57, 85 l , 90 ; term of, 57, 84 ; assignment of, to Hawkins, 85-86, 89*. Light. Sec Candle. Local allusions. See Plays. London. Sec City. London social centre, at Blackfriars, 7. 35-36, 43, 45, 48 3 , 51, 95-97; and other theatres, 51, 161. Lord Mayor. See City. Lords' rooms, at Blackfriars, 6, 41 B - 43, 49, 50-plat-."»l, 124, 140, 141. Lyly, John, Campaspc and Sapho and Phao, at Blackfriars, 24. Maintenance of Children at Black- friars, by the Queen, x, 3, 4, 40, 71, 73-76, 91-92, 95, 98-104, 105, 106-7, 126, 127, 128-29, 178-82; expenditures for, x, 5, 91-92, 100, 10 1', 103, 104, 126, 127, 128-29, Malcontent, The. Sec Marston. Marstou, John, in stage-quarrel, x- xi, xii. 169-72, 178-81; as writer of masques, 121; as Blackfriars poet, 171. Antonw and Mcllida, and ■quarrel, 170. Antonio's Rez'cnge, and stage-quarrel, 170. Dutch Courtezan, The. on galleries at Blackfriars, 42; actors required in, 7.v '; evidences in, <>f singing, ill'; music, 116 1 ; danc- ing, 118*; masque within, L20; ami quarrel, 171. 1 1 isti ioinasti.v, SOngS in. 10; touches Jonson, 169; jibed at by Jonson, i~0. Jack Drum's Entertainment. Malcontent, The, on music in theatres, 10', 116 2 ; actors re- quired in, 7."." ; i vidences in, of singing, 1 14* ; music, 116'; danc- ing, 118"; masque within, 121; an- ed by Globe, 134; on sitting on the stage, 134*, L38; at Black- friars and Globe, L34 ; and stage- quarrel, 171; dedicated to Jonson, 172. Scourge of Villainy, The, glances at Jonson, 169; jibed at by Jonson, 170. What You Will, on size of and stage-quarrel, 171. Paul's stage, 43. 130; evidences in, of singing, 114*; music, 116 1 ; dancing, UEr; on sitting on the ; satirizes Cynthia's Revels, 171. Marston, Chapman, Jonson, East- ward Ho. indiscretions of, 15. Masque, within the play, at Black- friars, xi. xii. •"., 10*, 44, '.'7-, 113, 1 14. L19-21, L22-24 . I'm ; in- fluences of, xi. 123, 167; under Elizabeth, xi, xii, :.. 10*, 44, 1 14, l L9 21, L22 :.'l. 163, l»'.7 ; under Janus I, xii. .">. 113; character of, L19; Bacchanalian features in, 119*; as new dramatic feature, 110, 122-23; li-t of, at Blackfriars, 1 L9 :.'l ; origin of, 122' ; elaborate requirements of, 1'.' with antimasque. 10*. at Court. 22. 1 1^-10. 122', 123. Ma-trr of the Revels, and origin of private theatJ warden as, the tir-t. kfriars as office of, 21-22; Whitefriars u office of. 22'; Tilnej L01 ; Buck a-. B7*; rder t". May Pay ' apman. ::ina picture of theatre-inte- rior. 7". Middleton, Thomas, Roaring Girl, The. on sitting on the Model of theatre. Blackfi . 1 11, 1 .-. 1 . ' poly. See Theatrical. ui VOlive. See Chapman. Morns dance, lis. 200 CHILDREN OF THE CHAPEL AT BLACKFRIARS Much Ado about Nothing. See Shakespeare. Music, taught and practiced at Blackfriars, xi, 4, 5, 9, 10, 11, 71, 106-7, 113, 114, 115, 116-18, 121, 122, 163; Duke of Stettin's Diary on, 5, 10, 106-7, 113, 117; within the play, 5, 9-10, 114, 116, 121, 122 ; preceding the play, 5, 9, 10, 106-7, 113, 115, 117-18, 122; char- acteristic of children-plays, 9-10, 113, 116-18, 121, 122; character- istic of private theatre, 9-10 1 , 122; in public theatres, 9, 10-11, 116', 122; at Paul's, 9, 122; source of praeludia, intcrludia, and inter- mezzos in modern drama, 9, 122; stage-directions for, 10, 113, 116 1 - 18, 121; Malcontent on, 10 1 , 116 2 ; in The Tempest, 10"; of Black- friars orchestra, 10 4 , 48 2 ; The Actors Remonstrance on, 10 4 ; Cynthia's Revels on, 48 2 ; in early German theatre, 111; "shows" containing, 115, 121 3 -22; concerts, popularized by Blackfriars, 117 1 , 121 ; publications of, for concerts, 117 1 . Musical entertainments. See Con- cert. Musical instruments, at Blackfriars, 106-7, 116, 117 1 . Music ale. See Concert. Musicians, in balcony, at Blackfri- ars, 48", 50-plat~51 ; not in "or- chestra" of public theatres, 42 5 , 45, 137*. Nash, Thomas, Isle of Dogs, re- strained at Rose, 155, 181"'. Necro mantes. See Percy. Newington Butts theatre, date of, 9" ; location of, 153 1 ; dramatists for, 163 2 . Nobility, in evolution of private theatre, 5 x -6, 22 2 ; patronage of public theatres by, as model for German patronage, 111; Eliza- beth's law for patronage of the- atres by, 152, 152 3 , 175 s . Official conduct of Blackfriars, x, 1, 4, 26, 40, 51, 71, 73-76, 87, 91-92, 95-97, 98-104, 105, 106-7, 112, 115, 125, 126, 127, 128-29, 160, 173-74, 175-82 ; summary of evidences on, 126-29. Official orders. See Orders. Orchestra at Blackfriars, excellence of, 10; Whitelocke on, 10\ "Orchestra" in London theatres, meaning of, 42^-43, 45, 137''-38. See Gentlemen's rooms. Orchestral praeludia, inierludia, and intermezzos, origin of, 9, 122. See Music, Singing. Orders, official, against theatres, significance of, cleared up, x, xii; false statement of City concern- ing, against Blackfriars, 53-54; Elizabeth's purposes in, 125, 129, 150, 151, 152, 154-55, 157, 175; limiting number of plays per week, 125, 156; period and num- ber of, 148 ; early, by Elizabeth, regulating Curtain and "Thea- tre," 148 4 ; Puritanism not cause of, 148-50; request of City for, to suppress theatres, 149, 152, 154, 155, 156, 160 ; City neglects exe- cution of, 149, 153, 155, 156, 161 1 , 161"-62 ; revocation of, by James I, 149 4 -50, 161 1 ; protective to Blackfriars, 153, 16T, 175-76; against Rose, 155, 181 2 ; favorable to Globe and Fortune, 155, 156; differentiating "public" and "pri- vate" theatre, 156-57 ; restraining Curtain, 158, 181 2 ; touching Black- friars and Paul's, 158 1 ; general, against "public" theatres (1597), 149, 153; (l597-[8]), 155; (June, 1600), 125, 149, 156, 161 1 ; (March II, 1601), 157-58; (Dec. 31, 1601), 125, 149, 160, 16T; (March 19, 1602-[3]), 162 1 . by City of London, to sup- press Blackfriars, 17 5 , 53 2 , 154 2 , 16 1 1 . Page of Plymouth. See Jonson. "Pardon, general," meaning of, 77 2 . Patient Grisell. See Dekker. Paul's, the church Singing-school, 7, 107 3 ; as private theatre, 7, 130\ 153 2 ; size and capacity of, 7; no galleries in, 7 ; date of, 8, 9 1 , 153' ; music at, 9, 122 ; Satiromastix at, II I , 181; size of stage at, 43, 44, 130-31 1 ; sitting on stage of, 44, 46\ 130-3T; location of, 153'; re- strained, 158 1 ; list of dramatists for, 163 2 ; plays of, with local al- SUBJECT INDEX 201 lusions, 164 ; plays of, influenced by Blackfriars poets, 166-67. Paul's Boys, relations of, to pres- ent history, l 1 ; patronized by Elizabeth, l 1 , 4, 67, 151, 1.57; first at Blackfriars, 24; commission to Thos. Gyles to take up children for, 67", 107 1 ; used as actors, 24, 69-70 ; music and singing in plays of, 9, 122 ; list of dramatists for, 163"; plays of, with local allusions, 164; plays of, influenced by Black- friars poets, 166-67. Percy, W., The Faery Pastorall, Necromantes, and The Cuck- queanes and Cuckolds Errants, never acted, 49 l , 131 3 ; impossible stage-directions of, 131 3 . Phoenix theatre. See Cockpit. Plat, suggestive, of Blackfriars, ix, 47, 50-51, 52; of the Fortune, ix, 50-51, 52. Platter, Thomas, Diary (1599), on Curtain, Bear-Garden, and Globe, 7 2 -8 ; on comfort in London the- atres, 51 : ; on stage-apparel, 178 J . Play-acting, taught at Blackfriars, xi, 5, 71, 106-7, 113, 121-22 1 , 124- 25, 180. Players. See Actors. Playhouse. See Theatre. Plays, recent discoveries of, xv, 164"; losses in. 14-15, 122, 163- 64, 172; law restricting criticism in, 164, 176, 181 2 . at Blackfriars, chronology of, xi, xii, 75, 114 s -18 ; influences of, on Shakespeare and contem- poraries, xi, 12-15, 123, 166-68, 174-82; masques within, xi, xii, 5, 10\ 44, 113, 114, 119-21, 122- 24, 163, 167; singing within, 5, 9-10, 113-15, 121, 163, 180; sing- ing preceding, 5, 9, 106-7, 115, 163, 180; music within, 5, 9-10, 114, 116, 121, 122, 163; music pre- ceding, 5, 9, 10, 106-7, 113, 115, 117-18, 163; dancing within, 5, 44, 118, 119, 163 ; shaped by condi- tions of dramatic freedom, 13-14, 113, 123; with local allusions, 15, 164-72; quality of, 15, 165; num- ber of, acted per week, 71, 106-7, 124-25 ; number of actors in, 74- 76, 127; list of, 75, 114-18; names of actors in, 76, 80', 132 5 , 163, 165*. 177 1 ; Puritanic opposition to, 79, 126, 159; stage-directions corrob- orative of Duke of Stettin's Diary concerning, 113, 121; masque as new feature in, 119, 122-23; as comedies in high life, 124 ; imi- tated, 166-68; imitative, 167-68. by children-companies, sci- entific editing of, vii ; character- istics of, 9-10, 14-15, 113, 114-19, L19-21, 122, 123-24; proportion of, 12, 163-64. Heminge and Condell's ad- dress in 1623 folio of Shake- speare's, on sitting on stage, 136. with local allusions, 14-15, 82-83, 86-87, 163-72, 177'-7S ; the Byron tragedies as, 15, 163 ; evi- dences of losses of, in Henslowe's Diary, 14-15, 163-64; Hamlet among, 164, 173 - Poets. See Dramatists. Popularity of Children at Black- friars, 80 3 , 85', 94, 104, 117-18, 123, 124, 166, 173-74, L76 7 7. Fracludia, of early and modern drama, 9, 122. See Music, Sing- ing. Precedents for Children of Chapel at Blackfriars as actors, 1, 62-66, 68-7". "Private" and "public" theatres dif- l initiated, 9, 12. L56 7,7, 16l\ i<;:. J , 176'. Privv Council, petition to, against Blackfriars. 17'. 27, 53*, 54, 12&, 152, 154*; takes no action against Blackfriars, 53. 54, 128*. 152; or- ders of, against public theatres, ."4. it-. L49, l .-.<>'■-:, r. 152, 153, 155, L56, 157-58, 160; City's re- quests to, to suppress theatres, 149, 152, 17.4. L55, 156, 160; orders of, not executed by City, 149, 158, L54, L55, L56, L61 . wider James I, revokes Elizabethan or- ders, 149*-50, 161*; restrains Rose, 155, 181"; restrains Curtain, 158, 181'. 5Y<- City, Elizabeth, Orders. Profits at Blackfriars. by Burbage- Shakespeare companj . agreemenl by Evans, Kirkham ct at. to share, Bfl 92*; failure of, in public theatres, through Blackfriars. causes companj travel. l73*-74, 175*. 202 CHILDREN OF THE CHAPEL AT BLACKFRIARS "Public" and "private" theatres dif- ferentiated, 9, 12, 156-57, 16 1 1 , 165% 176 1 . Publications on children-companies, vii. xii. Puritanism, opposition of, to Eliza- beth's theatrical purposes, 4, 79, J26, 149, 150, 159; in Clifton's attack, 126, 150, 159 ; not cause of orders against theatres, 148- 50, 156. Purposes, theatrical, of Elizabeth, 1, 4, 71, 87, 96, 112, 113, 125, 127, 128 3 , 129, 148-62, 150 5 , 151*, 152, 154, 157, 159, 175. Queen. See Elizabeth, Henrietta. Realism, influence of Blackfriars plays on, 167. Red Bull theatre, picture of, 7 2 -8, 52, 135, 138 ; date of, 9* ; audience of, in relation to stage, 52; sitting "over" stage at, 135 ; sitting on the stage at, 138. Reformation of theatres, Elizabeth's plans and purposes in, 1, 4, 71, 87, 96, 112, 113, 125, 127, 128", 129, 1.48-62, 150°, 151", 152, 154, 157, 159, 175; methods of, by City, 150-51, 153 ; methods of, by Eiiz- abeth, ISO'-Sl 2 , 152-53, 154-55; duplicity of City in, 151, 153, 159, 160, 161-62. Relations, of children-companies to dramatic and histrionic art, vii, viii, ix, xii, 1, 9, 12, 13, 14-15, 16, 105, 122, 141, 147, 180 3 ; of audi- ences to stage, ix, 50-plat~51, 52; of Blackfriars to other theatres, poets, and players, x-xi, xii, 133, 140, 158, 165-66 2 , 167, 168, 169-72, 178-81 ; of gentlemen to yard- crowd, 52 ; of Der Bestrafte Bru- dermord to Hamlet, 184 1 . Rent, repairs, and expenses at Blackfriars, provisions for, 57, 89 3 , 89 7 , 91-92, 100, lOl 1 ^, 103, 104, 106-7, 113, 126, 127, 128-29, 173 2 -74, 175. Rental of Blackfriars, amount of, by Evans, 30 1 , 45 1 , 57, 178; amount of, by Shakespeare and associates, 45 1 ; agreement by Ev- ans, Kirkham ct al. to share, S9 7 - 90, 91, 92 2 , 126, 1*9. Repertoire of Children at Black- friars, viii, 5, 75, 122. Revels. See Children of, Master of. "Revels" festival, meaning of, 6. Richard II, at Globe, in Essex con- spiracy, 157, 160. Richard III, commission by, to take up children, 62 3 ; reign and death of, 62 2 -63. Roaring Girl, The. See Middleton. Robert II King of Scots. See Jon- son. Rose theatre, date of, 9 2 , 138 ; archi- tecture of, 18 3 ; cost of, 30; rental value of, 30 1 ; sitting on stage of, 138; location of, 153 1 ; restrained, 155, 181 2 ; Worcester's men at, go into country, 17 5 2 . Rossiter, Philip, lutenist, and man- ager of the Children of the Rev- els to the Queen at Whitefriars, 117 1 ; theatre of, in Blackfriars precinct, suppressed, 154 2 , 161 1 , 161 2 -62. Rowley, William, new-found play by, xv, 164 2 . Roxana picture of theatre-interior, 7" ; on sitting "over" stage, 135. Salisbury Court theatre, as private theatre, 9, 130 5 ; date of, 9 1 ; music at, 10"; modeled after Blackfriars, 18 3 , 36, 39 3 , 43 6 , 141; size of, 36, 39 3 , 43", 141 ; documents concern- ing, 36", 39 3 ; stage of, 43-43*; Queen Henrietta at, 97 3 ; sitting on stage of, 130, 141 ; location of, 153 2 . Sapho and Phao. See Lyly. Satiromastix. See Dekker. School, the, in evolution of private theatre, 5 1 . Scourge of Villainy, The. See Marston. Seating capacity. See Capacity. Seats, at Blackfriars, 6, 49 2 , 50- plat-51, 52; general comfort of, in theatres, 8, 34-35, 35 1 , 50-51, 51 1 , 52; at public theatres, 7, 136; prices of, at Blackfriars and vari- ous theatres, 112 2 -13. Secular uses of Children of Chapel, 1 ; origin of, 5. See Blackfriars, Children, Elizabeth. Shakespeare, William, new docu- SUBJECT INDEX 203 ments concerning, ix-x, 26 1 , 27*, 34 3 , 44 10 , 45 1 , 56 1 , 123 5 ; and asso- ciates lease Blackfriars theatre, 10, 34 3 , 35, 44'°, 45 1 , 56 l ; only great dramatist not writing for Chil- dren, 12; effect of theatrical con- ditions on dramatic freedom of, 13-14, 123 ; as individual genius, 13-14, 167"; in competition with Blackfriars Boys, 13, 14, 15, 167- 68, 173-74, 175-82; errors con- cerning connection with Black- friars, 18 ; Blackfriars property of, 26 1 , 27, 28; Heminge and Con- dell's address in 1623 edition of plays by, on sitting on stage, 136 ; on stage-quarrel, 158 4 , 168, 172, 173 2 -74, 180*-81, 183; influence of Blackfriars dramas on, 167 ; in- fluences of, on Blackfriars dramas and Chapman, 167- 68 ; as giver and receiver of influences, 167*. Hamlet, date of, established, lations of, to Der Besirafte Bru- dermord, 184 Much Ado about Nothing, xi, 86, 168\ 174-75 1 , 182 2 , 183- 84 1 ; historical problems of, xi, 182-84'; historical value of chil- dren-passage in, as an original document, xi, 164, 173, 182; ante- dates Star Chamber decree, 86 ; satirized in May Day, 86, 168 ; on singing of Blackfriars Children, 115, 180; champions cause of pub- lic theatres against Blackfriars, 129, 168, 176; influence of Black- friars vogue on, 133, 167 ; minia- tures Blackfriars fad of_ sitting on stage, 133; local allusions of, 133, 164. 17.T-74; censures Eliza- beth's theatrical partisanship, 158*, 178-81 ; on stage-quarrel, 158*, 17S-82 ; escapes penalty of law against criticism, L64, ITU, 181 J ; on losses of genteel audi- tors to Blackfriars, 164, 175-77, 181-82; children-passage of, in Q,, Q 2 , F,, quoted, 173*-74; and interpreted on historical basis, 173-85; holds Queen's patronage of Blackfriars as cause of com- panies traveling into country, 175 s -76; "logic" of art in chil- dren-passage of, 178-81*; cause of partial omissions in 1604 quarto of, 1 S2— sr; : new significance to quarto and folio differences in children-passage of, 183-84' ; re- character-extensions of, in Sir Giles Goosecap, 167 ; date of, 167. The laming of the Sh traces of influences of, in 1 he ll'idozc's Tears, 10;>; why men- tions strolling player-, 1 7.5"— 76 ; probable date of, 168, 175 3 . The Tempest, as first play by Burbage-Shakespeare company at Blackfriars, 10*; influences on, by Blackfriars vogue, 10, 167; date of, 10. oilus and Cressida, theat- rical partisanship of, 168, 172; date of, 168. Twelfth Night, character- extensions of, in The Gentleman Usher, 167-68; and in M. D'Olive, 168; date of, 168. Shirley. James. The Triumph of Peace, masque with antimasque of, 10\ "Showe, a," at Court, by Black- friars Boys, 115, L21; probable authors of, 121\ See Concert, Music Singing, taught and practiced at Blackfriars. xi, 4, 5, 9, 10, 71, 80', 106-7, 113-14*, 115. L17, 163, 180; Duke of Stettin's Diary on, 5. 10, L06-7, 1 L3, 1 15. 117-18. 121 ; within the play. 5, 9-10, 113- 14'. 115. ii'.:;. 180; preceding play, 5, 9, 10, 106-7, L13, 115-16, 117, 163, L80; in concert, mu "showe," or praeludia, 5, 9, i<>. 106-7, 113, 115. 117-18, 121, L22; characteristic of private theatre and children-plays, 10, ton's charges concerning, - ill. 115: Clifton's charges dis- proved, 80, l i:: l 1'. l 15, L80; stage-directions for, 113, 114', !:.' I ; Hamlet on, at Black:- 1 15, i-^o ; chief exhibitions of, by Blackfriars Boys, not in plays, 115, 117. L21. Sir Giles Goosecap. See Chapman. Sitting on the stage, a custom at Blackfriars, w, 7, \,\. it. 48 1 , 50-plat-51, 130 17 ; at Other private th 4i. L30, L36, 137*; not at Paul's 204 CHILDREN OF THE CHAPEL AT BLACKFRIARS nor Whitefriars, 44, 130-31; as hindrance to players, 44, 142, 143- 46 ; at public theatres, 44, 45, 131*, 136-41 ; at Globe, 44, 134 4 , 136-41 ; in France, 46, 143-47; Guls Horne- Booke on, 46, 133 4 , 140 2 , 140*; in Germany, 46, 146-47 ; origin of custom of, at Blackfriars, 130-34; a Blackfriars fad, 130, 141; at Cockpit, 130, 136, 137 4 , 141; at Salisbury Court, 130, 141, 143 1 ; bistory of custom of, 130-47; Paul's plays on, 13 1\ 131 2 ; evi- dences of, 131-34, 136-41 ; Sir John Davies on, 132 1 ; Every Man out of his Humour on, 132 3 ; Cynthia's Revels on, 132 5 ; Hamlet's utter- ance on, 133 5 ; Blackfriars fad, miniatured in Hamlet, 133; All Fools on, 133-34"; Malcontent on, 134 4 , 136; Heminges and Condell on, in address to 1623 edition of Shakespeare's plays, 136" ; Follie's Anatomie on, 136 3 ; Roaring Girl on, 137 3 ; Devil's Last Will and Testament on, 138 7 ; spread of the fashion, 141-47 ; Devil is an Ass on, 142; suppressed by Charles I, 143 1 ; influences of, on French drama and acting, 143 ; D'Au- bignac on, 143 ; Tallemant des Reaux on, 143 2 ; Les Facheux on, 143-45 ; Voltaire's Discourse on Tragedy on, 145 1 ; Semiramis on, 145 2 -46 ; suppressed in France, 146 ; Goethe's Wahrheit u. Dicht- ung on, 146 2 -47. See Stage. Sitting "over" the stage, origin of, 134 ; as choice position, 134 5 ; at public theatres, 134-36 ; evidences of, 134-35. See Davies, Dekker, Fortune, Globe, Red Bull, Rox- ana, Skialetheia. Size, of Blackfriars, ix, 7, 28, 35, 36, 38-39, 43 6 , 46, 49 3 , 50yplat-51, 128 s ; of Paul's, 7; of Whitefriars, 7, 36; of Cockpit, 8, 36, 39 3 , 141; of Fortune and Globe, 39, 49 3 , 50- 51, 52, 137. See Capacity, Stage. Skialetheia, on sitting "over" stage, 135 1 ; on the "gull," 138 8 -39. Social centre, at Blackfriars, 7, 35- 36, 43, 45, 48 3 , 51, 95-97 ; at other theatres, 51, 161. Songs. See Singing. Source, of Children of the Chapel at Blackfriars, 1, 70, 71, 112, 150; of Children of Revels, 1, 74 ; of music in modern drama, 9, 122; of private theatre, 5-6, 12. Sources, for knowledge of public theatre, 7 2 -8. Spectacular effect, at Blackfriars, 106-7, 124, 177. Stage, at Blackfriars, location of, ix, 36, 43 3 , 141-42; position of, relative to audience, ix, 50-plat- 51, 52; gallants on, xi, 7, 42 3 , 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48\ 50-plat-51, 52, 124, 130-47 ; size of, 38, 43-47, 50- plat-51 ; position of, relative to lords' rooms, 42 5 , 46-49, 50-plat- 51; structure of, 42 5 , 45, 46, 47, 141-42; equipment of, at acquisi- tion of Blackfriars by Shakespeare and fellows, 45 1 ; influences of, on French stage, 46, 143-47; plastic, 47, 48-49; plat of, 47, 50-51; and modern, 47 2 , 47 3 ; balcony of, 48, 50-plat-51 ; curtains or traverses of, 48 3 , 50-plat-51; canopy on, 48 4 ; furnishing and equipment of, 48 3 -49, 55; individuality of, 49; unhistorical, 49\ 137 6 . at Cockpit, size of, 43 ; sit- ting on, 44, 130, 136, 141. at Curtain, unhistorical, 49\ 137"; sitting on, 138. at Fortune, size of, 45, 47, 50-plat-51 ; sitting on, 45, 137-38 ; position of audience relative to, 52; position of gentlemen's rooms and yard-crowd relative to, 52; sitting "over," 136. at Globe, size of, 45 ; sitting on, 45, 134 4 , 136-41; relation of gentlemen's rooms to stage-gal- lants on, 45, 134 4 , 136, 138; un- historical, 49\ 137°; position of audience relative to, 52 ; position of gentlemen's rooms and yard- crowd relative to, 52; sitting over, 136. at Hope, removable, 33 ; po- sition of, 45, 138 ; sitting on, 45, 138 ; sitting "over," 134. at Paul's, size of, 43, 44, 130- 31 1 ; sitting on, 44, 46\ 130-31 1 . at Red Bull, relation of au- dience to, 52 ; sitting "over," 135 ; sitting on, 138. SUBJECT INDEX 205 at Salisbury Court, size of, 43 ; sitting on, 44, 130, 141. at Swan, removable, 33 ; po- sition of, 45, 138 ; sitting on, 45, 138; sitting "over," 135. at "The Theatre," unhistori- cal, 49 1 , 137*. at Whitefriars, size of, 43 ; sitting on, 44, 130. in France, sitting on, ix, 46, 143-47; modeled after Blackfriars, 46, 147. in Germany, sitting on, at Frankfurt, reported by Goethe, 46; modern, 48\ modern, size of, 47 2 ; view of actors on, 47 3 ; acting on, 134 5 See Theatre. Stage and audience, relative posi- tions of, ix, 50yplat-51, 52; and gallants, in relation to gentlemen's rooms, 44, 45, 134', 136, 137-41. Stage and drama, relations of chil- dren-companies to, vii, viii, ix, xii, 1, 9, 12, 13, 14-15, 16, 105, 122, 141, 147, 180\ Stage-apparel, of Blackfriars chil- dren, furnished by Elizabeth, 5, 83, 91-92, 99, 100, 106-7, 123, 124, 126, 127, 129, 178, 183; furnished through Kirkham, 83, 99-100, 103- 4, 126; furnishing of, official, 100, 101, 103-4 ; superabundance and elegance of, 106-7, 124, 127, 178; expensiveness of, 126, 129, 178. of Children of King's Rev- els, value of, 17S 2 . of public theatre companies, 178 ; Thomas Platter on excel- lence of, 178 2 ; value of, 178'; Robert Green's report on value of, 178 2 . Stage-directions, as corroborative but unsubstantiative evidence, 7 a - 8, 49\ 113, 121, 131 s , 137", 167, 167 2 ; as sources on public theatre, 7 2 -8; for music, 10, 113, 116'-18, 121; for singing, 113, 114', 121; in Percy's plays, impossible and valueless, 131*. Stage-history, of 1597-1603, x, 148- 72 ; new perspective of, x, 54, 99, 105, 126-29, 148-62. Stage-quarrel, impersonal side of, as incidental to relations of Black- friars to theatres, poets and play- ers, xi, xii, 165-66*, l>.- 180'; at Globe and Blackfriars! 158, 168-72, 181 ; Shakespeare cen- sures Elizabeth's partisanship in, 158*, 178-81 ; Shakespeare > atti- tude toward, in Hamlet, 158* iT.'i— 82; and in Truilus and Cressida, 168, 172; given wrong historical aspects, 169'. personal side of, Jonson- Marston-Dekker in, x-xi, xii, 133, 140, 158, 165-66', 168, 16 81. Star Chamber, Court of, Clifton's Complaint in, against Blackfriars, 36, 70, 71\ 73-74, 77-83, b4-87*, 100, 101, 102, 113-14', 115, 126, 128 a , 159, 160, ISO; interpretation of Gyles's commission by, in prac- tice, 70-71, 83, 127; decree of, against Evan-, M-s;;, s4s7 J , 87- 91, 93-94, 103, 11.-,. i-fi, 159; de- cree of, satirized by Chapman, 82, 86-87. See Clifton, Decree, Eliz- abeth, Evans, Gyles. State control of theatres, Elizabeth to Victoria, 148. Status of Blackfriars Children, 105- 25. Street, Peter, contractor for For- tune, 7 2 -8, 29'; builder of Globe, 29'. Strolling players, law against, 150, L52*, 175*; history of. IT Shakespeare's company as, 175'; other companies of, with dates, and Blackfriars as a cause, 175*. Structural details of Blackfriars, ix, 37-.j4 ; of other theatres, see Com- parative view. Summary of evidences on official conduct of Blackfriars. 126 89 Swan theatre, De Witt —Van Huchell sketch of. 7 . ::i ', ::.:\ 33*. 12 45, 52, 134, L37*: date chitecture of, is 3 ; De Witt's view and estimate of, 30 33 : mod Mope, 30, 31*; size and ca| of, 30 31, . 33 : structure and finishing of stage of, 33, 15, L35, 138 . gentle- men's rooms in. i rches- tra" of, 12*, 45, 137*; sitting on stage of, 15, 138; sitl stage of, L35; location of, 15.1'. 206 CHILDREN OF THE CHAPEL AT BLACKFRIARS Taming of the Shrew. See Shake- speare. Theatre, the, as a native instinct in- stitutionalized, 5'-6 ; as centre of social contact, 51, 95, 161; Puri- tan opposition to, 79, 149. Theatre, Chapel Royal as, 4'. Theatre, to "erect" or "set up" a, meaning of, 128 4 . "Theatre, The," date of, 9', 17' ; not first English theatre, 17 1 ; archi- tecture of, 18 3 ; cost of, 28-29; demolition of, 28-29, 77", 155 ; un- historical stage of, 49 1 , 137 6 ; whether to be supplanted by Blackfriars, 54, 128 3 , 152; orders regulating, 148 4 ; opposition to, 149"; City's request to suppress, 152-53; location of, 153 1 . Theatre, private, sources of, 5-6, 12; characteristics of, 5-7, 18', 35, 43-49, 50-plat-51, 141-42; as fac- tor in the drama, 5 1 , 12 ; admis- sion price of, 6, 36, 112, 112 2 , 177; Blackfriars as, of first impor- tance, 6, 18, 163; Master of Rev- els in relation to origin of, 6; galleries in, 6, 7, 41-43, 46, 50- plat-51; gentlemen's or lords' rooms of, 6, 41 5 , 41 8 , 42, 42 5 , 50- plat-51, 124, 140 1 , 141; only chil- dren-companies occupy, 7 ; list of, 7, 130 5 , 136 ; accommodations for comfort of audiences in, 8, 31-35, 35\ 50-51, 51\ 52; influences of, on theatre-structures, 8-9, IS 3 , 35, 36, 39 3 , 43 G , 141; differentiated from "public" theatre, 9, 12, 156- 57, 161 1 ; music and singing as fea- tures of, 9-10 1 , 122 ; becomes "public" in performances, 9; whether "small," 35, 38-39, 50- plat-51 ; stage-structure of, 42, 43, 45, 46, 47, 141; stages of, 43~47, 50-plat-51, 141 ; sitting on the stage of, 43, 44, 46, 47, 48\ 50- plat-51, 52, 124, 130, 136, 137 3 , 140, 141, 142; capacity of, 47, 49, 50-plat~51, 52; unhistorical stage of, 49 1 , 137"; location of, 153\ See Blackfriars, Cockpit, Paul's, Salisbury, Whitefriars. public, relations of audience of, to stage, ix, 50-plat-51, 52; admission price at, comparative view of, ix, 6, 112 2 ; plebeian ori- gin of, 7 ; characteristics of, 7, 18 s , 42 5 , 44-49, 50-plat~51, 52, 137- 38; galleries in, 7, 42 1 , 52; stages of, 7, 33, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 49\ 50-plat-51, 52, 134 4 , 135, 136-41; seats in, 7, 136; structural fea- tures of, 7, 18 3 ; sources of infor- mation on, 7 2 -8 ; provisions for comfort in, 8, 34-35, 35 1 , 50-51, 51 1 , 52; influences of Blackfriars on, 8, 9, 18 3 , 35, 141 ; becomes "private" in form, 8, 9, 18 3 ; dif- ferentiated from "private," 9, 12, 156-57, 161 1 , 165 2 , 176 ] ; lack of music in, 9, lO'-ll, 116", 122; compared with Blackfriars in pre- tentiousness, 28-35 ; capacity of, 30-31 1 , 33, 49, 50-plat-51, 51 1 , 52; materials of, 31 3 , 32 1 , 34, 34 7 ; stage-level gallery in, 42 4 , 42 5 , 52; gentlemen's rooms in, 42 5 -43, 45, 49 1 , 50-plat-51, 134 4 , 136, 137°-38, 141 ; "orchestra" of, 42 5 -43, 45, 50- plat-51, 137 6 -38; sitting on stage of, 44, 45, 131 4 , 136-41; gentle- men's rooms of, in relation to stage-gallants, 44, 45, 134 4 , 136, 137-41 ; unhistorical stages of, 49 1 , 137 6 ; relative positions of gentle- men to yard-crowd of, 50-plat- 51, 52 ; capacity of, compared with modern, 50 1 ; noble patronage of, as model for German patronage, 111; unfriendliness of, to Eliza- beth, 129, 157, 148-62, 168; sitting "over" stage of, 134-36 ; Eliza- beth's plans and purposes for, 129, 148-62, 175 ; state control of, Eliz- abeth to Victoria, 148 ; City's re- quests to suppress, 149, 152, 154, 155, 156, 160; official orders against, 149, 153, 156, 157-58, 160, 161 1 , 162 1 ; City neglects Queen's orders against, 149, 153, 154, 155, 156, 161\ 161 2 -62; City's method of reformation of, 150-51, 153 ; Elizabeth's method of reforma- tion of, 150 5 -51 2 , 152-53, 154-55; alliance of, against Blackfriars, 151, 153-55, 156-57, 158-62, 168; Elizabeth's law on noble patron- age of, 152, 152", 175 s ; location of, 153 2 ; results of Queen's attitude toward, 155, 156-57, 158, 159, 163- 72, 175-82 ; Globe and Fortune companies retained but restricted SUBJECT INDEX 207 by Elizabeth, 155, 156; Black- friars attacked by City as, 161 1 ; losses of patronage by, to Black- friars, 1G4-66, 176, 181-82; ob- scenity of plays at, 165-66. See Audiences, City, Elizabeth, Or- ders, Stage, Stage-quarrel, and individual theatres. in France, sitting on stage of, and stage-structure, imported, ix, 46, 143-47; galleries in, 46-47, 52. in Germany. See German. modern, stage-level galleries of European and American, 42 4 ; of Freiburg, 42 4 ; size of stage in, 47 2 ; view of actors in, 47 s ; ca- pacities of American, compared with Elizabethan-Jacobean, 50 1 ; seats in, 51 : ; art of acting in, compared, 134 s . Theatre and City vs. Crown, in re- lation to Blackfriars, x, 129, 149- 62, 168. See Blackfriars, City, Elizabeth, James, Shakespeare, Theatre, public. Theatres, companies, poets, and players, in relation to Blackfriars, x-xi, xii, 133, 140, 158, 165-66 2 , 167, 168, 169-72, 178-81. Theatrical modes and customs, ori- gin of certain, 129. See Imita- tion, Masque, Music, Singing, Sit- ting on, Sitting "over." Theatrical monopoly, of D'Avenant and Killigrew, music regarded as an essential by, 11; throttles art of acting in England and Ger- many, HO 3 ; granted by Charles II, 148. Theatrical reformation. See Refor- mation. Theatrical relations. See Relations. Tilney, Edmund, Master of the Revels, Whitefriars as office for, 22* ; accounts of, 101; salary of, 103". Training of Children of Chapel at Blackfriars by Queen's require- ment, xi, 4-."., 9-11, 40, 71, 74, 80', 105-25, 127, 163, 180. Traveling of companies into the country. See Strolling. Triiunph of Peace, The. See Shir- ,. le y- Troilus and Crcssida. Sec Shake- speare. Twelfth Night. See Shakespeare. Van Buchell. Sec Swan. Wardrobe. Sec Stage-apparel. Webster, John, new-found play by, xv, 164 2 . What You Will. See Marston. Whitefriars, Children of KiiiLc'i Revels at, 1, 14, 15, 117', 121, 17- ; Children of Revels to Queen at, 1. 13, 16, 110*, L17\ 121; early children-companies at, 6 ; as "Great Hall" of monastery, 7 ; as private theatre, 7, 9\ 130'; size and structural features of, 7, 36 ; capacity of, 7; no galleries in, 7; date of, 8, 9 1 ; dramatists for, 13- 14; on dramas of, 15; stage of, 43, 44, 130; sitting on stage of, 44, 130; location of, 153". Whitelocke, Bulstrode. See Or- chestra. Widdou'cs Tcares, The. See Chap- man. Yeoman of the Revels, provides ap- parel for Children at Blackfriars, 83, 99-100, 103-4, 126; Kirkham as, 87 4 , 89 T , 98-100, L01, duties of. 99 3 -100' ; expenditures by, official, 100, 101, 103-4. THE LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Santa Barbara Goleta, California THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE STAMPED BELOW. AVAILABLE FOB CIRCULAR DIS WAY 22 1967 i r APR 23 2QQl Ffctoi-3 1973^ 0m-3,*9(A!5o2fe"4')"4T6 3 1205 00452 8715 UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY AA 001077 301