Chapter XV: Part 1: with Heywood, Dec. 1602–Jan. 1603; one payment had been made to (3)

(xxxvi) Prologue and Epilogue to _Pontius Pilate_.

Payment, Jan. 1602.

(xxxvii) Alterations to _Tasso’s Melancholy_.

Payments, Jan.–Dec. 1602.

(xxxviii) _Jephthah_.

Payments, with Munday, May 1602.

(xxxix) _Caesar’s Fall, or The Two Shapes_.

Payments, with Drayton, Middleton, Munday, and Webster, May 1602.

(c) _Work for Worcester’s, 1602_

(i) _A Medicine for a Curst Wife._

Payments, July–Sept. 1602. The play was begun for the Admiral’s and transferred to Worcester’s.

(ii) _Additions to Sir John Oldcastle._

Payments, Aug.–Sept. 1602; cf. s.v. Drayton.

(iii) _1 Lady Jane_, or _The Overthrow of Rebels_.

Payments, with Chettle, Heywood, Smith, and Webster, Oct. 1602; cf. s.v. _Sir Thomas Wyatt_ (_supra_).

(iv) _2 Lady Jane._

Payment, Oct. 1602. Apparently the play was not finished; cf. s.v. _Sir Thomas Wyatt_ (_supra_).

(v) _Christmas Comes but Once a Year._

Payments, with Chettle, Heywood, and Webster, Nov. 1602.

(d) _Work for Prince’s, 1604_

_The Patient Man and the Honest Whore._

Payments, with Middleton, Jan.–March 1602; cf. s.v. _The Honest Whore_ (_supra_).

The following plays are assigned to Dekker in S. R. but are now lost:

_The Life and Death of Guy of Warwick_, with Day (S. R. 15 Jan. 1620).

_Gustavus King of Swethland_ (S. R. 29 June 1660).

_The Tale of Ioconda and Astolso_, a Comedy (S. R. 29 June 1660).

The two latter are also in Warburton’s list of burnt plays (_3 Library_, ii. 231).

The following are assigned to Dekker in Herbert’s licence entries:

A French Tragedy of _The Bellman of Paris_, by Dekker and Day, for the Prince’s, on 30 July 1623.

_The Fairy Knight_, by Dekker and Ford, for the Prince’s, on 11 June 1624.

_The Bristow Merchant_, by Dekker and Ford, for the Palsgrave’s, on 22 Oct. 1624.

Fleay, i. 232, seems to have nothing but the names to go upon in suggesting identifications of the two latter with the _Huon of Bordeaux_, revived by Sussex’s on 28 Dec. 1593, and Day’s _Bristol Tragedy_ (q.v.) respectively.

For other ascriptions to Dekker see _Capt. T. Stukeley_, _Charlemagne_, _London Prodigal_, _Sir Thomas More_, _The Weakest Goeth to the Wall_ in ch. xxiv. He has also been conjectured to be the author of the songs in the 1632 edition of Lyly’s plays.

ENTERTAINMENTS

_Coronation Entertainment. 1604_

See ch. xxiv, C.

_Troia Nova Triumphans. 29 Oct. 1612_

_S. R._ 1612, Oct. 21. ‘To be prynted when yt is further Aucthorised, A Booke called Troia Nova triumphans. London triumphinge. or the solemne receauinge of Sir John Swynerton knight into the citye at his Retourne from Westminster after the taking his oathe written by Thomas Decker.’ _Nicholas Okes_ (Arber, iii. 500).

1612. Troia-Noua Triumphans. London Triumphing, or, The Solemne, Magnificent, and Memorable Receiuing of that worthy Gentleman, Sir Iohn Swinerton Knight, into the Citty of London, after his Returne from taking the Oath of Maioralty at Westminster, on the Morrow next after Simon and Iudes day, being the 29. of October, 1612. All the Showes, Pageants, Chariots of Triumph, with other Deuices (both on the Water and Land) here fully expressed. By Thomas Dekker. _Nicholas Okes, sold by John Wright._

_Edition_ in Fairholt (1844), ii. 7.

The opening of the description refers to ‘our best-to-be-beloved friends, the noblest strangers’. John Chamberlain (Birch, i. 202) says that the Palsgrave was present and Henry kept away by his illness, that the show was ‘somewhat extraordinary’ and the water procession wrecked by ‘great winds’. At Paul’s Chain the Mayor was met by the ‘first triumph’, a sea-chariot, bearing Neptune and Luna, with a ship of wine. Neptune made a speech. At Paul’s Churchyard came ‘the second land-triumph’, the throne or chariot of Virtue, drawn by four horses on which sat Time, Mercury, Desire, and Industry. Virtue made a speech, and both pageants preceded the Mayor down Cheapside. At the little Conduit in Cheapside was the Castle of Envy, between whom and Virtue there was a dialogue, followed by fireworks from the castle. At the Cross in Cheapside was another ‘triumph’, the House of Fame, with representations of famous Merchant Tailors, ‘a perticular roome being reserved for one that represents the person of Henry, the now Prince of Wales’. After a speech by Fame, the pageant joined the procession, and from it was heard a song on the way to the Guildhall. On the way to Paul’s after dinner, Virtue and Envy were again beheld, and at the Mayor’s door a speech was made by Justice.

THOMAS DELONEY (_c._ 1543–_c._ 1600).

A ballad writer and pamphleteer, who wrote a ballad on the visit to Tilbury in 1588. See ch. xxiv, C.

ROBERT DEVEREUX, EARL OF ESSEX (1566–1601).

It is possible that Essex, who sometimes dabbled in literature, had himself a hand in the device of _Love and Self-Love_, with which he entertained Elizabeth on 17 Nov. 1595, and of which some of the speeches are generally credited to Bacon (q.v.).

WILLIAM DODD (_c._ 1597–1602).

A Scholar and Fellow of St. John’s, Cambridge, and a conjectured author of _Parnassus_ (cf. ch. xxiv).

MICHAEL DRAYTON (_c._ 1563–1631).

Drayton was born at Hartshill in Warwickshire, and brought up in the household of Sir Henry Goodyere of Polesworth, whose daughter Anne, afterwards Lady Rainsford, is the Idea of his pastorals and sonnets. With _The Harmony of the Church_ (1591) began a life-long series of ambitious poems, in all the characteristic Elizabethan manners, for which Drayton found many patrons, notably Lucy Lady Bedford, Sir Walter Aston of Tixall, Prince Henry and Prince Charles, and Edward Earl of Dorset. The guerdons of his pen were not sufficient to keep him from having recourse to the stage. Meres classed him in 1598 among the ‘best for tragedy’, and Henslowe’s diary shows him a busy writer for the Admiral’s men, almost invariably in collaboration with Dekker and others, from Dec. 1597 to Jan. 1599, and a more occasional one from Oct. 1599 to May 1602. At a later date he may possibly have written for Queen Anne’s men, since commendatory verses by T. Greene are prefixed to his _Poems_ of 1605. In 1608 he belonged to the King’s Revels syndicate at Whitefriars. No later connexion with the stage can be traced, and he took no steps to print his plays with his other works. His Elegy to Henry Reynolds of _Poets and Poesie_ (C. Brett, _Drayton’s Minor Poems_, 108) does honour to Marlowe, Shakespeare, Jonson, and Beaumont, and tradition makes him a partaker in the drinking-bout that led to Shakespeare’s end. Jonson wrote commendatory verses for him in 1627, but in 1619 had told Drummond (Laing, 10) that ‘Drayton feared him; and he esteemed not of him’. The irresponsible Fleay, i. 361; ii. 271, 323, identifies him with Luculento of _E. M. O._, Captain Jenkins of Dekker and Webster’s _Northward Ho!_, and the eponym of the anonymous _Sir Giles Goosecap_; Small, 98, with the Decius criticized in the anonymous _Jack Drum’s Entertainment_, who may also be Dekker.

The collections of Drayton’s _Poems_ do not include his plays.--_Dissertations_: O. Elton, _M. D._ (1895, _Spenser Soc._, 1905); L. Whitaker, _M. D. as a Dramatist_ (1903, _M. L. A._ xviii. 378).

_Sir John Oldcastle. 1599_

_With_ Hathaway, Munday, and Wilson.

_S. R._ 1600, Aug. 11 (Vicars). ‘The first parte of the history of the life of Sir John Oldcastell lord Cobham. Item the second and last parte of the history of Sir John Oldcastell lord Cobham with his martyrdom,’ _Thomas Pavier_ (Arber, iii. 169).

1600. The first part Of the true and honorable historie, of the life of Sir John Oldcastle, the good Lord Cobham. As it hath been lately acted by the right honorable the Earle of Notingham Lord high Admirall of England his seruants. _V. S. for Thomas Pavier._ [Prologue.]

1600.... Written by William Shakespeare. _For T. P._ [Probably a forgery of later date than that given in the imprint; cf. p. 479.]

1664. In Third Folio Shakespeare.

1685. In Fourth Folio Shakespeare.

_Editions_ in collections of the Shakespeare _Apocrypha_, and by W. Scott (1810, _A. B. D._ i), P. Simpson (1908, _M. S. R._), J. S. Farmer (1911, _T. F. T._).

Henslowe advanced £10 to the Admiral’s as payment to Munday, Drayton, Wilson, and Hathway for the first part of ‘the lyfe of S^r Jhon Ouldcasstell’ and in earnest for the second part on 16 Oct. 1599, and an additional 10_s._ for the poets ‘at the playnge of S^r John Oldcastell the ferste tyme as a gefte’ between 1 and 8 Nov. 1599. Drayton had £4 for the second part between 19 and 26 Dec. 1599, and properties were being bought for it in March 1600. It is not preserved. By Aug. 1602 the play had been transferred to Worcester’s men. More properties were bought, doubtless for a revival, and Dekker had £2 10_s._ for ‘new a dicyons’. Fleay, ii. 116, attempts to disentangle the work of the collaborators. Clearly the play was an answer to _Henry IV_, in which Sir John Falstaff was originally Sir John Oldcastle, and this is made clear in the prologue:

It is no pampered glutton we present,
Nor aged Councellour to youthfull sinne.

_Doubtful and Lost Plays_

For ascriptions see _Edward IV_, _London Prodigal_, _Merry Devil of Edmonton_, _Sir T. More_, and _Thomas Lord Cromwell_ in ch. xxiv.

The complete series of his work for the Admiral’s during 1597–1602 is as follows:

(i) _Mother Redcap._

Payments, with Munday, Dec. 1597–Jan. 1598.

(ii) _The Welshman’s Prize, or The Famous Wars of Henry I and the Prince of Wales._

Payments, with Chettle and Dekker, March 1598. Greg (_Henslowe_, ii. 192) thinks that the play may have had some relation to Davenport’s _Henry I_ of 1624 entered as by Shakespeare and Davenport in S. R. on 9 Sept. 1653.

(iii) _1 Earl Godwin and his Three Sons._

Payments, with Chettle, Dekker, and Wilson, March 1598.

(iv) _2 Earl Godwin and his Three Sons._

Payments, with Chettle, Dekker, and Wilson, May to June 1598.

(v) _Pierce of Exton._

Payment of £2, with Chettle, Dekker, and Wilson, April 1598; but apparently not finished.

(vi) _1 Black Bateman of the North._

Payments, with Chettle, Dekker, and Wilson, May 1598.

(vii) _Funeral of Richard Cœur-de-lion._

Payments, with Chettle, Munday, and Wilson, June 1598.

(viii) _The Madman’s Morris._

Payments, with Dekker and Wilson, July 1598.

(ix) _Hannibal and Hermes._

Payments, with Dekker and Wilson, July 1598.

(x) _Pierce of Winchester._

Payments, with Dekker and Wilson, July–Aug. 1598.

(xi) _Chance Medley._

Payments, with Chettle or Dekker, Munday, and Wilson, Aug. 1598.

(xii) _Worse Afeared than Hurt._

Payments, with Dekker, Aug.–Sept. 1598.

(xiii-xv) _1, 2, 3 The Civil Wars of France._

Payments, with Dekker, Sept.–Dec. 1598. Greg (_Henslowe_, ii. 198) suggests some relation with Chapman’s _Bussy D’Ambois_ (q.v.).

(xvi) _Connan Prince of Cornwall._

Payments, with Dekker, Oct. 1598.

(xvii) _William Longsword._

Apparently Drayton’s only unaided play and unfinished. His autograph receipt for a payment in Jan. 1599 is in Henslowe, i. 59.

[There is now a break in Drayton’s dramatic activities, but not in his relations with Henslowe, for whom he acted as a witness on 8 July 1599. On 9 Aug. 1598 he had stood security for the delivery of a play by Munday (Henslowe, i. 60, 93).]

(xviii-xix) _1, 2 Sir John Oldcastle._

See above.

(xx) _Owen Tudor._

Payments, with Hathway, Munday, and Wilson, Jan. 1600; but apparently not finished.

(xxi) _1 Fair Constance of Rome._

Payments, with Dekker, Hathway, Munday, and Wilson (q.v.), June 1600.

(xxii) _The Rising of Cardinal Wolsey._

Payments, with Chettle (q.v.), Munday, and Smith, Aug.–Nov. 1601.

(xxiii) _Caesar’s Fall, or The Two Shapes._

Payments, with Dekker, Middleton, Munday, and Webster, May 1602.

GILBERT DUGDALE (_c._ 1604).

Author of _Time Triumphant_, an account of the entry and coronation of James I (cf. ch. xxiv, C).

JOHN DUTTON (_c._ 1598–1602).

Perhaps only a ‘ghost-name’, but conceivably the author of _Parnassus_ (cf. ch. xxiv).

JOHN DYMMOCKE (_c._ 1601).

Possibly the translator of _Pastor Fido_ (cf. ch. xxiv).

RICHARD EDES (1555–1604).

Edes, or Eedes, entered Christ Church, Oxford, from Westminster in 1571, took his B.A. in 1574, his M.A. in 1578, and was University Proctor in 1583. He took orders, became Chaplain to the Queen, and was appointed Canon of Christ Church in 1586 and Dean of Worcester in 1597. Some of his verse, both in English and Latin, has survived, and Meres includes him in 1598 amongst ‘our best for Tragedie’. The Epilogue, in Latin prose, of a play called _Caesar Interfectus_, which was both written and spoken by him, is given by F. Peck in _A Collection of Curious Historical Pieces_, appended to his _Memoirs of Cromwell_ (1740), and by Boas, 163, from _Bodl. MS. Top. Oxon._ e. 5, f. 359. A later hand has added the date 1582, from which Boas infers that _Caesar Interfectus_, of which Edes was probably the author, was one of three tragedies recorded in the Christ Church accounts for Feb.–March 1582. Edes appears to have written or contributed to Sir Henry Lee’s (q.v.) Woodstock Entertainment of 1592.

RICHARD EDWARDES (_c._ 1523–1566).

Edwardes was a Somersetshire man. He entered Corpus Christi College, Oxford, on 11 May 1540, and became Senior Student of Christ Church in 1547. Before the end of Edward’s reign he was seeking his fortune at Court and had a fee or annuity of £6 13_s._ 4_d._ (Stopes, _Hunnis_, 147). He must not be identified with the George Edwardes of Chapel lists, _c._ 1553 (ibid. 23; _Shakespeare’s Environment_, 238; Rimbault, x), but was of the Chapel by 1 Jan. 1557 (Nichols, _Eliz._ i. xxxv; _Illustrations_, App. 14), when he made a New Year’s gift of ‘certeigne verses’, and was confirmed in office by an Elizabethan patent of 27 May 1560. He succeeded Bower as Master of the Children, receiving his patent of appointment on 27 Oct. 1561 and a commission to take up children on 4 Dec. 1561 (Wallace, i. 106; ii. 65; cf. ch. xii). Barnabe Googe in his _Eglogs, Epytaphes and Sonettes_ (15 March 1563) puts his ‘doyngs’ above those of Plautus and Terence. In addition to plays at Court, he took his boys on 2 Feb. 1565 and 2 Feb. 1566 to Lincoln’s Inn (cf. ch. vii), of which he had become a member on 25 Nov. 1564 (_L. I. Admission Register_, i. 72). He appeared at Court as a ‘post’ on behalf of the challengers for a tilt in Nov. 1565 (cf. ch. iv). In 1566 he helped in the entertainment of Elizabeth at Oxford, and on Oct. 31 of that year he died. His reputation as poet and dramatist is testified to in verses by Barnabe Googe, George Turberville, Thomas Twine, and others and proved enduring. The author [Richard Puttenham?] of _The Arte of English Poesie_ (1589) couples him with the Earl of Oxford as deserving the highest price for comedy and enterlude, and Francis Meres in his _Palladis Tamia_ (1598) includes him amongst those ‘best for comedy’. Several of his poems are in _The Paradise of Dainty Devices_ (1576). Warton, iv. 218, says that William Collins (the poet) had a volume of prose stories printed in 1570, ‘sett forth by maister Richard Edwardes mayster of her maiesties revels’. One of these contained a version of the jest used in the _Induction_ of _The Taming of the Shrew_ (q.v.). There is nothing else to connect Edwardes with the Revels office, and probably ‘revels’ in Warton’s account is a mistake for ‘children’ or ‘chapel’.

_Dissertations_: W. Y. Durand, _Notes on R. E._ (1902, _J. G. P._ iv. 348), _Some Errors concerning R. E._ (1908, _M. L. N._ xxiii. 129).

_Damon and Pythias. 1565_

_S. R._ 1567–8. ‘A boke intituled ye tragecall comodye of Damonde and Pethyas.’ _Rycharde Jonnes_ (Arber, i. 354).

Warton, iv. 214, describes an edition, not now known, as printed by William How in Fleet Street. The Tragical comedie of Damon and Pythias, newly imprinted as the same was playde before the queenes maiestie by the children of her grace’s chapple. Made by Mayster Edwards, then being master of the children. _William How._ [Only known through the description of Warton, iv. 214.]

1571. The excellent Comedie of two the moste faithfullest Freendes, Damon and Pithias. Newly Imprinted, as the same was shewed before the Queenes Maiestie, by the Children of her Graces Chappell, except the Prologue that is somewhat altered for the proper vse of them that hereafter shall haue occasion to plaie it, either in Priuate, or open Audience. Made by Maister Edwards, then beynge Maister of the Children. _Richard Jones._

1582. _Richard Jones._

_Editions_ in Dodsley^4, iv (1874), and by W. Scott (1810, _A. B. D._ i) and J. S. Farmer (1908, _T. F. T._).--_Dissertation_: W. Y. Durand, _A Local Hit in E.’s D. and P._ (_M. L. N._ xxii. 236).

The play is not divided into acts or scenes; the characters include Carisophus a parasite, and Grim the Collier. The prologue [not that used at Court] warns the audience that they will be ‘frustrate quite of toying plays’ and that the author’s muse that ‘masked in delight’ and to some ‘seemed too much in young desires to range’ will leave such sports and write a ‘tragical comedy ... mixed with mirth and care’. Edwardes adds (cf. App. C, No. ix):

Wherein, talking of courtly toys, we do protest this flat,
We talk of Dionysius court, we mean no court but that.

A song at the end wishes Elizabeth joy and describes her as ‘void of all sickness, in most perfect health’. Durand uses this reference to date the play in the early months of 1565, since a letter of De Silva (_Sp. P._ i. 400) records that Elizabeth had a feverish cold since 8 Dec. 1564, but was better by 2 Jan. 1565. He identifies the play with the ‘Edwardes tragedy’ of the Revels Accounts for 1564–5 (cf. App. B), and points out that there is an entry in those accounts for ‘rugge bumbayst and cottone for hosse’, and that in _Damon and Pythias_ (Dodsley, iv. 71) the boys have stuffed breeches with ‘seven ells of rug’ to one hose. A proclamation of 6 May 1562 (_Procl._ 562) had forbidden the use of more than a yard and three-quarters of stuff in the ‘stockes’ of hose, and an enforcing proclamation (_Procl._ 619) was required on 12 Feb. 1566. Boas, 157, notes a revival at Merton in 1568.

Fleay, 60, thinks that the play contains attacks on the Paul’s boys in return for satire of Edwardes as Ralph Roister in Ulpian Fulwell’s _Like Will to Like_ (q.v.).

_Lost Play_

_Palamon and Arcite. 1566_

This play was acted in two parts on 2 and 4 Sept. 1566, before Elizabeth in the Hall of Christ Church, Oxford (cf. ch. iv). The first night was made memorable by the fall of part of the staircase wall, by which three persons were killed. The Queen was sorry, but the play went on. She gave Edwardes great thanks for his pains. The play was in English. Several contemporary writers assign it to Edwardes, and Nicholas Robinson adds that he and other Christ Church men translated it out of Latin, and that he remained two months in Oxford working at it. Bereblock gives a long analysis of the action, which shows that, even if there is no error as to the intervening Latin version, the original source was clearly Chaucer’s _Knight’s Tale_. W. Y. Durand, _Journ. Germ. Phil._ iv. 356, argues that Edwardes’s play was not a source of _Two Noble Kinsmen_, on the ground of the divergence between that and Bereblock’s summary.

There is no evidence of any edition of the play, although Plummer, xxi, says that it ‘has been several times printed’.

_Doubtful Plays_

Fleay, ii. 295, assigns to Edwardes _Godly Queen Hester_, a play of which he had only seen a few lines, and which W. W. Greg, in his edition in _Materialien_, v, has shown with great probability to date from about 1525–9. His hand has also been sought in R. B.’s _Apius and Virginia_ and in _Misogonus_ (cf. ch. xxiv).

ELIZABETH (1533–1603).

H. H. E. Craster (_E. H. R._ xxix. 722) includes in a list of Elizabeth’s English translations a chorus from Act II of the pseudo-Senecan _Hercules Oetaeus_, extant in _Bodl. MS. e Museo_, 55, f. 48, and printed in H. Walpole, _Royal and Noble Authors_ (ed. Park, 1806), i. 102. It probably dates later than 1561. But he can find no evidence for a Latin version of a play of Euripides referred to by Walpole, i. 85.

RICHARD FARRANT (?-1580).

Farrant’s career as Master of the Children of Windsor and Deputy Master of the Children of the Chapel and founder of the first Blackfriars theatre has been described in chh. xii and xvii. It is not improbable that he wrote plays for the boys, and W. J. Lawrence, _The Earliest Private Theatre Play_ (_T. L. S._, 11 Aug. 1921), thinks that one of these was _Wars of Cyrus_ (cf. ch. xxiv), probably based on W. Barker’s translation (1567) of Xenophon’s _Cyropaedia_, and that the song of Panthea ascribed to Farrant in a Christ Church manuscript (cf. vol. ii, p. 63) has dropped out from the extant text of this. Farrant’s song, ‘O Jove from stately throne’, mentioning Altages, may be from another play. I think that _Wars of Cyrus_, as it stands, is clearly post-_Tamburlaine_, and although there are indications of lost songs at ll. 985, 1628, there is none pointing to a lament of Panthea. But conceivably the play was based on one by Farrant.

GEORGE FEREBE (_c._ 1573–1613 <)

A musician and Vicar of Bishop’s Cannings, Wilts.

_The Shepherd’s Song. 1613_

_S. R._ 1613, June 16. ‘A thinge called The Shepeherdes songe before Queene Anne in 4. partes complete Musical vpon the playnes of Salisbury &c.’ _Walter Dight_ (Arber, iii. 526).

Aubrey, i. 251, says ‘when queen Anne came to Bathe, her way lay to traverse the famous Wensdyke, which runnes through his parish. He made severall of his neighbours good musitians, to play with him in consort, and to sing. Against her majesties comeing, he made a pleasant pastorall, and gave her an entertaynment with his fellow songsters in shepherds’ weeds and bagpipes, he himself like an old bard. After that wind musique was over, they sang their pastorall eglogues (which I have, to insert into Liber B).’ Wood’s similar account in _Fasti_ (1815), i. 270, is probably based on Aubrey’s. He dates the entertainment June 11 (cf. ch. iv. and App. A, s. ann. 1613), and gives the opening of the song as

Shine, O thou sacred Shepherds Star,
On silly shepherd swaines.

Aubrey has a shorter notice in another manuscript and adds, ‘He gave another entertaynment in Cote-field to King James, with carters singing, with whipps in their hands; and afterwards, a footeball play’.

GEORGE FERRERS (_c._ 1500–79).

A Lincoln’s Inn lawyer, son of Thomas Ferrers of St. Albans, who was Page of the Chamber to Henry VIII, and acted as Lord of Misrule to Edward VI at the Christmases of 1551–2 and 1552–3 (_Mediaeval Stage_, i. 405; Feuillerat, _Edw. and M._ 56, 77, 90). He sat in Parliaments of both Mary and Elizabeth, and wrote some of the poems in _The Mirror for Magistrates_ (1559–78). He contributed verses to the Kenilworth entertainment of 1575, must then have been a very old man, and died in 1579. Puttenham says of Edward VI’s time, ‘Maister _Edward Ferrys_ ... wrate for the most part to the stage, in Tragedie and sometimes in Comedie or Enterlude’, and again, ‘For Tragedie, the Lord of Buckhurst & Maister _Edward Ferrys_, for such doings as I haue sene of theirs, do deserue the hyest price’; and is followed by Meres, who places ‘Master Edward Ferris, the author of the _Mirror for Magistrates_’ amongst ‘our best for Tragedie’ (cf. App. C, Nos. xli, lii). Obviously George Ferrers is meant, but Anthony Wood hunted out an Edward Ferrers, belonging to another family, of Baddesley Clinton, in Warwickshire, and took him for the dramatist. He died in 1564 and had a son Henry, amongst whose papers were found verses belonging to certain entertainments, mostly of the early ‘nineties, which an indiscreet editor thereupon ascribed to George Ferrers (cf. s.v. Sir H. Lee).

NATHAN FIELD (1587–?).

For life _vide supra_ Actors (ch. xv).

_A Woman is a Weathercock. 1609_ (?)

_S. R._ 1611, Nov. 23 (Buck). ‘A booke called, A woman is a weather-cocke, beinge a Comedye.’ _John Budge_ (Arber, iii. 471).

1612. A Woman is a Weather-cocke. A New Comedy, As it was acted before the King in White-Hall. And diuers times Priuately at the White-Friers, By the Children of her Maiesties Reuels. Written by Nat: Field. _For John Budge._ [Epistles to Any Woman that hath been no Weathercock and to the Reader, both signed ‘N. F.’, and Commendatory verses ‘To his loved son, Nat. Field, and his Weathercock Woman’, signed ‘George Chapman’.]

_Editions_ in _O. E. D._ (1830, ii), by J. P. Collier (1833, _Five Old Plays_), in Dodsley^4 (1875, xi), and by A. W. Verity in _Nero and Other Plays_ (1888, _Mermaid Series_).

This must, I suppose, have been one of the five plays given at Court by the Children of the Whitefriars in the winter of 1609–10. Fleay, i. 185, notes that I. ii refers to the Cleve wars, which began in 1609. The Revels children were not at Court in 1610–11. In his verses to _The Faithful Shepherdess_ (1609–10) Field hopes for his ‘muse in swathing clouts’, to ‘perfect such a work as’ Fletcher’s. The first Epistle promises that when his next play is printed, any woman ‘shall see what amends I have made to her and all the sex’; the second ends, ‘If thou hast anything to say to me, thou know’st where to hear of me for a year or two, and no more, I assure thee’, as if Field did not mean to spend his life as a player.

_Amends for Ladies. > 1611_

1618. Amends for Ladies. A Comedie. As it was acted at the Blacke-Fryers, both by the Princes Seruants, and the Lady Elizabeths. By Nat. Field. _G. Eld for Math. Walbancke._

1639.... With the merry prankes of Moll Cut-Purse: Or, the humour of roaring A Comedy full of honest mirth and wit.... _Io. Okes for Math. Walbancke._

_Editions_, with _A W. is a W._ (q.v.).

The title-page points to performances in Porter’s Hall (_c._ 1615–16) by the combined companies of the Prince and Princess; but the Epistle to _A W. is a W._ (q.v.) makes it clear that the play was at least planned, and probably written, by the end of 1611. Collier, iii. 434, and Fleay, i. 201, confirm this from an allusion to the play in A. Stafford’s _Admonition to a Discontented Romanist_, appended to his _Niobe Dissolved into a Nilus_ (S. R. 10 Oct. 1611). Fleay is less happy in fixing an inferior limit of date by the publication of the version of the _Curious Impertinent_ story in Shelton’s _Don Quixote_ (1612), since that story was certainly available in Baudouin’s French translation as early as 1608. The introduction of Moll Cutpurse suggests rivalry with Dekker and Middleton’s _Roaring Girl_ (also _c._ 1610–11) at the Fortune, which theatre is chaffed in ii. 1 and iii. 4.

_Later Play_

_The Fatal Dowry_ (1632), a King’s men’s play, assigned on the title-page to P. M. and N. F., probably dates from 1616–19. C. Beck, _Philip Massinger, The Fatall Dowry, Einleitung zu einer neuen Ausgabe_ (1906, _Erlangen diss._), assigns the prose of II. ii and IV. i to Field. There is an edition by C. L. Lockert (1918).

_Doubtful Plays_

Attempts have been made to trace Field’s hand in _Bonduca_, _Cupid’s Revenge_, _Faithful Friends_, _Honest Man’s Fortune_, _Thierry and Theodoret_, and _Four Plays in One_, all belonging to the Beaumont (q.v.) and Fletcher series, and in _Charlemagne_ (cf. ch. xxiv).

JOHN FLETCHER (1579–1625).

Fletcher was born in Dec. 1579 at Rye, Sussex, the living of his father Richard Fletcher, who became Bishop of Bristol, Worcester, and in 1594 London. His cousins, Giles and Phineas, are known as poets. He seems too young for the John Fletcher of London who entered Corpus Christi, Cambridge, in 1591. After his father’s death in 1596, nothing is heard of him until his emergence as a dramatist, and of this the date cannot be precisely fixed. Davenant says that ‘full twenty yeares, he wore the bayes’, which would give 1605, but this is in a prologue to _The Woman Hater_, which Davenant apparently thought Fletcher’s, although it is Beaumont’s; and Oliphant’s attempt to find his hand, on metrical grounds, in _Captain Thomas Stukeley_ (1605) rests only on one not very conclusive scene. But he had almost certainly written for the Queen’s Revels before the beginning, about 1608, of his collaboration with Beaumont, under whom his later career is outlined. It is possible that he is the John Fletcher who married Joan Herring on 3 Nov. 1612 at St. Saviour’s, Southwark, and had a son John about Feb. 1620 in St. Bartholomew’s the Great (Dyce, i. lxxiii), and if so one may put the fact with Aubrey’s gossip (cf. s.v. Beaumont), and with Oldwit’s speech in Shadwell’s _Bury-Fair_ (1689): ‘I knew Fletcher, my friend Fletcher, and his maid Joan; well, I shall never forget him: I have supped with him at his house on the Bankside; he loved a fat loin of pork of all things in the world; and Joan his maid had her beer-glass of sack; and we all kissed her, i’ faith, and were as merry as passed.’ I have sometimes wondered whether Jonson is chaffing Beaumont and Fletcher in _Bartholomew Fair_ (1614), V. iii, iv, as Damon and Pythias, ‘two faithfull friends o’ the Bankside’, that ‘have both but one drabbe’, and enter with a gammon of bacon under their cloaks. I do not think this can refer to Francis Bacon. Fletcher died in Aug. 1625 and was buried in St. Saviour’s (_Athenaeum_, 1886, ii. 252).

For Plays _vide_ s.v. Beaumont, and for the ascribed lost play of _Cardenio_, s.v. Shakespeare.

PHINEAS FLETCHER (1582–1650).

Phineas Fletcher, son of Giles, a diplomatist and poet, brother of Giles, a poet, and first cousin of John (q.v.), was baptized at Cranbrook, Kent, on 8 April 1582. From Eton he passed to King’s College, Cambridge, where he took his B.A. in 1604, his M.A. in 1608, and became a Fellow in 1611. He was Chaplain to Sir Henry Willoughby of Risley from 1616 to 1621, and thereafter Rector of Hilgay, Norfolk, to his death in 1650. He wrote much Spenserian poetry, but his dramatic work was purely academic. In addition to _Sicelides_, he may have written an English comedy, for which a payment was made to him by King’s about Easter 1607 (Boas, i. xx).

_Collections_

1869. A. B. Grosart, _The Poems of P. F._ 4 vols. (_Fuller Worthies Library_).

1908–9. F. S. Boas, _The Poetical Works of Giles Fletcher and P. F._ 2 vols. (_Cambridge English Classics_).

_Sicelides. 1615_

[_MSS._] _Bodl. Rawl. Poet. MS._ 214.

_Addl. MS. 4453._ ‘Sicelides: a Piscatorie made by Phinees Fletcher and acted in Kings Colledge in Cambridge.’ [A shorter version than that of Q. and the _Rawl. MS._]

_S. R._ 1631, April 25 (Herbert). ‘A play called Scicelides, acted at Cambridge.’ _William Sheeres_ (Arber, iv. 251).

1631. Sicelides A Piscatory, As it hath been Acted in Kings Colledge, in Cambridge. _I. N. for William Sheares._ [Prologue and Epilogue.]

A reference (III. iv) to the shoes hung up by Thomas Coryat in Odcombe church indicates a date of composition not earlier than 1612. The play was intended for performance before James at Cambridge, but was actually given before the University after his visit, on 13 March 1615 (cf. ch. iv).

FRANCIS FLOWER (_c._ 1588).

A Gray’s Inn lawyer, one of the devisers of dumb-shows and directors for the _Misfortunes of Arthur_ of Thomas Hughes (q.v.) in 1588, for which he also wrote two choruses.

JOHN FORD (1586–1639 <).

Ford’s dramatic career, including whatever share he may have had with Dekker (q.v.) in _Sun’s Darling_ and _Witch of Edmonton_, falls substantially outside my period. But amongst plays entered as his by Humphrey Moseley on 29 June 1660 (Eyre, ii. 271) are:

‘An ill begining has A good end, and a bad begining may have a
good end, a Comedy.’

‘The London Merchant, a Comedy.’

These ascriptions recur in Warburton’s list of lost plays (_3 Library_, ii. 231), where the first play has the title ‘A good beginning may have A good end’. It is possible, therefore, that Ford either wrote or revised the play of ‘A badd beginininge makes a good endinge’, which was performed by the King’s men at Court during 1612–13 (cf. App. B). One may suspect the _London Merchant_ to be a mistake for the _Bristow Merchant_ of Ford and Dekker (q.v.) in 1624. The offer of the title in _K. B. P._ ind. 11 hardly proves that there was really a play of _The London Merchant_. Ford’s _Honor Triumphant: or The Peeres Challenge, by Armes defensible at Tilt, Turney, and Barriers_ (1606; ed. _Sh. Soc._ 1843) is a thesis motived by the jousts in honour of Christian of Denmark (cf. ch. iv). It has an Epistle to the Countesses of Pembroke and Montgomery, and contains four arguments in defence of amorous propositions addressed respectively to the Duke of Lennox and the Earls of Arundel, Pembroke, and Montgomery.

EDWARD FORSETT (_c._ 1553–_c._ 1630).

A political writer (_D. N. B._) and probable author of the academic _Pedantius_ (cf. App. K).

ABRAHAM FRAUNCE (_c._ 1558–1633 <).

Fraunce was a native of Shrewsbury, and passed from the school of that place, where he obtained the friendship of Philip Sidney, to St. John’s, Cambridge, in 1576. He took his B.A. in 1580, played in Legge’s academic _Richardus Tertius_ and in _Hymenaeus_ (Boas, 394), which he may conceivably have written (cf. App. K), became Fellow of the college in 1581, and took his M.A. in 1583. He became a Gray’s Inn man, dedicated various treatises on logic and experiments in English hexameters to members of the Sidney and Herbert families during 1583–92, and appears to have obtained through their influence some office under the Presidency of Wales. He dropped almost entirely out of letters, but seems to have been still alive in 1633.

_Latin Play_

_Victoria. 1580 < > 3_

[_MS._] In possession of Lord De L’Isle and Dudley at Penshurst, headed ‘Victoria’. [Lines ‘Philippo Sidneio’, signed ‘Abrahamus Fransus’. Prologue.]

_Edition_ by G. C. Moore Smith (1906, _Materialien_, xiv).

The play is an adaptation of _Il Fedele_ (1575) by Luigi Pasqualigo, which is also the foundation of the anonymous _Two Italian Gentlemen_ (q.v.). As Sidney was knighted on 13 Jan. 1583, the play was probably written, perhaps for performance at St. John’s, Cambridge, before that date and after Fraunce took his B.A. in 1580.

_Translation_

_Phillis and Amyntas. 1591_

_S. R._ 1591, Feb. 9 (Bp. of London). ‘A book intituled The Countesse of Pembrookes Ivye churche, and Emanuel.’ _William Ponsonby_ (Arber, ii. 575).

1591. The Countesse of Pembrokes Yuychurch. Containing the affectionate life, and vnfortunate death of Phillis and Amyntas: That in a Pastorall; This in a Funerall; both in English Hexameters. By Abraham Fraunce. _Thomas Orwin for William Ponsonby._

_Dissertation_: E. Köppel, _Die englischen Tasso-Übersetzungen des 16. Jahrhunderts_ (1889, _Anglia_, xi).

This consists of a slightly altered translation of the _Aminta_ (1573) of Torquato Tasso, followed by a reprint of Fraunce’s English version (1587) of Thomas Watson’s _Amyntas_ (1585), which is not a play, but a collection of Latin eclogues. There is nothing to show that Fraunce’s version of _Aminta_ was ever acted.

WILLIAM FULBECK (1560–1603?).

He entered Gray’s Inn in 1584, contributed two speeches to the _Misfortunes of Arthur_ of Thomas Hughes (q.v.) in 1588, and wrote various legal and historical books.

ULPIAN FULWELL (_c._ 1568).

Fulwell was born in Somersetshire and educated at St. Mary’s Hall, Oxford. On 14 April 1577 he was of the parish of Naunton, Gloucestershire, and married Mary Whorewood of Lapworth, Warwickshire.[657]

_Like Will to Like. c. 1568_

_S. R._ 1568–9. ‘A play lyke Wyll to lyke quod the Devell to the Collyer.’ _John Alde_ (Arber, i. 379).

1568. An Enterlude Intituled Like wil to like quod the Deuel to the Colier, very godly and ful of pleasant mirth.... Made by Vlpian Fulwell. _John Allde._

1587. _Edward Allde._

_Editions_ in Dodsley^4, iii (1874), and by J. S. Farmer (1909, _T. F. T._).

A non-controversial moral. The characters, allegorical and typical, are arranged for five actors, and include Ralph Roister, and ‘Nicholas Newfangle the Vice’, who ‘rideth away upon the Devil’s back’ (Dodsley, iii. 357). There is a prayer for the Queen at the end.

This might be _The Collier_ played at Court in 1576. Fleay, 60; i. 235, puts it in 1561–3, assigns it to the Paul’s boys, and suggests that Richard Edwardes (q.v.) is satirized as Ralph Roister. Greg (_Henslowe_, ii. 228) suggests that Fulwell’s may be the play revived by Pembroke’s at the Rose on 28 Oct. 1600 as ‘the [devell] licke vnto licke’.

WILLIAM GAGER (> 1560–1621).

Gager entered Christ Church, Oxford, from Westminster in 1574, and took his B.A. in 1577, his M.A. in 1580, and his D.C.L. in 1589. In 1606 he became Chancellor of the diocese of Ely. He had a high reputation for his Latin verses, many of which are contained in _Exequiae D. Philippi Sidnaei_ (1587) and other University volumes. A large collection in _Addl. MS._ 22583 includes lines to George Peele (q.v.). Meres in 1598 counts him as one of ‘the best for comedy amongst vs’. His correspondence with John Rainolds affords a summary of the controversy on the ethics of the stage in its academic aspect.

_Latin Plays_

_Meleager. Feb. 1582_

1592. Meleager. Tragoedia noua. Bis publice acta in aede Christi Oxoniae. _Oxoniae. Joseph Barnes._ [Epistle to Earl of Essex, ‘ex aede Christi Oxoniae, Calendis Ianuarij MDXCII. Gulielmus Gagerus’; Commendatory verses by Richard Edes, Alberico Gentili, and I. C[ase?]; Epistle _Ad lectorem Academicum_; _Prologus ad academicos_; _Argumentum_; _Prologus ad illustrissimos Penbrochiae ac Lecestriae Comites_. At end, _Epilogus ad Academicos_; _Epilogus ad clarissimos Comites Penbrochiensem ac Lecestrensem_; _Panniculus Hippolyto ... assutus_ (_vide infra_); _Apollo_ προλογίζει _ad serenissimam Reginam Elizabetham 1592_; _Prologus in Bellum Grammaticale ad eandem sacram Maiestatem_; _Epilogus in eandem Comoediam ad Eandem_.]

The dedication says ‘Annus iam pene vndecimus agitur ... ex quo Meleager primum, octauus ex quo iterum in Scenam venit’, and adds that Pembroke, Leicester, and Sidney were present on the second occasion. _Meleager_ is ‘primogenitus meus’. The first production was doubtless one of those recorded in the Christ Church accounts in Feb. 1582 (Boas, 162), and the second during Leicester’s visit as Chancellor in Jan. 1585 (Boas, 192).

_Dido. 12 June 1583_

[_MSS._] _Christ Church, Oxford, MS_. [complete text].

_Addl. MS._ 22583. [Acts II, III only, with Prologue, Argument, and Epilogue.]

_Edition_ of B.M. fragment by A. Dyce (1850, _Marlowe’s Works_). _Abstract_ from _Ch. Ch. MS._ in Boas, 183.

The play was produced before Alasco at Christ Church on 12 June 1583. It is unlikely that it influenced Marlowe’s play.

_Ulysses Redux. 6 Feb. 1592_

1592. Vlysses Redux Tragoedia Nova. In Aede Christi Oxoniae Publice Academicis Recitata, Octavo Idus Februarii. 1591. _Oxoniae. Joseph Barnes._ [_Prologus ad Academicos_; Epistle to Lord Buckhurst, ‘ex aede Christi Oxoniae sexto Idus Maij, 1592 ... Gulielmus Gagerus’; Commendatory verses by Thomas Holland, Alberico Gentili, Richard Edes, Henry Bust, Matthew Gwinne, Richard Late-warr, Francis Sidney, John Hoschines (Hoskins), William Ballowe, James Weston; Verses _Ad Zoilum_; Epistle _Ad Criticum_. At end, _Prologus in Rivales Comoediam_; _Prologus in Hippolytum Senecae Tragoediam_; _Epilogus in eundem_; _Momus_; _Epilogus Responsiuus_.]

The play was produced on Sunday, 6 Feb. 1592, and an indiscreet invitation to John Rainolds opened the flood-gates of controversy upon Gager’s head (cf. vol. i, p. 251 and App. C, No. 1). Gager’s _Rivales_ was revived on 7 Feb. and the pseudo-Senecan _Hippolytus_, with Gager’s _Panniculus_, on 8 Feb. followed by a speech in the character of Momus as a carper at plays, and a reply to Momus by way of Epilogue. The latter was printed in an enlarged form given to it during the course of the controversy (Boas, 197, 234, with dates which disregard leap-year).

_Additions to Hippolytus. 8 Feb. 1592_

1592. Panniculus Hippolyto Senecae assutus, 1591. [Appended to _Meleager_; for Gager’s prologue, &c., cf. s.v. _Ulysses Redux_.]

These consist of two scenes, one of the nature of an opening, the other an insertion between Act I and Act II, written for a performance of the play at Christ Church on 8 Feb. 1592.

_Oedipus_

_Addl. MS._ 22583, f. 31, includes with other poems by Gager five scenes from a tragedy on _Oedipus_, of which nothing more is known.

_Lost Play_

_Rivales. 11 June 1583_

This comedy was produced before Alasco at Christ Church, on 11 June 1583. It is assigned to Gager by A. Wood, _Annals_, ii. 216, and referred to as his in the controversy with Rainolds (Boas, 181), who speaks of it as ‘the vnprinted Comedie’, and criticizes its ‘filth’. It contained scenes of country wooing, drunken sailors, a _miles gloriosus_, a _blanda lena_. The prologue to _Dido_ says of it:

Hesterna Mopsum scena ridiculum dedit.

It was revived at Christ Church on 7 Feb. 1592 (Boas, 197) and again at the same place before Elizabeth on 26 Sept. 1592, when, according to a Cambridge critic, it was ‘but meanely performed’. Presumably it is the prologue for this revival which is printed with _Ulysses Redux_ (q.v.).

BERNARD GARTER (_c._ 1578).

A London citizen, whose few and mainly non-dramatic writings were produced from 1565 to 1579. For his description of the Norwich entertainment (_1578_), cf. ch. xxiv.

THOMAS GARTER (_c._ 1569).

He may conceivably be identical with Bernard Garter, since Thomas and Bernard are respectively given from different sources (cf. _D. N. B._) as the name of the father of Bernard Garter of Brigstocke, Northants, whose son was alive in 1634.

_Susanna, c. 1569_

_S. R._ 1568–9. ‘Ye playe of Susanna.’ _Thomas Colwell_ (Arber, i. 383).

1578?

No copy is known, but S. Jones, _Biographica Dramatica_ (1812), iii. 310, says: ‘Susanna. By Thomas Garter 4^{to} 1578. The running title of this play is, _The Commody of the moste vertuous and godlye Susanna_.’ According to Greg, _Masques_, cxxiii, the original authority for the statement is a manuscript note by Thomas Coxeter (_ob._ 1747) in a copy of G. Jacob’s _Lives of the Dramatic Poets_ (1719–20). ‘Susanna’ is in Rogers and Ley’s list, and an interlude ‘Susanna’s Tears’ in Archer’s and Kirkman’s.

GEORGE GASCOIGNE (_c._ 1535–77).

George Gascoigne was son of Sir John Gascoigne of Cardington, Bedfordshire. He was probably born between 1530 and 1535, and was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, and Gray’s Inn. He misspent his youth as a dissipated hanger-on at Court, under the patronage of Arthur, Lord Grey of Wilton and others, and won some reputation as a versifier. About 1566 he married Elizabeth Breton of Walthamstow, widow of a London merchant, and mother of Nicholas Breton, the poet. From March 1573 to Oct. 1574 he served as a volunteer under William of Orange in the Netherlands. In 1575 he was assisting in preparing shows before Elizabeth at Kenilworth and Woodstock. It is possible that he was again in the Netherlands and present at the sack of Antwerp in 1576. On 7 Oct. 1577 he died at Stamford.

_Collections_

N.D. [1573] A Hundreth sundrie Flowres bounde up in one small Poesie.... _For Richard Smith._ [Datable by a prefatory epistle of 20 Jan. 1573, signed ‘H. W.’ and a reference in Gascoigne’s own epistle of 31 Jan. 1575 to Q_{2}. Includes _Jocasta_, _Supposes_, and the Mask.]

1575. The Posies of George Gascoigne Esquire. Corrected, perfected, and augmented by the Authour. _H. Bynneman for Richard Smith._ [A second issue, _For Richard Smith_.]

1587. The whole workes of George Gascoigne Esquyre: Newlye compyled into one Volume.... _Abel Jeffes._ [Adds the _Princely Pleasures_. A second issue, ‘The pleasauntest workes....’]

1869–70. W. C. Hazlitt, _The Complete Poems of George Gascoigne_. 2 vols. (_Roxburghe Library_). [Adds _Glass of Government_ and _Hemetes_.]

1907–10. J. W. Cunliffe, _The Complete Works of George Gascoigne_. 2 vols. (_C. E. C._).

_Dissertation_: F. E. Schelling, _The Life and Writings of George Gascoigne_ (1893, _Pennsylvania Univ. Publ._).

_Jocasta. 1566_

_With_ Francis Kinwelmershe.

[_MS._] _B.M. Addl. MS._ 34063, formerly the property of Roger, second Lord North, whose name and the motto ‘Durum Pati [15]68’ are on the title.

1573. Iocasta: A Tragedie written in Greke by Euripides, translated and digested into Acte by George Gascoyne, and Francis Kinwelmershe of Grayes Inne, and there by them presented. 1566. _Henry Bynneman for Richard Smith._ [Part of _Collection_, 1573; also in 1575, 1587. Argument; Epilogue ‘Done by Chr. Yeluerton’.]

_Editions_ by F. J. Child (1848, _Four Old Plays_) and J. W. Cunliffe (1906, _B. L._, and 1912, _E. E. C. T._).--_Dissertation_: M. T. W. Foerster, _Gascoigne’s J. a Translation from the Italian_ (1904, _M. P._ ii. 147).

A blank-verse translation of Lodovico Dolce’s _Giocasta_ (1549), itself a paraphrase or adaptation of the _Phoenissae_ of Euripides (Creizenach, ii. 408). After Acts I and IV appears ‘Done by F. Kinwelmarshe’ and after II, III, V ‘Done by G. Gascoigne’. Before each act is a description of a dumb-show and of its accompanying music.

_Supposes. 1566_

1573. Supposes: A Comedie written in the Italian tongue by Ariosto, and Englished by George Gascoyne of Grayes Inne Esquire, and there presented. [Part of _Collection_, 1573; also in 1575 (with addition of ‘1566’ to title) and 1587. Prologue.]

_Editions_ by T. Hawkins (1773, _O. E. D._ iii), J. W. Cunliffe (1906, _B. L._), and R. W. Bond (1911, _E. P. I._).

A prose translation of Ludovico Ariosto’s _I Suppositi_ (1509). There was probably a revival at Trinity, Oxford, on 8 Jan. 1582, when Richard Madox records, ‘We supt at y^e presidents lodging and after had y^e supposes handeled in y^e haul indifferently’ (Boas, 161).

_The Glass of Government. c. 1575_

1575. The Glasse of Governement. A tragicall Comedie so entituled, bycause therein are handled aswell the rewardes for Vertues, as also the punishment for Vices. Done by George Gascoigne Esquier. 1575. Seen and allowed, according to the order appointed in the Queenes Maiesties Injunctions. _For C. Barker._ [Colophon] _H. M. for Christopher Barker._ [Epistle to Sir Owen Hopton, by ‘G. Gascoigne’, dated 26 Apr. 1575; Commendatory verses by B. C.; Argument; Prologue; Epilogue. A reissue has a variant colophon (_Henry Middleton_) and Errata.]

_Edition_ by J. S. Farmer (1914, _S. F._).--_Dissertation_: C. H. Herford, _G.’s G. of G._ (_E. S._ ix. 201).

This, perhaps only a closet drama, is an adaptation of the ‘Christian Terence’ (cf. _Mediaeval Stage_, ii. 216), with which Gascoigne may have become familiar in Holland during 1573–4. The prologue (cf. App. C, No. xiv) warns that the play is not a mere ‘worthie jest’, and that

Who list laye out some pence in such a marte,
Bellsavage fayre were fittest for his purse.

MASK

_Montague Mask. 1572_

1573. A Devise of a Maske for the right honourable Viscount Mountacute. [Part of _Collection_, 1573; also in 1575, 1587.]

Anthony and Elizabeth Browne, children of Anthony, first Viscount Montague, married Mary and Robert, children of Sir William Dormer of Eythorpe, Bucks., in 1572 (cf. ch. v).

ENTERTAINMENTS

See s.v. Lee, _Woodstock Entertainment_ (_1575_) and ch. xxiv, s.v. _Kenilworth Entertainment_ (_1575_).

THOMAS GOFFE (1591–1629).

_Selimus_ and the _Second Maiden’s Tragedy_ have been ascribed to him, but as regards the first absurdly, and as regards the second not plausibly, since he only took his B.A. degree in 1613. His known plays are later in date than 1616.

ARTHUR GOLDING (1536–1605 <).

Arthur was son of John Golding of Belchamp St. Paul, Essex, and brother-in-law of John, 16th Earl of Oxford. He was a friend of Sidney and known to Elizabethan statesmen of puritanical leanings. Almost his only original work was a _Discourse upon the Earthquake_ (1580), but he was a voluminous translator of theological and classical works, including Ovid’s _Metamorphoses_ (1565, 1567). Beza’s tragedy was written when he was Professor at Lausanne in 1550 (Creizenach, ii. 456).

_Abraham’s Sacrifice. 1575_

1577. A Tragedie of Abrahams Sacrifice, Written in french, by Theodore Beza, and translated into Inglish by A. G. Finished at Powles Belchamp in Essex, the xj of August, 1575. _Thomas Vautrollier._ [Woodcuts, which do not suggest a scenic representation.]

_Edition_ by M. W. Wallace (1907, _Toronto Philological Series_).

HENRY GOLDINGHAM (_c._ 1575).

A contributor to the Kenilworth and Norwich entertainments (cf. ch. xxiv, C) and writer of _The Garden Plot_ (1825, _Roxburghe Club_). Gawdy, 13, mentions ‘a yonge gentleman touard my L. of Leycester called Mr. Goldingam’, as concerned _c._ 1587 in a street brawl.

WILLIAM GOLDINGHAM (_c._ 1567).

Author of the academic _Herodes_ (cf. App. K).

HENRY GOLDWELL (_c._ 1581).

Describer of _The Fortress of Perfect Beauty_ (cf. ch. xxiv, C).

STEPHEN GOSSON (1554–1624).

Gosson was born in Kent during 1554, was at Corpus Christi, Oxford, 1572 to 1576, then came to London, where he obtained some reputation as playwright and poet. Meres in _Palladis Tamia_ (1598) commends his pastorals, which are lost. Lodge speaks of him also as a ‘player’.[658] In 1579 he forsook the stage, became a tutor in the country and published _The School of Abuse_ (App. C, No. xxii). This he dedicated to Sidney, but ‘was for his labour scorned’. He was answered the same year in a lost pamphlet called _Strange News out of Afric_ and also by Lodge (q.v.), and rejoined with _A Short Apology of the School of Abuse_ (App. C, No. xxiv). The players revived his plays to spite him and on 23 Feb. 1582 produced _The Play of Plays and Pastimes_ to confute him. In the same year he produced his final contribution to the controversy in _Plays Confuted in Five Actions_ (App. C, No. xxx). In 1591 Gosson became Rector of Great Wigborough, Essex, and in 1595 published the anonymous pamphlet _Pleasant Quips for Upstart Newfangled Gentlewomen_. In 1600 he became Rector of St. Botolph’s, Bishopsgate. In 1616 and 1617 he wrote to Alleyn (q.v.) as his ‘very loving and ancient friend’.[659] He died 13 Feb. 1624.

Gosson claims to have written both tragedies and comedies,[660] but no play of his is extant. He names three of them. Of _Catiline’s Conspiracies_ he says that it was ‘usually brought into the Theater and that ‘because it is known to be a pig of mine own sow, I will speak the less of it; only giving you to understand, that the whole mark which I shot at in that work was to show the reward of traitors in Catiline, and the necessary government of learned men in the person of Cicero, which foresees every danger that is likely to happen and forestalls it continually ere it take effect’.[661] Lodge disparages the originality of this play and compares it unfavourably with Wilson’s _Short and Sweet_[662] (q.v.). Of two other plays Gosson says: ‘Since my publishing the _School of Abuse_ two plays of my making were brought to the stage; the one was a cast of Italian devices, called, The Comedy of _Captain Mario_; the other a Moral, _Praise at Parting_. These they very impudently affirm to be written by me since I had set out my invective against them. I can not deny they were both mine, but they were both penned two years at the least before I forsook them, as by their own friends I am able to prove.’[663] It is conceivable that Gosson may be the translator of _Fedele and Fortunio_ (cf. ch. xxiv).

ROBERT GREENE (1558–92).