Chapter XXV: Humanism and Mediaevalism (8)

The pageant went in 1535 and 1536. In 1537 it ‘went not at Wytsontyde,’ but went in October ‘in yᵉ Processyon for yᵉ Byrthe of Prynce Edward.’ From 1538 to 1546 it went, the assessment for pageant and procession being about 20_s._ to 30_s._ As to 1547 the record is not clear. Then there is a gap in the extracts, and from 1556 onwards the ‘Gryffon,’ ‘Angell,’ and ‘Pendon’ of the Corpus Christi procession, with flowers, grocery, and fruit ‘to garnish yᵉ tre wᵗʰ,’ &c., appear alone in the accounts. In 1559 was ‘no solemnite’ at all. In 1563 it was agreed that the pageant should be ‘preparyd ageynst yᵉ daye of Mʳ Davy his takyng of his charge of yᵉ Mayralltye,’ with a ‘devyce’ to be prepared by the surveyors at a cost of 6_s._ 8_d._ The play cannot have quite lapsed, for in 1565 a new version was written (cf. p. 425). It was apparently contemplated that it might be played either alone or in a cycle. To the same year belongs the following

‘_Inventory of yᵉ p’ticulars appartaynyng to yᵉ Company of yᵉ Grocers, a.d. 1565._

A Pageant, yᵗ is to saye, a Howse of Waynskott paynted and buylded on a Carte wᵗ fowre whelys.

A square topp to sett over yᵉ sayde Howse.

A Gryffon, gylte, wᵗ a fane to sette on yᵉ sayde toppe.

A bygger Iron fane to sett on yᵉ ende of yᵉ Pageante.

iiijˣˣ iij small Fanes belongyng to yᵉ same Pageante.

A Rybbe colleryd Red.

A cote & hosen wᵗ a bagg & capp for doloʳ, steyned.

2 cotes & a payre hosen for Eve, stayned.

A cote & hosen for Adam, Steyned.

A cote wᵗ hosen & tayle for yᵉ serpente, steyned, wᵗ a wᵗ heare.

A cote of yellow buckram wᵗ yᵉ Grocers’ arms for yᵉ Pendon bearer.

An Angell’s Cote & over hoses of Apis Skynns.

3 paynted clothes to hang abowte yᵉ Pageant.

A face & heare for yᵉ Father.

2 hearys for Adam & Eve.

4 head stallis of brode Inkle wᵗʰ knopps & tassells.

6 Horsse Clothes, stayned, wᵗ knopps & tassells.

Item, Weights, &c.’

There is a final memorandum that in 1570 the pageant was broken to pieces for six years ‘howse ferm’ due. There had been no ‘semblye nor metynge’ of the Company for eight years. The pageant had stood for six years in a ‘Gate howse,’ and then ‘at yᵉ Black Fryers brydge in open strete,’ where it became ‘so weather beaten, yᵗ yᵉ cheife parte was rotton[889].’

_Processions._

There were three notable annual processions at Norwich.

(_a_) The _Corpus Christi_ Procession, in which the crafts were held to take part in 1489, and which appears, as above stated, in the Grocers’ records until 1558. They seem to have been represented by the ‘griffon’ from the top of their pageant, a banner with their arms, a crowned angel, and an emblematic ‘tree’ of fruit and grocery (possibly the ‘tree of knowledge’)[890].

(_b_) The Procession of the Guild of _St. Thomas à Becket_ on the day of his Translation (July 7) to his chapel in the wood. Here interludes were played[891].

(_c_) The Riding of the Guild of _St. George_ on his day (April 23). This dates from at least 1408, and a good many details as to it are preserved[892].

NUNEATON, WARWICKSHIRE.

The ‘lusores de Eaton’ played at Maxstoke Priory between 1422 and 1461 (Appendix E, ii).

OXFORD, OXFORDSHIRE.

The following extracts from the Bursars’ _computi_ of Magdalen College point to a _Quem quaeritis_ of the longer type, with the ‘Noli me tangere’ episode.

1486-7. ‘pro factura sepulturae erga pascham. xijᵈ.’

1506-7. ‘pro scriptura lusi’ of St. Mary Magdalen. xᵈ.’

[There were further payments in connexion with this play, and for music.]

1509-10. ‘pro pane, cibo et aliis datis pueris ludentibus in die Paschae ... xvijᵈ ob.’

1514-5. ‘pro carnibus consumptis in capella tribus noctibus ante Pascha et in tempore Nativitatis. ijˢ.’

1518-9. ‘pro tinctura et factura tunicae eius qui ageret partem Christi et pro crinibus mulieribus. ijˢ vjᵈ.’

1536-7. ‘pro carbonibus consumptis in sacrario per custodes sepulchri, et per pueros in festis hiemalibus.’

[Repeated in other years.]

A chapel inventory of 1495 includes ‘unum frontale ... et unum dorsale cum quibus solet sepulcrum ornari.’

The same accounts (cf. p. 248) show items for plays in the hall at various seasons, and for the Boy Bishop at Christmas[893].

The churchwardens of St. Peter’s in the East kept between 1444 and 1600 a stock of players’ garments, and let them out on hire[894].

PENRHYN, CORNWALL.

See _Texts_ (i), _Cornish Plays_, _Origo Mundi_.

PERRANZABULO, CORNWALL.

The earliest historical notice of plays in Cornwall is by Richard Carew in 1602:—

‘The Guary miracle, in English, a miracle-play, is a kinde of Enterlude, compiled in _Cornish_ out of some Scripture history, with that grossenes which accompanied the Romanes _vetus Comoedia_. For representing it they raise an earthen Amphitheatre in some open field, hauing the Diameter of his enclosed playne some 40 or 50 foot. The Country people flock from all sides, many miles off, to hear and see it: for they haue therein, deuils and deuices, to delight as well the eye as the eare; the players conne not their parts without booke, but are prompted by one called the Ordinary, who followeth at their back with the book in his hand, and telleth them softly what they must pronounce aloud.’

Whereupon Carew has a story of a ‘pleasant conceyted gentleman’ who raised laughter by repeating aloud all the Ordinary’s asides to himself.

One Mr. Scawen (†1660) describes the Guirremears as—

‘solemnized not without shew of devotion in open and spacious downs, of great capacity, encompassed about with earthen banks, and in some part stonework of largeness to contain thousands, the shapes of which remain in many places to this day, though the use of them long since gone.’

Bp. Nicholson, writing in 1700, says that the plays were:—

‘called Guirimir, which Mʳ Llhuyd supposes a corruption of Guarimirkle, and in the Cornish dialect to signify a miraculous play or interlude. They were composed for begetting in the common people a right notion of the Scriptures, and were acted in the memory of some not long since deceased.’

The eighteenth-century antiquary, Borlase, identifies the places in which the miracle-plays were given with those known as ‘rounds’ or, in Cornish, _plân an guare_. Of these he describes and figures two. That of St. Just was of stone, 126 feet in diameter, with seven rows of seats inside. It was much decayed when Norris wrote in 1859. That of Perranzabulo, or Piran-sand, was of earth, 130 feet in diameter, with a curious pit in the centre, joined to the outer ring by a narrow trench. Borlase thought that this was used for a Hell[895]. It was more likely filled with water for Noah’s ship to float upon.

The _Ordinalia_ printed by Mr. Norris take the Cornish plays back to at least the fourteenth, if not the thirteenth century. The circular diagrams in the manuscript exactly fall in with the round _plân an guare_ described by Borlase and others. They show a ring of eight _loci_ or _sedes_ (cf. p. 83), for which the terms used in the stage-directions are _pulpita_ or _tenti_, with an open circular space in the middle, which the stage-directions call the _platea_. The action is partly at the _pulpita_, partly in the _platea_. A new character often marks his appearance by strutting about his _pulpitum_, or perhaps around the ring—_Hic pompabit Abraham_, &c.

In the English stage-directions to the later (before 1611) _Creation of the World_, the _platea_ becomes the _playne_, and for _pulpitum_ the term _room_ is used. The manager of the play is the ‘conveyour.’ Some of the directions are curious and minute. At the opening, ‘The father must be in a clowde, and when he speakethe of heaven let yᵉ levys open.’ Within is a ‘trone,’ which Lucifer tries to ascend. After the fight, ‘Lucifer voydeth & goeth downe to hell apareled fowle wᵗʰ fyre about hem turning to hell and every degre of devylls of lether & spirytis on cordis runing into yᵉ playne and so remayne ther.’ Meanwhile are got ready ‘Adam and Eva aparlet in whytt lether in a place apoynted by the conveyour & not to be sene tyll they be called & thei knell & ryse.’ Paradise has ‘ii fayre trees in yt’ and a ‘fowntaine’ and ‘fyne flowers,’ which appear suddenly. Similarly, a little later, ‘Let fyshe of dyuers sortis apeare & serten beastis as oxen kyne shepe & such like.’ Lucifer incarnates as ‘a fyne serpent made wᵗʰ a virgyn face & yolowe heare vpon her head.’ Presently comes the warning, ‘ffig leaves redy to cover ther members,’ and at the expulsion, ‘The garmentis of skynnes to be geven to adam and eva by the angell. Receave the garmentis. Let them depart out of paradice and adam and eva following them. Let them put on the garmentis and shewe a spyndell and a dystaff’ The Cain and Abel scene requires ‘a chawbone’ (‘Cain’s jawbone, that did the first murder’). Seth is led to Paradise and ‘Ther he vyseth all thingis, and seeth ij trees and in the one tree sytteth mary the virgyn & in her lappe her son jesus in the tope of the tree of lyf, and in the other tree yᵉ serpent wᶜʰ caused Eva to eat the appell.’ When Adam dies, his soul is taken ‘to lymbo,’ and he is buried ‘in a fayre tombe wᵗʰ som churche songis at hys buryall.’ The Noah scene requires ‘tooles and tymber redy, wᵗʰ planckis to make the arcke, a beam a mallet a calkyn yre[n] ropes mass[t]es pyche and tarr.’ Presently ‘let rayne appeare’ and ‘a raven & a culver ready.’ When the flood ends, ‘An alter redy veary fayre,’ at which ‘som good church songes’ are sung, and ‘a Rayne bowe to appeare.’ Like the earlier plays, this ends with a call on the minstrels to pipe for a dance.

A study of the place names in the _Ordinalia_ led Mr. Pedler to suggest that they probably belonged to the neighbourhood of Penrhyn, and may have been composed at the collegiate house of Glasney. The St. Meriasek play is assigned by Mr. Stokes to Camborne, of which that saint was patron. It ends with an invocation of St. Meriasek, St. Mary of Camborne, and the Apostles.

PRESTON, LANCASHIRE.

A Corpus Christi play was acted within the lifetime of Weever, who was born 1576 and wrote 1631[896].

I find no trace of plays at the meetings of the Guild Merchant, although there was always a great procession, which from 1762 or earlier included such allegorical figures as Adam and Eve for the Tailors, Vulcan for the Smiths, &c.[897]

READING, BERKSHIRE.

The churchwardens’ accounts of St. Lawrence’s record ‘a gaderyng of a stage-play’ in 1498.

In 1507 a play of _Adam and Eve_ was held on ‘the Sonday afore Bartylmastyde’ ‘in the Forbury.’ There was a ‘schapfold,’ but ‘pagentts’ were also used. A Corpus Christi procession is also mentioned in 1509, 1512, and 1539.

In 1512 also was the ‘play of Kayme,’ and in 1515, ‘Cayme’s pageaunt’ in the market-place.

On May 1, 1499, and again in 1539, was the _Kings of Cologne_. This was distinct, no doubt, from the ‘king play,’ with its ‘tree,’ ‘king game,’ or ‘kyng ale,’ which took place at Whitsuntide (cf. vol. i. p. 173). But the date, May 1 (for which cf. Abingdon), is curious for a miracle-play, and must have been influenced by the folk feast.

A payment for ‘rosyn to the resurrecyon pley’ (possibly for making a blaze: cf. p. 23, note 5) occurs in 1507, and in 1533-5 payments to ‘Mʳ Laborne’ ‘for reforming the Resurrecon pley,’ and ‘for a boke’ of it.

In 1508 was a ‘pageaunt of the Passion on Easter Monday[898].’

RUCKINGE, KENT.

Ruckinge players were at New Romney in 1430, and Lydd in 1431.

RYE, SUSSEX.

Rye players were at Lydd in 1480, and at New Romney in 1489.

SABSFORD (?), ESSEX.

‘Sabsforde men’ hired the Chelmsford (q.v.) wardrobe in 1562, 1563, and 1566. But I can find no such place.

SAFFRON WALDEN, ESSEX.

‘Men of Waldyne’ hired the Chelmsford (q.v.) wardrobe during 1564-6.

ST. JUST, CORNWALL.

See s.v. PERRANZABULO.

SALISBURY, WILTSHIRE.

A cathedral inventory of 1222 includes:—

‘Coronae ij de latone ad representationes faciendas.’

These latten ‘coronae’ may, I suppose, have been either crowns for the Magi, or ‘stellae[899].’

The churchwardens’ accounts of St. Edmund’s for 1461 include an item ‘for all apparel and furniture of players at the Corpus Christi[900].’

SHELFHANGER, NORFOLK.

Thetford Priory made a payment ‘in regard to Schelfanger play’ in 1507-8 (Appendix E, iii).

SHIPTON, OXFORDSHIRE.

It was decided (†1220-28), as part of an award concerning the rights of collation to the churches of Shipton and Bricklesworth, both being prebends in Sarum cathedral, as follows:—

‘Actiones autem, si quae competant, in villa de Fifhide et de Idebire cedant canonico de Brikeleswrth. Actiones vero, si quae competant, in villa de Mideltone et de Langele, cedant canonico de Schiptone. Emolumentum vero actionum, si quae competant, in villa de Linham aequaliter inter se dividant[901].’

The editor of the _Sarum Charters_ can only explain _actiones_ as ‘plays.’ Ducange gives the word in the sense of _spectacula_.

All the places named, Fyfield, Idbury, Milton, Langley, and Lyneham, are in Wychwood, and may have formed in the thirteenth century, if they do not all now, part of the parish of Shipton-under-Wychwood.

SHREWSBURY, SHROPSHIRE.

The civic orders and accounts refer occasionally to plays. The first on record was given before Prince Arthur in 1495. In 1516 the abbot of Shrewsbury, in 1533 the bishop of Exeter, and in 1542 the royal commissioners were present. The subject in 1516 was the martyrdoms of Saints Feliciana and Sabina. In 1518 it was the Three Kings of Cologne. In 1510, 1518, 1533, 1553, and 1556 the performances were at Whitsuntide. The bailiffs, according to a notice in 1556, ‘set forward’ the plays, and the ‘lusores’ belonging to the town, who are mentioned in 1527 and 1549, were perhaps the performers. The locality was, in 1542, the churchyard of St. Chad’s. In 1495, 1516, and 1533 it was the quarry outside the walls, where it is stated in 1570 that ‘the plases have bin accustomyd to be usyd[902].’ Here there were traces of a seated amphitheatre as late as 1779[903]. Thomas Ashton became master of the free school in 1561, and he produced plays in the quarry. Elizabeth was to have been at his _Julian the Apostate_ in 1565, but came too late. In 1567 he gave the _Passion of Christ_[904]. An undated list of Costs for the Play includes ‘a desert’s (_disard’s_) hed and berd,’ ‘vi dossen belles’ for a morris, ‘gonne poudoʳ’ and other attractions for a devil[905].

_Shrewsbury Show._

The craft-guilds took part in the Corpus Christi procession, and the guild of Mercers inflicted a penalty of 12_d._ on brethren who on that feast should ‘happen to ride or goe to Coventre Faire or elleswhere out of the town of Shrewesburye to by or sell[906].’ Until about 1880 Shrewsbury Show was held on the Monday after Corpus Christi day. The crafts had tableaux which, after the Reformation at least, were emblematic rather than religious[907]; thus—

Tailors. Adam and Eve or Elizabeth.
Shearmen. St. Blasius or Edward IV.
Skinners and Glovers. King of Morocco.
Smiths. Vulcan.
Painters. Rubens.
Bricklayers. King Henry VIII.
Shoemakers. SS. Crispin and Crispinian.
Barbers. St. Katharine.
Bakers. Venus and Ceres.

SLEAFORD, LINCOLNSHIRE.

The accounts of the guild of Holy Trinity for 1480 include:—

‘It. payd for the Ryginall of ye play for ye Ascencon & the wrytyng of spechys & payntyng of a garmet for god, iijˢ. viijᵈ.[908]’

Miss Toulmin Smith finds in the same accounts for 1477, a ‘kyngyng,’ i.e. _Three Kings of Cologne_ on Corpus Christi day[909]; but I read the entry:—

‘It. payd for the ryngyng of ye same day, ijᵈ.’

Oliver, the historian of the guild, reads ‘hymnall’ for ‘Ryginall’ in the 1480 entry. He also asserts that there was a regular Corpus Christi play by the crafts. This seems improbable in a place of the size of Sleaford, and in fact Oliver’s elaborate description is entirely based upon data from elsewhere, especially the _Gubernacio Ludi_ of Beverley (cf. p. 340)[910].

STAPLEFORD, ESSEX.

‘Men of Starford’ hired the Chelmsford (q.v.) wardrobe during 1564-6. I find no Starford, but a Stapleford Tawney and a Stapleford Abbots in Essex.

STOKE BY NAYLAND, ESSEX.

Sir John Howard ‘ȝafe to the pleyeres of Stoke, ijˢ’ on Jan. 12, 1466.

Lord Howard ‘paid to the pleirs of Turton Strete xxᵈ’ on Aug. 29, 1481. Thorington is still the name given to part of Stoke. There is also an independent township so named in Essex.

On May 22, 1482, Lord Howard ‘yaff to the cherche on Whitson Monday at the pley xˢ.’

On Jan. 2, 1491, the Earl of Surrey paid iijˢ iiijᵈ ‘in reward to the panget’ [? pageant][911].

STONE, KENT.

Stone players were at Lydd in 1490.

TEWKESBURY, GLOUCESTERSHIRE.

The churchwardens’ accounts in 1578 mention payments for ‘the players’ geers, six sheep-skins for Christ’s garments’; and an inventory of 1585 includes ‘eight heads of hair for the Apostles, and ten beards, and a face or vizier for the Devil[912].’

TINTINHULL, SOMERSET.

The churchwardens’ accounts for 1451-2 include a receipt:—

‘de incremento unius ludi vocati Christmasse play[913].’

WAKEFIELD, YORKSHIRE.

See _Texts_ (i), _Towneley Plays_.

WIMBORNE MINSTER, DORSETSHIRE.

Players of ‘Wymborne Minster’ were rewarded by Henry VII on Jan. 1, 1494 (Appendix E, viii).

WINCHESTER, HAMPSHIRE.

The early use of the _Quem quaeritis_ in the liturgy of the cathedral served by the Benedictines of St. Swithin’s Priory has been fully discussed in Chapter xviii and Appendix O.

In 1486, Henry VII was entertained at dinner on a Sunday in the castle with a performance of _Christi descensus ad inferos_ by the ‘pueri eleemosynarii’ of the monasteries of St. Swithin’s and Hyde[914].

WINDSOR, BERKS.

On May 24, 1416, Henry V invested the Emperor Sigismund with the Garter, the annual feast being deferred from April 23 for that purpose. Mr. John Payne Collier says, ‘A chronicle in the Cottonian collection gives a description of a performance before him and Henry V, on the incidents of the life of St. George. The representation seems to have been divided into three parts, and to have been accomplished by certain artificial contrivances, exhibiting, first, “the armyng of Seint George, and an Angel doyng on his spores [spurs]”; secondly, “Seint George riding and fightyng with the dragon, with his spere in his hand”; and, thirdly, “a castel, and Seint George and the Kynges daughter ledyng the lambe in at the castel gates.” Here we have clearly the outline of the history of St. George of Cappadocia, which often formed the subject of a miracle-play; but whether, in this instance, it was accompanied with dialogue, or was (as is most probable) merely a splendid dumb show, assisted by temporary erections of castles, &c., we are not informed.’ This performance is accepted from Collier, i. 29, by Ward, i. 50, Pollard, xx, and other distinguished writers. They ought to have known him better. The authority he quotes, _Cotton. MS. Calig. B. II_, is wrong. But in _Cotton. MS. Julius B. I_, one of the MSS. of the _London Chronicle_, is the following passage, ‘And the first sotelte was our lady armyng seint George, and an angel doyng on his spores; the ijᵈᵉ sotelte was seint George ridyng and fightyng with the dragon, with his spere in his hand; the iijᵈᵉ sotelte was a castel, and seint George, and the kynges doughter ledynge the lambe in at the castel gates. And all these sotelties were served to the emperor, and to the kyng, and no ferther: and other lordes were served with other sotelties after theire degrees[915].’ The representation, then, was in cake or marchpane. The term ‘soteltie’ is surely not uncommon[916]. But it has led a French scholar into another curious mistake. According to M. E. Picot ‘La sotelty paraît n’avoir été qu’une simple farce, comme la sotternie néerlandaise[917].’ A mumming by Lydgate in 1429-30 seems to have introduced a ‘miracle’ of St. Clotilda and the Holy Ampulla (cf. vol. i. p. 397).

WITHAM, ESSEX.

‘Barnaby Riche of Witham’ hired the Chelmsford (q.v.) wardrobe in 1566.

WITTERSHAM, KENT.

Wittersham players were at New Romney in 1426 and Lydd in 1441.

WOODHAM WALTER, ESSEX.

‘Mrs. Higham of Woodham Walter’ hired the Chelmsford (q.v.) wardrobe in 1570-2.

WOODKIRK, YORKSHIRE.

See _Texts_, (i) _Towneley Plays_.

WORCESTER, WORCESTERSHIRE.

A cathedral inventory of 1576 includes:—

‘players gere

A gowne of freres gyrdles. A woman’s gowne. A Kˢ cloke of
Tysshew. A Jerkyn and a payer of breches. A lytill cloke of
tysshew. A gowne of silk. A Jerkyn of greene, 2 cappes, and the
devils apparell[918].’

There was a Corpus Christi play, mentioned in 1467 and 1559. It consisted of five pageants, maintained by the crafts, and was held yearly, if the corporation so decided. In 1584 a lease of the ‘vacant place where the pagantes do stand’ was granted for building, and there was a building known as the ‘Pageant House’ until 1738[919].

WREXHAM, DENBIGHSHIRE.

The corporation of Shrewsbury saw a play by ‘quibusdam interlusoribus de Wrexam’ in 1540 (Appendix E, vi).

WRITTLE, ESSEX.

‘Parker of Writtell’ twice hired the Chelmsford (q.v.) wardrobe during 1570-2. See also p. 184, n. 2.

WYCOMBE, BUCKINGHAMSHIRE.

Henry VII rewarded players of Wycombe on Dec. 31, 1494 (Appendix E, viii).

WYE, KENT.

Wye players were at New Romney in 1491.

WYMONDHAM, NORFOLK.

An account of the ‘husbands for the wache and play of Wymondham,’ made up to June, 1538, includes payments for ‘the play,’ ‘devyls shoes,’ ‘the giant,’ a man ‘in armour,’ ‘the revels and dances[920].’ It was at this play on July 1, 1549, that Kett’s rebellion broke out. According to Alexander Neville, the ‘ludi ac spectacula ... antiquitus ita instituta’ lasted two days and nights; according to Holinshed, ‘one day and one night at least[921].’

YARMOUTH, NORFOLK.

The churchwardens’ accounts of St. Nicholas’s contain items between 1462 and 1512 for ‘making a new star,’ ‘leading the star,’ ‘a new balk line to the star and ryving the same star.’ In 1473 and 1486 are mentioned plays on Corpus Christi day; in 1489, a play at Bartholomew tide; in 1493, a game played on Christmas day[922].

YORK, YORKSHIRE.

[_Authorities._—The chief are R. Davies, _Municipal Records
of the City of York_ (1843); L. Toulmin Smith, _York Plays_
(1885). From one or other of these all statements below, of
which the authority is not given, are taken. The municipal
documents used are enumerated in _York Plays_, ix. The earliest
date from 1371. F. Drake, _Eboracum_ (1736); R. H. Skaife,
_Guild of Corpus Christi_ (Surtees Soc.); H. T. Riley, in
_Hist. MSS. Comm._ i. 109; M. Sellers, _City of York in the
Sixteenth Century_, in _Eng. Hist. Rev._ ix. 275; and some
craft-guild documents in _Archaeological Review_, i. 221;
_Antiquary_, xi. 107; xxii. 266; xxiii. 27, may also be
consulted.]

_Liturgical Plays._

The traditional _Statutes_ of York Cathedral, supposed to date in their present form from about 1255, provide for the _Pastores_ and the _Stella_.

‘Item inueniet [thesaurarius] stellas cum omnibus ad illas pertinentibus, praeter cirpos, quos inueniet Episcopus Puerorum futurorum [? fatuorum], vnam in nocte natalis Domini pro pastoribus, et ijᵃˢ in nocte Epiphaniae, si debeat fieri presentacio iijᵘᵐ regum[923].’

_Corpus Christi Plays._

The first mention is in 1378, when part of a fine levied on the Bakers is assigned ‘a la pagine des ditz Pestours de corpore cristi.’ In 1394 a civic order required all the pageants to play in the places ‘antiquitus assignatis,’ in accordance with the proclamation, and under penalty of a fine. In 1397 Richard II was present to view the plays. In 1415 the town clerk, Roger Burton, entered in the _Liber Memorandorum_ a copy of the _Ordo paginarum ludi Corporis Christi_, which was a schedule of the crafts and their plays, together with the _Proclamacio ludi corporis cristi facienda in vigilia corporis cristi_. At this date the plays were given _annuatim_. About 1440 the existing manuscript of the plays was probably written. It was a ‘register,’ drawn up from the ‘regynalls’ or ‘origenalls’ in the possession of the several crafts, and kept by the city[924]. Halfway through the sixteenth century performances become irregular. In 1535 the Creed play, in 1558 the Paternoster play was given instead. In 1548 ‘certen pagyauntes ... that is to say, the deyng of our lady, the assumption of our lady, and the coronacion of our lady,’ were cast out. In 1550 and 1552 the play was suppressed on account of the plague, half the ‘pageant silver’ in 1552 being given to the sick. In 1562 the corporation attempted in vain to defer it to St. Barnabas day. In 1564, 1565, and 1566 it was not given, on account of war and sickness. In 1568 there was a dispute as to whether it should be played, and it was ordered that it must be ‘perused and otherwaise amended’ first. In 1569 it was given on Whit-Tuesday. It then seems to have lain dormant until 1579, when the Council made an order that it should be played but ‘first the booke shalbe caried to my Lord Archebisshop [Edwin Sandys] and Mr. Deane [Mathew Hutton] to correcte, if that my Lord Archebisshop doo well like theron.’ Various notes upon the ‘register,’ addressed to a ‘Doctor,’ and indicating that this or that play had been revised, were probably written at this time. In 1580 the citizens petitioned for the play, and the mayor replied that the request would be considered. There is no proof that any performance took place after this date; although the Bakers were still choosing ‘pageant-masters’ in 1656[925].

The ordering of the plays about 1415 was as follows: Yearly in the first or second week in Lent, the town clerk copied the ‘sedulae paginarum’ from the _Ordo_ in the _Liber Memorandorum_ and delivered it to the crafts ‘per vj servientes maioris ad clavam.’ On the eve of Corpus Christi a proclamation of mayor and sheriffs forbade ‘distorbaunce of the kynges pees, and ye play, or hynderyng of ye processioun of Corpore Christi.’ It went on to direct that the pageants must be played at the assigned places, that the men of the crafts are to come forth in customary array and manner, ‘careynge tapers of ye pagentz,’ that there shall be provided ‘good players, well arayed and openly spekyng,’ and that all shall be ready to start ‘at the mydhowre betwix iiijᵗʰ and vᵗʰ of the cloke in the mornynge, and then all oyer pageantz fast followyng ilk one after oyer as yer course is, without tarieng.’ Fines are imposed for any neglect or failure. At this date the play and the Corpus Christi procession were on the same day. In 1426 it is recorded that a Franciscan preacher, William Melton, while commending the play, ‘affirmando quod bonus erat in se et laudabilis valde,’ urged that it should be put on the day before Corpus Christi, so as not to interfere with the ecclesiastical feast[926]. This seems to have been agreed to, but the arrangement did not last. The procession was under the management of a Corpus Christi guild, founded in 1408, and the statutes of this guild dated in 1477 show that it was then the procession which was displaced, falling on the Friday after Corpus Christi day[927].

Thus the plays were essentially the affair of the whole community, and the control of them by the mayor and council may be further illustrated. In 1476 the council made an order regulating the choice of actors, and laid down—

‘That yerely in the tyme of lentyn there shall be called afore the maire for the tyme beyng iiij of the moste connyng discrete and able players within this Citie, to serche, here, and examen all the plaiers and plaies and pagentes thrughoute all the artificers belonging to Corpus Xᵗⁱ Plaie. And all suche as thay shall fynde sufficiant in personne and connyng, to the honour of the Citie and worship of the saide Craftes, for to admitte and able; and all other insufficiant personnes, either in connyng, voice, or personne to discharge, ammove, and avoide. And that no plaier that shall plaie in the saide Corpus Xᵗⁱ plaie be conducte and reteyned to plaie but twise on the day of the saide playe; and that he or thay so plaing plaie not ouere twise the saide day, vpon payne of xlˢ to forfet vnto the chaumbre as often tymes as he or thay shall be founden defautie in the same.’

By ‘twise’ is probably meant ‘in two distinct pageants’; for each pageant repeated its performance at several stations. In 1394 these stations were ‘antiquitus assignatis.’ In 1399 the commons petitioned the council to the effect that ‘le juer et les pagentz de la jour de corpore cristi’ were not properly performed on account of the number of stations, and these were limited to twelve. In later years there were from twelve to sixteen, and from 1417 the corporation made a profit by letting to prominent citizens the right to have stations opposite their houses. A list of ‘Leases for Corpuscrysty Play’ in 1554, for instance, shows twelve stations bringing in from xiijᵈ to iijˢ iiijᵈ each, while nothing was charged for the places ‘at the Trinitie yaits where the clerke kepys the register,’ ‘at the comon Hall to my Lord Maior and his bredren,’ ‘at Mr. Bekwyth’s at Hosyerlane end, where as my Lady Mayres and her systers lay’ and ‘uppon the Payment.’

Outward signs of the civic control were the ‘vexilla ludi cum armis civitatis,’ which were set up at the stations by order of the mayor on Corpus Christi eve. Apparently the city claimed also to put its mark on the pageants themselves, for in an agreement of 1422 merging the pageants of the Shoemakers, Tilemakers, Hayresters, and Millers it was declared, ‘quod nulla quatuor artium praedictarum ponet aliqua signa, arma, vel insignia super paginam praedictam, nisi tantum arma huius honorabilis civitatis.’ But the more important crafts, who had a pageant to themselves, may not have been subject to this restriction.

Although the corporation profited from the ‘dimissio locorum ludi Corporis Christi,’ they did not meet many of the expenses. They paid for the services of the minstrels employed, and for refreshments for themselves and for important visitors to the town. They occasionally helped out the resources of a poor craft. The following extract from the Chamberlains’ accounts for 1397 seems to be quite exceptional:—

‘Expens’ in festo de Corpore Xp’ i.

Item: pro steyning de iiijᵒʳ pannos ad opus paginae, iiijˢ.

Et pro pictura paginae, ijˢ.

Et pro vexillo novo cum apparatu, xijˢ ijᵈ.

Et in portacione et reportacione meremii ad barras coram Rege,
ijˢ jᵈ.

Et pro xx fursperres ad barras praedictas coram Rege, vˢ xᵈ.

Et pro xix sapplynges emptis de Iohanne de Craven pro barris
praedictis, vjˢ viijᵈ.

Et viij portitoribus ducentibus et moventibus paginam, vˢ iiijᵈ.

Et Ianitori Sanctae Trinitatis pro pagina hospitanda, iiijᵈ.

Et ludentibus, iiijᵈ.

Et ministrallis in festo de Corpore Xp’i, xiijˢ iiijᵈ.

Et in pane, cervisiis, vino, et carnibus, et focalibus pro
maiore et probis hominibus in die ad ludum, xviijˢ viijᵈ.

Et in ministrallis domini Regis ac aliorum dominorum
supervenientibus, vijˡⁱ vijˢ iiijᵈ.

Et ministris camerae in albo panno et rubeo pro adventu Regis,
lviijˢ xᵈ.’

Certainly the corporation did not themselves provide a ‘pagina’ in 1415 or later years. I think that in 1397 they prepared one for some allegorical performance of welcome, distinct from the play itself, to Richard II. The king was evidently placed at the gate of Trinity Priory, where was the first station as late as 1569.

But the bulk of the cost fell upon the crafts. They had to build, repair, decorate, and draw the pageant (Latin, _pagina_; English, _pagiaunt_, _paiaunt_, _pachent_, _pagende_, _pagyant_, _padgin_, _padgion_, _paidgion_, _padzhand_, &c., &c.). They had to house it in one of the ‘pageant howses’ which until recently gave a name to ‘Pageant green,’ and for each of which a yearly rent of xijᵈ seems to have been the usual charge. They had also doubtless to provide dress and refresh the actors; and some of their members were bound personally to conduct the pageant on its journey. The fully organized craft-guilds appointed annual ‘pageant-masters,’ and met the ordinary charges by a levy of ‘pageant-silver’ upon each member according to his status. The amounts varied from 1_d._ to 8_d._, and were supplemented by the proceeds of fines and payments on admissions and on setting up shop. Smaller guilds were often grouped together, and produced one pageant amongst three or four of them. Even the unincorporated trades did not escape. In 1483 four Innholders undertook the responsibility of producing a pageant for eight years on condition of a fixed payment of 4_d._ from each innholder in the city. Exceptional expenses were sometimes met in exceptional ways. The Mercers gave free admission into their fraternity to one Thomas Drawswerd, on condition that he should ‘mak the Pagiant of the Dome ... of newe substanciale for vij marks and the old pageant.’[928] In 1501 the Cartwrights made four new wheels to a pageant, and were thereupon discharged from further charges for 6_d._ a year. Evidently the obligation of producing a pageant was considered an onerous one, and as trades rose and fell in York, the incidence of it upon this or that trade or trades was frequently altered. All such rearrangements came before the civic authorities, and many of them are upon record. Naturally they involved some corresponding revision, piecing together, or splitting up of plays (cf. p. 412). I only find one example of a play produced by any other body than a craft. The Hospital of St. Leonard produced the play of the Purification in 1415, but had ceased to do so some time before 1477. It is to be noted that in 1561 the Minstrels took their place with the other crafts, and became responsible for the Herod play[929].

_Pater-Noster Play._

Wyclif in his _De Officio Pastorali_, cap. 15 (1378), says that,—

‘herfore freris han tauȝt in Englond þe Paternoster in Engliȝcsh tunge, as men seyen in þe pleye of Yorke[930].’ The reference here is to a performance distinct from the Corpus Christi play. The preamble to a return of the ordinances and so forth of the guild ‘Orationis Domini,’ made in 1389, states that

‘Once upon a time, a Play setting forth the goodness of the Lord’s Prayer was played in the city of York; in which play all manner of vices and sins were held up to scorn, and the virtues were held up to praise.’

The guild was formed to perpetuate this play, and the members were bound to produce it and accompany it through the streets. In 1389 they had no possessions beyond the properties of the play and a chest. A _computus_ of the guild for 1399 contains an entry of an old debt of 2_s._ 2_d._, owed by John Downom and his wife for entrance fee:—

‘Sed dictus Iohannes dicit se expendisse in diuersis expensis circa ludum Accidiae ex parte Ric. Walker ijˢ jᵈ, ideo de praedicto petit allocari[931].’

It would appear that by 1488 the guild had been converted to or absorbed in a guild of the Holy Trinity, which was moreover the craft-guild of the Merchants or Mercers. Certainly in that year this guild chose four pageant-masters to bring forth the Paternoster play. They were to bring in the pageants ‘within iiij days next after Corpus Christi Day[932].’ In 1488 the Paternoster play was presumably a variant for the usual Corpus Christi plays. It was similarly played on Corpus Christi day in 1558. The management was in the hands of one of the few unsuppressed guilds, that of St. Anthony; but the corporation gathered ‘pageant silver’ from the crafts and met the charges. A ‘bayn,’ or messenger, rode to proclaim the play on St. George’s day, and another on Whit Monday. Another performance took place on Corpus Christi day (now called ‘Thursday next after Trinitie Sonday’), 1572. The book was ‘perused, amended and corrected.’ Nevertheless, on July 30 the council sent a ‘trewe copie’ of it, at his request, to the Archbishop [Grindal] of York, and although in 1575 they sent a deputation to urge him to appoint a commission to reform ‘all suche the play bookes as perteyne this cittie now in his grace’s custodie,’ there is no proof that his grace complied.

_Creed Play._

As already stated, the guild of Corpus Christi had nothing to do with the regular craft-plays. But in 1446, William Revetor, a chantry priest and warden of the guild, bequeathed to it a ‘ludus incomparabilis’ called the ‘Crede play,’ to be performed every tenth year ‘in variis locis dictae civitatis.’ An inventory of 1465 includes:—

‘Liber vocatus Originale continens Articulos Fidei Catholicae in lingua anglicana, nuper scriptum, appreciatum xˡⁱ.

Et alius liber inveteratus de eodem ludo, cˢ.

Et alius liber de eodem anglice vocatus _Crede Play_ continens xxij quaternos.’

There were also many banners and properties, amongst which

‘Et xij rotulae nuper scriptae cum articulis fidei catholicae, apprec’ iijˢ iiijᵈ.

Et una clavis pro sancto Petro cum ij peciis unius tunicae depictae, apprec’ xijᵈ.

Et x diademata pro Xp’o et apostolis cum una larva et aliis novem cheverons, vjˢ.’

Various performances of the Creed play are recorded. In 1483 it was given on Sunday, September 7, before Richard III, by order of the Council, ‘apon the cost of the most onest men of every parish in thys Cite.’ From 1495 decennial performances can be traced, generally about Lammas (August 1), and ‘at the common hall.’ In 1535 the Corpus Christi play proper was omitted, and the crafts contributed ‘pageant silver’ to the Creed play at Lammas. But they refused to give way to it again in 1545. The guild was suppressed in 1547, and the ‘original or regestre’ passed into the hands of the hospital of St. Thomas. In 1562 the corporation proposed the Creed play as a possible alternative for ‘th’ ystories of the old and new testament’ on St. Barnabas day; and in 1568 they again designed to replace the regular Corpus Christi play by it. But first they submitted it to the Dean of York, Matthew Hutton, who, in a letter still extant, advised that—

‘thogh it was plawsible to yeares ago, and wold now also of the ignorant sort be well liked, yet now in this happie time of the gospell, I knowe the learned will mislike it, and how the state will beare with it, I knowe not.’

Consequently the book was ‘delyveryd in agayn,’ and no more is heard of it.

Mr. Davies suggests that the play probably fell into twelve scenes, in each of which one of the apostles figured. If so, there is perhaps an allusion to a performance of it in a letter of Henry VIII to the justices of York in which he speaks of a riot which took place—

‘at the acting of a religious interlude of St. Thomas the Apostle made in the said city on the 23ʳᵈ of August now last past ... owing to the seditious conduct of certain papists who took a part in preparing for the said interlude.’

He requires them to imprison any who in ‘performing interludes which are founded on any portions of the Old or New Testament’ use language tending to a breach of the peace[933].

_St. George Riding._

In April, 1554, the Council made an order for ‘Seynt George to be brought forth and ryde as hath been accustomed,’ and the following items in the accounts show that the personages in the procession were much the same as at Dublin (q.v.):—

‘to the waites for rydyng and playing before St. George and the play.’

‘to the porters for beryng of the pagyant, the dragon and St. Xp’ofer.’

‘to the King and Quene [of Dele] that playd.’

‘to the May [the Maid].’

‘to John Stamper for playing St. George[934].’

_Midsummer Show._

As the regular plays waned, the ‘show’ or ‘watch’ of armed men on Midsummer eve became important. There is an ordinance for it in 1581. In 1584 it took place in the morning, and in the afternoon John Grafton, a schoolmaster, gave at seven stations a play with ‘certaine compiled speaches,’ for which the council allowed him to have ‘a pageant frame.’ Apparently the Baker’s pageant was repaired for the purpose. In 1585 Grafton borrowed the pageants of the Skinners, Cooks, Tailors, Innholders, Bakers, and Dyers, and gave another play. Grafton’s account for 1585 mentions ‘the hearse,’ ‘the angell,’ ‘the Queene’s crowne,’ ‘the childe one of the furyes bare.’ He got iijˢ, vjˢ, viijᵈ for his pains[935].

X

TEXTS OF MEDIAEVAL PLAYS AND EARLY TUDOR INTERLUDES

I. MIRACLE-PLAYS.

CHESTER PLAYS.

_Manuscripts._

(i) Hg. †1475-1500. _Hengwrt MS._ 229, in the library of Mr. Wynne of Peniarth, containing Play xxiv (_Antichrist_) only. Probably a prompter’s copy, as some one has ‘doubled it up and carried it about in his pocket, used it with hot hands, and faded its ink.’

(ii) D. 1591. _Devonshire MS._, in the library of the Duke of Devonshire, written by ‘Edward Gregorie, a scholar of Bunbury.’

(iii) W. 1592. _Brit. Mus. Addl. MS._ 10,305. Signed at the end of each play ‘George Bellin.’

(iv) h. 1600. _Brit. Mus. Harl. MS._ 2013, also signed after some of the plays by ‘George Bellin’ or ‘Billinges.’ A verse proclamation or ‘banes’ is prefixed, and on a separate leaf a copy of the prose proclamation made by the clerk of the pentice in 1544 (cf. p. 349) with a note, in another hand.

(v) B. 1604. _Bodl. MS._ 175, written by ‘Gulielmus Bedford,’ with an incomplete copy of the ‘banes.’

(vi) H. 1607. _Brit. Mus. Harl. MS._ 2124, in two hands, the second being that of ‘Jacobus Miller.’ An historical note, dated 1628, is on the cover.

(vii) M. MS. in Manchester Free Library, containing fragment of Play xix (_Resurrection_) only.

[The MSS. D, W, h, B are derived from a common source, best represented by B. MS. H varies a good deal from this group, and is the better text. MS. Hg is probably related to H.]

_Editions._

(a) 1818. Plays iii, x (_Noah_, _Innocents_) and Banes; J. H. Markland, for Roxburghe Club (No. 11).

(b) 1836. Play xxiv (_Antichrist_); J. P. Collier, _Five Miracle-Plays_.

(c) 1838. Plays iii, xxiv (_Noah_, _Antichrist_); W. Marriott, _English Miracle-Plays_.

(d) 1843-7, 1853. Cycle; Thomas Wright, from MS. W, for Shakespeare Society.

(e) 1883. Part of Play xix (_Resurrection_), from MS. M, in _Manchester Guardian_, for May 19, 1883.

(f) 1890. Plays iii, part of iv (_Noah_, _Isaac_); Pollard, 8.

(g) 1893-. Cycle (vol. i with Introduction, Banes and Plays i-xiii only issued by 1902); H. Deimling, from MS. H (with collation), for E. E. T. S. (Extra Series, lxii).

(h) 1897. Plays v, xxiv (_Prophetae_, _Antichrist_); Manly, i. 66, 170, from (g) and MS. Hg respectively.

[F. J. Furnivall, _Digby Plays_, xx, prints eighteen additional lines to the Banns as given by Deimling from MSS. h, B. These are from a copy in Rogers’s _Breviary of Chester_ (cf. p. 350), _Harl. MS._ 1944. A distinct and earlier (pre-Reformation) Banns is printed by Morris, 307, from _Harl. MS._ 2150 (cited in error as 2050), which is a copy of the White Book of the Pentice belonging to the City of Chester.]

_The Cycle._

The list of ‘pagyns in play of Corpus Χρi’ contained in the ‘White Book of the Pentice’ (_Harl. MS._ 2150, f. 85 b), and given apparently from this source, by Rogers (Furnivall, xxi), makes them twenty-five in number, as follows:—

i. The fallinge of Lucifer.
ii. The creation of yᵉ worlde.
iii. Noah & his shipp.
iv. Abraham & Isacke.
v. Kinge Balack & Balaam with Moyses.
vi. Natiuytie of our Lord.
vii. The shepperdes offeringe.
viii. Kinge Harrald & yᵉ mounte victoriall.
ix. Yᵉ 3 Kinges of Collen.
x. The destroyeinge of the Childeren by Herod.
xi. Purification of our Ladye.
xii. The pinackle, with yᵉ woman of Canan.
xiii. The risinge of Lazarus from death to liffe.
xiv. The cominge of Christe to Ierusalem.
xv. Christs maundy with his desiples.
xvi. The scourginge of Christe.
xvii. The Crusifienge of Christ.
xviii. The harrowinge of hell.
xix. The Resurrection.
xx. The Castle of Emaus & the Apostles.
xxi. The Ascention of Christe.
xxii. Whitsonday yᵉ makeinge of the Creede.
xxiii. Prophetes before yᵉ day of Dome.
xxiv. Antecriste.
xxv. Domes Daye.

The list of plays contained in the pre-Reformation Banns is the same as this, with one exception. Instead of twenty-five plays it has twenty-six. After _Wyt Sonday_ is inserted the play ‘of our lady thassumpcon,’ to be brought forth by ‘the worshipfull wyves of this towne.’ This play of _The Assumption_ was given in 1477, and as a separate performance in 1488, 1497, and 1515 (Morris, 308, 322, 323). Doubtless it was dropped, as at York, out of Protestantism. The post-Reformation Banns and the extant MSS. of the cycle have it not. Further, they reduce the twenty-five plays of the ‘White Book’ list to twenty-four, by merging the plays of the _Scourging_ and _Crucifixion_ into one. In MSS. B, W, h, the junction is plainly apparent (see Deimling, i. ix; Wright, ii. 50). In MS. H there is no break (Deimling, i. xxiv).

_Literary Relations._

Wright, i. xiv, and Hohlfeld, in _Anglia_, xi. 223, call attention to the parallels between the Chester plays and the French _Mystère du Viel Testament_ and to the occurrence in them of scraps and fragments of French speech. The chief of these are put into the mouths of Octavian, the _Magi_, Herod, and Pilate, and may have been thought appropriate to kings and lordings. They may also point to translation from French originals. Davidson, 254, suggests that the earliest performances at Chester were in Anglo-Norman, and points to the tradition of MS. H (cf. p. 351) as confirming this. There are slight traces of influence upon some of the Chester plays by the York cycle (Hohlfeld, loc. cit. 260; Davidson, 287). Hohlfeld, in _M.L.N._ v. 222, regards Chester play iv as derived from a common original with the Brome _Abraham and Isaac_. H. Ungemacht, _Die Quellen der fünf ersten Chester Plays_, discusses the relation of the plays to the Brome play and the French _mystères_, and also to the _Vulgate_, the Fathers, Josephus, and the _Cursor Mundi_.

YORK PLAYS.

_Manuscripts._

(i) _Brit. Mus. Addl. MS._ 35,290, recently _Ashburnham MS._ 137, fully described by L. T. Smith, _York Plays_, xiii. The MS. dates from about 1430-40, and appears to be a ‘register’ or transcript made for the corporation of the ‘origenalls’ in the hands of the crafts. In 1554 the ‘register’ was kept by the clerk at the gates of the dissolved Holy Trinity Priory. After the plays ceased to be performed it got into the hands of the Fairfaxes of Denton. In 1695 it belonged to Henry Fairfax, and its ownership can be traced thence to the present day.

(ii) _Sykes MS._ in possession of the York Philosophical Society, fully described in _York Plays_, 455. This is of the early sixteenth century. It contains only the Scriveners’ play, of ‘The Incredulity of Thomas,’ is not a copy from the Ashburnham MS., and may be an ‘origenall,’ or a transcript for the prompter’s use. It has a cover with a flap, and has been folded lengthwise, as if for the pocket.

_Editions._

(a) 1797. Play xlii (_Incredulity of Thomas_), from _Sykes MS._, in J. Croft, _Excerpta Antiqua_, 105.

(b) 1859. Play xlii (_Incredulity of Thomas_), from _Sykes MS._, ed. J. P. Collier, in _Camden Miscellany_, vol. iv.

(c) 1885. Cycle, from _Ashburnham MS._, in L. Toulmin Smith, _York Plays_.

(d) 1890. Play i (_Creation and the Fall of Lucifer_), from _York Plays_, in Pollard, 1.

(e) 1897. Plays xxxviii, xlviii (_Resurrection_, _Judgment Day_), from _York Plays_, in Manly, i. 153, 198.

_The Cycle._

The subjects of the forty-eight plays and one fragment contained in the _Ashburnham MS._ are as follows:—

i. _The Barkers._ The Creation, Fall of Lucifer.
ii. _Playsterers._ The Creation to the Fifth Day.
iii. _Cardmakers._ God creates Adam and Eve.
iv. _Fullers._ Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.
v. _Cowpers._ Man’s disobedience and Fall.
vi. _Armourers._ Adam and Eve driven from Eden.
vii. _Glovers._ Sacrificium Cayme et Abell.
viii. _Shipwrites._ Building of the Ark.
ix. _Fysshers and Marynars._ Noah and the Flood.
x. _Parchmyners and Bokebynders._ Abraham’s Sacrifice.
xi. _The Hoseers._ The Israelites in Egypt, the Ten Plagues,
and Passage of the Red Sea.
xii. _Spicers._ Annunciation, and visit of Elizabeth to Mary.
xiii. _Pewtereres and Foundours._ Joseph’s trouble about Mary.
xiv. _Tille-thekers._ Journey to Bethlehem: Birth of Jesus.
xv. _Chaundelers._ The Angels and the Shepherds.
xvi. _Masonns._ Coming of the three Kings to Herod.
xvii. _Goldsmyths._ Coming of the three Kings, the Adoration.
xviii. _Marchallis._ Flight into Egypt.
xix. _Gyrdillers and Naylers._ Massacre of the Innocents.
xx. _Sporiers and Lorimers._ Christ with the Doctors in the
Temple.
xxi. _Barbours._ Baptism of Jesus.
xxii. _Smythis._ Temptation of Jesus.
xxiii. _Coriours._ The Transfiguration.
xxiv. _Cappemakers._ Woman taken in Adultery. Raising of Lazarus.
xxv. _Skynners._ Entry into Jerusalem.
xxvi. _Cutteleres._ Conspiracy to take Jesus.
xxvii. _Baxteres._ The Last Supper.
xxviii. _Cordewaners._ The Agony and Betrayal.
xxix. _Bowers and Flecchers._ Peter denies Jesus: Jesus examined
by Caiaphas.
xxx. _Tapiterers and Couchers._ Dream of Pilate’s Wife: Jesus
before Pilate.
xxxi. _Lytsleres._ Trial before Herod.
xxxii. _Cokis and Waterlederes._ Second accusation before Pilate:
Remorse of Judas: Purchase of Field of Blood.
xxxiii. _Tyllemakers._ Second trial continued: Judgment on Jesus.
xxxiv. _Shermen._ Christ led up to Calvary.
xxxv. _Pynneres and Paynters._ Crucifixio Christi.
xxxvi. _Bocheres._ Mortificacio Christi.
xxxvii. _Sadilleres._ Harrowing of Hell.
xxxviii. _Carpenteres._ Resurrection: Fright of the Jews.
xxxix. _Wyne-drawers._ Jesus appears to Mary Magdalen after the
Resurrection.
xl. _The Sledmen._ Travellers to Emmaus.
xli. _Hatmakers, Masons, and Laborers._ Purification of Mary:
Simeon and Anna prophesy.
xlii. _Escreueneres._ Incredulity of Thomas.
xliii. _Tailoures._ The Ascension.
xliv. _Potteres._ Descent of the Holy Spirit.
xlv. _Draperes._ The Death of Mary.
xlvi. _Wefferes._ Appearance of our Lady to Thomas.
xlvii. _Osteleres._ Assumption and Coronation of the Virgin.
xlviii. _Merceres._ The Judgement Day.

(Fragment.) _Inholders._ Coronation of our Lady.

The majority of these plays were entered in the register about 1440. The fragment of a later play on _The Coronation of Our Lady_ was added at the end of the fifteenth century. It was doubtless intended to supersede xlvii. _Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden_ (iv) and _The Purification of Mary, Simeon and Anna prophesy_ (xli) were inserted in 1558. The former is probably of the same date as the rest; the latter is thought by the editor to be later. It is misplaced both in the MS. and the printed text. It should follow xvii, but there was no room for it in the MS. Some notes, probably written when the plays were submitted to the Dean of York in 1579, state that xii, xviii, xxi, xxviii had been rewritten since the register was compiled.

The register does not represent quite all the plays ever performed at York. Spaces are left for _The Marriage at Cana_ and _Christ in the House of Simon the Leper_, which were never written in; and the corporation archives refer to a play of _Fergus_ or _Portacio Corporis Mariae_, which came between xlv and xlvi and was ‘laid apart’ in 1485; and to a scene of _Suspencio Iudae_, which was in 1422 an episode of xxxiii. In other respects the contents of the register agree substantially with the fifty-one plays of the _Ordo paginarum_ entered by the Town Clerk in the _Liber Memorandorum_ in 1415[936] and with the fifty-seven plays of a second _Ordo_ of uncertain date which comes a little later in the same _Liber_[937]. The three lists show some variations in the grouping of the subject-matter into pageants, due to the constant shifting of responsibility amongst the crafts.

_Literary Relations._

Davidson, 252 sqq., attempts to trace the growth of the York plays out of a parent cycle, from which the Towneley and Coventry plays borrowed. The biblical and apocryphal sources are discussed by L. Toulmin Smith, _York Plays_, xlvii; A. R. Hohlfeld, in _Anglia_, xi. 285; P. Kamann, _Die Quellen der York-Spiele_, in _Anglia_, x. 189; F. Holthausen, in _Arch. f. d. Studium d. neueren Sprachen und Litteratur_, lxxxv. 425; lxxxvi. 280; W. A. Craigie, in _Furnivall Miscellany_, 52. I have not been able to see O. Herrtrich, _Studien zu den York Plays_ (Breslau Diss. 1886). There are textual studies by F. Holthausen as above, and in _Philologische Studien_ (Sievers-Festgabe), 1896; E. Kölbing, in _Englische Studien_, xvi. 279; xx. 179; J. Hall, in _Eng. Stud._ ix. 448; Zupitza, in _Deutsche Litteraturzeitung_, vi. 1304; K. Luick, in _Anglia_, xxii. 384.

TOWNELEY PLAYS.

_Manuscript._

Written in the second half of the fifteenth century, formerly in the library of Towneley Hall, long in the possession of Mr. Quaritch, the bookseller, and now in that of Major Coates, of Ewell, Surrey. There are thirty-two plays in all, but twenty-six leaves are missing.

_Editions._

(a) 1822. Play xxx (_Iudicium_); F. Douce, for Roxburghe Club (_Publications_, No. 16).

(b) 1836. Play xiii (_Secunda Pastorum_); J. P. Collier, in _Five Miracle-Plays_.

(c) 1836. Complete cycle; for _Surtees Soc._ (It is uncertain whether the editor was J. Raine, J. Hunter, or J. S. Stevenson.)

(d) 1838. Plays viii, xiii, xxiii, xxv, xxx (_Pharao_, _Secunda Pastorum_, _Crucifixio_, _Extractio Animarum ab Inferno_, _Iudicium_); W. Marriott, _English Miracle-Plays_.

(e) 1867. Play iii (_Processus Noe cum filiis_), E. Mätzner, _Altenglische Sprachproben_, 360.