Traditions preserved in the poet"s own family would in essentials be likely to be closer to the truth than the bibulous gossip of Sir William Davenant, from which source all the other records of this story are derived. In the monthly magazine of February 1818 the story is told as follows: "Mr. J.M. Smith said he had often heard his mother state that Shakespeare owed his rise in life and his introduction to the theatre to his accidentally holding the horse of a gentleman at the door of the theatre on his first arriving in London; his appearance led to inquiry and subsequent patronage." The "J.M. Smith" mentioned here was the son of Mary Hart, a lineal descendant of Joan Hart, Shakespeare"s sister.
While it is clearly impossible that Shakespeare owed his introduction to the theatre to Southampton, there can be little doubt, in the light of data to follow, that his rise in life was much enhanced by his friendship and patronage. What truth there may be in this story is evidently a distorted reflection of Shakespeare"s earlier work in the Theatre at Sh.o.r.editch and of his later acquaintance with the Earl of Southampton. We have no record, hint, or suggestion of his personal acquaintance or business connection with any n.o.blemen or gentlemen other than Southampton, and possibly Sir Thomas Heneage, at this early period.
It shall later be shown that Southampton first became identified with London and Court life in October 1590. I am led by good evidence to the belief that Shakespeare"s acquaintance with this n.o.bleman had its inception very soon after this date, and that he, and the theatrical company to which he was attached at that time, attended the Earl of Southampton at Cowdray House and at Tichfield House in August and September 1591, upon the occasion of the Queen"s progress to, and sojourn at, these places.
CHAPTER III
SHAKESPEARE, THE BURBAGES, AND EDWARD ALLEYN
As we have well-attested evidence that Shakespeare was connected with the interests of James Burbage and his sons from 1594 until the end of his London career, it is usually, and reasonably, a.s.sumed that his early years in London were also spent with the Burbages; but as nothing is definitely known regarding Burbage"s company affiliations between 1575, when we have record that he was still manager of Leicester"s company, and 1594, when the Lord Chamberlain"s company left Henslowe and Alleyn and returned to Burbage and the Theatre, knowledge of Shakespeare"s company affiliations during these years is equally nebulous. Only by throwing light upon Burbage"s activities during these years can we hope for light upon Shakespeare during the same period. Much of the ambiguity regarding Burbage"s affairs during these years arises from the fact that critics persist in regarding him as an actor and an active member of a regular theatrical company after 1576, instead of recognising the palpable fact that he was now also a theatrical manager with a large amount of borrowed money invested in a theatre upon which it would take all of his energies to pay interest and make a profit. After 1576 Burbage"s relations with companies of actors were necessarily much the same as those of Henslowe"s with the companies that acted at his theatres, though it is probable that Burbage acted at times for a few years after this date. He was now growing old, and his business responsibility increasing, it is unlikely that he continued to act long after 1584, when his son Richard entered upon his histrionic career.[10]
When Shakespeare came to London in 1586-87, there were only two regular theatres,--the Theatre and the Curtain,--though there were usually several companies playing also at innyards within and about the City.
The Theatre at Sh.o.r.editch, owned by James Burbage, was built by him in 1576, and was the first building designed in modern England specially for theatrical purposes. Though he had many troubles in later years with his brother-in-law and partner, John Brayne, and with his grasping landlord, Giles Allen, he retained his ownership of the Theatre until his death in 1597, and he, or his sons, maintained its management until the expiration of their lease in the same year.
In 1571 an Act of Parliament was pa.s.sed making it necessary for a company of players who wished to exercise their profession without unnecessary interference from petty officials and munic.i.p.al authorities, to secure a licence as the players, or servants, of a n.o.bleman; lacking such licences members of their calling were cla.s.sed before the law, and liable to be treated, as "vagabonds and st.u.r.dy beggars." Such a licence once issued to a company was regarded as a valuable corporate a.s.set by its sharers. At times a company possessing a licence would diminish by attrition until the ownership of the licence became vested in the hands of a few of the original sharers, who, lacking either the means or ability to continue to maintain themselves as an effective independent organisation, would form a connection with a similarly depleted company and perform as one company, each of them preserving their licensed ident.i.ty. In travelling in the provinces such a dual company would at times be recorded under one t.i.tle, and again under the other, in the accounts of the Wardens, Chamberlains, and Mayors of the towns they visited. Occasionally, however, the names of both companies would be recorded under one payment, and when their functions differed, they seem at times to have secured separate payments though evidently working together--one company supplying the musicians and the other the actors.
If we find for a number of years in the provincial and Court records the names of two companies recorded separately, who from time to time act together as one company, and that these companies act together as one company at the same London theatre, we may infer that the dual company may be represented also at times where only the name of one of them is given in provincial or Court records. It is likely that the full numbers of such a dual company would not make prolonged provincial tours except under stress of circ.u.mstances, such as the enforced closing of the theatres in London on account of the plague; and that while the entire combination might perform at Coventry and other points within a short distance of London, they would probably divide their forces and act as separate companies upon the occasions of their regular provincial travels.
Such a combination as this between two companies in some instances lasted for years. The provincial, and even the Court records, will make mention of one company, and at times of the other, in instances where two companies had merged their activities while preserving their respective t.i.tles.[11] A lack of knowledge of this fact is responsible for most of the misapprehension that exists at present regarding Shakespeare"s early theatrical affiliations.
Under whatever varying licences and t.i.tles the organisation of players to which Shakespeare attached himself upon his arrival in London may have performed in later years, all tradition, inference, and evidence point to a connection from the beginning with the interests of James Burbage and his sons.
Though other companies played at intervals at Burbage"s Theatre at, and shortly following, 1586-87, the period usually accepted as marking the beginning of Shakespeare"s connection with theatrical affairs, it shall be made evident that the Lord Chamberlain"s--recently Lord Hunsdon"s--company, of which James Burbage was at that date undoubtedly the manager, made their centre at his house when performing in London.
That this was a London company with an established theatrical home in the most important theatre in London, between the years 1582 and 1589, is established by the facts that James Burbage was its manager, and the infrequency of mention of it in the provincial records. It is probable that at this early period it was not a full company of actors, but that Lord Hunsdon"s licence covered Burbage and his theatrical employees and musicians.
Numerous and continuous records of provincial visits for a company infer that it would be better known as a provincial than as a London company, while the total lack of any record of Court performances, taken in conjunction with a large number of records of provincial performances, would imply that such a company had no permanent London abiding-place, such as Lord Hunsdon"s company undoubtedly had in Burbage"s Theatre.
The fact that James Burbage, the leader of Leicester"s company in its palmy days--1574 to 1582--was, between 1582 and 1589, the leader of Lord Hunsdon"s company, when coupled with the fact that they appeared before the Court during this interval, gives added evidence that it was a recognised London company at this period.
Much ambiguity regarding James Burbage"s theatrical affiliations in the years between 1583 and 1594 has been engendered by the utterly gratuitous a.s.sumption that he joined the Queen"s players upon the organisation of that company by Edmund Tilney, the Master of the Revels, in 1583, leaving the Earl of Leicester"s players along with Robert Wilson, John Laneham, and Richard Tarleton at that time. We have conclusive evidence, however, against this a.s.sumption. James Burbage worked under the patronage of Lord Hunsdon and was undoubtedly the owner of the Theatre in 1584, although Halliwell-Phillipps, and others who have followed him in his error have a.s.sumed, on account of his having mortgaged the lease of the Theatre in the year 1579 to one John Hyde, a grocer of London, that the actual occupancy and use of the Theatre had also then been transferred. There is nothing unusual or mysterious in the fact that Burbage mortgaged the Theatre to Hyde. In the time of Elizabeth, leases of business property were bought, sold, and hypothecated for loans and regarded as investment securities. Burbage at this time was in need of money. His brother-in-law, John Brayne, who had engaged with him to advance half of the necessary expenses for the building and conduct of the Theatre, defaulted in 1578 in his payments.
It is evident that Burbage borrowed the money he needed from Hyde, mortgaging the lease as security, probably agreeing to repay the loan with interest in instalments. It is not unlikely that it was Giles Allen"s knowledge of this transaction that excited his cupidity and led him to demand 24 instead of 14 a year when Burbage sought an agreed upon extension of the lease in 1585. As Hyde transferred the lease to Cuthbert Burbage in 1589, it appears that he held a ten years" mortgage, which was a common term in such transactions. In 1584 Burbage was clearly still manager of the Theatre, and in the eyes of the companies playing there from time to time, who were not likely to be cognizant of his private business transactions, such as borrowing of money upon a mortgage, was also still _the owner of the Theatre_.
In one of the witty Recorder Fleetwood"s reports to Lord Burghley, dated 18th June 1584,[12] we have the following matter referring to the Theatre and the Curtain: "Upon Sondaie, my Lord sent two aldermen to the court, for the suppressing and pulling downe of the theatre and curten, for all the Lords agreed thereunto, saving my Lord Chamberlayn and Mr.
Vice-Chamberlayn; but we obtayned a letter to suppresse them all. Upon the same night I sent for the Queen"s players, and my Lord of Arundell his players, for they all well nighe obeyed the Lords letters. The chiefest of her Highnes" players advised me to send for the owner of the theatre, who was a stubborne fellow, and to bynd him. I dyd so. He sent me word that he was my Lord of Hunsdon"s man, and that he would not come to me, but he would in the morning ride to my Lord. Then I sent the under-sheriff for hym, and he brought him to me, and at his coming he showted me out very justice. And in the end, I showed hym my Lord his master"s hand, and then he was more quiet. But to die for it he wold not be bound. And then I mynding to send hym to prison, he made sute that he might be bounde to appeare at the oier and determiner, the which is to-morrowe, where he said that he was sure the court wold not bynd hym, being a counsellor"s man. And so I have graunted his request, where he is sure to be bounde, or else is lyke to do worse." The "stubborne fellow" was, without doubt, none other than the high-spirited and pugnacious James Burbage, who fought for twenty-one years over leases with his avaricious landlord, Giles Allen, and of whom Allen"s lawyer writes in a Star Chamber doc.u.ment in 1601: "Burbage tendered a new lease which he, the said Allen, refused to sign because it was different from the first and also because Burbage had a.s.signed the Theatre to John Hyde and has also been a very bad and troublesome tenant to your orator."
This doc.u.ment also makes mention of the fact as one of the reasons for Allen refusing to sign the new lease that "Hyde conveyed the lease to Cuthbert, son of James." The conveyance here mentioned was made in 1589.
It is plain that Allen"s lawyer implies that the mortgaging of the Theatre to Hyde and its later conveyance to Cuthbert Burbage were made, not alone for value received, but also for the protection of James Burbage against legal proceedings. Here, then, we have good evidence that James Burbage, who, in the year 1575, had been the manager, and undoubtedly a large owner, of the Earl of Leicester"s company,--at that time the most important company of players in England,--was in 1584 a member of Lord Hunsdon"s company, and if a member--in view of his past and present prominence in theatrical affairs--also, evidently, its manager and owner. As no logical reasons are given by Halliwell-Phillipps, or by the compilers who base their biographies upon his _Outlines of the Life of Shakespeare_, for declining to accept the reference in Fleetwood"s letter to the "owner of the Theatre" as an allusion to Burbage, whom they admit to have been, and who undoubtedly was, the owner of the Theatre from 1576 until he transferred his property to his sons, Cuthbert and Richard, shortly before he died in 1597,[13] their refusal to see the light must arise from their obsession that Burbage at this time was a member of either Leicester"s or the Queen"s company, and as to which one they do not seem to have a very clear impression. Shakespearean biography may be searched in vain for any other recorded facts concerning Burbage"s company affiliations between 1575 and 1594. In view of this general lack of knowledge of Burbage in these years the critical neglect of such a definite allusion as Recorder Fleetwood makes to the "owner of the Theatre" as a servant of Lord Hunsdon is difficult to understand.
The alleged reason for the proposed suppression of the Theatre and the Curtain at this, and at other times, was that they had become public nuisances by attracting large crowds of the most unruly elements of the populace, which led to disturbances of the peace.
In this same report of Fleetwood"s to Burghley, he informs him that on the previous Monday, upon his return to London from Kingston, he "found all the wardes full of watches. The cause thereof was for that neare the theatre or curten, at the time of the plays, there laye a prentice sleeping upon the gra.s.se; and one Challes alias Grostock did turne upon the toe upon the belly of the prentice; whereupon this apprentice start up, and afterwards they fell to playne blowes. The companie increased of both sides to the number of 500 at the least. This Challes exclaimed and said, that he was a gentleman, and that the apprentice was but a rascal and some there were littel better than roogs, that took upon them the name of gentleman, and said the prentices were but the sk.u.me of the worlde. Upon these troubles, the prentices began the next daye, being Tuesdaye, to make mutinies, and a.s.semblies, and conspyre to have broken the prisones, and to have taken forth the prentices that were imprisoned. But my Lord and I having intelligence thereof, apprehended four or fyve of the chief conspirators, who are in Newgate, and stand indicted of their lewd demeanours.
"Upon Weddensdaye, one Browne a serving man in a blew coate, a shifting fellowe, having a perilous wit of his owne, intending a spoil if he could have brought it to pa.s.se, did at the theatre-doore quarrell with certayn poore boyes, handicraft prentices, and strooke some of them; and lastlie, he, with his sword, wounded and maymed one of the boyes upon the left hand. Whereupon there a.s.sembled near a thousand people. This Browne did very cunningly conveye himself away, but by chance he was taken after and brought to Mr. Humprey Smithe, and because no man was able to charge him, he dismyssed him."[14]
Though the Council ordered the suppression of both the Theatre and the Curtain at this time, Fleetwood"s report of the disturbances seems to place the blame largely upon the Theatre. If the Queen"s players were then performing at the Theatre, under the management of Burbage, it is most unlikely that the "chiefest of her Highnes" players"--who informed Fleetwood that the owner of the Theatre was a "stubborne fellow," and advised that he be sent for and "bounde"--would have given advice and information so unfriendly to their own manager, and there cannot be the slightest doubt that Burbage was "the owner" of the Theatre from 1576 to 1596. It is apparent that the leader of the Queen"s company was willing that the onus of the disturbances should be placed upon the Theatre rather than upon the Curtain, where the Queen"s players were evidently performing at this time--Lord Arundel"s company temporarily occupying the Theatre, Lord Hunsdon"s company being at that time upon a provincial tour. They are recorded as performing in Bath in June 1584.[15]
A consideration of the records of Lord Hunsdon"s company, and of previous companies that performed under this name, gives fair evidence that James Burbage established this company in 1582, at or before which date he severed his active connection as a player with the Earl of Leicester"s players, though still continuing his own theatrical organisation at the Theatre under the patronage of Leicester, as the Earl of Leicester"s musicians, and maintaining relations with Leicester"s players as a theatre owner.
Burbage"s reason in 1582 for transferring from the patronage of Leicester for his theatrical employees to that of Lord Hunsdon was, no doubt, _the fact of Leicester"s departure for the Continent in this year_. The constant attacks being made by the puritanical authorities upon the London theatrical interests made it expedient for him to have the protection of a n.o.bleman whose aid could be quickly invoked in case of trouble. As I will show later that Burbage was regarded with disfavour by Burghley in 1589, it is likely that the opposition he met with from the local authorities in these earlier years was instigated by Burghley"s agents and gossips. Recorder Fleetwood, chief amongst these, reports Burbage"s alleged transgressions with such evident unction it is apparent that he knew his message would have a sympathetic reception.
It shall be shown that in later years the Burbage theatrical organisation was anti-Cecil and pro-Ess.e.x in its tacit political representations; it is not unlikely that it was recognised as anti-Cecil and pro-Leicester in these early years, and that in this manner it incurred Burghley"s ill-will.
Previous to the year 1567 there existed a company under the patronage of Lord Hunsdon; between that date and 1582 there is no record of any company acting under this n.o.bleman"s licence. In July 1582 there is record that Lord Hunsdon"s company acted at Ludlow, and upon 27th December 1582 we have record that Lord Hunsdon"s players acted before the Court, presenting _A Comedy of Beauty and Housewifery_. The provincial records show a few performances by this company in the provinces in every year, except one, between 1582 and 1589; while 1587 shows no provincial performance, a payment of five shillings is recorded in Coventry "to the Lord Chamberlain"s Musicians that came with the Judge at the a.s.sizes"; these were, no doubt, a portion of Burbage"s company, Lord Hunsdon then being Lord Chamberlain. This entry, however, is immediately preceded by the entry of a payment of twenty shillings to the Lord Admiral"s players. It shall be shown that the Admiral"s company was affiliated with Burbage at this time.
The Lord Hunsdon who patronised this company from the time of its inception, in 1582, until we hear no more about it in 1589, was the same Henry Carey, Baron Hunsdon, who, in 1594, still holding the office of Lord Chamberlain, again took Burbage and his theatrical a.s.sociates under his protection.
In imagining James Burbage as a member of the Queen"s company of players for several years following 1583, and ending in about 1591, it has been customary also to a.s.sume that the Queen"s company played regularly, when in London, at Burbage"s Theatre during these years; and that the Lord Admiral"s company, between 1585 and 1591, played princ.i.p.ally at the Curtain. There is very slight foundation for the former, and not the slightest for the latter, a.s.sumption, both of which were first mooted by Halliwell-Phillipps, and in which he has since been followed blindly by the compilers. The supposition that the Queen"s company made their London centre at the Theatre from 1583 onwards, is based upon the disproved a.s.sumption that Burbage was the manager of this company. This supposition has been supported by the argument that Tarleton, who was a member of the Queen"s company after 1583, is mentioned in 1592, in Nashe"s _Pierce Penniless_, as having "made jests" "at the Theatre,"
and again in Harrington"s _Metamorphosis of Ajax_ in 1596, as follows: "Which word was after admitted into the Theatre by the mouth of Mayster Tarleton, the excellent comedian." As Tarleton died in 1588 these references cannot apply to the "Theatre" later than this date, and if they apply at all to Burbage"s Theatre and the term is not used generically, they apply to it in the years preceding 1583, when Tarleton played at the Theatre as a member of Lord Leicester"s company. The author of _Martin"s Month"s Mind_, in 1587, refers to "twittle t.w.a.ttle that I learned in ale-houses and at the Theatre of Lanam and his fellowes." This also probably refers to the period preceding 1583, when Laneham was a member and evidently the leader of Leicester"s company and after Burbage had retired from its leadership. In _News out of Purgatory_, published in 1587, in which the ghost of Tarleton appears, "the Curtaine of his Countenance" is mentioned, which apparently alludes to his recent connection with that house.[16] While it is possible, however, that the Queen"s company may have performed occasionally at the Theatre after their formation in 1582-83 and before the Rose was built in 1587, all evidence and logical a.s.sumption regarding the regular playing-places of the Queen"s and the Admiral"s companies when in London, between 1586 and 1589, infer that the Queen"s company played at the Curtain, and after 1587, at the Rose, and the Lord Admiral"s company, in conjunction with the Lord Chamberlain"s, at the Theatre in summer and the Crosskeys in winter.
Towards the end of this period a rivalry existed between the Queen"s company and the combined companies playing under Burbage at the Theatre, which ended in 1591 in the supersession for Court performances of the Queen"s company by Lord Strange"s players--a new company of which Richard Burbage was a member, which had been organised out of the best actors from the defunct companies of the Lord Chamberlain and Lord Leicester, and with accretions from the Lord Admiral"s company and Lord Strange"s company of boy acrobats; which latter had for about a year past been affiliated in some manner with the Lord Admiral"s company, which, in turn, had worked in conjunction with Burbage"s players (the Lord Chamberlain"s company) since 1585-86.
For this connection between the Lord Admiral"s company and the company of Lord Hunsdon, who was now Lord Chamberlain, we have record of a Court performance on 6th January 1586, which was paid for on 31st January: "The Lord Admiral"s and the Lord Chamberlain"s players were paid for a play before the Queen on Twelfth Day."
While two companies of players, meeting accidentally in the provinces, might at times have combined their forces in an entertainment, we may a.s.sume that in such cases each would give a short interlude from their own stock of plays, and not that they joined action in the same play. A performance before the Court, however, was no haphazard thing, but something that had been carefully rehea.r.s.ed; hence, when we find--as in the case of the Lord Admiral"s players and the Lord Chamberlain"s players, mentioned above--members of two companies uniting in a play before the Court and receiving one payment for it, it is apparent that they must have acted in the same play, and also that such a play had been previously rehea.r.s.ed. Burbage"s Theatre being the theatrical home of his company, known, until 1585, as Lord Hunsdon"s company, and after that date, when Lord Hunsdon became Lord Chamberlain, as the Lord Chamberlain"s players, it becomes evident that the rehearsal of plays for the Court would take place at the Theatre in the summer or the inn used by Burbage and his company in the winter-time, and that the members of the Lord Admiral"s company, who had acted with him in the Court performance mentioned, would rehea.r.s.e at the same places. As we find Lord Strange"s company preparing to act in the winter-time of 1589 at the Crosskeys, when they were refused permission to do so by the Lord Mayor, and as we know also that--as the Lord Chamberlain"s men--in 1594, after their separation from Henslowe, they again sought leave to act there in the winter season, we may infer that Burbage"s men used this same inn for winter performances previous to 1589. Lord Hunsdon"s letter to the Lord Mayor in December 1594, referring to the Crosskeys, reads: "Where my _now_ company of players have byn accustomed ... to play this winter time within the City."
While both the Lord Admiral"s and Lord Hunsdon"s players performed occasionally in the provinces previous to 1591, the limited number of their provincial appearances, taken in conjunction with the fact that they were of sufficient importance to play at intervals before the Court, during the years that the Queen"s company--which had been specially formed for that purpose--held sway, implies that they were players of recognised importance.
While it is apparent that Burbage ceased to be an active member of Leicester"s players at or soon after the time he undertook the responsibilities of the management of the Theatre, he evidently continued to work under the protection of the Earl of Leicester, as the owner of the Theatre and of the organisation known as Leicester"s musicians, as late as 1582, when he secured the protection of Lord Hunsdon, and in transferring took with him his theatrical musicians, who now became Lord Hunsdon"s and, later, the Lord Chamberlain"s musicians.
The first and last mention of Lord Leicester"s musicians as distinct from the players in any of the records is in 1582, when they are mentioned in the Coventry records as accompanying Lord Leicester"s players. These were evidently Burbage"s theatrical musicians who accompanied Leicester"s men to Coventry, as we find them accompanying the Admiral"s men to the same place a few years later under the t.i.tle of the "Lord Chamberlain"s Musicians."
It is evident that Leicester"s company continued to be Burbage"s most permanent customer in the use of the Theatre as late as 1585, and that they acted there until that date in conjunction with Lord Hunsdon"s men, who were Burbage"s theatrical employees, and mostly musicians. Some time in, or before, June 1585, seven of the more important actors of Leicester"s company sailed for the Continent, where they remained till July 1587. In June 1585 the remnant of Leicester"s company joined forces with the new Admiral"s company. They are recorded as acting together at Dover in this month. It is apparent that Leicester"s men had come to this port to see their fellows off for the Continent, and that they were joined there by the Admiral"s men by pre-arrangement. This performance of the Admiral"s men, in conjunction with the remnant of Leicester"s men at Dover, is the first record we possess for many years of any company under this t.i.tle. The next record is a performance before the Court in the following Christmas season, when we find them acting conjointly with the Lord Chamberlain"s men, _i.e._ Burbage"s men, recently Lord Hunsdon"s. It is evident that they had now taken the place of Leicester"s men as Burbage"s permanent company at the Theatre, holding much the same relations to him as Lord Strange"s men held to Henslowe at the Rose between 1592 and 1594.
Both Leicester"s and Lord Hunsdon"s companies disappear from the records at the same date (1588-89), and Lord Strange"s players appear for the first time as a regular London company of players, performing in the City of London and at the Crosskeys in the same year. Three years later, when we are enabled, for the first time, to learn anything of the personnel of this company, we find among its members Thomas Pope, George Bryan, and, later on, William Kempe, all of them members of Leicester"s company before 1589. We also find in Lord Strange"s company, in 1592, Richard Burbage, who, without doubt, between 1584--in which year he first began as a player--and 1589, was a member of his father"s company,--Lord Hunsdon"s,--known as the Lord Chamberlain"s company after 1585. It becomes apparent, then, that early in the year 1589 a junction of forces took place between the leading actors of the companies previously known as Lord Strange"s tumblers, Lord Hunsdon"s, or, as it was then known, the Lord Chamberlain"s company, and the Earl of Leicester"s players--the new organisation becoming known as Lord Strange"s players. This company continued under the patronage of Lord Strange, under his successive t.i.tles of Lord Strange and the Earl of Derby, until his death in April 1594; they then, for a short period, pa.s.sed under the patronage of his widow, the Countess of Derby, when they again secured the patronage of Lord Hunsdon--who was still Lord Chamberlain.
Before the combination between these companies took place in December 1588, or January 1589, it is evident that an alliance of some kind was formed between the leading men of Lord Strange"s tumblers and the Lord Admiral"s company.[17] For several years, between about 1580 and 1587, Lord Strange"s company was merely a company of acrobats, or tumblers, composed of boys and youths. In the provincial records they are mentioned at times as "Lord Strange"s tumblers," "Symons and his fellowes," and as "John Symonds and Mr. Standleyes Boyes" (Lord Strange"s name being Fernando Stanley). The Lord Admiral"s players, on the other hand, were clearly a regular company of players who presented plays, yet we find them paid for Court performances in 1588 and 1589, and also "For showing other feats of activitye and tumblinge." In the following year they are again paid for a Court performance where "feates of activitye" are also mentioned. The last performances of this nature given by the Lord Admiral"s players were on 27th December 1590 and 16th February 1591. The record of payment for these performances makes mention of "other feates of activitye then also done by them." Upon the 5th of March 1591 the payment for these performances is recorded in the Acts of the Privy Council to the Lord Admiral"s company, while--as Mr.
E.K. Chambers has pointed out--in the Pipe Rolls (542 fol. 156) these same performances are a.s.signed to Strange"s men. It is evident, then, that late in 1588 (the first performance of this nature being recorded on the 27th of December) a junction took place between certain members of Lord Strange"s tumblers and the Lord Admiral"s men, who had been connected since 1585 with the Lord Chamberlain"s men, and that, at the same time, the leading members of Lord Leicester"s company became affiliated with them.
In the following Christmas season, 1591-92, Lord Strange"s players--now thoroughly organised into a regular company of players--gave six performances before the Court, supplanting the formerly powerful and popular Queen"s company, which gave only one performance in that season, and never afterwards appeared before the Court. There is no further record of a Court performance by the Lord Admiral"s company until the Christmas season of 1594-95, by which time they had parted from the Lord Chamberlain"s men and reorganised by absorbing members from other companies--such as the Earl of Suss.e.x and Earl of Pembroke"s companies, which at this time disappear from the records.
Here, then, we find, between the Christmas season of 1588-89 and 1591-92, an amalgamation into one company of a portion of the membership of four different companies, all of which had, immediately before, been a.s.sociated in some measure with the theatrical interests of the Burbages.
While a chance record remains which reveals official action in the formation of the Queen"s company of players in 1583, and no actual record of official action has yet been found to account for the sudden Court favour accorded the new and powerful Lord Strange"s company in 1591, _it is very apparent that an equally authoritative purpose existed in the latter case_.
Between the years 1574 and 1583 the Earl of Leicester"s company, under the auspices of James Burbage, held the position of the leading company of players in London. During the Christmas and New Year festivities in every year but one in this decade, Leicester"s company played before the Court, being supplanted by the newly formed Queen"s company in 1583-84.
Howes states in his _Additions to Stowe"s Chronicles_ that "in 1583 twelve of the best players were chosen out of several great Lords"
companies and sworn the Queen"s servants, being allowed wages and liveries as Grooms of the Chamber," and among these, two players, Thomas (Robert) Wilson and Richard Tarleton, were chosen. As these players and John Laneham were taken from Lord Leicester"s company it has been incorrectly inferred that James Burbage--who is known to have been the leader of the company as late as 1575--went with them to the Queen"s company at this time.
It is apparent that changes so important in the several companies affected by the disruption of their memberships could not be made in a very short time, and that test performances and negotiations of some duration preceded the actual amalgamation of the new company. Burbage"s reason for securing Lord Hunsdon"s patronage in 1582 was, no doubt, because of Leicester"s departure for the Continent in this year and the disorganisation of Leicester"s company, caused by the formation of the new Queen"s company at the same period.
Between 1583 and 1590, while other companies performed occasionally at the Court, the Queen"s company performed during the Christmas festivities every season--and usually upon several occasions--in each year. In the Christmas season of 1591-92, however, they performed only once, _and then for the last time on record_, while Lord Strange"s company appeared in this season upon six occasions. This company, under its various later t.i.tles, retained the position it had now attained--of the leading Court company--for the next forty years. It is evident, then, that the amalgamation of the leading members of Lord Strange"s acrobats, the Lord Chamberlain"s, the Earl of Leicester"s, and the Lord Admiral"s players, which I have shown began in tentative Court performances in the Christmas season of 1588-89, and which culminated in the success of the thoroughly organised company in the season of 1591-92, was--at least in its later stage--fostered by similar official sanction and encouragement to that which brought about the formation of the Queen"s company in 1582-83. Edmund Tilney, the Master of the Revels, who chose the players for the Queen"s company in 1583, held the same position in 1591, and evidently exercised a similar function in forwarding the promotion of Lord Strange"s company, and the discarding of the Queen"s company for Court purposes in the latter year. It is significant that Henslowe, the owner of the Rose Theatre, where Lord Strange"s players commenced to perform on 19th February 1592, was made a Groom of the Privy Chamber in that year, and that the weekly payments of his fees to Tilney, in connection with his new venture, begin at that time. Henslowe became the financial backer of this company in 1591, at which time, it shall be shown, later on, that James Burbage"s fortunes were at a low ebb, and that he also was in disfavour with the authorities. Henslowe evidently was brought into the affair by Tilney"s influence, the office of Groom of the Privy Chamber being a reward for his compliance. It shall be indicated that Tilney and Henslowe had probably held similar relations in connection with the Queen"s company, which evidently performed at the Rose under Henslowe between 1587 and 1591.
I have shown a connection between Burbage"s company, _i.e._ the Lord Chamberlain"s, and the Lord Admiral"s company between 1585 and 1589, and will now inquire into the previous ident.i.ty of the latter company.
A company performing under the licence of Lord Charles Howard of Effingham appears in the Court records between 1574 and 1577. Between 1581 and June 1585 there are no provincial records of any company performing under this n.o.bleman"s licence, and, until 6th January 1586, no Court records. On this latter date a company licensed by this n.o.bleman, who was now Lord Admiral, appeared at Court working in conjunction with the Lord Chamberlain"s company. The last provincial visit of Lord Howard"s old company is at Ipswich in 1581. The first provincial record of his new company--the Lord Admiral"s--is at Dover in June 1585, when the entry reads: "Paid unto my Lord Admiralles and my Lord Lycestors players 20 shillings." This seems to show that the new Admiral"s company had joined forces with the remnant of Lord Leicester"s players, the depletion of which company at this time was occasioned by the departure of seven of their members, including Kempe, Pope, and Bryan, for Denmark.
Their next recorded provincial visit is to Ipswich under date of 20th February 1586, when they are mentioned as the Lord Admiral"s players. In this same year they appear at Cambridge, also as the Lord Admiral"s players. On 15th November 1586 they are recorded at Coventry as having been paid twenty shillings, and immediately following, under the same date of entry, the Lord Chamberlain"s men are recorded as being paid three shillings and fourpence, and on 15th November 1587 they are again recorded at Coventry as receiving twenty shillings; and again, under the same date, is an entry recording the payment of five shillings "to the Lord Chamberlain"s Musicians that came with the Judge at the a.s.sizes."