Postscript of Mr. Secretary’s hand. It ys not meant that he shall exercyse upon any Sabothe day.
cxxiv.
[1600, June 22. Order of the Privy Council, printed M.S.C. i. 80, from Remembrancia, ii. 188; also by Dasent, xxx. 395, and Halliwell-Phillipps, i. 307, from minute in Council Register. The examiner’s note at the end is by one of the Clerks of the Council. The original draft of the order has been altered in the Register, and there is a marginal note by Thomas Smith that ‘the alteracion and interlyning of this order was by reason that the said order after the same was entred in the Booke came againe in question and debate, and the said interlyninge and amendementes were sett downe according to the laste determinacion of their Lordships’. Evidently the interlineations were important, and they are therefore marked below with square brackets, although of course they do not appear as such in the Remembrancia copy, which agrees substantially with the final draft in the Register. Dasent found the cancelled passages in the Register illegible.]
An order sett downe by the lordes and others of hir Maiesties pruiye Councell the 22 of Iune 1600 to restrain the excessiue number of Plaie howses & the imoderate vse of Stage plaies in & about the Cittye.
Whereas diuers Complaintes haue bin heretofore made vnto the Lordes and others of hir Maiesties privie Counsaile of the manifold abuses and disorders that haue growen and doe Continew by occasion of many howses erected & emploied in and aboute the Cittie of London for common Stage Plaies. And nowe verie latelie, by reason of some Complainte exhibited by sondrie persons against the buildinge of the like house in or nere Goldinge Lane by one Edward Allen, a seruant of the right honorable the Lo: Admirall, the matter, aswell in generalitie touchinge all the said houses for Stage Plaies and the vse of playenge, as in particuler concerninge the said house now in hand to be builte in or neere Goldinge Lane, hath bin brought into question & Consultacion amonge theire LL. Forasmuch as yt is manifestlie knowne and graunted that the multitude of the said houses and the misgouerment of them hath bin made and is dailie occasion of the idle riotous and dissolute livinge of great numbers of people, that leavinge all such honest and painefull Course of life, as they should followe, doe meete and assemble there, and of maine particuler abuses and disorders that doe there vppon ensue. And yet neuerthelesse yt is Considered that the vse and exercise of suche plaies, not beinge euill in yt self, may with a good order and moderacion be suffered in a well gouerned estate, and that, hir Maiestie beinge pleased at some times to take delighte and recreacion in the sight and hearinge of them, some order is fitt to bee taken for the allowance and mainteinance of suche persons, as are thoughte meetest in that kinde to yeald hir Maiestie recreacion and delight, & consequentlie of the howses that must serue for publique playenge to keepe them in exercise. To the end therefore, that bothe the greatest abuses of the plaies and plaienge houses maye be redressed, and the vse and moderacion of them retained, The Lordes and the rest of hir Maiesties privie Councell, withe one and full Consent, haue ordered in manner and forme as followeth.
First, that there shall bee about the Cittie two howses and noe more allowed to serue for the vse of the Common Stage plaies, of the which howses one shalbe in Surrey in that place which is Commonlie called the banckside or there aboutes, and the other in Midlesex. And foras muche as there Lordshippes haue bin enformed by Edmond Tylney Esquire, hir Maiesties seruant and Master of the Reuells, that the howse now in hand to be builte by the said Edward Allen is not intended to encrease the number of the Plaiehowses, but to be in steed of an other, namelie the Curtaine, Which is either to be ruined and plucked downe or to be putt to some other good vse, as also that the scituacion thereof is meete and Conuenient for that purpose. Yt is likewise ordered that the said howse of Allen shall be allowed to be one of the two howses, and namelie for the house to be alowed in Middlesex, [for the Companie of Plaiers belonging to the L: Admirall], soe as the house Called the Curtaine be (as yt is pretended) either ruinated or applied to some other good vse. And for the other allowed to be on Surrey side, whereas [there Lordshipps are pleased to permitt] to the Companie of players that shall plaie there to make there owne Choice which they will haue [of diuers houses that are there], Choosinge one of them and noe more, [And the said Companie of Plaiers, being the Seruantes of the L. Chamberlen, that are to plaie there haue made choise of the house called the Globe, yt is ordered that the said house and none other shall be there allowed]. And especiallie yt is forbidden that anie stage plaies shalbe plaied (as sometimes they haue bin) in any Common Inn for publique assemblie in or neare about the Cittie.
Secondlie, forasmuche as these stage plaies, by the multitude of houses and Companie of players, haue bin too frequent, not seruing for recreacion but inviting and Callinge the people daily from there trad and worke to mispend there time, It is likewise ordered that the two seuerall Companies of Plaiers assigned vnto the two howses allowed maie play each of them in there seuerall howse twice a weeke and noe oftener, and especially that they shall refraine to play on the Sabboth daie, vppon paine of imprisonment and further penaltie, and that they shall forbeare altogether in the time of Lent, and likewise at such time and times as anie extraordinarie sicknes or infeccion of disease shall appeare to be in and about the Cittie.
Thirdlie, because these orders wilbe of litle force and effecte vnlesse they be dulie putt in execucion by those to whome yt appertaineth to see them executed, It is ordered that seuerall Coppies shall be sent to the L. Mayor of London, and to the Iustices of the Peace of the Counties of Middlesex and Surrey, and that Lettres should be written vnto them from there Lordshipps, straightlye Charginge them to see the execucion of the same, as well by Committinge to prison the owners of Plaiehouses and players as shall disobey & resist these orders, as by anie other good and lawfull meanes that in there discretion they shall finde expedient, And to certifie there Lordshipps from time to time, as they shall se Cause, of there proceedinges therein.
Examinatum per Tho: Smithe.