1606. This was a year of plague. The deaths reached 33 on 10 July and 50 on 17 July, rose to a maximum of 141 on 2 Oct., and remained, but for one or two weeks, above 40 to 4 Dec. and above 30 to the end of the year. The total, for 121 parishes, was 2,124. Michaelmas term was adjourned on 23 Sept. (Procl. 1038) and access to court restrained on 1 Nov. (Procl. 1039). There is no record of a specific order for the restraint of plays; possibly it was automatic as a result of the play-bill.
1607. During the first half of the year the plague deaths were under 30, except for 38 on 1 Jan., 33 on 5 Feb., 30 on 12 March, 33 on 19 March, and 43 on 30 April. They increased in the autumn, passing 30 on 9 July and 40 on 23 July, to a maximum of 177 on 24 Sept. After 19 Nov. they fell below 30. The total for the year was 2,352. As early as 12 April the City, unjustified as yet by the plague bill, asked for a restraint of plays. Access to court was restrained on 2 Nov. (Procl. 1050).
1608. The plague deaths were under 30 until 28 July, when they rose to 50; for the rest of the year they were over 40, with a maximum of 147 on 29 Sept, and a total of 2,262. The King’s men practised privately for about eight weeks this winter (App. B).
1609. The plague of this year, the heaviest since 1603, is recorded in Dekker’s Work for Armourers (1609, Works, iv. 96). The deaths were over 30, and, with four exceptions, over 40 up to 30 Nov., with a maximum of 210 on 21 Sept. and a total of 4,240. Michaelmas term was deferred on 22 Sept. (Procl. 1085). The King’s men practised privately for six weeks this winter (App. B).
1610. The plague deaths were between 30 and 40 on 28 Dec. 1609 and on 4 and 18 Jan. 1610; then under 30 to 28 June, passing 30 on 5 July and 40 on 12 July, and remaining there during most of the rest of the year, with a maximum of 99 on 30 Aug. and a total of 1,803. They fell below 40 on 29 Nov. and below 30 on 6 Dec.
1611–16. Plague was absent from London (Creighton, i. 496).
APPENDIX F
THE PRESENCE-CHAMBER AT GREENWICH
[Entry for 27 Aug. 1598 in Pauli Hentzneri J. C. Itinerarium Germaniae, Galliae, Angliae, Italiae (1629) 200. The first edition is of 1612. A translation by R. Bentley was printed by Horace Walpole in 1757.]
Venimus deinde, ad Arcem Regiam, Grönwidge seu Grunwidge, vulgo dictam.... Postquam hanc arcem ingressi sumus, ex mandato summi Cubiculariorum Praefecti, quod Dn. Daniel Rogerius impetraverat, in Cameram Praesentationis, undiquaque tapetis preciosis exornatam, (Pavimentum vero, uti in Anglia moris est, foeno erat constratum) quam Regina, quando in sacellum ad preces ire vult, transire solet; Ad ianuam stabat nobilis quidam vestibus holosericis amictus, et catena aurea cinctus, qui Comites, Barones, Nobiles et alios utriusque sexus, Reginam adire cupientes, ad eandem deducebat; (erat tum forte dies Dominicus, quo Magnates plaerumque Reginam invisere solent) in Camera, quam dixi, praestolabantur Reginam, Episcopi, Cantuariensis et Londinensis, Consiliarii, Officiarii, et nobiles magno numero. Postea cum hora precum instaret, Regina ex suo conclavi prodiit, tali cum comitatu; Praeibant Nobiles, Barones, Comites, et Equites Ordinis Periscelidis, omnes splendide vestiti, et capite detecto; Proxime antecedebant duo, alter qui sceptrum Regni, alter qui gladium in vagina rubra aureis liliis distincta, reconditum cuspide sursum versa portabat, inter quos medius procedebat, Magnus Angliae Cancellarius, sigillum Regni in marsupio holoserico rubro gerens; Hos sequebatur Regina, aetatis, uti rumor erat, lxv annorum, magna cum Maiestate, facie oblonga et candida, sed rugosa, oculis parvis, sed nigris et gratiosis, naso paululum inflexo, labiis compressis, dentibus fuliginosis (quod vitium ex nimio saccari usu, Anglos contrahere verisimile est) inaures habens duas margaritis nobilissimis appensis, crinem fulvum sed factitium; Capiti imposita, erat parva quaedam corona, quae ex particula auri celeberrimae illius tabulae Lunaeburgensis, facta esse perhibetur; pectore erat nuda, quod Virginitatis apud Anglos Nobiles signum est; Nam maritatae sunt tectae; Collum torques gemmis nobilissimis refertus circumdabat; manus erant graciles, digiti longiusculi, statura corporis mediocris; in incessu magnifica, verbis blanda et humanissima; induta forte tum temporis erat veste serica alba, cuius oram margaritae preciosissimae fabarum magnitudine decorabant, toga superiniecta ex serico nigro, cui argentea fila admista, cum cauda longissima, quam Marchionissa pone sequens a posteriori parte elevatum gestabat; Collare habebat oblongum, vice catenae, gemmis et auro fulgens; Tum, cum tali in pompa et magnificentia incederet, nunc cum hoc, mox cum alio loquebatur, perhumaniter, qui vel legationis vel alterius rei causa eo venerant, utens nunc materno, nunc Gallico, nunc Italico idiomate; Nam, praeterquam quod Graece, et Latine eleganter est docta, tenet ultra iam commemorata idiomata, etiam Hispanicum, Scoticum, et Belgicum; Omnes illam alloquentes, pedibus flexis id faciunt, quorum aliquos interdum manu elevare solet; Hos inter forte tum erat, Baro quidam Bohemus, Gulielmus Slawata nomine, Reginae literas offerens, cui manum dextram, chirotheca detracta, annulis et lapidibus preciosissimis splendentem porrexit osculandam, quod maximum insignis clementiae signum est; In transitu, quocunque faciem vertit, omnes in genua procidunt; Sequebatur Gynaeceum ex Comitissis, Baronissis, et Nobilibus foeminis, summa pulchritudine et forma excellentibus constans, et maxima ex parte, vestimentis albicans; Ab utroque latere comitabantur eam Satellites nobiles cum hastis deauratis, quorum quinquaginta sunt numero; In praeambulo Sacelli, quod huic atrio contiguum est, porriguntur ipsi libelli supplices, quos benignissime accipit, unde tales fiunt acclamationes; God save the quene Elisabeth, hoc est, Deus salvet Reginam Elisabetham; Ad quae populo sic ipsa respondet; I thancke you myn good peupel, id est, Ago tibi gratias popule mi bone; In sacello habebatur excellens Musica, qua finita una cum precibus, quae vix ultra dimidiam horam durabant, Regina eadem magnificentia et ordine, quo antea discesserat, redibat, et ad prandium se conferebat. Interea vero dum sacris intererat, vidimus illi apparari mensam hac adhibita solemnitate; Primo Nobilis quidam atrium ingressus, sceptrum manu tenebat, adiunctum sibi habens alium quendam Nobilem cum mappa, qui ambo cum ter summa cum veneratione genua flexissent, alter ad mensam propius accedens, eam mappa insternebat; quo facto, rursus poplite flexo discedebant; veniebant post hos alii duo, quorum alter rursum cum sceptro, alter cum salino, orbe, et pane aderat, qui cum, uti priores, ter genua incurvassent, et res modo dictae mensae impositae essent, eadem omnino cum ceremonia abivere. Venit tandem Virgo quaedam Comitissa, uti affirmabatur, eximiae pulchritudinis, vestita veste serica alba, cui erat adiuncta nobilis matrona, cultrum praegustatorium ferens, quae ter summo cum decore in pedes provoluta, postea ad mensam accessit, orbes sale et pane abstersit, tanta cum veneratione, ac si Regina ipsa praesens fuisset; cumque paululum commorata ad mensam esset, venerunt satellites Regii, omnes capite nudi, sagis rubris induti, quibus in postica parte erant affixae rosae aureae, singulis vicibus xxiv missus ferculorum, in patinis argenteis et maxima ex parte deauratis, adferentes; Ab his nobilis quidam, ordine cibos accepit, et mensae imposuit; Praegustatrix vero, cuilibet satelliti, ex eadem, quam ipsemet attulerat, patina, buccellam degustandam praebuit, ne aliqua veneni subesset suspicio; Dum satellites isti, qui centum numero procera corporis statura, et omnium robustissimi ex toto Angliae Regno, ad hoc munus summa cura deliguntur, supradictos cibos adportarent, erant in Aulae area xii Tubicines, et duo Tympanistae, qui tubis, buccinis, et tympanis magno sonitu per sesqui horam clangebant; Caeremoniis autem, modo commemoratis, circa mensam absolutis, aderant illico virgines aliquot nobiles, quae singulari cum veneratione, cibos de mensa auferebant, et in interius et secretius Reginae cubiculum asportabant; Eligere ibi Regina solet quos vult, caeteri pro Gynaeceo servantur; Prandet et coenat sola paucis astantibus, atque nullus admittitur, neque peregrinus, neque Regni quoque incola, nisi rarissime, et quidem ex singulari magnatis alicuius intercessione.