Room must be found for one little anecdote which Aston tells of him. 'Mr. Betterton had a small Farm near Reading, in the County of Berks; and a Countryman came, in the Time of Bartholomew Fair, to pay his Rent. Mr. Betterton took him to the Fair, and going to one Crawley's Puppet Shew, offer'd Two Shillings for himself and Roger, his Tenant.—No, no, Sir, said Crawley; we never take Money of one Another. This affronted Mr. Betterton, who threw down the Money, and they entered.'
Among the actors of the time he was looked up to as a king. Downes[446] says: 'I must not Omit Praises due to Mr. Betterton. The first and now only remains of the old Stock, of the Company of Sir William Davenant in Lincolns Inn Fields; he like an old Stately Spreading Oak now stands Fixt, Environ'd round with brave Young Growing Flourishing Plants.... Mr. Dryden a little before his Death in a Prologue, rendring him this Praise:—
He like the Setting Sun, still shows a Glimmery Ray
Like Antient Rome Majestick in decay.'
He was buried in Westminster Abbey on May 2, 1710, and Steele[447] wrote a long panegyric upon him, saying he 'ought to be recorded with the same respect as Roscius among the Romans.'
He died, not in want, but in comparatively poor circumstances, and he must have been a man of some culture, as the following advertisement, soon after his death, shows:[448] 'This Day will be Continued the Sale by Auction of the Prints, and Books of Prints and Drawings, of Mr. Tho. Betterton, deceased, &c.'
Verbruggen, although he died in 1708, played in Queen Anne's reign. But little is known of him, except that he was a tragedian, and was the original Oronooko. A contemporary character of him is 'A fellow with a crackt voice, he clangs his words, as if he spoke out of a broken drum.'[449] Downes says, 'his Person being tall, well built and clean, only he was a little In Kneed, which gave him a shambling Gate;' and he adds, 'Verbruggen was Nature without Extravagance—Freedom without Licentiousness—and vociferous without bellowing.'
Cave Underhill was another veteran, of whom Steele writes[450] when making an appeal to the public to support him: 'he has been a comic for three generations; my father admired him extremely when he was a boy.' He took a benefit at Drury Lane on June 3, 1709, when 'Hamlet' was played, and he took his favourite part of the gravedigger.
Leigh was another old actor who died in this reign.
Estcourt deserves notice. He was born in 1668, and, at the age of 15, ran away from his father's house, and joined a company of strollers at Worcester. He was recovered, and apprenticed to an apothecary in London; again ran away, and led a wandering life for some years, till we find him engaged at Drury Lane. Downes describes him as 'Histrio Natus; he has the Honour (Nature enduing him with an easy, free, unaffected Mode of Elocution) in Comedy always to Lœtificate his Audience, especially Quality.' He was a pet of the Duke of Marlborough, and was Providore of the famous Beefsteak Club, where he wore a small gold gridiron suspended from his neck by a green ribbon. He retired from the stage some time before his death, and took the 'Bumper' in St. James Street, where he Lœtificated his customers in another manner. Steele puffed him in the Spectator, and wept over his decease in the same periodical.[451]
The name of Dogget is, perhaps, as well known to us as any actor of the time. An Irishman by birth, he came to England and joined a travelling troupe; afterwards being good enough to play at both Drury Lane and Lincoln's Inn Fields. In fact, he was joint manager of the former with Wilks and Cibber, but gave it up in 1713, because Booth was forced on him as a co-partner; and he never returned to the theatre, either as a regular actor or as manager. It must have been a blow to him, for he was fond of money, and was then reputed to have been worth £1,000 per annum. He was not particular: he put his pride in his pocket, and had a booth at Bartholomew Fair, the same as Pinkethman or Mills. He died at Eltham, in Kent, Sept. 22, 1721, and left in his will the memorable Coat and Badge to be raced for, annually, on the anniversary of the accession of George the First, to show his attachment to the Whig party and the House of Brunswick. Downes says of him, 'On the Stage, he's very Aspectabund, wearing Farce in his Face; his Thoughts deliberately framing his Utterance Congruous to his Looks; He is the only Comick Original now extant.' Tony Aston says 'he was a little, lively spract Man.... a Man of very good Sense, but illiterate; for he wrote me Word thus—Sir, I will give you a hole, instead of (whole) Share. He dress'd neat, and something fine, in a plain Cloth Coat, and a Brocaded Waistcoat.'