Transcriber's Note: The text of the above facsimile is given in the box below.

before the king & queene this
yeare of our lord 1638

At the Cocpit the 26th of march The lost ladie
At the Cocpit the 27th of march Damboyes
At the Cocpit the 3d of Aprill Aglaura
At the blackfryers the 23 of Aprill for the queene the vnfortunate lou[ers]
At the Cocpit the 29th of may the princes berthnight ould Castel
At the Cocpit the last of may agayne the vnfortunate louers
At Sumerset-house the 10th of July & our day
— lost at our house mr Carlels play the first part of the pasionate louers
— At Hamton Court the 30th of September The vnfortunate louer
— At Richmount the 6th of november for the ladie
maries berthnight & the day lost at our house		}The mery divell of Edmonto[n]
At the Cocpit the 8th of november The fox
At the Cocpit the 13th of november Ceaser
At the Cocpit the 15th of november The mery wifes of winser
At the Cocpit the 20th of november The fayre favorett
At the Cocpit the 22th of november Chances
At the Cocpit the 27th of november The Costome of the C[ountry]
At the Cocpit the 29th of november The northen las
At the Cocpit the 6th of desember The spanish Curatt
At the Cocpit the 11th of desember agayne The fayre favorett
At the Cocpit the 18th of desember m Carlels
play agayne the first part of		 The pasionate louers
At the Cocpit the 20th of desember the 2d part of The pasionate louers
At the Cocpit the 27 of desember the 2d part agayne of the pasionate louers
—At Richmount the 28 of desember the ladie
Elsabeths berthnight & our day lost at our house		} The northen las
— At Richmount on newyeares day
and our day lost at our house		}beggers bush
— At Richmount the 7th of Janeuarye
and our day lost at our house		}The spanish Cura[tt]

The check-marks at the left were probably made by the clerk in the Chamberlain's office to ascertain how many times the players "lost their day" at their house, and hence were entitled to £20 in payment. For the play given "at the blackfriars the 23 of Aprill for the queene" (presumably the general public was excluded) only the usual £10 was allowed.

With the approach of the civil war, the Cockpit, like the public theatres, suffered an eclipse. Sir Henry Herbert writes: "On Twelfth Night, 1642, the Prince had a play called The Scornful Lady at the Cockpit; but the King and Queen were not there, and it was the only play acted at court in the whole Christmas."[677] During the dark days that followed we hear nothing of plays in the Cockpit. Later Cromwell himself occupied this section of the palace, and naturally saw to it that no dramatic exhibitions were held there. But at the Restoration "the Prince," now become the King, could have his plays again; and he did not wait long. On November 20, 1660, Edward Gower wrote to Sir Richard Leveson: "Yesternight the King, Queen, Princess, etc., supped at the Duke d'Albemarle's, where they had The Silent Woman acted in the Cockpit."[678] From this time on the theatre royal was in constant use for the entertainment of the Court.

Samuel Pepys, as he rose in the world, became a frequent visitor there.[679] In the absence of other descriptions of the building, I subjoin a few of the entries from his Diary. Under the date of October 2, 1662, he writes:

At night by coach towards Whitehall, took up Mr. Moore and set him at my Lord's, and myself, hearing that there was a play at the Cockpit (and my Lord Sandwich, who came to town last night, at it), I do go thither, and by very great fortune did follow four or five gentlemen who were carried to a little private door in a wall, and so crept through a narrow place and come into one of the boxes next the King's, but so as I could not see the King or Queen, but many of the fine ladies, who yet are really not so handsome generally as I used to take them to be, but that they are finely dressed. Here we saw The Cardinal,[680] a tragedy I had never seen before, nor is there any great matter in it. The company that came in with me into the box were all Frenchmen that could speak no English, but Lord! what sport they made to ask a pretty lady that they got among them that understood both French and English to make her tell them what the actors said.

The next time he went to the Cockpit, on November 17, 1662, he did not have to creep in by stealth. He writes:

At Whitehall by appointment, Mr. Crew carried my wife and I to the Cockpit, and we had excellent places, and saw the King, Queen, Duke of Monmouth, his son, and my Lady Castlemaine, and all the fine ladies; and The Scornful Lady, well performed. They had done by eleven o'clock.

The fine ladies, as usual, made a deep impression on him, as did the "greatness and gallantry" of the audience. On December 1, 1662, he writes: