CHAPTER II.
I. Ancient Plays.—II. Miracle Plays, Dramas from Scripture, &c. continued several days.—III. The Coventry Play.—IV. Mysteries described.—V. How enlivened.—VI. Moralities described.—The Fool in Plays, whence derived.—VII. Secular Plays.—VIII. Interludes.—IX. Chaucer's Definition of the Tragedies of his Time.—X. Plays performed in Churches.—XI. Cornish Miracle Plays.—XII. Itinerant Players, their evil Characters.—XIII. Court Plays.—XIV. Play in honour of the Princess Mary's Marriage.—XV. The Play of Hock Tuesday.—XVI. Decline of Secular Plays.—XVII. Origin of Puppet Plays.—XVIII. Nature of the Performances.—XIX. Giants and other Puppet Characters.—XX. Puppet Plays superseded by Pantomimes.—XXI. The modern Puppet-show Man.—XXII. Moving Pictures described.
I.—ANCIENT PLAYS.
It is not my design to enter deeply upon the origin and progress of scenic exhibitions in England: this subject has already been so ably discussed, that very little new matter can be found to excite the public attention: I shall, therefore, be as brief as possible, and confine myself chiefly to the lower species of comic pastimes, many of which may justly claim the sanction of high antiquity.
II.—MIRACLE PLAYS, DRAMAS FROM SCRIPTURE, &c. CONTINUED SEVERAL DAYS.
The theatrical exhibitions in London, in the twelfth century, were called Miracles, because they consisted of sacred plays, or representations of the miracles wrought by the holy confessors, and the sufferings by which the perseverance of the martyrs was manifested. [532] Such subjects were certainly very properly chosen, because the church was usually the theatre wherein these pious dramas were performed, and the actors were the ecclesiastics or their scholars. The first play of this kind specified by name, I believe, is called St. Catherine, and according to Matthew Paris, [533] was written by Geofrey, a Norman, afterwards abbot of Saint Albans: he was sent over into England by abbot Richard, to take upon him the direction of the school belonging to that monastery, but coming too late, he went to Dunstable and taught there, where he caused his play to be performed about the year 1110, and borrowed from the sacrist of Saint Albans capæ chorales, some of the ecclesiastical vestments of the abbey, to adorn the actors. In latter times, these dramatical pieces acquired the appellation of mysteries; because, as the learned editor of the Reliques of Ancient Poetry supposes, the most mysterious subjects of the scripture were frequently chosen for their composition. [534]
According to the Wife of Bath's prologue in the Canterbury Tales, the miracle plays in Chaucer's days were exhibited during the season of Lent, and sometimes a sequel of scripture histories was carried on for several days. In the reign of Richard II., A.D. 1391, the parish clerks of London put forth a play at Skinners Wells, near Smithfield, which continued three days; the king, queen, and many of the nobility, being present at the performance. [535] In the succeeding reign, Henry IV., A.D. 1409, another play was acted at the same place, and lasted eight days; this drama began with the creation of the world, and contained the greater part of the history of the Old and New Testament. It does not appear to have been honoured with the royal presence, but was well attended by most of the nobility and gentry of the realm.