[232] [See Hazlitt's "Handbook," 1867, pp. 61, 191, 471. Also Warton's "History of Poetry," by Hazlitt, iv. 76, 77.]
[233] It went through various editions (the titles of which are inserted above) in 1608, [1612], 1617, 1626, 1631, and 1655. The first of these is the most rare, and was not long since sold by auction for eight guineas. Mr Reed states that, the last edition of 1655 is "unworthy of any notice from the number of errors it contains;" but these errors are chiefly literal, and some corrections of considerable importance are made in it, of which Mr Reed availed himself without acknowledgment.
It seems to have been revived before 1692, but at what precise date is not known. The following cast of parts is written on the back of a copy of the edition of 1655, in the Garrick Collection, in a hand no doubt of the time when it was again brought upon the stage:—
| Sir Arthur Clare | Mr Sandford. |
| Sir R. Mounchensey | Mr Freeman. |
| Sir R. Jerningham | Mr Betterton. |
| Henry Clare | Mr Hudgson. |
| Raymond Mounchensey | Mr Mountfort. |
| Frank Jerningham | Mr Alexander. |
| Sir John | Mr Noakes. |
| Banks | Mr Bright. |
| Smug | Mr Underhill. |
| Bilbo | Mr Bower. |
| Host | Mr Leigh. |
| Brian | Mr Bowman. |
| Fabel | Mr Kingston. |
| Lady Clare | Mrs Leigh. |
| Millicent | Mrs Bracegirdle. |
| Abbess | Mrs Cory. |
—Collier.
[234] ["Dramatic Literature of the Age of Elizabeth," 1820, p. 221.]
DRAMATIS PERSONÆ.
- Sir Arthur Clare.
- Sir Richard Mounchensey.
- Sir Ralph Jerningham.
- Henry Clare.
- Raymond Mounchensey.
- Frank Jerningham.
- Sir John, a Priest.
- Banks.
- Smug.
- Bilbo.
- Blague, the Host.
- Brian.
- Ralph.
- Sexton.
- Friar Hildersham.
- Benedic.
- Chamberlain.
- Fabel, the Merry Devil.
- Coreb, a Spirit.
- Lady Clare.
- Millicent.
- Abbess of Cheston Nunnery.
- Nuns and Attendants.
THE MERRY DEVIL OF EDMONTON