Henry Porter
THE PLEASANT HISTORY OF
THE TWO ANGRY WOMEN OF ABINGTON

Edited with Critical Essay and
Notes by Charles Mills Gayley,
LL. D., Professor in the University
of California.

CRITICAL ESSAY

The Facts of Porter's Life.—The Two Angry Women of Abington is the only extant production of Henry Porter. In 1841 Mr. Collier, who was then editing Henslowe's Diary, supplied Mr. Dyce with what purported to be all the materials in that journal relative to this dramatist; and these, with the exception of one of August 23, 1597, connecting him with Nashe, which has been shown to be a forgery, are copied from Dyce's Percy Society edition of the Two Angrie Women by Mr. H. Ellis for the preface to the Mermaid edition of the play. The statement is there made that "the foregoing extracts—extending over the brief period of a single year ... contain all the definite information which has reached us concerning Henry Porter." An examination of Collier's Henslowe's Diary will show, however, that Mr. Ellis omits about a dozen entries[1580] affecting our poet which, though inaccessible to Dyce in 1841, have been available since 1845. A complete list of such notices in their chronological order has not been set before the public. I, therefore, subjoin the following, inserting an additional memorandum (No. 8) of January 17, 1598-9, from another source, and eliminating the suspicious Henslowe entries which Mr. George F. Warner[1581] has branded as Collier forgeries. The references are to the first volume of the Diary.

1.P. 77.Dd unto Mr Porter, the 16 of desembr 1596vli
2.P. 77.Lent unto Mr Porter, the 7 of march 1597iiijli
3.P. 124.Lent unto the Company, the 30 of maye 1598, to bye a boockecalled love prevented, the some of fower powndes, dd to ThomasDowton. Mr Porter[1582]iiijli
4.P. 126. Lent unto Cheattell, the 26 of June 1598, in earnest of aboocke called the 2 pte of blacke Battman of the north; and Mr HareyPorter hath geven me his worde for the performance of the same, andallso for my money xxs
5.P. 131.Lent unto the company, the 18 of Aguste 1598, to bye aBoocke called hoote anger sone cowld of Mr Porter, Mr cheattell, andbengemen Johnson, in fulle payment, the some of vjli
6.P. 141.Lent unto thomas Dowton, the 22 of desembr 1598, to bye a boockeof harey Poorter called the 2 pte of the 2 angrey wemen of abengtonvli
7.P. 144.Lent unto harey Porter, the 17 of Janewary, 1598[-9] at the requestof Richard Alleyn and Wm Birde the some ofxxs
8.

An acknowledgment of the transaction (No. 7) in the Bodleian. See note prefixed toMalone's copy (Malone, 184): as follows,

"An acknowledgement of a debt of 20 s. owing to Philip Henslowe, dated Jan. 17th,1598[-9], and bearing the autograph signature of Henry Porter, formerly lying loose in thisvolume is now to be found in MS. Eng. Hist. C. 4, fol. 15. (Signed) W. H. A., June 8, 1885."

9.P. 143. Lent unto Thomas Dowton, the 31 of Janewary 1598[-9],to bye tafetie for ij womones gownes, for the ij angrey wemen ofabengton, the some of ixli
10.P. 145.Lent unto Thomas Downton, the 12 of febreary 1598[-9], topaye Mr Poorter, in fulle payment for his boocke called the 2 pte ofthe angry wemen of abington, the some of ijli
11. P. 145.Lent unto Thomas Downton, the 12 of febreary 1598[-9], tobye divers thinges for the playe called the 2 pte of the angrey wemenof abingtonijli
12.P. 146.Lent unto harey porter, at the Requeste of the company,in earneste of his boocke called ij mery wemen of abenton the sumeof forty shellings; and for the Resayte of that money he gave mehis faythfull promysse that I shold have all the boockes which hewritte, ether him selfe or with any other, which some was dd the 28 offebreary, 1598[-9]. I sayexxxxs
Thomas Downton, Robert Shawe[1583]
13.P. 146. Lent unto Harey Cheattell, the 4 of marche 1598[-9], inearneste of his boocke, which harey Porter and he is a writinge, thesome of, called the Spencers xs
14. P. 146.Lent unto Robart Shawe, the 22 of marche 1598[-9], to payeunto Mr porter, in full paymente of his playe called the Spensers thesome of vli xs
15.P. 147. Lent unto Harey Porter, at the apoyntment of ThomasDownton, the 7 of aprell 1599, the some of xxs
16.P. 151.[A note for the same in Porter's handwriting]—Borrowed ofphillip Henchlowe, xxs, the vijth of Aprill, anno. dom. 1599. (Signed)
Henry Porter
17.P. 148.Lent unto Thomas Downton, the 9 of Aprell 1599, to byedyvers thinges, as 4 clothe clockes, and macke up a womones gowne, thesome of—For the Spencersxli
18.P. 94.[1584]Lent Harey Porter, the 11 of aprill 1599 the some ofijs vjd
19.P. 148.Lent unto Thomas Downton, the 14 of Aprell 1599, to mackedivers thinges for the playe of the Spencers, the some of xvli
20.P. 148.Delyvered unto Thomas Downton boye, Thomas parsones, to byedivers thinges for the playe of the Spencers, the 16 of aprell 1599,the some of[1585]vli
21.P. 94.Lent Harey Porter, the 16 of aprell, 1599, the some of xijd
22.P. 261.Harey Porter tocke a somsete of me, Phillipe Henslowe, the16 of Aprell 1599, upon this condition, that yf I would geve him xijdat that instant, for that xijd he bound hime seallfe unto me in xliof corant Inglishe mony, for this cawse to paye unto me the next dayefolowinge all the money which he oweth unto me, or els to ferfette forthat xijd tenn powndes; which deate wase unto me xxvs, which he hathnot payd acordinge to his bonde, and so hath forfetted unto me: wittnesto this a sumsette,
John Haslett, Va[ul]ter
MR Kyngman, the Elder.

[This entry which seems to refer to No. 21, would naturally be made on the 18th of April, 1599, but in the Diary it occurs at the end of a confused sequence running March 25, 1598, November 16, 1599, August 9, 1598, September 18, 1602, September 19, 1602. Between it and the next entry, undated but probably of February, 1601-2, leaves are missing or mutilated. According to Dyce, whose information came from Collier, the entry on p. 94 "is struck through, the money having been repaid." But Collier does not record the payment of the xijd in his edition of the Diary; nor, according to p. 261, was Porter released from the "deate of xxvs" or the "forfette of xli.">[

23.P. 94.Lent Harey Porter, the 5 of may 1599 the some ofijs 6d
24.P. 94.Lent Harey Porter, the 15 of maye 1599, the some ofijs 6d
(Signed) Henry Porter
25.P. 94.Be it knowne unto all men, that I, Henry Porter, do owe unto PhillipHenchlowe the some of xs, of lawfull money of England, wch I didborrowe of hym the 26 of maye, aº dom. 1599.
Henry Porter[1586]

Other Early Notices.—Meres, in the Palladis Tamia, 1598, names our dramatist as one of the best for comedy among us, and places him in good company: Lyly, Lodge, Gascoigne, Greene, Shakespeare, Nashe, Thomas Heywood, Munday, Chapman, Wilson, Hathaway, and Chettle. It is perhaps worthy of remark that, beginning with Nashe, all these playwrights were at the time Porter's associates in the employ of Henslowe and the Admiral's company, and that in this list our poet rubs shoulders with Chapman and Wilson. Much less flattering are the references in Richard West's Court of Conscience or Dick Whipper's Sessions, 1607,[1587] to "ruffianly Dick Coomes" (Poem to Prophane Swearers) and "Nimble-tongued Nicholas as the Proverbe saith" (Address to Liers), which are undoubtedly allusions to our play[1588]: for although Porter's Nicholas is not a liar, his Coomes is, in the extreme, ruffianly and profane. The context of The Court of Conscience would indicate, however, that West was availing himself, to some extent, of nicknames proverbial among the vulgar, such as Suckblood, Tom Taylor, Money Monger, and Nicholas Newfangle. That Porter's play was still in circulation as late as 1661 is shown by its inclusion in Kirkman's Catalogue of that date.