"This MS. is entirely in the handwriting of Sir George Buck, Master of the Revels in the reign of James I., as prepared by him for publication. The initials G. B. correspond with those of his name, and the handwriting is similar to a MS. Dedication of his poem to Lord Chancellor Egerton, which is preserved at Bridgewater House."
The authorship of The Famous History of St. George, then, rests solely upon the initials "G. B.," and the similarity of the handwriting to that of
Sir George Buc. Now it must be remembered that the MS. dedication was written in 1605, and the history after 1660! Surely an interval of fifty-five years must have made some difference in the penmanship of the worthy Master of the Revels. I think we must receive the comparison of handwritings with considerable caution; and, unless some of your readers can produce "new evidence" in favour of one or other of the claimants, I much fear that your reverend correspondent will have to exclaim with Master Ford in the play,—
"Buck. I would I could wash myself of the Buck!"
Edward F. Rimbault.
I am not quite certain that I can satisfactorily answer Mr. Corser's query; but at least I am able to show that a Sir George Buck, seised in fee of lands in Lincolnshire, did die in or about 1623. In the Report Office of the Court of Chancery is a Report made to Lord Keeper Williams by Sir Wm. Jones, who had been Lord Chief Justice in Ireland, dated the 10th Nov. 1623, respecting a suit referred to him by the Lord Keeper, in which Stephen Buck was plaintiff and Robert Buck defendant. In this report is contained a copy of the will of Sir George Buck, whom I supposed to be the Sir George Buck, the master of the Revels; and the will containing a singular clause, disinheriting his brother Robert because he was alleged to be a Jesuit, and it having been supposed that Sir George Buck died intestate, I published an extract from it in my Acta Cancellariæ (Benning, 1847). On further examination of the whole of the document in question, I find it distinctly stated, and of course that statement was made on evidence adduced, that Sir George Buck was seised in fee of certain lands and tenements in Boston and Skydbrooke, both of which places, I need scarcely say, are in Lincolnshire. It is therefore, at least, not improbable that the testator was a native of Lincolnshire. It also appears that the proceedings in Chancery were instituted previously to June, 1623; and, inasmuch as Sir George Buck's will is recited in those proceedings, he must have died before they were commenced, and not in September, 1623, as I once supposed. It may, perhaps, aid Mr. Corser's researches to know that the will (which is not to be found at Doctors' Commons) mentions, besides the brother Robert, a sister, Cecilia Buck, who had a son, Stephen, who had a son, George Buck, whom his great uncle, Sir George, made ultimate heir to his lands in Lincolnshire.
Cecil Monro.
Registrars' Office, Court of Chancery.