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WHEN King James the Sixth
made his first public entry into the city in October, 1579, to assist at
the opening of Parliament, he was made the subject of a very flattering
reception. At the West Port the Magistrates received him under a' purple
canopy; then the allegory of Solomon's wise judgment was enacted before
him; after which he was presented with the sword and sceptre. Upon
reaching the next gate at the foot of the West Bow, the keys of the City
were presented to him by a cherub. At the Tolbooth three ladies,
personating Peace, Plenty, and Justice, addressed him in the Greek,
Latin, and Scottish tongues. Religion next appeared, and addressed the
Scottish Solomon in Hebrew. On her invitation, he entered St. Giles'
Church, to find a special sermon directed towards him. By a peculiar
appropriateness, upon leaving the church, he found Bacchus on a high
platform at the Cross, dispensing draughts of wine to all and sundry. In
the face of such encouragement given to pageantry displays by city
Magistrates, the ineffectiveness of any law passed against Robin Hood
plays and other pastimes must have been accentuated, for a further
protest is recorded in the General Assembly, Session July 2nd, 1591. "It
is cravit" that "the Acts of Parliament made for suppressing of the
enormities following may be put to execution" against "Profaners of the
Sabbath day by Robein Hoodes Playis."
As a set-off against
this, there is at least one important testimony to the influence of the
plays. M'Crie attributed the rapid spread of the Reformation principles
to the preparation which the minds of the people had received from such
plays as Sir David Lyndsay's Satire. But they had served their purpose,
so it was deemed, and now that the sacred power of the Church seemed to
be in danger from the people's natural instinct for pleasure, strong
measures were adopted for the repression of these counter attractions.
As history relates, however, such attempts were rendered abortive by the
stubborn opposition of their adherents. That the King heeded their
instructions not a whit, is proved by his having taken a company of
English players under his patronage in 1592.
Amongst the first of
equestrian wonders in Edinburgh is one mentioned in Patrick Henderson's
History of Scotland.
"There came an
Englishman to Edinburgh (April, 1561?) with a Chestain coloured naig,
which he called Marocco. He made him to do many rare and uncouth
tricks, such as never horse was observed to do the like before in
this land. This man would borrow from twenty or thirty of the
spectators a piece of gold or silver, put all in a purse, and
shuffle them together: thereafter he would give every gent his own
piece of money again. He would cause him to tell by so many pats
with his foot how many shillings the piece of money was worth. He
would cause him to lie down as dead. He would say to him, 'I will
sell you to a carter,' then he would seem to die. Then he would say,
'Marocco, a gent hath borrowed you, and you must ride with a lady of
court:' Then he would most daintily hackney, amble and ride a pace
and trot, and play the jade at his command when his master pleased.
. . . By a sign given him, he would beck for the King of Scots and
for Queen Elizabeth, and when he spoke of the King of Spain would
both bite and strike at you and many, other wonderful things. But
the report went afterwards that he devoured his master, because he
was thought to be a spirit, nought else."
Shakespeare alludes to
this horse in Love's Labour Lost.
"How easy it is to
put years to the word three, and study three years in two words, the
dancing horse will tell you!
Banks, after taking his
horse all over the Continent, was burnt along with his wonderful animal
at Rome, on the plea that they were magicians both.
An extract from the Diary
of Robert Birch (1532- 1605) gives an account of a rope walking
performance.
"July 10, 1598. Ane
man, some callit him a juggler, playit sic supple tricks upon ane
tow whilk was fastenit betwixt the top of St. Giles' Kirk Steeple
and ane stair beneath the Cross called Josia's Closehead, the like
was never seen in this country, as he rade doun the tow and playit
sac mony pavies on it."
This performer received
£20 from the King for the steeple trick. Two months later, £6 13s. 4d.
was paid to David Weir, sporter, supposed to be the one and same person.
King James seems to have been very fond of this style of performance,
for in Melville's Diary there is an account of £333 6s. 8d. Scots money
(the Scots pound, value is. 8d.) having been paid to Peter Bramhill, the
French pavier. And, again, in 1600, Melville writes: "Being in Falkland,
I saw a funambulist, a Frenchman, play strange and incredible frolicks
upon a stented tackle in the Palace close before the king, queen and the
haill court."
An English company of
players visited the city in October, 1599, and was granted a special
license to act by the King. The Kirk-Session passed a decree denouncing
all players and their patrons, the former as unruly and immodest, the
latter as irreligious and indiscreet. The opposition consequent upon
this led to a conference between the Session and the angry King, at
which the former were obliged to withdraw their denunciation (November
10, 1599), which had been advertised from all their pulpits; and they
authorised all men "to repair to the said comedies and plays without any
pain, reproach, censure or slander to be incurred by them."
It was about a year after
this that another English company, tinder the direction of Laurence
Fletcher, made its way into Scotland. Their performances were given,
amongst other places, at the Tennis Court, Holyrood. With this company,
according to FIeay, Shakespeare himself was associated.
From a theatrical point
of view, the next eighty years that followed were altogether barren of
interest. In the face of the ecclesiastical and legislative opposition
that existed, no company of players would risk the financial uncertainty
of a visit to Scottish domains. The people, too, fell into a state of
indifference in regard to the drama. The fear of incurring the
displeasure of the Kirk, and the inconvenience connected with any -
breach of civil discipline, deterred them from seeking out those
pleasures for which they had previously striven so zealously. That this
would have its deteriorating effects upon the stamina of his people was
the strong conviction of James the Sixth, and led to his issuing a
proclamation, in June of 1618, with special reference to sports on
Sundays. His belief was that, being prevented from indulging in these,
they would think Papistry a better religion, since it allowed of sports.
Another inconvenience was "that this prohibition barrette the common and
meaner people from using such exercise as may make their bodies more
able for war, when we or our successors shall have occasion to use them,
and, in place thereof, sets up filthy tipplings and drunkeness, and
breeds a number of idle and discontented speeches in their alehouses,
for when shall the common people have leave to exercise if not upon the
Sundays and holidays, seeing they must apply their labour to win their
living on other days."The King, therefore, willed that "no lawful
recreation be barred to the people," such as dancing, either men or
women; archery for men, leaping, vaulting; nor from having of May games,
Whitsun-ales and Morris dances, and the setting up of May-poles; seeing,
however, that no one was allowed so to indulge who had not previously
attended service in church.
The year 1619 is
memorable for the visit of Ben Jonson. His grandfather was one of the
Johnstons of Annandale. In the month of September, Taylor, the
water-poet, found him in the house of John Stuart at Leith. Previously,
Jonson had been the guest of William Drummond, the poet, at his
residence in Hawthornden, on the river Esk, a distance of some seven
miles from the city. Out of gratitude and respect, Ben inscribed a
madrigal to his friend in the following strain:---
"On a lover's dust made
sand for an hour-glass.
"To the Honouring
Respect Born To the Friendship Contracted With The Right Virtuous
and Learned Mr. William Drummond, and The Perpetuating The Same by
all the Offices of Love Hereafter. I, Ben Jonson Whom He Hath
Honoured with the Leave to be called His, Have, With Mine Own Hand,
To Satisfy his Request, Written this Imperfect Song."
Of Drummond's work as a
poet, one critic has written that his poems present a striking
resemblance to Milton's minor works. His chef d'oeuvre may be regarded
as the History of the Five Jameses, the Scottish Kings.
But although dramatic
work had met with such little encouragement in the city, the people had
not wholly lost their taste for pageantry. The visit of Charles I. to
the capital, in 1633, gave them the opportunity of providing a spectacle
characterised by all the old grandeur of classical and patriotic
display.
Turning aside for a
moment to the curious in history, Spalding's Memorials of the Troubles
in England and Scotland supplies us with a quaint narration regarding
that physical freak, popularly known as the Siamese twins: —
"April, 1642. About
this time travelled in Scotland an Italian aged 24, having from his
birth, growing from the breast upwards, face to face as it were ane
creature having a head and syde (long) hair like the colour of man's
hair, the head still drooping backwards and downward. He had eyes,
but closed, not opened. He had ears, 2 hands, 3 fingers on ilk hand,
ane body, ane leg, ane foot with six taes, the other leg within the
flesh inclining to the left side. It has a kind of life and feeling,
but void of all other senses: fed by the man's own nourishment. This
great work of God was admired of by many in Aberdeen and through the
country, as he travelled: yet such was the goodness of God that lie
would go and walk where he listed, carrying this birth without any
pain, yea, unespied when his clothes was on."
The case was not without
parallel. The Parish Register for Herne (Kent), 1565, bears this entry:
—
"John Jarvys had two
wocmcn children baptised at home joyned together in the belly, and
havynge each the one of their armes lycinge at one of their own
shoulders, and in all other parts well-proportioned children, buryed
August 29."
The lawyer Nicoll (May,
1658) writes of a trained horse, brought from England, which amused the
people of Edinburgh, Glasgow, and towns in the realm, "wha being trained
up in dancing and other concerts of that kind, did afford much sport and
contentment to the people; but not without gain, for none was admitted
to see the dancing without two pence the piece and some more."
In 1659 he chronicles the
appearance of a dromedary. "It was very big, of great height and cloven
footed like a cow and on the back ane seat, as it were a saddle to sit
on. . . . Being kept close in the Canongate, none had a sight of it
without threepence a person. There was brought with it ane little
baboon, faced like unto an ape."
A further contribution to
the list of itinerants is given in the Chronicle o/ File, which relates
that in 1662 a famous German quack doctor, John Pontheus, set up a stage
in High Street, where he sold his drugs at 8d. a packet. For assistants
he had one that played the fool, and another that danced on the
tight-rope. The antics and rope-dancing, according to Nicoll, were
continued for many days "with an agility and nimbleness admirable to the
beholders, one of the dancers having danced seven score times without
intermission lifting himself and vaulting six quarters high above his
own head, and lighting directly upon the tow (rope) as punctually as if
he had been dancing on the plainstones."
In a period so barren,
even in its records of itinerant performers, it can readily be imagined,
that the dearth of theatrical events must have been proportionately
greater. It is true that at long and stated intervals a company might
appear at the Tennis Court in Holyrood (which, by the way, had been used
for this game by James IV.), but so few were these performances, that
Scotland might have claimed an entire immunity from what was clerically
known as "The Players Scourge." The preface to Sir Thomas Sydceff's
play, Marciano, or The Discovery (published in Edinburgh, 1668), likens
the drama in Scotland to "a swaggerer in a country church." This play
was acted before His Majesty's Commissioners, and the nobility, at the
Abbey of Holyroodhouse on the occasion of the Festival of St. John.
The first patentees of an
Edinburgh playhouse were two brothers, Edward Fountain of Lochhill and
Captain James Fountain, who obtained a formal proclamation as "Masters
of the Revels", throughout the kingdom. This gave them the exclusive
right to license and authorise all balls, masks, or plays. They took
occasion to assert this authority in a petition to the Privy Council,
dated July 24, 1673, when the Fountains appealed against sundry dancing
masters who took upon them to make "public balls, dances, masks and
other entertainments in their schools, upon mercenary designs without
any license or authority from the petitioners." The Privy Council issued
an order to all dancing masters, calling upon them to desist from this
practice, and in particular prohibited "Andrew Devoe to keep any ball
to-morrow, or at any time....."
It is the Fountains'
Theatre which is referred co in the Acts of Council, 1679, where it is.
mentioned that a playhouse existed about the same time as a thousand
prisoners from Bothwell Bridge were confined in Greyfriars Churchyard. A
further petition was presented to the Privy Council in September, ib8o,
by the Fountains, asking for redress against such as "keep public games,
plays and lotteries," without that license which they, as Masters of the
Revels, were alone entitled to grant. Andrew Devoe protested in the
following year against such an arbitrary command that he should give no
more balls in his dancing schools) in which he taught the children of
the nobility, and the prayer of his petition was granted. As the years
passed, the Fountains seemed to become more jealous than ever of their
monopoly, claiming monies from bowling greens, kyle-allies (as
lotteries), dices, cards, both public and private, and these matters
having been brought before the Privy Council, due caution was given to
the interested parties.
At the Tennis Court, on
15th November. 1681, the then Lady Anne presented Nat Lee's comedy,
Mithridates, King of Pontus, when Lady Anne and her maids of Honour were
the only performers. Play-acting was a fashionable pastime with the
ladies of the Court. It will be remembered it was in the year 1633 that
S. R. Prynne's famous Histriomastix was published, in which he reverted
to the appearance of Queen Henrietta and her ladies in Montague's
Pastoral, the offensive quotation being from Dion Cassius.. "It is
infamous for emperors or persons of quality to dance upon a stage, or
acte a play." For this breach of etiquette, Prynne had both his cars
mutilated, was fined £5,000, and expelled from Lincoln's Inn.
William Tytler, in his
Archaelogica Scotica, thinks that some of the Duke of York's company
gave a number of performances in Edinburgh. He recollects somewhat
dimly, seeing a playbill announcing a performance of Dryden's Indian
Emperor at the Queen's Chocolate House in High Street.
In the month of July,
1681, an Irish company of players, hearing of the presence of the Duke
and Duchess of York in the Scottish capital, took the voyage across,
landing at Irvine. They numbered thirty persons in all, and brought with
them all their costumes, which were richly embroidered with gold and
silver lace. The customs demanded the tax upon these dutiable goods; but
with characteristic pertinacity the company petitioned against and were
successful in obtaining exemption.
Quite a unique instance
of the law, as between master and servant, is furnished by a debate
which took place before the Lords of the Privy Council on the 13th of
January, 1687, anent the sale of a dancing girl. One Reid, a mountebank,
prosecuted Scott of Harden and his wife " for stealing away from him a
little girl called 'The Tumbling Lassie ' "that danced upon a stage,"
and produced "a contract, by which he had bought her from her mother for
30 pounds (about .£2 10s. 0d.). "But we have no slaves in Scotland,"
reported Lord I'ountainhall, "and mothers cannot sell their bairns; and
physicians attested that the employment of tumbling would kill her, her
joints were even now growing stiff, and she declined to return, though
she was an apprentice and could not run away from her master." Some of
the Privy Council quoted Moses' Law that, "if a servant shelter himself
with thee against his master's cruelty, thou shalt not deliver him up."
The Lords, therefore, assoilzied Harden, who had been moved only by
humanity and compassion.
Following the same course
as other national dramas, the period of the Revolution leaves no trace
of any attempt at this art. The first record thereafter is that of a
performance, at the Tennis Court, of The Spanish Friar, which was played
before the members of the Union Parliament in 1705.
That constant care which
the public authorities exercised over the morals of their fellow
citizens, is strikingly exemplified in the report of a meeting of the
Town Council in June, 1709, when the civic dignitaries expressed their
regret that "the Lord's Day is still profaned by people standing in the
streets, and vaguing to fields and gardens and to the Castle Hill, also
by standing idle gazing out at windows, and children, apprentices, and
other servants playing in the streets." No untoward conduct, such as the
flagrant misdemeanor of attempting to whistle or even hum, was expected
to disturb the dead calm that pervaded the streets. Indoors, the
solemnity of the occasion was supposed to be observed in a rigorous
religious meditation, the strength of whose abiding mood no worldly
thought might disturb. Even in their company manners, out ancestors'
youthful exuberance was held in check. In the Bell's Wynd Assembly,
after 1710, the gentlemen had to settle with a partner for the year, and
this was done by ballot. At the dances, until the lady in charge had
commenced, the two sexes had to remain seated at the opposite ends of
the room.
It was some four years
after this that Shakespeare's Macbeth was played before the Scots
nobility at the Tennis Court, after an archery meeting. During the play,
the song, "The King shall enjoy his own again," was called for by some
of the more ardent spirits. An opposing body failing to acquiesce in
this sentiment, a general melee ensued, resulting in the break-up of the
meeting. Dibdin is inclined to doubt the truth of this tale. In the
early part of 1715, some public theatricals took place at the Tennis
Court, but enjoyed a short-lived season. It is worthy of note that it
was during the residence of the Duke of York that the Holyrood playhouse
was re-fitted, and here it was that, for the first time in Scotland,
women appeared on the stage, the future King having brought with him a
company selected from the best London houses.
Strong as the prejudice
of the clergy was against play-acting, yet it did not prevent three of
the deputation of ministers, who represented the Church in their visit
of congratulation to George the First in 1714, seeing the play Love for
Love at Kendal. But perhaps their sole reason for attendance at this
play may have been a disinterested attempt to form a judgment as to
whether the works of the stage were suitable food for their erring
flock. That the Presbytery of Edinburgh did not regard them in a
favourable light is evinced from a statement made in Session, 23rd
March, 1715, where, in adverting to the Canon-gate theatricals, it is
remarked:
"Being informed that
some comedians have lately come to the bounds of the Presbytery and
do act within the precincts of the Abbey, to the great offence of
many by trespassing upon morality and those rules of modesty and
chastity which our holy religion obligeth all its professors to a
strict observance of, therefore the Presbytery recommends to all
their members to use all proper and prudent methods to discourage
the same."
The "proper and prudent
methods" had their due effect for, if we except the private performances
of some young gentlemen who performed The Orphan and The Cheats of
Scapin in 1719, and for which Allan Ramsay provided the prologue, we do
not happen on any record of theatricals till the year 1725, when Anthony
Aston's comedians came to the city, and returned on a second visit the
following year. The prologue, which was written by Allan Ramsay for
their second visit, is worthy of quotation:--
"'Tis I, dear
Caledonian, blithesome Tony,
That oft last winter, pleased the brave and horny,
With medley, merry Fong, and comic scene:
Your kindness then has brought me here
Again After a circuit round the Queen of Isles,
To gain your friendship and approving smiles.
Experience bids me hope, tho' south the Tweed,
The dastards said, 'He never will succeed;
What. such a country look for any good in?
That does not relish plays, nor pork, nor padding.'
Thus great Columbus, by an idiot crew,
Was ridiculed at first for his just view
Yet his undaunted spirit ne'er gave ground
Till he a new and better world had found.
So I—laugh on—the simile is bold;
But, faith, 'tis just, for till the body's cold,
Columbus like, I'll push for fame and gold."
Aston's theatre is
supposed to have been situated in a close on the north side of High
Street, near Smith's land. The scheme was supported by subscription
tickets taken up by lovers of the drama, and the theatre was well
frequented by persons of substance and leisure. The Council passed an
Act prohibiting Aston from acting within limits of their jurisdiction,
and the Presbytery sent a deputation to the Magistrates, thanking them
for "the just zeal they had shewn in the matter." The Presbytery in
their turn drew up an Act and exhortation against the encouragement or
frequenting of stage plays, and this was appointed to be read from all
pulpits in the district (November, 1727). Wodrow speaks of the players
having large attendances, especially at the tragedies, The Mourning
Bride having had an exceptional run of three nights. An appeal was made
to the Court of Session against the Magistrates' decree, with the result
that the interdict was suspended. Anent this decision, the Rev. Mr.
Wodrow, in a letter to the Commissioner of Customs, wrote: ---
"However it go, I
think the magistrates of Edinburgh may have peace in the Honest
appearance they have made against those seminaries of idleness,
looseness, and sin."
Severe as the worthy
authorities may have been upon stage plays, that zeal certainly did not
extend to the suppression of other forms of amusement. Public combats
with swords and rapiers continued to be very popular. As to the ethical
principles by which such a demeanour towards the different
entertainments were upheld, it would call forth a larger knowledge of
casuistry than the mere modern possesses.
In 1726, Andrew Bryan, an
Irishman, issued a challenge. For several days he paraded the streets,
beating a drum, when he was at last rewarded by an old Killicrankie
soldier, Donald Bane, who signalised his acceptance of the challenge by
putting his foot through the drum. Bane, who had reached the age of
sixty-two, had been a serjeant in the Wars of William and Anne, and bore
a high reputation for broadsword practice. Behind Holyrood Palace a
platform was erected, on June 23rd, when the contest took place in the
presence of a select assembly of the nobility and the military. After a
hotly-contested fight, lasting several hours, and during which various
weapons were used, Bryan fell, suffering from seven wounds.
To return to the poet
Allan Ramsay: his love of the fine arts and literature was unbounded. In
1725, he had opened a circulating library, the first in the kingdom.
Again the Magistrates, with their jealous care for the mental welfare of
the citizens, interfered, and, fearing the results this kind of reading
would have upon the minds of the youth of the city, endeavoured (in
1728) to repress it. The notorious Erskine, Lord Grange, who led such it
scandalous life, was one of those self-constituted guardians of
morality, and suggested to the Magistrates that Ramsay's books of
customers should be inspected. Wodrow, in mentioning this lamentable
occurrence, states that Ramsay got down books of plays from London, and
lent them out at an easy rate. The regrettable result was that "boys,
servant-girls and gentlemen (the juxtaposition of classes is delightful
I) contributed thereto, whereby vice and obscenity were dreadfully
propagated." It is difficult to reconcile the attitude of the Presbytery
in session with the fact, also recorded by the same authority, that the
Orthodox Club, composed chiefly of ministers, met occasionally about
this time and, according to his testimony, "frequently their
conversation was gay and jocose."
Meantime, Anthony Aston
had come into trouble with his company, in regard to financial matters.
Ross, of the Bean's Coffee House, had sold a quantity of tickets upon
which he refused to accept a commission of one penny per seat, making a
total of £10. Aston neglected to credit the company with this sum, and a
quarrel ensued, which eventually led to part of the players migrating to
Glasgow. There they received permission from Bailie Murdoch to perform
in the Weigh House, where they enacted The Beggar's Opera (August,
1728).
About the year 1715, a
theatre was fitted up at the foot of Carruber's Close by one Signora
Violante, an Italian player, who commenced her entertainment with
posturing exhibitions, to which, owing to their success, she added the
production of plays. Again the Presbytery intervened and the Magistrates
interdicted the performance, but the persistent Signora was successful
in obtaining a permit from the Court of Session. During the next
twenty-six years, Taylor's Hall in the Cowgate was frequently used by
strolling companies. The holding capacity of this place was £40 to £45.
Tony Aston had produced some plays in the Carruber's Close House, but
the Society of High Constables set themselves to suppress his
"abominable stage plays," and the clergy, joining issue with the Court
of Session, the plays accordingly ceased. After that date, performances
were of an intermittent character. A performance of the Beggar's Opera
was given at Haddington on October 29, 1728, "at the desire of several
of the nobility and gentry of East Lothian." Altogether, the time was
not a prosperous one for the humble followers of Thespis, at least so
one is left to infer from an ominous paragraph in the Edinburgh Courant
for March, 1729, where it mentions that the "Scots Company of
Comedians," with a fine sense of forgetfulness, had disappeared from the
city, leaving their debts behind them.
An English company of
comedians visited Edinburgh in 1731, and met with a gratifying success.
The faithful Wodrow chronicles it thus: —"It is incredible what numbers
of chairs with men are carried to those places. For some nights they
made £50 every night, and that for 6 nights a week. . . . It's a
dreadful corruption of our youth, and an eyelet to prodigality and
vanity."
Two years afterwards, the
Edinburgh company of players appeared at the Taylor's Hall, on June 6th,
giving a performance of The Beggar's Opera for the benefit of the
Edinburgh Infirmary. Their repertoire included Othello, Hamlet, Henry
IV., Macbeth, and King Lear. In the month of December they performed The
Tempest, "every part, and even what required machinery being performed
in great order." (Caledonian Mercury.)
The Grassmarket was the
scene of some remarkable feats in the year 1733, when two Italians,
father and son, gave an exhibition of tight-rope walking. A rope being
fixed between the half-moon battery of the Castle and a place on the
south side of the market, two hundred feet below, the father slid down
the rope in half a minute, the son following suit and blowing a trumpet
for most part of the way.
Near the old Manor House
of Pilrig, in Springfield Street, lay M'Culloch of Ardwell's house. Sam
Foote was often his honoured guest. M'Culloch had once exploded an
epigram at the comedian's expense, and, when Foote had discovered the
author, they at once became fast friends. Ever afterwards, Foote sheti
ed a partiality to the Scots in his comedies.
The month of February,
1734, saw a performance of The Conscious Lovers, which was given for the
benefit of Mrs. Woodward, doors opening at 4 p.m. and performance at 6
p.m. In March, a production of The Wonder was advertised, "the part of
the Scots Colonel by Mr. Weir, and that of his servant Gibby, in
Highland dress, by Mr. Wescomb, and all the other parts to the best
advantage." The name of Allan Ramsay appears in the office copy of the
Caledonian Mercury as having paid for the advertisement. August saw this
company set out for a tour round Dundee, Montrose, and Aberdeen. At
Dundee they received a generous welcome, the Freemasons having marched
in a body to the playhouse to witness The Jubilee and The Devil To Pay.
Returning to Edinburgh in December, they produced a Pantomime. To meet
the exigences of space, they intimated that "it was hoped no gent
whatever will take it amiss if they are refused admittance behind the
scenes." The Edinburgh Freemasons made a torchlight procession in full
regalia to assist at a performance of Henry the Fourth. With the
departure of this company came a barren year, which the irrepressible
Ramsay endeavoured to brighten by re-opening (on November 8th, 1736) the
theatre in Carruber's Close. In a prologue, he addressed the enemies of
the theatre as those who
"From their gloomy
thoughts, and want of sense,
Think what diverts the mind, gives Heaven offence."
But he was not allowed to
indulge in this flaunting of civil power with impunity. An Act was
passed against rogues and vagabonds, which hindered any persons acting
plays for hire without license by Letters Patent from the King, or his
Lord Chamberlain. This gave the Magistrates the necessary authority to
deal with the matter, with the result that the theatre was closed. The
Carruber's Close house was afterwards used by Debating Clubs and
Churches as a meeting-place, and was one of the .places in which the
famous Edward Irving frequently spoke. Ramsay's dramatic predilections
were accompanied by a deal of monetary loss, although it never seemed to
damp his enthusiasm. That he was not without honour outside his own City
may be gathered from the Caledonian Mercury, February 9th, 1736:
"The 4th inst. several
young gents of this place (Montrose) acted Mr. Allan Ramsay's celebrated
Pastoral comedy for the diversion of the ladies and gentlemen about this
Town with all the dresses suitable, re-enacting the farce of The Mock
Doctor two succeeding nights. The money taken, after deducting necessary
charges, being very considerable, was distributed amongst the poor."
The London actor, John
Ryan, opened up a season in the newly-erected theatre at Canon-gate in
1746. This building was situate in a back area near St. John's Cross,
which is now called Playhouse Close. It held £70, and included box seats
at half-a-crown and pit 1s. 6d. During the subsequent seasons, it had a
good following, with companies boasting the names of Lees, Digges, Mrs.
Bellamy, and Mrs. Ward as principals. In 1749, it had the questionable
honour of providing the scene of a memorable disturbance. Being the
anniversary of the battle of Culloden, some English officers commanded
the orchestra to strike up an obnoxious air known as "Culloden," but in
its place they played "You're welcome, Charlie." The officers drew their
swords and made an onslaught on both actors and musicians; but they had
reckoned without the audience, who commenced a spirited attack on the
disturbers, torn-up benches being used as weapons. Then the officers,
changing their tactics, made for the gallery, only to find the doors
securely barred. Outside, the Highland chairmen, having got wind of the
riot, marched up the stairs, and attacked them in the rear with their
chair-poles. Finally, the truculent officers were disarmed and
ignominously expelled.
Another riot took place
at a performance of Garrick's High Life Below Stairs. The footmen sent
in a letter to the management threatening vengeance upon the players if
it should be produced. On the second night they carried out their
threat. The footmen being placed in the gallery, as was the custom,
during the play "a prodigious noise was heard from that quarter." Their
masters, assisted by the audience, endeavoured to quieten them by
forcible means, and, a tough fight ensuing, the footmen were ejected,
with subsequent loss of free entrance to the theatre. |
