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IN approaching the subject
of the Glasgow stage, it will be well if we recapitulate some of the
steps in its progress towards the civilising influence of the drama. It
will equally serve our purpose if, while quoting from the Burgh records,
we give some evidence of the zeal exhibited in maintaining its burghal
dignity. Amongst the first of these indications is an extract from the
records of Glasgow, which shows that that interesting personage, the
town minstrel, existed at as early a date as 26th February, 1573. The
item reads: "Thomas Downy, paid for making a drum to the common
menstrale to play with."
The next entry refers to
the coming election of town minstrels: ---
"1st June, 1574. The
menstrales continewit quhill the Symmerhill quhen the haill
communitie salbe present to give thair votes thairanent. (The
election took place on loth June.) The quhilk daye Archibald
Bordland and Robert Duncane are admittit to be menstrales to the
towne for the instant yeir, and to haif fra ilk freman allanarlie,
but meyt (both meat), twa schillingis money at the laist, with the
mair at the gevaris (giver's) pleasour."
Besides these public
minstrels, there appear to have been a good many itinerant musicians.
During the Pest in Glasgow (circa 1574), it was forbidden for any
pipers, fiddlers, minstrels or other vagabonds to remain in the town
except by Provost's special license, under pain of scourging and
banishment.
An entry appears in the
accounts for 1579, where an item of ten shillings is passed "to the
menstrals for their expenses to Hamilton." In addition to the sense of
dignity with which they were regarded by the Burgh, its authorities also
held that they should be appropriately clad, so on the and June, 1599,
the Provost, Bailies, and Council passed an order to grant each of the
eight officers and two minstrels "sa meikill reid stamyng as wilbe (will
buy) ilkane of thame ane mantill with stringes in the syde and the
townes armes on the schoulder thairoff in the best fassone thai can be
bade."
But it is from the Church
that we get the first evidence of the existence of the player person.
The Kirk Session of Glasgow, on 24th April, 1595, instructed the town's
drummer to forbid all persons "from going to Ruglen to see vainplays on
Sundays." As to what these plays were, and who acted in them, history so
far is silent.
Returning to the
itinerant entertainers, they had made themselves so notorious by their
utter disregard of the law, that the decree of 26th January, 161 I, had
to be passed for their correction: —
"The provost,
baillies and counsale upono consideration of the grit abuse done to
women be scallis and bardis quha can nocht be pwinst in thair gudis
throw thair mister and povertie, for restraining and remeid quhairof
it is ordainit that all sik scallis and bardis quha hciraftir hapens
to abuse honest women with thair blasphemous langyage, upon tryell
of thair blasphemie be pwinst in prisson viij days and thaireftir
brankit upone, ane mercat day frac X houris to Xii houris."
Whether it was similar
conduct on the part of the strolling players that led to the Kirk
Session taking notice of them also by enactment is left to conjecture;
but their decree of 10th May, 1624, intimated that "all revellers and
comedians would be severely punished."
That the musical taste,
which has been so perfectly upheld, was early fostered by its citizens,
may be proved from an entry in the Burgh Records under date 15th July,
1626: —
"Agreed that James
Saunderis should instruct all bairnes in school musik for ten
schillingis ilk quarter to himself and fortie pennies to his man."
And that the Council
themselves patronised the musicians we find in an item paid by the
Treasurer, Anno 1629:—
"Item. To twa
menstrales quha did play in John Rouats on Witsonday . . . ` Lviijs."
At a later date, another
form of pestilence was prevalent in the Burgh, and the Council's decree
(12th December, 1646, which contains an unconscious bull) ordered that "na
man transport thaimsclvis of the town except women and children and
thair be na meiting at lykewakes nor efter burialls."
On 20th July, 1670, the
Magistrates interdicted strolling players from performing plays, such as
The Wisdom of Solomon, in private houses. A writer of this date (Arnot)
says:
"The writings of
their most popular divines represented the playhouse as the actual
temple of the Devil, where he frequently appeared clothed in a
corporeal substance and possessed the pectators, whom he held as his
worshippers."
In their view, "The
Temple of Beelzebub was to be shunned. They assured the people that any
place which gave shelter to the accursed thing or its exponents would be
burnt. This put a wholesome dread of consequences in the minds of many
who were in doubt. Even landlords were chary of affording play or
players house-room, whether as a measure of self-protection, or from
fear of offending the clergy, is matter for speculation. Further than
this, the good citizens were not allowed to be out of doors after tattoo
time.
Some difficulty seems to
have arisen in the way of collecting the town minstrels' wages. To meet
this, the Council (5th February, 1676) ordained that "ane bank be sent
throw the toune to adverteis theis who has not payit their zuill wages
to the drummers that they pay the same, uthirwayes the Magistrates will
cause poynd them therfor."
A record of the Council,
under date 5th June, 1682, is interesting, as sheaving the monopoly
which the Fountains enjoyed as Masters of the Revels:
"The said day ordains
the Provost to have a warrand for 240 pounds Scots payed to Edward
and James Fountain, masters of the revells, for discharging the
ventners in toune of the charges of horning given them, for keiping
games or plays of quhatsomever kynd, in their houssis and for
frieing them. of the lyke in tyme coming during their gift."
But, alas for the
aspirations of the "unco guid," the mind of the young Glaswegian was
naturally wicked and inclined to run into evil paths, despite his
knowledge of the dire consequences of sin. And so, on the 12th
September, 169!, the Council state that:
"Considering whereas
great and many abuses in the night tyme have been of late committed
by several inhabitants of the toune, to the great scandall of
religion, contempt of authoritic and hurt to severall persones, for
preventing whereof these are hereby discharging and prohibiting
whatsoever persones upon whatsoever pretext to goe through the toune
in the night tynmc maskeradirng, or sirenadina, or in companic with
violls or other instruments of musick in any number. Certyfying all
such who shall commit any such abuses, shall be fyned one hundredth
pounds, toties quoties, and punished in their persones, and
proceeded against by Church censure as persones notoriously
scandalous and appoints a proclarnation to be sent throw the tounc
to intimat the same."
The citizens still
retained their musical interest, for, on 24th September of this year,
Mr. Lewis de France was licensed by the Council to teach music to the
inhabitants at 14s. per month, for one hour per day, and was also
entitled to 14s. for writing the thirteen common tunes and a few palms,
the scholars furnishing the necessary books. The poor were to be taught
free, and for this office De France received £100 Scots from the Burgh.
Neither was Glasgow
unmindful of the social graces. On the 11th November, 1699,
"The quhilk day the
Magistrats and Toune Council convened They, upon a supplicatione,
given in be John Smith, dancing master allow and permitt the said
John to teach dancing within this burgh and under the provisions and
conditions underwritten, viz:
"That he shall behave
himself soberly, teach at seasonable hours, keep no balls, and that
he shall so order his teaching that there shall be noe promiscuous
danceing of young men and women togither (The giddiness of it!), bot
that each sex shall be taught by themselves, and be out of the house
before the other enter therein. And if the said John transgress in
any of these, appoynts the Magistrats to putt him out of this
burgh."
In the month of August,
1728, part of Tony Aston's company of comedians migrated from Edinburgh
to Glasgow, and received permission from Bailie Murdoch to perform in
the Weigh House, The Beggar's Opera. A good audience was there to meet
them on the opening night, but the attendance on the following evening
was very poor. The clergy brought the matter before the Magistrates,
blaming them for this innovation, but they were informed that the
ministers should have warned them beforehand. This omission was repaired
afterwards, judging by an extract from a private letter of that date:
"Sabbath after the
ministers preached against going to those interludes and plays, Mr.
Robertson of Kilsyth went through all that was agoing about meeting
houses, plays, errors and profaneness, and spared none, I hear."
Previous to 1750, the
entertainment of the Burgh had been entirely provided by bands of
strolling players, acrobats, tumblers, singers, and dancers. Burrell's
Close, a passage leading out eastward from Duke Street, had a public
hall which formed their abiding place. Its proprietor, Daniel Burrell,
had been invited by the civic authorities to teach dancing. His fees
were 25s. for a seven month session, 5s. for a ball, and 1s. for each
lesson. To this was added an annual Corporation salary of £20 in the
shape of a guarantee. But, even with this, he found it difficult to make
a decent living at his profession. So he decided to let his Hall to the
variety shows, of which the following is a programme of the earliest
which appeared there. It is taken from The Glasgow Courant, 30th
September, 1751.
"Being positively the
last night of our performance in this City. For the benefit of Mr.
Dominique. At Mr. Burrell's Hall above the Cross, this present
Monday, will be performed a Concert of variety and Instrumental
Music. Boxes and Pit 2s. Gallery is. Between the two parts of the
Concert will be given (gratis) Rope Dancing and Tumbling.
Particularly Mr. Gorman will jump over the garter forward and
backward on the stiff rope, such as was never done in this city
before. Likewise, Walking on the Small Slack Wire, by the famous
Russian Boy. Dancing both serious and comic, by Mons. and Madam
Granicr. Likewise, a new Humorous Dance called The Soldier and the
Sailor, the Tinker and the Taylor, and Buxome Joan of Deptford. To
the great surprise of the spectators, Mr. Dominique will fly over
the Double Fountain. To conclude with a Pantomime Entertainment
called Harlequin Captive, or the Dutchman Bitt. The Doors to be
opened at five, and to begin exactly at six."
The first theatre was
erected in 1752, and consisted of a wooden booth, which stood against an
old wall of the Bishop's Palace, in an area called the Castle Yard. To
this home of the drama came many patrons, who were carried there in
sedans, under a strong guard to protect them from the fanatics. This
unruly mob gathered round the theatre to threaten those who dared enter
"the Devil's Home," not only with the judgment of Heaven, but with what
was worse, summary and immediate violence. The members of the company
included Messrs. Love, West Digges, and Mrs. Ward, old Edinburgh
favourites.
Upon this interesting
scene entered the great dissenter, George Whitfield. Standing in the
graveyard of the Cathedral, he invoked the wrath of God upon the
play-house. It was not long before his prayer was answered. Full of the
righteousness of his reasoning, and the spirit of destruction, a mob of
religious fanatics rushed forthwith to the theatre, and the fervour of
their righteous mood did not pass away until the place was totally
destroyed. It was not till twelve years had passed that another house
was raised. Five Glasgow gentlemen had been to Edinburgh, seeing the
beautiful Mrs. Bellamy in Rotneo and Juliet. Enchanted with her
performance, they obtained an introduction, and, having gained an
audience, they took every means to induce her to visit their native
city, promising to build a theatre for her. John Jackson, the Edinburgh
manager, accompanied by two brother managers, Love and Beatt, and acting
in conjunction with the five aforementioned gentlemen, set out for
Glasgow to crave the Council's permission to erect a theatre in the
city. The names of the five guarantors were W. M'Dowall, of Castle
Semple; Wm. Bogle, Hamilton Farm; John Baird, Craigton;
Robert Rogle,
Shettleston; and James Garnkirk, all members of the best social clubs.
The chief difficulty was that of obtaining a site, for no one would
provide ground for such an ungodly purpose. John Miller, maltman, of
Westerton, was advertising steadings to form a new street from Argyle
Street to Candleriggs Loan. Frustrated in their efforts to obtain any
more suitable spot, they purchased ground from him in Grahamstown,
beyond the Burgh bounds, and occupying a spot where Hope Street joins
Argyle Street. The committee complained that the price wanted (5s. per
square yard) was exorbitant and extraordinary. To this Miller's
inexorable reply was, "Aye, but ye'll see, as it is intended for a
temple of Belial, I'll expect an exorbitant and extraordinary sum for
the purpose."
In the spring of 1764, it
was announced that the new theatre would shortly be opened by Beatt and
Love. The date was then fixed, and it was arranged that Mrs. Bellamy
would make her first appearance therein. On the previous evening the
Revivalists were busy. In an open space at Anderston, a Methodist
preacher was addressing the crowd. The enormity of the offence made him
eloquent. Pointing towards Alston Street, he continued: "I dreamed last
night I was in Hell, where a banquet was being held. All the devils in
the pit were there, when Lucifer, their chief, gave them a toast: `Here
is to the health of John Miller of Westerton, who has sold his ground to
build Me a House on.' " The spark had caught fire: the incentive was
given. The temple of Beelzebub must be razed. With the speed of fanatic
wrath, the theatre was quickly reached, a light applied to the edifice,
and before many hours had elapsed the zealots had succeeded in
destroying the stage properties and costumes, as well as a considerable
portion of the building. Airs. Bellamy arrived next morning to find the
managers in despair. But she was not so easily daunted. She sent for
Beatt and told him to announce at the Exchange and the Cross that 'Mrs.
Bellamy would appear and act at the theatre to-night." Rehearsals were
called at the Black Bull Inn, where she lodged. Arrangements were made
for repairing the theatre and setting it in order for the same night.
Her indomitable pluck inspired the public in her favour. Offers of money
were made by the city merchants, and the wardrobes of the ladies were
placed at her disposal. Dressing at the Black Bull Inn, she was conveyed
to the theatre in a sedan chair, appearing that night in The Citizen,
followed by the farce The Mock Doctor, with Reddish as lead, and Aitken,
comedian. A goodly and enthusiastic company welcomed her, and remained
seated till they saw her safely out of the theatre, the Town Guard being
under orders to escort her back to the city. The quality of her
reception may be gathered from her own remarks in a letter to a
friend:--
"The beauty of the
place and of the country around it are extremely captivating
. . . . It reminds every one, who has ever seen the beautiful
village, of Haarlem."
Amongst the parts she
played during this engagement was that of Lady Macbeth, for which she
had to borrow a white satin dress, her own costume having been burned by
the religious mob.
"As I had no black
vestment of any kind sent to me amongst the numerous ones of
different colours, I made that an objection to playing Lady Macbeth,
upon which I was assured by one of the inhabitants that her
ladyship's ghost walked every night at the Castle of Dunsinane
dressed in white satin."
Beatt and Love kept the
theatre for four years, after which Williams became a tenant in 1768 and
continued for three seasons with stock companies. Digges, coming from
Edinburgh, gave it a season's trial, then relinquished the management in
favour of Ross, who succeeded him in 1773. Ross had won his spurs at
Covent Garden some twenty years before as a light comedian, but the
ravages of time (he was 65) and a marked tendency to emboinpoint, did
not help to make him a very acceptable actor. It was he who had been
willed by his father the sum "of one shilling to be paid Mr. Ross by his
sister, to thereby put him in mind of the misfortune he (the son) had to
be born." This did not quite satisfy Ross, who, upon taking the matter
into Court, was awarded £6,000 as his share of the legacy.
We now come to the Dunlop
Street house. Colin Dunlop, the Provost of Glasgow, had acquired St.
Enoch's Croft, a pretty site facing the Clyde. A charming pleasure
ground ran down to the Green, and the croft extended from about the
present Morison's Court westward nearly to that ground upon which
Maxwell Street stands. Maxwell Street was then the happy hunting ground
of the bon ton. John Jackson offered to purchase the ground for a
theatre site, and obtained the Provost's consent. This brought down the
wrath of the clergymen upon Mr. Dunlop's head, and they took treasures
to prevent its erection. Those who resided in St. Enoch's Court adduced
a clause in their feu, "That it shall not be lawful to erect any tanwork
candle work or manufactory, upon any part of the grounds which may be
deemed a nuisance by the Magistrates of Glasgow." On this clause they
set to work. Jackson had so far progressed that his arrangements were
completed for laying the foundation stone on Saturday, 17th February,
1781. As he stood there with trowel in hand, a notice was handed to him,
which read: "Dr. Gillies and Mr. Porteous offer their compliments to Mr.
Jackson and think it their duty candidly to inform him, before he
proceeds further in the work, they intend to join with other proprietors
in Dunlop Street to prevent " its erection, and so forth. To which
Jackson (who was both a scholar and a gentleman, his father having been
a clergyman, and he himself having been a divinity student) replied at
great length, acting upon his lawyer's advice. He contended that the
theatre was not a manufactory, and therefore could not be a nuisance,
that a church or a ball-room might with equal propriety be regarded as
such, and that in no way would the building spoil the view of any of the
landowners. The result was the withdrawal of the opposition, and that
the property in the neighbourhood immediately rose in value, a fact of
which his opponents were amongst the first to take advantage. This may
claim to have been really the first Glasgow play-house, the former being
situated in Grahamstown, beyond the city boundary. Dunlop Street Theatre
cost £3,000 to erect, and held, at Edinburgh prices, £90 to £100. In
length it
was 90 feet, and breadth
40 feet. The pit-door opened in the centre of the west gable, and the
facade was completed by a piazza supported by Doric columns. It was
opened in January of 1782, and was worked for fifteen years by the
Edinburgh stock company. It happened that, on 12th March, 1782, there
came one of those familiar floods, in which the Clyde, assuming larger
proportions than had ever been known before, rose some twenty feet,
sweeping away many homes. By devoting the proceeds of a night's
performance to the benefit of the sufferers, Jackson at once turned the
popular tide in his favour. People began to recognise that, although a
"son of Belial," there was something akin to true religion about the
player.
Mrs. Siddons made her
first appearance at the Dunlop Street Theatre in 1795. She was then at
the zenith of her fame. Three years before, she had taken the London
playgoers by storm with her Lady Macbeth. By one of those strange
anomalies, which seem native to most types of genius, she had married an
extremely opposite creature. Of an unpoetic and egotistical disposition,
he used to boast, "I can either play Hamlet or Harlequin." "Sarah's
pathos," said Mr. Siddons at a private party, "always makes me laugh.
Small beer, I think, is good for crying. The day that my wife drinks
small beer, she cries amazingly. If I was to give her porter, she
wouldn't be worth a farthing." On the principle of exchange, we may as
well retail an anecdote regarding Mr. Siddons. "I forbade you," said old
Roger Kemble, when he heard of Sarah's marriage, "to marry an actor. You
will not have disobeyed me when you marry Siddons. He is not, he was
not, he never will be an actor."
For over five years,
Jackson managed the Dunlop Street house, bringing to it, amongst others,
Henderson (Garrick's rival), Mrs. Jordan, Lee Lewis, Pope, King, and
John Kemble. The stock company was one of the best that had been there,
and included Stephen Kemble, Henry Siddons, and Mrs. Duncan.
Sheridan's School for
Scandal was produced on 31st July, 1790, Mr. King appearing in his
original part as Sir Peter, and Miss Farren as Lady Teazle. On 11th
August, Much Ado About Nothing was played with the following cast: —
Stephen Kemble, Young,
Rock, Toms, Turpin, Lamlash, Grant, Duncan, Henry Siddons, Mrs. Kemble,
and Mrs. Duncan, and the Misses Walstern, Kemble, and Duncan. "Glasgow,"
wrote Mr. Strang in 1856, "has never had a company to equal that one."
But Jackson had too many
irons in the fire for financial comfort. Owner of the Glasgow,
Edinburgh, Aberdeen, and Dundee houses, the efforts he put forth in
combined management finally brought him into a state of bankruptcy. his
successor, that reputed chief of the declamatory school of acting,
Stephen Kemble, took up the reins at Dunlop Street, and continued there,
till 1799, when Jackson, having secured the support of Mr. Francis
Aitken of London, one of his aristocratic acquaintances, they purchased
the Theatre Royal, and once again Shakespearean plays came into vogue,
accompanied by the production of all the principal plays of the period,
Jane Shore, Douglas, Venice Preserved, and the Sheridan, Coleman, and
Goldsmith comedies. There, too, might Jack Bannister, " Handsome Jack,"
be found, the best of light comedians, to whom even Elliston "took off
his hat."
To this came, in 1804,
Master West Betty, the infant Roscius. The son of Belfast gentlefolk,
endowed with a handsome appearance and a remarkably quick memory, he
speedily made his way to the front rank. He had taken Dublin by storm,
and his fame had reached the Metropolis. There he was offered £50 a
night, when the best Covent Garden and Drury Lane men were content with
£16 a week. Before this, his provincial salary had been at the rate of
£100 a night. For fourteen performances at Liverpool he cleared £1,520.
Painters sought the honour of his portraiture; politicians, such as Fox
and Pitt, sought his company, and the latter once moved an adjournment
to see him act. The University of Cambridge made him the recipient of a
medal. Crowds attended his performances nightly, soldiers guarding the
entrances and approaches. Appearing at Covent Garden Theatre, the
opposition house, Drury Lane, with a weak programme, took over £300 from
the overflow. His young Norval was loudly praised, and one local critic
who had dared to raise a dissentient voice was compelled to leave the
city. Macready describes him as a miracle of beauty, grace, and genius.
On the contrary, Mrs. Inchbald thought his tone too preachy. He is a
clever little boy, and had I never seen boys act before, I might have
thought him exquisite." For one part, his education was somewhat
incomplete, and his pronunciation was notable for its elision of the
aspirate. To. the tuition of Boughton, an old Irish prompter, he owed
almost everything, Houghton having taught him all his most successful
parts, a fact which could easily be confirmed by the stereotyped nature
of every tone and gesture. It is only just to say that he was a very
modest boy, and did not suffer in the least from the American trouble,
"swelled head." And that he was not altogether ungrateful is testified
by the fact of his settling an annuity upon old Houghton, his erstwhile
tutor. Thomas Campbell, the poet, describes this juvenile star somewhat
curtly:---"The popularity of this baby-faced boy was an hallucination in
the public mind and a disgrace to our theatrical history. Critics may
disagree. One thing is certain that, whether Master Betty was a
transcendent genius or not, his father and mother were wise in removing
the boy, as a boy, from the profession in which he would possibly have
failed as a man."
After about two years'
starring, he left the stage, and enrolled himself as a student at
Cambridge University. Upon completion of his studies, he returned to the
scene of his former triumphs, only to find the same fate which has
befallen so many other prodigies. The public, too, had forgotten him.
Lacking the progressive brilliance of youth, it was an act of wisdom on
his part to withdraw from a profession which, at the most, must have
developed into a precarious living. Retiring into the country, he lived
the quiet life of a gentleman, and died at Cheltenham in 1876, aged 83.
Meanwhile, Dunlop Street
was moving on the downward grade. Jackson began to practise various
economics, and the Glasgow theatrical journals complained of the scanty
company and the doubling of many of the parts. To quote the Register of
that date:
"The theatre closed
this evening a three weeks' very unsuccessful campaign. We think the
managers need not ascribe their want of success to the badness of
the times, but to their own bad management."
As an instance of this,
the final play was The Merchant of Venice, in which the Senate was
represented by four miserable looking, dirty, reddish figures wrapped in
faded gowns. |
