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The “Prodigal Son” at Bartholomew Fair: a New Document

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 October 2010

James E. May  and
Calhoun Winton
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Extract

In the papers of Sir Robert Walpole now deposited in the Cambridge University Library, there is an information prepared in 1724 by the office of the Attorney General for the prosecution of a number of players at the Court of King's Bench. This document provides insights not only into the climate of theatrical censorship at the time but also into the nature of the dramatic presentations at London street fairs such as this one at Bartholomew Fair in Smithfield. The actors and actresses involved were for the most part well-known professionals on the London stage. The offending dramatic vehicle, heretofore known only by its title as advertised in the periodical press, was a short comedy or droll called “The Prodigal Son,” based on the familiar parable in Luke's gospel (15: 11–32).

Type
Research Article
Information
Theatre Survey , Volume 21 , Issue 1 , May 1980 , pp. 63 - 72
Copyright
Copyright © American Society for Theatre Research 1980

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References

NOTES

1 Cholmondely (Houghton) Manuscripts, Lists 81/20. We are most grateful to the owner, the Marquess of Cholmondeley, for permission to publish the document.

2 The standard work on the subject is Rosenfeld, Sybil, The Theatre of the London Fairs in the Eighteenth Century (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1960).Google Scholar

3 Rosenfeld, pp. 1–3.

4 As quoted in The London Stage 1660–1800 (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1960–1968), Part II, ed. Avery, Emmett L., p. 783Google Scholar, under the date of 22 August 1724. No reference is given and we have been unable to identify the periodical quoted. A shorter advertisement for the play was published 25 August 1724 in The Daily Post.

5 We are indebted to Highfill, Philip Jr, Langhans, Edward A., and Burnim, Kalman for access to the files of A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers, and Other Stage Personnel in London, 1660–1800 (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1973-)Google Scholarin progress. Biographical information, unless otherwise noted, is derived from this source.

6 We have transcribed the document without any accidental or substantive emendations except for one conflation indicated by square brackets. The italicized lines, quotations from the play, are underscored within the document itself. The marginal notation indicating the actors' parts appears to be in the same hand as the text itself.

7 John Harper flourished as an actor, dancer, and singer in the London area from before 1719 to his death in 1742. After 1720 he was a regular at Drury Lane, specializing in comic roles. Harper acted and danced at the summer fairs from 1714 to 1733, and he occasionally managed booths with George Lee, as in 1722, 1726, and 1727.

8 All we know of Mrs. Mary Allcock, or Alcock, is that she and her husband were members of a troupe playing in Richmond in 1714, a troupe in which John Harper was performing.

9 Charles Hewlett, or Hulett, a large, corpulent man with a strong voice, flourished as an actor and singer from about 1720 to 1735. By 1720 he was at Lincoln's Inn Fields, where he learnt the oratorical style from James Quin; he remained there until he was lured to Henry Giffard's company at Goodman's Field's Theatre in the fall of 1732. Often at the fairs in the 1720's, he played at Lee and Harper's booths in Bartholomew Fair in 1722 and 1727.

10 John Fenix, more commonly Phenix, flourished from 1724 to 1758 as an actor and singer. He seems to have played at the fairs in and around London more than at the patent houses, though in 1758 he was the recipient of a benefit at Drury Lane performed for distressed actors.

11 Anthony Ashton, or Aston, known to his age as “Mat Medley,” began his career in 1696 at age 14 and played as a stroller and, ocasionally, at the patent theatres until his death in 1753. Aston played his roles, lawyer and soldier as well as actor, in the New World and all over the British Isles, as recounted in an autobiographical sketch published with his farce The Fool's Opera (1731). Aston's appearance at the fair this year is anomalous; he was best known for a medley of songs and skits that he and his family performed in taverns.

12 “Molly” is listed by Eric Partridge as designating “A wench; a harlot; Coll[oquial].: 1719 D'Urfey, ‘Town follies and Cullies, and Molleys and Dolleys,’” in A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, 7th ed. (New York, Macmillan, 1970).Google Scholar

13 To “Roger” Partridge defines “To coit with (a woman),” ibid.

14 “Whinyard” the OED defines as “A short-sword” and “A subtle ‘blade’“; the sexual connotations of which are obvious.

15 “Carrotty” Partridge defines as “Having red hair,” ibid.; the traditional identification of red hair with lechery dates back at least to Chaucer's Miller.

16 Thomas Smith, not mentioned at the beginning of the document, may be one of several actors so-named; we have been unable to find any specific information about this actor.

17 For “itch” Partridge notes “to feel a sexual urge: C[enturies]. 17–20 low coll.,” ibid.

18 See Wilson, John Dover, “Euphues and the Prodigal Son,” The Library, N.S., 10 (1909), 337–61CrossRefGoogle Scholar; and Helgerson, Richard, The Elizabethan Prodigals (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1976), p. 34.Google Scholar

19 Speaight, George, The History of the English Puppet Theatre (London: G. Harrap, 1955), p. 326.Google Scholar

20 Rosenfeld, pp. 1–2.

21 Brown, Thomas, Letters from the Dead to the Living (London, 1702), pp. 38–39.Google Scholar

22 One such indictment which has been much debated took place about 1700. For references and a brief discussion, see Hume, Robert D., “Studies in English Drama 1660–1800,” Philological Quarterly, 55 (1976), 481–82.Google Scholar

23 Rosenfeld, pp. 135–49.

24 See Winton, C., “Dramatic Censorship,” in The London Theatre World 1660–1800, ed. Hume, Roben D. (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, forthcoming).Google Scholar