APPENDIX

A. The Metre of Roister Doister.—Udall's verse is a long line of 9, 10, 11, 12 (and rarely more) syllables; a verse which represents the Middle English Long Line (or the Middle EnglishSeptenarius, as it has been called for lack of a better name), as we find it, for instance, inRobert of Gloucester, some Legends, andRobert of Brunne.

This Middle English long line, of either six or seven stresses or accents, is found in Skelton'sMagnyfycence, and other early Plays.

In Roister Doister, on the whole, the lines of six accents seem to prevail, lines corresponding to the Middle English Alexandrine, or in Udall's case perhaps rather to the classicalsenarius, to thetrimeterof the Roman comedy as understood by Udall. But a great number ofseptenariioccur at the side of thesesenarii, distributed all over the play, and in the speeches of different persons.

In many cases it seems even doubtful whether a verse should be regarded as asenariusor aseptenarius.

Specimens of the Senarius:—

Specimens of the Septenarius(the syllable before the cæsura or the end of the line with a slighter, secondary accent, produces thisseptenariusin most cases):—

Senarii or Septenarii:—

B. The Figure of the Miles Gloriosus in English Literature.—The limits of this edition forbid any detailed account of the pedigree of the type of theMiles Gloriosusin English Literature, but for the benefit of the student, I wish to give the following references:—

On theMiles Gloriosusof the Ancients, cf. the classical account inOtto Ribbeck'sAlazon, Ein Beitrag zur Antiken Ethologie und zur Kenntniss der Griechisch-Römischen Tragödie, Leipzig, 1882. Cf. further the masterly sketches in theHistory of Roman Literature(Leipzig, 1887; 1, 66; 83) by the same author; the shorter account, "Über die Figuren des Miles Glorioius und seines Parasiten bei älteren und neueren Dichtern," by A. O. F. Lorenz (as an appendix to the same scholar's edition of Plautus,Mil. Glor., Berlin, 1886; pp. 230seq.). The fullest collection of material for a general history of this classical type in modern literature is contained in Karl von Reinhardstoettner,Plautus, Spätere Bearbeitungen Plautinischer Lustspiele, Leipzig, 1886 (pp. 130seq., 595-680).

On theMil. Glor.in English Literature, cf. the excellent dissertation by Herman Graf,Der Mil. Glor. im Englischen Drama bis zur Zeit des Bürgerkrieges Rostock, s. a.[1891; cf. Koch's note inEnglische Studien, 18, 134].

On the Shakespearian "quadrifoil," Falstaff, Parolles, Armado, Pistol, cf. the charmingcauserieby Julius Thümmel:Der Mil. Glor. bei Shakespeare[published first in theShakespeare Jahrbuchof 1878, and, later, in the same author'sShakespeare Charaktere, Halle, 1887, Vol. I. pp. 257-276].

C. Titiville (I. i, 21).—'Tuteville' was originally the name of a devil in the French Mystery Plays (cf. Mone,Schauspiele des Mittelalters, 2, 27);[630]from the French Mystery play the name was introduced into the Mysteries of Germany, England,[631]and Holland. His diabolical occupation is thus defined in theMyroure of oure Ladye(1 ch. 20; cf. Blunt's note, 342; as well as Skeat's toPierce Plowm., C. xiv, 123): "I am a poure dyuel and my name is Tytyuyllus ... I muste eche day ... brynge my master a thousande pokes [bags] full of faylynges, & of neglygences in syllables and wordes that are done in youre order in redynge and in syngynge, & else I must be sore beten."

This 'function' of the Devil seems to allow a connection[632]with the Latintitivillitium,[633]"a vile thyng of no value" (Cooper), something very small and trifling, like the "faylynges and neglygences in syllables" in praying and reading of the church offices.

In Udall's time the ancient Devil had degenerated, and his name had become a byword for a low, miserable fellow; cf. the play ofThersites(Dodsley, 1, 424):—

Tinkers and taborers, tipplers, taverners,Tittifills, triflers, turners and trumpers,

Tinkers and taborers, tipplers, taverners,

Tittifills, triflers, turners and trumpers,

and Heywood'sProverbs, 1 ch. 10 (40):—

There is no moe such titifyls in Englandes ground || To hold with the hare and run with the hound.

D. Mumblecrust and the Maids (I. iii.).—1.Mumblecrust.Cooper quotes the same name from Dekker'sSatiromastix, and a Madge Mumblecrust fromMisogonus(1577). Jack M. is the name of a beggar inPatient Grissel, IV. iii (cf. Cooper). Different compounds are Mumble-news (Shakesp.L.L.L.V. ii, 464) and Sir John Mumble-matins (Pilkington,Exposition upon Aggeus, 1, 2).

2.Tibet.Tib (=Isabella) was the typical servant's name; cf.G.G.N.; Tib and Tom inAil's Well, II. ii, 24; "every coistrel inquiring for his Tib,"Pericles, IV. vi, 176, etc.

3. InAly face: the first part indicates the colour of her nose and the desire of her heart.

The whole dialogue of these women takes us back to the times when it was no dishonour to women to go "to the ale" and enjoy themselves there with their gossips; cf.P. Pl., C. 7, 362;Chester Pl., 1, 53, etc.

E. The Mock Requiem(III. iii, 53) is one of the latest instances of parodies of church services such as are found everywhere in the literature of the Middle Ages. One of the oldest of such parodies is theDrunkard's Mass,Missa Gulæ, printed in Halliwell and Wright'sReliquiæ Antiquæ, 2, 208 (cf. thePaternoster Goliæ); theOfficium Lusorum(printed inCarmina Burana, 248); theSequentia falsi evangelii sec. Marcam(Initium S. Evangelii sec. marcas argenti) in Du Meril,Poés. Pop. Lat. Ant.XII. s.p. 407, etc.

In English Lit. we find similar parodies in theRequiem to the Favourites of Henry VI. (Ritson'sSongs, 101; Furnivall'sPolit. Rel. and Love Songs, 6: For Jake Napes Sowle,Placebo, andDirige); inPassagesof theCourt of Love(Chalmers,Engl. Poets, 1, 377), in thePlacebo Dilexiin Skelton'sPhyllyp Sparowe(perhaps the source for Udall's happy thought); in Dunbar'sWill of Maister Andr. Kennedy, etc.

The parallels to Udall's parody are to be found in Maskell'sMonumenta Ritualia,[634]in theManuale et Processionale ad usum insignis Eccles. Eboracensis,[635]or in theRituale Romanum.[636]

The references are, for—

It is needless to say that Merygreeke does not adhere strictly to the order of the Ritual, but produces a humorous jumble.

The wordsneque lux neque cruxnot in the Ritual, but refer to the 'order about the wax taper'[637]and the crucifix in the extreme unction, etc. See Maskell, I. ccxcviii.; the 'clinke'[638]refers to the sounding of the passing bell (supposed to drive away evil spirits).[639]Larimer remarks about such'fooleries': "The devil should have no abiding place in England if ringing of bells would serve" (Serm., 27, 498), and the English reformers were, on the whole, of Larimer's opinion;[640]but there were more tolerant men who ultimately prevailed, and so in course of time one short peal before the funeral was allowed, and one after it,[641]and even a threefold peal was permitted by Whitgift.[642]

On the history of the Funeral Bell, valuable material is contained in theParker Soc.'Index,' s.v. Bells (cf.ib.sub. 'Candles').

III. iii, 81, 83: 'Pray for,' etc. If this passage were in a serious context, interesting deductions could be drawn from it as to Udall's religious views, and perhaps as to the date of the play. Prayers for the dead were entirely against the spirit and doctrines of the early Reformers. But here also less radical views were held, and so we find the Prayer enjoined by Cranmer, 1534 (Works, 2, 460), by Edward VI. (Injunctions, 1547,ib.504). To mock the prayer would probably have been unsafe between 1547 and 1556, when Udall died. Edward'sCommon Prayer Bookof 1549 retains the prayer for the dead (p. 88, 145), but the edition of 1552 is silent about it (ib.272, 319). InElizabeth's Primerof 1559 thisPrayeris reintroduced (cf. Priv. Prayers, 59, 67); but later Protestants again condemn it,e.g.Whitgift (1574), 3, 364.

F. Roister as 'vagrant.' IV. iii, 104.—Of all the statutes against vagrants, that of 1 Edward VI. (c. 3), 1547, affords the best parallel to Custance's resolute and humorous words. This law determines that "whosoever ... being not lame shall either like a seruing-man wanting a master, or like a beggar or after any such other sort be lurking in any house or houses, or loitering, or idle wandering by the high wayes side, or in streets, cities, townes, or villages ... then euery such person shall bee taken for a vagabond, ... and it shalbe lawfull ... to any ... person espying the same, to bring or cause to be brought the said person so liuing idle andloiteringly, to two of the next justices of the peace," etc.

G. The prayer and 'song' at the end of the play. V. vi, 47.—I am inclined to think that the song which 'they sing' according to the stage direction, isnotgiven,[643]and that verses 47-59 arespoken, and represent the 'prayer' which the actors would all say kneeling (cf. Nares'sGlossary, s.v. 'kneel'). That the 'Queene' referred to is Elizabeth, and not Mary, becomes clear from the words "God graunt hir as she doth,the Gospell toprotect." This proves, too, that these words are not by Udall, but by the unknown hand that prepared the play for the press under Elizabeth.

H. Works quoted in the notes.—

Arber.The editions of Roister Doister in Arber'sEnglish Reprints—

N.B. The only difference which I have found between the two reprints is theabsenceof one line [III. iv, 66] on p. 51 in the ed. of July 24; the line is contained in ed. of July 1, 1869.

Camden.Proverbs in 'Remaines concerning Britaine.' London, 1623.

Cooper.Ralph Roister Doister, a comedy, ed. by W. D. Cooper, London. Printed for the Shakespeare Society, 1847.

Cotgrave.A French and English Dictionary, ed. 1650 (with the addition of Dictionaire Anglais & François, by RobertSherwood). [1st ed. 1611.]

Dodsley, s.Hazlitt.

Flügel.Neuenglisches Lesebuch von Ewald Flügel, Vol. I. "Die Zeit Heinrich's VIII." Halle, 1895.

Halliwell.A Dictionary of Archaic and Provincial Words, by J. O. Halliwell. London, 1847.

Hazlitt.Edition of Roister Doister in "A Select Collection of Old English Plays," originally published by Robert Dodsley, 1744. Fourth ed. by W. Carew Hazlitt. London, 1874 (Vol. 3).

Heywood.The Proverbs of John Heywood [first published in 1546? and reprinted from ed. 1598 by Julian Sharman]. London, 1874. Epigrams [reprinted from ed. 1562]. Printed for the Spenser Society, 1867.

Palsgrave.Lesclarcissement de la Langue Francoyse compose par Maistre Jehan Palsgraue, 1530. Pub. par F. Génin. Paris, 1852.

Ray.A Compleat Collection of English Proverbs, by J. Ray. Third ed. London, 1742.

FOOTNOTES:[630]Cf.ib., the collection of French names of the Devil; and similar collections in Gosche'sJahrbuch, I.; Osborn,Teufelslitteratur, 16. The English Devil is still waiting for his Historian![631]Cf.Towneley Myst.(Juditium, p. 310, etc.): Tutivillus (to the Primus Dæmon):—I was youre chefe tollareAnd sitten courte rollarNow am I master Lollar &c.Gower, too, knows Titivillus;Vox Clamantis, 232:—Hic est confessor Domini, sed nec Dominarum,Qui magis est blandus, quam Titivillus eis.[632]There could not be a connection with:Titimallus—Titan (Joh. de Janua).[633]Freund'sDict.quotes it from Plautus,Casin2, 5, 39:Non ego istud verbum empsitem titivillitio. The learned Ben Jonson knew the word (Silent Woman, 4, 1):—Wife! buz? titivilitiumThere's no such thing in nature![634]Inhumatio defuncti, 1, 142; cf. also his 'dissertation' on the order of the Burial,ib.CCXCIII.[635]Ed.Surtees Soc.1875, p. 60; cf.ib.,Commendatio Animarum56*;De Modo Dicendi Exsequias defunctorum ad usum Sarum80*.[636]ChapterDe Exequiis;Officium Defunctorum.[637]Cf.ib.,cerei qui cum cruce et thuribulo de more ... portabantur accensi; unto the holy candle commit we our souls at our last departing, Tindale,Works, 1, 225;ib.48; 3, 140, etc.; on the wax candle and driving the Devil away, cf. Latimer,Sermons, 27 (499). The reformers were as much against the candles as against the bells, and other 'popish superstitions'; cf. Grindal'sVisitation Book(1551-52), §§ 40, 46, etc.[638]Cf. Brand'sPop. Ant.2, 220.[639]Cf.Durandus Rationale, Lib. I. fol. 9 (De Campanis): "Uerum aliquo moriente campanæ debent pulsari ut populus hoc audiens oret pro illo; pro muliere quidem bis ... pro viro vero ter pulsatur," etc. The superstitious background was that the bells were believed to drive away evil spirits. Cf.ib., "campanæ pulsantur ut demones timentes fugiant ... hæc etiam est causa quare ecclesia videns concitari tempestates campanas pulsat ut demones tubas eterni regisid estcampanas audientes territi fugiant et a tempestatis concitatione quiescant et ut campanæ pulsationes fideles admoneant et prouocent pro instanti periculo orationi insistere," and Brand'sPop. Ant.2, 202.[640]bells ... with such other vanities, Tindale, 3, 258; ape's play,ib.283, etc.[641]Grindal,Works, 136.[642]3, 362; Injunctions at York, 1571, 8; Articles at Canterbury, 1576, 9.[643]Collier,Hist. Dram. Poetry, 2, 459, thinks the whole epilogue is 'sung.'

[630]Cf.ib., the collection of French names of the Devil; and similar collections in Gosche'sJahrbuch, I.; Osborn,Teufelslitteratur, 16. The English Devil is still waiting for his Historian!

[631]Cf.Towneley Myst.(Juditium, p. 310, etc.): Tutivillus (to the Primus Dæmon):—I was youre chefe tollareAnd sitten courte rollarNow am I master Lollar &c.Gower, too, knows Titivillus;Vox Clamantis, 232:—Hic est confessor Domini, sed nec Dominarum,Qui magis est blandus, quam Titivillus eis.

[631]Cf.Towneley Myst.(Juditium, p. 310, etc.): Tutivillus (to the Primus Dæmon):—

I was youre chefe tollareAnd sitten courte rollarNow am I master Lollar &c.

I was youre chefe tollare

And sitten courte rollar

Now am I master Lollar &c.

Gower, too, knows Titivillus;Vox Clamantis, 232:—

Hic est confessor Domini, sed nec Dominarum,Qui magis est blandus, quam Titivillus eis.

Hic est confessor Domini, sed nec Dominarum,

Qui magis est blandus, quam Titivillus eis.

[632]There could not be a connection with:Titimallus—Titan (Joh. de Janua).

[633]Freund'sDict.quotes it from Plautus,Casin2, 5, 39:Non ego istud verbum empsitem titivillitio. The learned Ben Jonson knew the word (Silent Woman, 4, 1):—Wife! buz? titivilitiumThere's no such thing in nature!

[633]Freund'sDict.quotes it from Plautus,Casin2, 5, 39:Non ego istud verbum empsitem titivillitio. The learned Ben Jonson knew the word (Silent Woman, 4, 1):—

Wife! buz? titivilitiumThere's no such thing in nature!

Wife! buz? titivilitium

There's no such thing in nature!

[634]Inhumatio defuncti, 1, 142; cf. also his 'dissertation' on the order of the Burial,ib.CCXCIII.

[635]Ed.Surtees Soc.1875, p. 60; cf.ib.,Commendatio Animarum56*;De Modo Dicendi Exsequias defunctorum ad usum Sarum80*.

[636]ChapterDe Exequiis;Officium Defunctorum.

[637]Cf.ib.,cerei qui cum cruce et thuribulo de more ... portabantur accensi; unto the holy candle commit we our souls at our last departing, Tindale,Works, 1, 225;ib.48; 3, 140, etc.; on the wax candle and driving the Devil away, cf. Latimer,Sermons, 27 (499). The reformers were as much against the candles as against the bells, and other 'popish superstitions'; cf. Grindal'sVisitation Book(1551-52), §§ 40, 46, etc.

[638]Cf. Brand'sPop. Ant.2, 220.

[639]Cf.Durandus Rationale, Lib. I. fol. 9 (De Campanis): "Uerum aliquo moriente campanæ debent pulsari ut populus hoc audiens oret pro illo; pro muliere quidem bis ... pro viro vero ter pulsatur," etc. The superstitious background was that the bells were believed to drive away evil spirits. Cf.ib., "campanæ pulsantur ut demones timentes fugiant ... hæc etiam est causa quare ecclesia videns concitari tempestates campanas pulsat ut demones tubas eterni regisid estcampanas audientes territi fugiant et a tempestatis concitatione quiescant et ut campanæ pulsationes fideles admoneant et prouocent pro instanti periculo orationi insistere," and Brand'sPop. Ant.2, 202.

[640]bells ... with such other vanities, Tindale, 3, 258; ape's play,ib.283, etc.

[641]Grindal,Works, 136.

[642]3, 362; Injunctions at York, 1571, 8; Articles at Canterbury, 1576, 9.

[643]Collier,Hist. Dram. Poetry, 2, 459, thinks the whole epilogue is 'sung.'

William StevensonGAMMER GURTONSNEDLEEdited with Critical Essayand Notes by Henry Bradley,Hon. M.A., Oxford

Edited with Critical Essayand Notes by Henry Bradley,Hon. M.A., Oxford

Date of the Play and its Authorship.—The title-page of the earliest known edition ofGammer Gurtons Nedle, printed by Thomas Colwell in 1575, states that this "right pithy, pleasaunt, and merie comedie" was "played on stage, not longe ago, in Christes Colledge in Cambridge," and that it was "made by Mr. S., Mr. of Art." There is here no intimation that any former edition had appeared. But the register of the Company of Stationers shows that in the year ending 22 July, 1563, Colwell paid 4d. for licence to print a play entitledDyccon of Bedlam, etc.; and as "Diccon the Bedlam" is a most important character inGammer Gurtons Nedle(his name, by good right, standing first in the list ofdramatis personæ), there is a fair presumption that the piece for which Colwell obtained a licence in 1562-3 was in substance identical with that which he actually printed in 1575 under another title.[644]WhetherDycconwas really published in or soon after 1563, or whether Colwell for some reason or other allowed twelve years to elapse before carrying out his intention of publishing the play, cannot now be determined with certainty; the balance of probability seems, however, to be in favour of the latter supposition.[645]

The identity of "Mr. S., Master of Art," to whom the authorship of the comedy is ascribed on the title-page, appears to be discoverable by means of certain evidence contained in the bursar's books of Christ's College, for the knowledge of which the present editor is indebted to the kindness of the Master of that college,Dr. Peile. If we are right in identifyingGammer Gurtons Nedlewith the play which was licenced to the printer in the year ending 22 July, 1563, the performance at Christ's College must have taken place before that date, for it was not the custom to send a play to the press before it had been acted. Now, in the academic year ending Michaelmas, 1563, there is no record of any dramatic representation having been given in the college. In the preceding year, 1561-62, the accounts mention certain sums "spent at Mr. Chatherton's playe." The person referred to is William Chaderton, then Fellow of Christ's; but, as his name does not begin with S, this entry does not concern our inquiry. In 1560-61 there is no mention of any play; but in 1559-60 we find the two following items:—

"To the viales at Mr. Chatherton's plaie, 2s.6d.""Spent at Mr. Stevenson's plaie, 5s."

"To the viales at Mr. Chatherton's plaie, 2s.6d."

"Spent at Mr. Stevenson's plaie, 5s."

As no evidence to the contrary has been found, it appears highly probable that the "Mr. S." ofGammer Gurtons Nedlewas William Stevenson, Fellow of Christ's College from 1559 to 1561. It is further probable that he is identical with the person of the same name who was Fellow of the college from 1551 to 1554,[646]and who appears in the bursar's accounts as the author of a play acted in the year 1553-54. It may be presumed that he was deprived of his fellowship under Queen Mary, and was reinstated under Elizabeth. Whether Stevenson's play of 1559-60 was the same which had been given six years before, or whether it was a new one, there is no evidence to show. The former supposition, however, derives some plausibility from the fact that, as several critics have pointed out, the allusions to church matters inGammer Gurtons Nedleseem to indicate a pre-Elizabethan date for its composition.[647]At all events it seems likely that the play of 1553-54 was in English, forthe accounts speak of a Latin play (managed by another Fellow, named Persevall) as having been performed in the same year.

Of Stevenson's history nothing is known, beyond the bare facts that he was born at Hunwick in Durham, matriculated as a sizar in November, 1546, became B.A. in 1549-50, M.A. in 1553, and B.D. in 1560. He was ordained deacon in London in 1552, appointed prebendary of Durham in January, 1560-61, and died in 1575, the year in whichGammer Gurtonwas printed.

It may at first sight appear to be a formidable objection to Stevenson's authorship of the play, that the title-page of the edition of 1575 speaks of the representation at Cambridge as having taken place "not longe ago." But Colwell had had the MS. in his possession ever since 1563; and there is nothing unlikely in the supposition that the wording of the original title-page was retained without any other alteration than the change in the name of the piece. The title-page, it may be remarked, is undated, the tablet at the foot, which is apparently intended to receive the date, being left blank. This fact may possibly indicate that when the printing of the volume was begun it was anticipated that its publication might have to be delayed for some time.[648]The appearance of the title-page suggests the possibility that it may have been altered after being set up: "Gammer gur-|tons Nedle" in small italic may have been substituted forDiccon of|Bedlamin type as large as that of the other words in the same lines. In Colwell's edition of Ingelend'sDisobedient Child(printed 1560) the title-page has the same woodcut border, but the name of the piece is in type of the same size as that of the preceding and following words. As this woodcut does not occur in any other of Colwell's publications now extant, it seems reasonable to infer thatGammer Gurtonwas printed long before 1575.

Former Attributions of Authorship.—It is necessary to say something about the two persons to whom the authorship ofGammer Gurtons Nedlehas hitherto been attributed—Dr. John Bridges, who was in succession Dean of Salisbury and Bishop of Oxford, and Dr. John Still, who was made Bishop of Bath and Wells in 1593.It is curious that both the distinguished churchmen who have been credited with the composition of this very unclerical play received the degree of D.D. in the same year in which it was published.

The evidence on which it has been attempted to assign the play to John Bridges is contained in certain passages of the "Martin Marprelate" tracts. In the first of these, theEpistle, published in 1588, the author addresses Bridges in the following terms:—

"You have bin a worthy writer, as they say, of a long time; your first book was a proper enterlude, calledGammar Gurtons Needle. But I think that this trifle, which sheweth the author to have had some witte and invention in him, was none of your doing, because your books seeme to proceede from the braynes of a woodcocke, as having neither wit nor learning."

In his second pamphlet, theEpitome, "Martin Marprelate" twice alludes to the dean's supposed authorship of the play, in a manner which conveys the impression that he really believed in it. None of "Martin's" adversaries seem to have contradicted his statement on this point, though Cooper in particular was at great pains to refute the pamphleteer's "slanders" on other dignitaries. It must be admitted that everything that is known of Bridges is decidedly favourable to the supposition that he might have written comedy in his youth. His voluminousDefence of the Government of the Church of Englandabounds in sprightly quips, often far from dignified in tone; and his controversial opponents complained, with some justice, of his "buffoonery." He is recorded by Harrington to have been a prolific writer of verse; and that his interests were not exclusively theological appears from the fact that he is said to have translated, in 1558, three of Machiavelli'sDiscourses, having previously resided in Italy. The only reason for rejecting "Martin Marprelate's" attribution ofGammer Gurtons Nedleto him is that he was not "Mr. S.," and that he belonged not to Christ's College, but to Pembroke. But as he was resident at Cambridge in 1560 (having taken the degree of A.M. in that year), it is quite possible that he may have assisted William Stevenson in the composition or revision of the play.

The name of Bishop Still is so familiar as that of the reputed author ofGammer Gurton, that many readers will be surprised tolearn that this attribution was first proposed in 1782 by Isaac Reed in his enlarged edition of Baker'sBiographia Dramatica.[649]Reed discovered in the accounts of Christ's College an entry referring to a play acted at Christmas, 1567 (not 1566, as he states); and as this is the latest entry of the kind occurring before 1575, he plausibly inferred that it related to the representation ofGammer Gurtons Nedle, which in Colwell's title-page was stated to have taken place "not long ago." The only Master of Arts of the college then living, whose surname began with S, that he was able to find, was John Still, whom he therefore confidently identified with the "Mr. S." who is said to have writtenGammer Gurton. If our arguments in favour of Stevenson's authorship be accepted, Reed's conclusion of course falls to the ground; and the character of Bishop Still, as it is known from the testimony of several of his personal friends, renders it incredible that he can ever have distinguished himself as a comic writer. The characteristic quality by which he seems chiefly to have impressed his contemporaries was his extraordinary seriousness. Archbishop Parker, in 1573, speaks of him as "a young man," but "better mortified than some other forty or fifty years of age"; and another eulogist commends "his staidness and gravity." If Still's seriousness had been, like that of many grave and dignified persons, in any eminent degree qualified by wit, there would surely have been some indication of the fact in the vivaciously written account of him given by Harrington. But neither there nor elsewhere is there any evidence that he ever made a joke, that he ever wrote a line of verse, or that he had any interests other than those connected with his sacred calling. A fact which has often been remarked upon as strange by those who have accepted the current theory of Still's authorship ofGammer Gurtonis that in 1592, when he was vice-chancellor of Cambridge, his signature, followed by those of other heads of houses, was appended to a memorial praying that the queen would allow a Latin play to be substituted for the English play which she had commanded to be represented by the university actors on the occasion of her approaching visit. The memorialists urged thatthe performance of English plays had not been customary in the university, being thought "nothing beseminge our students." It is not necessary to attribute much importance to this incident, but, so far as it has any bearing on the question at all, it goes to support the conclusion, already certain on other grounds, that the author ofGammer Gurtons Nedlecannot have been John Still.[650]

Place in the History of Comedy.—In attempting to assign the place ofGammer Gurtons Nedlein the history of the English drama, we should remember that it is the sole surviving example of the vernacular college comedies—probably more numerous than is commonly suspected—produced during the sixteenth century, and that most of the features which appear to us novel were doubtless the result of a gradual development. So far as our knowledge goes, however, it is the second English comedy conforming to the structural type which modern Europe has learned from the example of the Roman playwrights. The choice of the old "septenary" measure, in which most of the dialogue is written, may have been due to recollection of the Terentian iambic tetrameter catalectic, just as the rugged Alexandrines ofRalph Roister Doisterwere probably suggested by the Latin comic senarius. But while in Udall's play the matter as well as the form is largely of classical origin, the plot and the characters ofGammer Gurtons Nedleare purely native. Its material is drawn at first hand from observation of English life; its literary ancestry, so far as it has any, is mainly to be traced through John Heywood's interludes to the farces of the fifteenth-century mysteries, of which one brilliant example is preserved in theSecunda Pastorumof the Towneley cycle.

The artistic merit of the piece has often been unduly depreciated, from causes which it is not difficult to understand. The very rudimentary kind of humour which turns on physically disgusting suggestions is no longer amusing to educated people, and there is so much of this poor stuff in the play that the real wit of some scenes, and the clever portraiture of character throughout, have not received their fair share of acknowledgment. Most people who have livedlong in an English village will recognise Gammer Gurton and Dame Chat as capital studies from life, though their modern representatives are not quite so foul-mouthed in their wrath as the gossips of the sixteenth century; and Hodge, whose name has become the conventional designation of the English farm labourer, is an equally lifelike figure. The brightly drawn character of Diccon represents a type which the working of the poor laws, and many social changes, have banished from our villages. But old people who were living down to the middle of this century had many stories to tell of the crazy wanderer, who was recognised as too feather-brained to be set to any useful work, but who was a welcome guest in cottage homes, and whose pranks were looked on with kindly toleration by well-disposed people, even when they led to inconvenient consequences.[651]The game of cross-purposes brought about by Diccon's machinations, which forms the plot, is humorously imagined, and worked out with some skill. It does not, of course, rise above the level of farce; but there is real comedy, not quite of the lowest order, in the scene where the fussy self-importance of Dr. Rat, bursting with impotent rage at his well-merited discomfiture, is confronted with the calm impartiality of "Master Baily"—the steward of the lord of the manor, apparently, and the representative of temporal authority in the village. The common verdict thatGammer Gurtons Nedleis a work of lower rank thanRalph Roister Doisteris perhaps on the whole not unjust; but the later play has some merits of its own, and, as the first known attempt to present a picture of contemporary rustic life in the form of a regular comedy, it may be admitted to represent a distinct advance in the development of English dramatic art.

Dialect.—The treatment of dialect in the play demands a word of notice. All the characters, except the curate and the baily, who belong to the educated class, and Diccon, who may be presumed to have come down from a better social station than that of the village people, use a kind of speech which is clearly intended to represent the dialect of the southwestern counties. It is not always very correct;the writer, for instance, seems to have thought thatchamstood for "am" as well as "I am," so that he makes Hodge say "cham I not." Stevenson, as we have seen, was of northern birth; and, as a line or two in the same dialect is found inRalph Roister Doister, there is some reason for believing that the dialect of the stage rustic was already a matter of established convention.[652]The wordpes, a hassock, which occurs in the play, is peculiar, so far as is known, to the East Anglian dialect, and may have been picked up by the author in his walks about Cambridge. Whether derived fromGammer Gurtonor from plays of earlier date, the conventional dialect of the stage rustic kept its place throughout the Elizabethan period. Shakspere's rustics, as is well known, mostly use the southwestern forms, not those current in the poet's native Warwickshire.

The Present Text.—The text of the present edition is taken from the copy of Colwell's edition (1575) in the Bodleian Library. The original spelling has been preserved, except thatjandvare substituted forianduwhen used as consonants, anduforvwhen used as a vowel. Obvious misprints have been corrected, but are mentioned in the footnotes (except in the case of mere errors of word-division, which it seemed unnecessary to notice). The punctuation, and the use of initial capitals, have been conformed to modern practice. Another copy of Colwell's edition is in the British Museum. The play was reprinted in 1661, and, with modernised spelling, in Dodsley'sOld Plays, and in the new edition of Dodsley by W. C. Hazlitt. An excellent edition, with the original spelling, was published in 1897 by Professor J. M. Manly, in vol. ii. of hisSpecimens of the Pre-Shaksperean Drama. Several of the readings which are given in Professor Manly's text or footnotes as those of Colwell's edition do not agree with those either of the London or the Oxford copy. In the footnotes to the present edition reference to Colwell's, Hazlitt's, and Manly's editions are indicated by Ed. 1575, H. and M., respectively.

Henry Bradley.

FOOTNOTES:[644]The alternative possibility is thatGammer Gurtonwas a sequel toDyccon. In that case the two plays would most probably be by the same author, so that the value of the argument in the next paragraph would hardly be affected.[645]Partly because the title-page of 1575 contains no indication that the play had been printed before, and partly because (as will be shown) there is some evidence that the publication was delayed after the title had been changed. It would be interesting to know whether a second licence was obtained for printing the play under its later name; but there happens to be a gap in the detailed accounts of the Stationers Company extending from 1571 to 1576.[646]If the Stevenson of 1559-61 was not identical with his namesake, some record of his graduations and matriculation ought to exist. But Dr. Peile, who has taken the trouble to search through the university registers for several years prior to 1559, informs me that no such record can be found.[647]The reference to the king, moreover, in Act V. ii, 236 would strengthen the probability that the play of 1575 (and 1559-60) was originally composed during Stevenson's first fellowship; at any rate before the death of Edward VI. It might therefore be identical with the play acted in 1553-4.—Gen. Ed.[648]Too much importance must not, however, be attached to this, as the same thing is found in the title-page ofThe Disobedient Child, above referred to. The date of 1575 for our comedy is given in the colophon at the end of the book. See also p.206n.[649]This title was given by Reed; Baker's original work of 1762 was calledA Dictionary of the Stage.[650]The arguments against Still's authorship ofGammer Gurton, and in favour of that of Bridges, are stated at length in an article by Mr. C. H. Ross in the nineteenth volume ofAnglia(1896), to which we are indebted for several useful references.[651]Of course it is not meant that these persons corresponded exactly to the type represented by Diccon—the ex-patient of Bethlehem Hospital, discharged as being supposed to be cured or rendered harmless, and wearing a badge indicating the possession of a licence to beg.[652]In Pikeryng'sHorestes(1567), which is some years earlier than the first known publication ofGammer Gurton, the country characters (one of whom is named Hodge) speak a strongly marked southwestern dialect.

[644]The alternative possibility is thatGammer Gurtonwas a sequel toDyccon. In that case the two plays would most probably be by the same author, so that the value of the argument in the next paragraph would hardly be affected.

[645]Partly because the title-page of 1575 contains no indication that the play had been printed before, and partly because (as will be shown) there is some evidence that the publication was delayed after the title had been changed. It would be interesting to know whether a second licence was obtained for printing the play under its later name; but there happens to be a gap in the detailed accounts of the Stationers Company extending from 1571 to 1576.

[646]If the Stevenson of 1559-61 was not identical with his namesake, some record of his graduations and matriculation ought to exist. But Dr. Peile, who has taken the trouble to search through the university registers for several years prior to 1559, informs me that no such record can be found.

[647]The reference to the king, moreover, in Act V. ii, 236 would strengthen the probability that the play of 1575 (and 1559-60) was originally composed during Stevenson's first fellowship; at any rate before the death of Edward VI. It might therefore be identical with the play acted in 1553-4.—Gen. Ed.

[648]Too much importance must not, however, be attached to this, as the same thing is found in the title-page ofThe Disobedient Child, above referred to. The date of 1575 for our comedy is given in the colophon at the end of the book. See also p.206n.

[649]This title was given by Reed; Baker's original work of 1762 was calledA Dictionary of the Stage.

[650]The arguments against Still's authorship ofGammer Gurton, and in favour of that of Bridges, are stated at length in an article by Mr. C. H. Ross in the nineteenth volume ofAnglia(1896), to which we are indebted for several useful references.

[651]Of course it is not meant that these persons corresponded exactly to the type represented by Diccon—the ex-patient of Bethlehem Hospital, discharged as being supposed to be cured or rendered harmless, and wearing a badge indicating the possession of a licence to beg.

[652]In Pikeryng'sHorestes(1567), which is some years earlier than the first known publication ofGammer Gurton, the country characters (one of whom is named Hodge) speak a strongly marked southwestern dialect.

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