Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 1.djvu/428

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422


NOTES AND QUERIES.


12 S. I. MAY 27, 1916;


Highness the Duke of York's Theatre," 1683, 1695, "As it is now Acted at the Theatre Royal, by their Majesties Servants," 1703, all give precisely the same printed cast : Claudius, Crosby ; Hamlet, Betterton ; Horatio, Smith ; Marcellus, Lee ; Polonius, Noake ; Laertes, Young ; Rosincraus, Norris ; Guildenstern, Cademan ; Fortinbrass, Perci- val ; Ostrick, Jeuan ; Barnardo, Rathband ; Francisco, Floyd ; Ghost, Medburn ; Two Grave makers, Undril, Williams ; Gertrard, Mrs. Shadwel ; Ophelia, Mrs. Betterton.* An earlier casting (Downes) gives Betterton as Hamlet ; Henry Harris, Horatio ; Lilliston, King ; Richards, Ghost ; Lovel, Polonius ; Dixon, Rosencranz ; Price, Guildenstern ; Underhill and Dacres, Grave makers ; Mrs. Davenport, Queen ; Mrs. Saunderson,f Ophelia. Genest, for his dating 1673, wholly relied upon deductions from Downes, a fatal mistake when, as a well-known critic has so truly and aptly said,

'* through slovenliness of arrangement the * Roscius Anglicanus ' is positively honeycombed with error. It is the perspective of the thing that is wholly wrong. In other words, the events related mostly took place, but seldom in the sequence indicated."

There is no reason to date this revival of ' Hamlet ' in which Crosby played the King ; Smith, Horatio ; and Williams, the Second Gravedigger a whit earlier than the winter of 1675. In this case it is more than im- probable that Joseph Williams could have played so minor a part, which, accordingly, may be certainly assigned to his namesake.

The Lee who acted Marcellus was no doubt John Lee, the husband of Mrs. Mary Lee (Lady Slingsby). He disappears from the bills after 1677, and was dead in 1680. (See my edition of Mrs. Behn, vol. i. pp. 438-9.)

In 1679 we find David Williams as Achilles in Dryden's ' Troilus and Cressida ' ; Joseph Williams is ^Eneas. In the autumn of the same year David acts Quintus Pom- peius in Otway's * Caius Marius ' ; Joseph is Sylla. In the spring of 1680 David Williams plays Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York, in Crowne's ' The Misery of Civil War.' In the autumn of 1681 he is given the same role, Richard Plantagenet, heir of the House of York, pretender to the crown, in ' Henry VI.,' Part I. In February, 1682, he appears as the Duke in Otway's masterpiece,

  • Venice Preserved. '


  • Jevon died Dec. 20, 1688 ; Nokes in 1692; Med-

burn was entangled in the meshes of Titus Oates's vile plots, and died in Newgate, March 19, 1679.

t Afterwards Mrs. Betterton.


Incidentally it may be remarked that a certain measure of Joseph Williams' s success- was no doubt owing to the premature retire- ment of Smith, which left an open field for his talent. When Smith reappeared in 1695 as Scandal in ' Love for Love ' (produced April 30), Williams during rehearsals seceded with Mrs. Mountfort to Drury Lane. Gibber- explains their defection as owing to the fact that they were not allowed " to be equal? sharers with the rest." He also adds :: " The industry of Williams was not equal to his capacity, for he loved his bottle better than his business." The ostensible reason for this desertion was, it is true, a pecuniary dispute, but I am inclined to suggest that,, in Williams's case at any rate, a purely personal pique may have had something to do with his action.

MONTAGUE SUMMEBS.


BIBLIOGRAPHY OF HISTORIES OF IRISH COUNTIES AND TOWNS.

(See US. xi. 103, 183, 315 ; xii. 24, 276,. 375.)

PART VII. H K.

HAROLD'S CROSS.

Letters from Harold's Cross. By N. J. B(urton).. Dublin, 1850.

HARPERSTOWN.

History of Harperstown, in ' History of Co. Wexford,' Vol. V. By P. H. Hore, M.R.I.A.. 1900-11.

HOOK TOWER.

History of Hook Tower, in ' History of Co- Wexford,' Vol. IV. By P. H. Hore, M.R.I.A. 1900-11.

HOWTH. Plan for Harbour. By W. Dawson. Dublin,.

1805.

A Day at Howth (Descriptive and Historical Sketch). By J. Huband Smith, M.R.I. A. Dublin, 1853-7.

The Cromlech on Howth. By Sir Samuel; Ferguson. Dublin, 1861.

IMAEL. History of the Clan O'Toole, and other Leinster

Septs. By Rev. P. L. O'Toole. Dublin, 1890.. The O'Tooles, anciently Lords of Powerscourt

(Feraculan), Fertire, and Imale, with notices

of Feach Mac Hugh O'Byrne. By John

O'Toole. N.d.

INISHOWEN. Tyrconnell and Inishowen. By W. J. Doherty..

Dublin, 1895.

INISMURRAY. A Survey of the Antiquarian Remains of the

Island of Inismurray. By W. F. Wakeman.

With Preface by James Mills, M.R.I.A,-

Dublin, 1893.