SIXTEENTH CENTURY.
215
perty-man and a painter ; the following disbuise- ments were made ; and are here eiven to show the expenses before the regular drama was in- troduced. The whole sum for the three nights did not amount to forty shillings : —
J? •. d.
To miuiciam (for whicta howrrer thej were
bound to perform three niifhte) S
F)OT idayers, in bread and ale 3 1
Ft>r decorations, dresset, and play books 10
ToJohn Hobbard, priest, and aathor of the piece OSS For the place in wUch the representation was
beld I
Porromitnre 14
For Ush and bread 4
For painting three phantoms and devils 8
Four diidcens for the hero. 4
1512. Dr. Burner, in his Uittory of Music, referring to the Norunanberland Hoiuehold Book, as his authority, states that about this year the nobility, in imitation of royalty, had, among other officers of their household, a matter of the reeds, "for the oveiseyinge and orderingre of Plages and Interlvdet and dressing, that is plaid in ate twelve days of Crestenmas." Of these, the gentlemeta and children of the chapel seem to have been the principal performers ; for which, and for acting upon other great festivals, they were assigned particular rewards: — "Item, my Lorde rseth to gyf yerely, when his lordshipe is at home, in reward to them of his lordsnipe ehappel, that doith play upon Shroftewsday, at Digit, is" And when they performed in the dnmatic mysteries, such as " the playe of the Nativity at Crestenmas, or of the Kesurrection upon £!sturday," they were allowed x».
Bishop Percy cites several particulars of the r^ulatea sums payable to 'jparsones' and others for these performances. The exhibiting scrip- ture dramas on the gpreat festivals entered into the regular establishment, and formed part of the domestic regulations of our ancient nobility ; and what is more remarkable, it was as much the business of the chaplain in those days to compose plays for the family, as it is now ior him to make sermons. — Beliqvet, vol. i. p. 139.
The following curious notice, from the Nor- dnanberUmd Household Book, will shew the hour at which the nobility breakfasted at this poiod: — Hy lord and lady have set on their table for breakfast, at seven o'clock in the morn- ing, a quart of beer, a quart of wine, two pieces of wit fish, six red herrings, four white ones, or a dish of sprats. On flesh days, half a chyne of mutton, or a chyne of boiled beef. Mass was ordered to be saia at six«'clock in the morning.
From the same source, we lind that the earl pays an annual pension, of a groat a year, to my lady of Walsingnam, for her interest in heaven ; the same sum to the holy blood, at Hales.
We also make the following extract, relative to the price of provisions, at this period : — Oats Is. 8d. per quarter; beans, Us. ; malt, 4s. ; load of hay, 2s. 8d.; sheep. Is. Sd. each ; fat beeve, 13t.; lean ditto, 8s.; calf, 1>. Sd.; hog, tls.; TOUDgpig, 4d.; geese, 4d.; hen, 2d.; cUcken, id.; woodcock, Id.; partridge, 2d.; pheasant. It. ; peacock, I*. A servant on board wages, or
on a journey, 6d. per day in summer, 8d. in winter. Gascony wine was £4 I3s. 4d. per ton. The daily waees of a master carpenter, mason, bricklayer, tyler, or plumber, were 6d. per day, without diet, from Easter to Michaelmas ; other labourers 4d. per day. The price of a Bible was 20s., and many persons gave a load of hay for a few chapters ofSl. James or St. Paul in English.
1513. The Hy story seae and dystrvecyon of Troye. EmpryrHed at the commaundement of oure Sottrayyne Lorde the kynge Henry the vUi. By Richarde Pynson prynter Unto his mostnoUe grace. Tlie ytrt of our Lorde god. am.cccce and xiii. Folio.
"The history sege and the dystniccyon of Troye." This title is above a large wooden cut of the king^s arms crowned, with a rose over it, &c. On the reverse is a cut of the city of Troy, with soldiers before it firing great guns, &c. Then, " the table or rubrysshe of the Content of the chapitres shortly of the Firste booke." It is divided into five books, and in the whole thirty- seven chapters. To which is added another, " Of the most worthy kynge Henry ye fyth. Here after foloweth. the Troye boke otnerwyse called the Seg^e of Troye, translated by John Lydgate monke of the monastery of Buiv, and Emprynted at the commauudement of oure Souraygne Lorde the kynge Henry the viii. By Richarde Pynson prynter unto his most noble grace. The yere of our Lorde god a m.ccccc. and xiii." Then " The Prologue of the Transhi- toure." Over a fine wooden cut of king Henry V. sitting in a large room, with officers attending him receiving this book from Lydgate, the monK kneeling. There are many other cuts dispersed throughout the book. It is in verse, printed in double columns, without numbers or catch- words, to sheet d 4 in the second alphabet; and closes, " Explicit liber quintus et Ultimas. Lenuoye."
Go lytell boke, and pat the In the grace
Of hpn that is, most of excellence And be nat hardy, to appears in no place
Without snpporte, of his magnyfycence And who so euer, in the fynde offeaoe
Be not to bolde, for no presmnpcyon Thy self enazme, aye in pacyence
And thee sabmytte [to] theyr correcyon.
Verba IrantlatoHs ad Mrtm nun.
And for thoa art, enlymned with no flowies Of Retoryke, bat with whyta and blacke
Therefore thoa moste, abyde all sbowiea Of them that lyste, set on the a lacke And wlian thoa art, most lykely go to wracke
Agaynit them, thyne Emmr not dUlknde Bat humbly, withdraw and go a backa
Reqoerynge them, all yt is amyase to mende.
"Here endeth the Troye booke otherwyse called the Sege of Trove, translated by John Lydgate monke of the Monastery of Bery. And Emprinted the yere of our Lorde" &c.
I5I3. Died Antony Kobvroer, one of the most celebra^ printers of the fifteenth century. He introduced the art of printing at Nuremberg, in 1472, see p. 139, ante. A copy of the splendid German bible, printed by Koburger in 1483, in folio, is in the library of Earl Spencer. See Bib. Spenc. vol. i. p. 54.
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