[Illustration: BANKSIDE IN 1648.]
[Illustration: BULL AND BEAR-BAITING THEATRES.]
[Illustration: BEAR-BAITING--ROSE--GLOBE.]
The ancient topography of the southern bank of the Thames (or _Bankside_)
between London and Blackfriars bridges is peculiarly interesting to the
lover of dramatic lore, as well as to the inquirer into the sports and
pastimes of our ancestors. It appears to have been the _Arcadia_ of the
olden metropolis, if such a term be applicable to a place notorious for
the indulgence of brutal sports.
The Cut in the adjoining column represents Bankside in 1648, from which it
appears to have been then in part waste and unenclosed. "It was land
belonging to the crown, and on various parts of it stood the Globe Theatre,
the Bear Garden, and other places of public show; here were also the Pike
Gardens, some time called the Queen's Pike Gardens, with ponds for the
preservation of fresh-water fish, which were said to be kept for the
supply of the royal table, under the inspection of an officer, called the
king's purveyor of pike, who had here a house for his residence."[1] On
the Bankside, prior to the above date, were also the ancient Bordello, or
Stews, which, according to Pennant, were distinguished by their respective
signs painted against the walls, one of which, in particular, was the
Cardinal's Hat; and a small court, now or till lately called _Cardinal's
Hat Court_, still exists on the Bankside, and probably shows the precise
site of the mansion of depravity. In like manner we find on Bankside,
_Pike Garden_, _Globe Alley_, and in the vicinity a public-house with the
sign of the _Globe_. On Bankside also stood an ancient Hall and Palace of
the Bishops of Winchester, stated to have been built by William Gifford,
Bishop of Winchester, about the year 1107, on a piece of ground belonging
to the Prior of Bermondsey, to whom was paid a yearly acknowledgment. The
great court, at one time belonging to this palace, is still known by the
name of _Winchester Square_, and in the adjacent street was, some time
since, an abutment of one of the gates. Near this Palace, on the south, at
one time stood the Episcopal Palace of the Bishops of Rochester; which is
supposed to have bequeathed its name to _Rochester Street_. The whole of
the _Bank_ shown in the Cut is now densely populated, and scarcely a pole
of green sward is left to denote its ancient state. On the opposite or
Middlesex bank may be distinguished the celebrated Castle Baynard.
The second Cut represents the BULL and BEAR-BAITING THEATRES, as they
appeared in their first state, A.D. 1560. This spot was called Paris
Garden, and the two theatres are said to have been the first that were
formed near London. In these, according to Stow, were scaffolds for the
spectators to stand upon, an indulgence for which they paid in the
following manner: "Those who go to Paris Garden, the Bell Savage, or
Theatre, to behold bear-baiting, enterludes, or fence-play, must not
account of any pleasant spectacle unless they first pay one penny at the
gate, another at the entrie of the scaffold, and a third for quiet
standing." One Sunday afternoon, in the year 1582, the scaffold, being
overcharged with spectators, fell down during the performance, and a great
number of persons were killed or maimed by the accident, which the
puritans of the time failed not to attribute to a Divine judgment. These
theatres were patronized by royalty: for we read that Queen Elizabeth, on
the 26th of May, 1599, went by water with the French ambassadors to Paris
Garden, where they saw a baiting of bulls and bears. Indeed, Southwark
seems to have long been of sporting notoriety, for, in the Humorous Lovers,
printed in 1617, one of the characters says, "I'll set up my bills, that
the gamesters of London, Horsly-down, _Southwark_, and Newmarket, may come
in and bait him (the bear,) here before the ladies, &c."[2]
The third Cut includes the GLOBE, ROSE, and BEAR-BAITING THEATRES, as they
appeared about the year 1612. Of the Globe we have been furnished with the
following account by a zealous correspondent, _G.W._:
The Globe Theatre stood on a plot of ground, now occupied by four houses,
contiguous to the present Globe Alley, Maiden Lane, Southwark. This
theatre was of considerable size. It is not certain when it was built.
Hentzner, the German traveller, who gives an amusing description of London
in the time of Queen Elizabeth, alludes to it as existing in 1598, but it
was probably not built long before 1596. It was an hexagonal, wooden
building, partly open to the weather, and partly thatched with reeds, on
which, as well as other theatres, a pole was erected, to which a flag was
affixed. These flags were probably displayed only during the hours of
performance; and it should seem from one of the old comedies that they
were taken down in Lent, in which time, during the early part of King
James's reign, plays were not allowed to be represented, though at a
subsequent period this prohibition was dispensed with by paying a fee to
the Master of the Revels.
It was called the Globe from its sign, which was a figure of Hercules, or
Atlas, supporting a globe, under which was written, _Totus mundus agit
histrionem_, (All the world acts a play):--and not as many have
conjectured, that the Globe though hexagonal at the outside, was a rotunda
within, and that it might have derived its name from its circular form.
This theatre was burnt down June 29, 1613, but it was rebuilt with greater
splendour in the following year. The Cut represents the original theatre.
The account of this accident is given by Sir Henry Wotton, in a letter
dated July 2, 1613.[3] "Now to let matters of state sleepe, I will
entertain you at the present with what happened this week at the Banks
side. The King's players had a new play called All is True, representing
some principal pieces of the reign of Henry the Eighth, which set forth
with many extraordinary circumstances of pomp and majesty even to the
matting of the stage; the knights of the order with their Georges and
Garter, the guards with their embroidered coats, and the like: sufficient
in truth within awhile to make greatness very familiar, if not ridiculous.
Now King Henry making a Masque at the Cardinal Wolsey's house, and certain
cannons being shot off at his entry, some of the paper or other stuff,
wherewith one of them was stopped, did light on the thatch, where being
thought at first but idle smoak, and their eyes more attentive to the show,
it kindled inwardly, and ran round like a train, consuming within less
than an hour the whole house to the very ground. This was the fatal period
of that virtuous fabrick, wherein yet nothing did perish but _wood_ and
_straw_, and a few forsaken cloaks; only one man had his breeches set on
fire, that would perhaps have broyled him, if he had not by the benefit of
a provident wit, put it out with a bottle of ale."
From a letter of Mr. John Chamberlaine to Sir Ralph Winwood, dated July 8,
1613, in which this accident is likewise mentioned, we learn that the
theatre had only two doors.[4] "The burning of the Globe or playhouse on
the Bankside on St. Peter's day cannot escape you; which fell out by a
peal of chambers, (that I know not upon what occasion were to be used in
the play,) the tampin or stopple of one of them lighting in the thatch
that covered the house, burn'd it down to the ground in less than two
hours, with a dwelling-house adjoyning; and it was a great marvaile and a
fair grace of God that the people had so little harm, having but _two
narrow doors_ to get out."
In 1613, was entered in the Stationers' books, "A doleful ballad of the
General Conflagration of the famous Theatre called the Globe."
Taylor, the water poet, commemorates the event in the following lines:
"As gold is better that in fire's tried,
So is the Bankside Globe, that late was burn'd;
For where before it had a thatched hide,
Now to a stately theatre 'tis turn'd;
Which is an emblem that great things are won;
By those that dare through greatest dangers run."
It is also alluded to in some verses by Ben Jonson, entitled, "An
Execration upon Vulcan," from which it appears that Ben Jonson was in the
theatre when it was burnt.
This theatre was open in summer and the performances took place by
daylight; the King's company usually began to play in the month of May.
The exhibitions appear to have been calculated for the lower class of
people, and to have been more frequent than those at the Blackfriars, till
1604 or 5, when it became less fashionable and frequented. Being
contiguous to the Bear Garden, it is probable that those who resorted
there went to the theatre, when the bear-baiting sports were over, and
such persons were not likely to form a very refined audience.
We have no description of the interior of the Globe, but that it was
somewhat similar to our modern theatres, with an open space in the roof:
or perhaps it more resembled an inn-yard, where, in the beginning of Queen
Elizabeth's reign, many of our ancient dramatic pieces were performed. The
galleries in both were arranged on three sides of the building; the small
rooms under the lowest, answered to our present boxes and were called
rooms; the yard bears a sufficient resemblance to the pit, as at present
in use, and where the common people stood to see the exhibition; from
which circumstance they are called by Shakspeare "the _groundlings_," and
by Ben Jonson, "the _understanding_ gentlemen of the _ground_." The stage
was erected in the area, with its back to the gateway where the admission
money was taken. The price of admission into the best _rooms_, or boxes,
was in Shakspeare's time, a shilling, though afterwards it appears to have
risen to two shillings and half-a-crown. The galleries, or scaffolds, as
they were sometimes called, and that part of the house which in private
theatres was named the pit, seem to have been the same price, which was
sixpence, while in some meaner playhouses it was only a penny, and in
others two-pence.
We learn from Sir Henry Hebert, that 20_l_. was the greatest receipt for
one day's performance; by that we may calculate upon the house having
contained about 700 persons, at the prices before stated; that is to say,
100 for the boxes, and the rest in the other parts of the house.
Part of the site of this theatre is now occupied by the brewery of Messrs.
Barclay and Perkins; and in the _History of St. Saviour's_, already quoted,
we read that "the passage which led to the Globe Tavern, of which the
playhouse formed a part, was, till within these few years, known by the
name of Globe Alley, and upon its site now stands a large store-house for
porter."
The _Rose_ or smaller theatre, was erected in the year 1592, and is stated
to have cost £103. 2_s_. 7_d_.--a sum which would scarcely pay half the
expenses of a modern patent theatre for a single night!
These theatres appear to have been cited as nuisances by the parish
officers of St. Saviour's, in which they stood; for in July, 1597-8, a
resolution was agreed to by a vestry of the parish, "that a petition shall
be made to the bodye of the Councell, (Privy Council,) concerning the
play-houses in this parish; wherein all the enormities shall be showed
that come thereby to the parish, and that in respect thereof they may be
dismissed, and put down from playing: and that four, or two of the
Churchwardens, &c. shall present the cause with a collector of the
Boroughside, and another of the Bankside." The presentation of this
petition did not produce the desired effect; for some time afterwards the
play-houses not having been put down, the Churchwardens of St. Saviour's,
as appears from an entry in their Parish Register, endeavoured to obtain
tithes and poor-rates from the owners and managers of the theatres on the
Bankside.[5] This corresponds with the state of the English theatre, at
this period, at the height of its glory and reputation. Dramatic authors
of the first excellence, and eminent actors equally abounded; every year
produced a number of new plays; nay, so great was the passion for show or
representation, that it was the fashion for the nobility to celebrate
their weddings, birthdays, and other occasions of rejoicing, with masques
and interludes; the king, queen, and court frequently performing in those
represented in the royal palaces, and all the nobility being actors in
their old private houses. Alas!
What's gone and what's past help
Should be past grief.