DRAMATIS PERSONÆ.

[Voice 1], [Lord Marshal], [Voices], [Voice 2], [King at Arms], [Voice 3], [Lady 1], [Lady 2], [Gardener], [Servant 1], [Servant]

Lords, Heralds, Officers, Soldiers, Keeper, and Attendants.

King Richard II [King Richard the Second]	Mr. CHARLES KEAN
Edmund of Langley, Duke of York (Uncle to the King)	Mr. COOPER.
John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, (Uncle to the King)	Mr. WALTER LACY.
Henry, surnamed Bolingbroke [Henry Bolingbroke], (Duke of Hereford, Son to John of Gaunt afterwards King Henry IV.)	Mr. RYDER.
Duke of Aumerle, (Son to the Duke of York)	Mr. BRAZIER.
Mowbray [Thomas Mowbray], (Duke of Norfolk)	Mr. J. F. CATHCART.
Duke of Surrey,	Mr. RAYMOND.
Earl of Salisbury,	Mr. EVERETT.
Lord Berkley [Earl Berkeley],	Mr. COLLET.
Sir John Bushy, (Creature to King Richard)	Mr. ROLLESTON.
Sir William Bagot, (Creature to King Richard)	Mr. WARREN.
Sir Thomas Green, (Creature to King Richard)	Mr. BARSBY.
Earl of Northumberland,	Mr. H. MELLON.
Henry Percy, (his Son)	Miss BUFTON.
Lord Ross,	Mr. TERRY.
Lord Willoughby,	Mr. F. COOKE.
Lord Fitzwater,	Mr. WILSON.
Bishop of Carlisle,	Mr. BUTLER.
Sir Pierce of Exton,	Mr. PAULO.
Sir Stephen Scroop,	Mr. GRAHAM.
Two Gardeners,	Messrs. MEADOWS & MORRIS.
Keeper of the Prison	Mr. COLLIER.
Groom	Mr. CORMACK.
Queen to King Richard,	Mrs. CHARLES KEAN
Duchess of Gloster [Duchess of Gloucester],	Mrs. TERNAN.
Duchess of York,	Miss DESBOROUGH.
Ladies attending on the Queen,	Miss DALY. Miss J. LOVELL.
Boy (in the Episode)	Miss KATE TERRY.

SCENE—Dispersedly in ENGLAND and WALES.

The Scenery under the Direction of Mr. GRIEVE, and Painted by Mr. GRIEVE, Mr. W. GORDON, Mr. F. LLOYDS, Mr. CUTHBERT, Mr. DAYES, Mr. MORRIS, And numerous Assistants. The Music under the direction of Mr. J. L. HATTON. The Dances and Action, by Mr. OSCAR BYRN. The Decorations & Appointments by Mr. E. W. BRADWELL. The Dresses by Mrs. and Miss HOGGINS. The Machinery by Mr. G. HODSON. Perruquier, Mr. ASPLIN, of No. 13, New Bond Street. ^note

PREFACE.

The two latest Shakespearean revivals at this theatre, namely, The Winter's Tale and Midsummer Night's Dream, afforded opportunities of illustrating the manners, costumes, and architecture of ancient Greece, as once co-existent in the cities of Syracuse and Athens.

Quitting the far-famed regions of classical antiquity, I now return to the homestead of history, and offer to the public one of those exciting dramas drawn from our own annals, in which our national poet has depicted the fierce and turbulent passions of our ancestors, and thus immortalised events of the deepest interest to every English mind. Nearly two centuries and a half divide us from Shakespeare; yet he still lives to the world, with “his fame unparalleled,” equally unapproachable and imperishable. His historical plays present retrospective truth, encircled by a halo of poetic genius; and nowhere has he more conspicuously combined accurate statement of fact with beauty of language than in the tragedy of King Richard the Second. The action extends over little more than the two closing years of that unhappy monarch's reign—those brief but eventful years which teach so terrible a lesson, exhibiting as they do the strength and weakness of humanity, the elevation of one king upon the ruin of another, the gorgeous pageantry of royal

state contrasted with the dungeon and the assassin's stroke. Although the infirmities and irresolution of Richard's character are drawn with unsparing fidelity, yet England's weak and erring king breathes his sorrow in words so sweetly touching, that the heart responds to the poet's mighty influence, and throbs with sympathy for woe, although produced by wrong, pitying the ill-fated, and pardoning the ill-deserving monarch. To show the importance of the period to the progress of civilization, it may be remarked that the same historical page which is blotted with the recital of “murders, treasons, and detested sins,” preserves the memory of two illustrious men, whose light was undimmed by the dark clouds that obscured the political horizon, and whose names will ever remain associated with the advancement of literature and reform.

Geoffrey Chaucer, known as the father of English poetry, whose elegant taste refined and smoothed our native tongue, imbibed the same atmosphere that was impregnated with the perjury and faithlessness of conflicting parties, and indited his ever-memorable “Canterbury Tales,” not long before the throne of England was yielded to the younger branch of the Plantagenets.

John Wickliffe, “the morning star of the Reformation,” made himself heard amidst the angry roar of contending passions, and in the hearts of fiery and seditious men sowed the seed, which, after a growth

of one hundred and fifty years, was destined to expand into the standard religion of our country.

In the present stage representation I have endeavoured to produce a true portraiture of mediæval history. The Lists at Coventry—the Fleet at Milford Haven—the Castles of Pembroke and Flint— the Garden, where “Old Adam's likeness” startles the Queen with his “unpleasing news”—the Great Hall at Westminster, rebuilt by Richard, in his pride of kingly sway, and afterwards selected as the place where unkinged Richard was constrained “with his own hands to give away his crown”—the Royal Chambers and the Royal Prison—are all either actually restored, or represented in conformity with contemporaneous authorities.

Between the third and fourth acts I have ventured to introduce the triumphal entry into London of the “mounting” Bolingbroke, followed by the deposed and captive King, “in grief and patience;” thus embodying in action what Shakespeare has so beautifully described in the speech of York to his Duchess, towards the close of the play.

The few sentences intervening amidst the clamorous acclamations of the mob in this historical Episode are selected from the Chronicles which relate to the circumstances of that remarkable event; and are added with the view of reviving, as far as possible, a scene that actually occurred in London upwards of four hundred and fifty years since. The

entire tableau may be considered as an historical picture, in which the creations of the painter's art are endowed with animated reality.

An increasing taste for recreation, wherein instruction is blended with amusement, has for some time been conspicuous in the English public; and surely an attempt to render dramatic representations conducive to the diffusion of knowledge—to surround the glowing imagery of the great Poet with accompaniments true to the time of which he writes—realizing the scenes and actions which he describes—exhibiting men as they once lived —can scarcely detract from the enduring influence of his genius. Repeated success justifies the conviction that I am acting in accordance with the general feeling. When plays, which formerly commanded but occasional repetition, are enabled, by no derogatory means, to attract audiences for successive months, I cannot be wrong in presuming that the course I have adopted is supported by the irresistible force of public opinion, expressed in the suffrages of an overwhelming majority.

The music throughout the piece, including the overture and entr' actes, has been composed and adapted by Mr. J. L. Hatton, in accordance with the character of the period. The tune which accompanies the dance of Itinerant Fools, introduced in the Episode, for the purpose of amusing the expectant multitude, is adapted from an air said to

be as old as the reign of Edward II., and is now published in a work by W. Chappell, Esq., F.S.A., entitled “Popular Music of the Olden Time.” The dance of Fools preceded that of “the Morris,” and from this the latter is conjectured to have taken its origin. Strutt remarks that a vestige of the Fool's Dance is preserved in a manuscript written and illuminated in the reign of Edward III., the dancers being equipped in the dresses appropriated to the Fools. The Morris Dance, which afterwards became so popular, is supposed to have been derived from the Fool's Dance; and thence are traced the bells which characterised the Morris dancers. The ancient popular Welsh air of “Sweet Richard,” introduced in the overture, and again in the entr' actes preceding the third act and episode, is supposed to be the production of some contemporary bard, and served to keep alive the feeling of regret for King Richard's fate.

The Privy Council Chamber, the restoration of the Welsh Castles, the Traitor's Gate at the Tower, and St. George's Hall at Windsor, have been painted (by Mr. Grieve and assistants) under the authority of Anthony Salvin, Esq., F.S.A. To Henry Shaw, Esq., F.S.A., I am indebted for much zealous assistance, besides supplying the necessary drawings, and superintending the preparations for the combat at Coventry, the bed room of the dying John of Gaunt, and many of the accessories introduced into other

scenes. The garden at Langley, the interior of the Duke of Lancaster's Palace, the streets of old London, Westminster Hall, and the dungeon at Pomfret, have been sanctioned by George Godwin, Esq., F.S.A.; while Thomas Willement, Esq., F.S.A., and Sir Bernard Burke, Ulster, have afforded me the information requisite for the heraldic adornments. I am also indebted to G. Scharf, Esq., jun., F.S.A., for many valuable suggestions.

The French metrical history of the deposition of King Richard II., written by a contemporary, and preserved in the British Museum, affords undoubted evidence of the costume of the period in its illuminated pages; and the knowledge of my valued friend, Colonel Hamilton Smith, in this branch, has been freely imparted in aid of my present undertaking.

In addition to these authorities, several manuscripts and books in the British Museum, together with the works of Strutt, Meyrick, Fairholt, and Shaw have been consulted.

By the preceding statement I guarantee the truthfulness and fidelity of the entire picture; while I also gratefully acknowledge the assistance that has been so liberally afforded to me by men eminent for their antiquarian knowledge, and whose conviction of the usefulness of my efforts is a gratifying encouragement to adhere to the plan of illustration I have hitherto adopted.

KING RICHARD II.

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