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Speaker 1: Shakespeare's Christmas Gift to Queen Bess in the year fifteen

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ninety six by Anna Benison McMahon. One at the Mermaid

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Thus Raleigh, thus immortal Sidney shown illustrious names in Great

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Eliza's Days Thomas Edwards. The numberless diamond shaped window panes

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of the Mermaid Tavern were twinkling like so many stars

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in the chill December air of London. It is the

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last meeting of the Mermaid Club for the year fifteen

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ninety six, and not a member is absent. As they

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drop in by twos and threes and gather in groups

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about the room, it is plain that the expectation is

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on tiptoe. They call each other by their Christian names

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and pledge healths. Some are young, handsome, fastidious in person

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and dress. Others are bohemian in costumed speech and action.

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All where knee breeches, and nearly all have pointed beards.

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He of the harsh fighting face, of the fine eye

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and coarse lip, and the shaggy hair, whom they call

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ben although one of the youngest, is yet plainly one

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of the leaders, both for wit and for wisdom, That

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grave and handsome gentleman whose lordly bearing and princely dress

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mark his high rank is another favorite. He has written

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charming poems, has fought gallantly on many fields, has voyaged

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widely on many seas, has founded colonies in distant America.

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Is a favorite of the Queen. But in this Mermaid club,

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his chief glory is that he is its founder and leader,

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the one whose magnetism and personal charm has summoned and

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cemented in friendship all these varied elements. At last, the

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all important matter of the yearly Christmas play at Court

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has been settled. The Master of the Revels has chosen

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from the rich stores of his manuscripts the Midsummer Night's Dream,

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graciously adding that for wit and mirth it is like

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to please Her Majesty exceedingly, a high honor indeed for

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its author. For not then, as now were plays written

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primarily for the recreation and approval of the audience of

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the theater. True, the public stage was fostered and attracted

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its daily audience, but rather as a dress rehearsal, its

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main purpose being to train the players for the court

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presentations at one of Her Majesty's palaces. The secret spur

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to both players and playwright was the hope of being

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among the chosen for the festivities at Richmond, Whitehall or Greenwich,

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as the Queen might fan to hold her court. Disappointment, soreness,

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jealousy not seldom followed the award of the coveted distinction,

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but not so on this occasion. For now the successful

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candidate is one of the youngest and best beloved of

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this jolly coterie, and their pride in him is shown

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by the eagerness with which they await his coming to

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read to them the changes in the manuscript of his

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play since its former presentation. Ah hear the burst of

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applause that greets his late arrival. A high browed, sandy

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haired man of thirty two lithe and figure of middle height,

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with a smile of great sweetness, yet sad withal on

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his face. One may read the lines of recent sorrow,

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and all know that he has returned, but recently to

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London from the mournful errand which took him to his

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Stratford home the burial of his dearly beloved and only son.

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Hamnet the plaudits for the author of the most successful

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play of the season, Romeo and Juliet, which was then

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taking the town by storm at the curtain theater, were

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little heeded by the grief stricken father as he urged

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his horse over the rough roads of the four days Journey,

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arriving just too late for a parting word from dying lips.

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But private sorrows are not for those who are called

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to public duties. A writer must trim his pen not

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to his own mood, but to the mood of the hour.

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And Queen Elizabeth old in years. But every young in

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her love of fun and frolic and flattery, must be

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made to forget the heaviness of time and the infirmities

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of age. If she may no longer take part in

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outdoor sports, the hunting, the hawking, the bear baiting, she

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still may command processions, fetes, masks and stage plays. It

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pleases her now to see this wonderful fairy piece of

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which she has heard so much since two years ago

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it graced the nuptials of the Earl of Darby. Does

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she not remember also that pretty impromptu verse of the

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author when acting the part of King in another Man's

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play two years ago at Greenwich? Did she not twice

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drop her glove near his feet in crossing the stage

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and how happily had he responded to the challenge, true

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to the character as well as to the meter of

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his part. He had picked up the glove, presenting it

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to its owner with the words, And though now bent

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on this high embassy, yet stoop we to take up

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our cousin's glove. Seats were taken, the manuscript is opened,

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and the club becomes a green room conference. The play

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is not to be recast entirely. The chain changes from

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the early version, being mainly to introduce certain touches to

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flatter the royal ears, and to suit it to the

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more elaborate equipment of the white all stage. Quill in hand,

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the reader, as he proceeds, crosses out from his manuscript

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everything that clogs the movement or detracts from the playfulness.

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Giving free rein to his luxuriant imagination. He scatters the

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choicest flowers of fancy to create a vivid and animated picture.

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The lovers meet and part with pretty rhymes and repartee.

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The hard handed men, the tradesmen and tinkers bring their

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clumsy efforts to serve the wedding feast. The fairies graceful,

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lovely enchanting dance amid the fragrance of enameled meadows. His

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fellow writers feel the charm. No one of them can

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do work in so many kinds, nor of such kind

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in each They recognize their master. They are under his

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magic spell. The familiar stories from Plutarch and Chaucer and

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Avid take on a new meaning. The very holly on

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the walls seems alive with the fairy folk, as indeed

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it should be, according to the pretty old superstition that

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elves and fairies hover about all Christmas fetes. Hence, branches

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are hanging in hall and bower in order that these

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invisible guests may hang in each leaf and cling on

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every bough. The holly, its prickly leaves, symbolic of the

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crown of thorns, and its red berries of the blood

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of Christ, vanishes the ivy and other greens, and becomes

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the popular favorite that it has since remained for Christmas decoration.

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A responsive audience, truly roars of laughter greet the rollicking

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humor of the clowns and their rude burlesque of things theatrical,

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but longest and loudest is the applause over the new touches,

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those portions that have been written in to please the

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court and the Queen. To remodel a play written for

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a marriage celebration, so that it shall seem to praise

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the virginity of the queen. Were surely no slight task,

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but it has been accomplished. Though the scene is laid

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in Greece. Yet the play is full of the English

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life that all knows so well. Merry England and not

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classic Greece has given the poet the picture of the

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sweet country school girls working at one flower, warbling one song,

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growing together like a double cherry. Of England is the

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picture of the hounds with ears that sweep away the

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morning do from England. All this outdoor woodland life, the

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clowns play, and the clowns themselves bottom with his inner

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imitable conceit and his fellow's snug quence. And the rest

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English is all Puck's fairy lore. The cowslips tall, the

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red hipped humblebee, oberon spank, the pansy love in idleness,

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and all the lovely imagery of the verse. English is

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the whole scenic background, and the wood near Athens is

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plainly the Stratford boys idealized memory of the wear break

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that he knows so well, mayhap in very truth on

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some midsummer night, the young poet, even then of imagination

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all compact, did indeed dream a dream or see a

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vision like unto this, bringing it from Stratford to London,

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partly written, but foregoing its completion for labor that would

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find readier acceptance at the theater. However that may be certain,

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it is that this is a red letter night at

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the m made. The genius of gentle Will has taken

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a new point of departure and shines as it has

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not shown before, either in his making over of other

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men's plays or in his few original works. He has

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conquered a new realm of art. The phantoms of the

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fairy world, for the first time have been endowed with

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a genuine and sustained dramatic interest. Small wonder that no

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one ventures to interrupt as the pages are turned. Even

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at the close, only one, the Selinus faced Ben, offers

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a criticism. Being well versed in classic lore, he protests

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against the characterization of theseus Duke of Athens, saying it

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is too modern and has in fact nothing of the

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Antique or Grecian in its composition, But he is overruled speedily,

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and as the meeting breaks up, one of the younger

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fellows whispers to another Shakespeare was sent us from heaven,

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but Johnson from College two at the Queen's Palace, those

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flights upon the banks of Thames that so did take

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Eliza and our James ben Jonson. It is Christmas night. Lords,

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ladies and ambassadors have been summoned to Whitehall Palace to

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witness the play for which author, actors and artists of

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many kinds have been working so industriously during the past

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few weeks. The banqueting hall, with a temporary stage at

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one end, has been converted into a fine auditorium. Facing

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the stage, and beneath her canopy of state sits Queen

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Elizabeth in rough and farthingale, her hair loaded with crowns

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and powdered with diamonds, while her sharp smile and keen

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glance take note of every incident nearest her person. And

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evidently the chief favored of the moment is the man

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who has long been considered the adornus of the court.

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He is now also its hero, having but recently returned

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from the wars in Spain, where his gallantry impromptitude at

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Cadiz have won new glories for her majesty. In five

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short years more, his head will come to the block

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by decree of this same majesty. But this no one

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can foresee, and all voices now unite in praises for

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the brave and generous Essex. Another conspicuous favorite is a

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blue eyed, pink cheeked young fellow of twenty three, whose

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scarcely perceptible beard and mustache and curly auburn hair falling

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over his shoulders and half way to his waist would

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suggest femininity. Except for his martial manner and tall figure,

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his resplendent attire is notable even in this gorgeously arrayed company.

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His white satin doublet has a broad collar edged with

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lace and embroidered with silver thread. The white trunks and

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knee breeches are laced with gold. The sword belt, embroidered

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in red and gold, is decorated at intervals with white

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silk bows, purple garters embroidered in silver thread, fastened the

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white stockings below the knee. As one of the handsomest

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of Elizabeth courtiers, and also one of the most distinguished

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for birth, wealth and wit, he would be a striking

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figure at any time, but tonight he has the added

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distinction of being the special friend and munificent patron of

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the author of the play. That they have come to

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witness to him had been dedicated the author's first appeal

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to the reading public, a poem called Venus and Adonnis,

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published some three years since. Also a certain sugared sonnet

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privately circulated, prote testing for to no other pass my

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verses tend than of your graces and your gifts to tell.

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And through the patronage of this man, the gracious Earl

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of Southampton, the actor author was first brought to the

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Queen's notice, finally leading to the present distinction at her hands.

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But now the stage compels attention. The silk curtains are withdrawn,

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disclosing a setting of such elaboration and illusion as never

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before has been witnessed by sixteenth century eyes. Never before

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has the frugal Elizabeth consented to such an expenditure for costumes, properties, lights,

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and music. In vain, the audience awaits the coming of

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the author. He is behind the scenes, an anxious and

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watchful partner with the machinist in securing the proper working

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of these new mechanical appliances and the smoothness of the

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scene shifting. The Queen is a connoisseur in these matters,

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and there must be no bungling. The stage is divided

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horizontally between the roof and floor, the upper part concealed

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from the audience, while the lower section represents the interior

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of a royal palace at Athens. Three soundings of the

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cornet announce the opening of the play, with its stately dialog,

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in which Theseus, Duke of Athens, and Hippolyta, Queen of

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the Amazons, anticipate their approaching nuptials. Egius enters with his

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daughter Hermia to bring complaint to the Duke that she

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will not marry Demetrius, the husband he has selected for her,

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but is bewitched with love for Lysander. The Duke reasons

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with Hermia, but the maiden is still obdurate and demands

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to know the worst that may befall if she refuses

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to wed Demetrius. The Duke pronounces sentence either to die

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the death or to abjure forever the society of men. Therefore, fair, Hermia,

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question your desires, know of your youth, Examine well your

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blood whether if you yield not to your father's choice,

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you can endure the livery of a nun. For I

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to thee in shady cloister, mewt to live a barren

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sister all your life, chanting faint hymns to the cold,

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fruitless moon. Thrice blest they that master sow their blood

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to undergo such maiden pilgrimage. But earthlier happy is the

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rose distilled than that which withering on the virgin thorn grows,

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lives and dies in single blessedness. The tributes to the

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maiden pilgrimage, and a single blessedness win from the Queen's countenance,

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a glow which age has had no power to diminish.

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The highway to favor with the virgin Queen, as every

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court and every writer knows, lies through praises of her

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voluntary state of celibacy. Thus threatened, Hermia is urged by

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Lysander to a clandestine marriage. If thou lovest me, then

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steal forth thy father's house tomorrow night, and in the

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wood a league without the town where I did meet

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thee once with Helena, to due observance to a morn

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of May, there will I stay for thee. Hermia, hearing

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these words, feels her heart leap with joy. She tries

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to answer soberly in the same measure used by her lover,

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but as her words become impassioned, she breaks into rhyme,

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My good lysender, I swear to thee by Cupid's strongest bow,

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by his best arrow with the golden head, by the

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simplicity of venus doves, by that which knitteth souls and

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prospers loves, and by that fire which burned the Carthaine,

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when the false trojan under sail was seen, by all

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the vows that ever men have broke in number more

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than ever woman spoke in that same place, Thou hast

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appointed me tomorrow, truly will I meet with thee. A

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scene of homely prose follows. The tradesmen and tinkers of

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Athens are planning to turn actors and to play Pyramus,

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and thisby for the Duke's wedding feast. It is full

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of local hits which are not lost upon the audience.

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In the practical jokes, the melodrama, the ranting bomb bass,

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and Bottom's ambition to play a tyrant's vain, they recognize

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the satire on the amateur theatricals of the trade skills,

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the clownish horseplay of the moralities so called. These crude plays,

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once so popular, have become the jest of an audience

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who pride themselves on a drama of higher ideals and

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greater art. A sudden fall of the upper curtain, and

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the lower stage is concealed, the upper one breaking upon

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the view of the delighted spectators, and announcing act too

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of the play. It is a night scene in a

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wood near Athens, mossy banks and green trees, clouds and

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twinkling stars in the heavens, forms of fairies sitting about

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like humming birds, or resting in nodding fern leaves. They

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sing in quick, short rhymes, suiting the tempo to their actions.

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Met we on hill, in dale forest, or mead by

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paved fountain, or by rushy brook, or in the beeched

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margin of the sea, to dance our ringlets to the

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whistling wind, over hill, over dale, through flood, through fire,

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over park, over pale, through flood through fire. I do

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wander everywhere swifter than the moon's sphere, and I serve

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the fairy queen to dew her ow orbes upon the green,

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the fairy queen and king appear engaged in a very

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human quarrel. Titania, like any mortal woman, is little disposed

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to yield to the demands of her lord and master

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one of her cherished treasures. They part in anger, and

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Oberon summons Puck, the art mischief maker, and sets on

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foot the punishment of the rebellious lady. The audience, easy

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believers in spells, magic and witchcraft, are in full sympathy

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with Puck's mission to secure the potion whose magic power

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will create love or cause infidelity and hatred. Never had

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poetry been fuller of imagery or sweeter in verification than

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in the line spoken by Oberon, Nor had Queen Elizabeth

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ever received a more graceful compliment. Thou rememberest, Since once

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I sat upon a promontory and heard a mermaid on

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a dolphin's back uttering such dulcet and harmonious breath, that

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the rude sea grew civil at her song, and certain

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stars shot madly from their spheres to hear the sea

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maid's music. That very time I saw, But thou couldst

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not flying between the cold moon and the earth, Cupid,

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all armed a certain aim he took at a fair

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vestal throned by the west, and loosed his love shaft

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smartly from his bow, as it should pierce a hundred

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thousand hearts. But I might see young Cupid's fiery shaft

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quenched in the chaste beams of the watery moon, and

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the imperial voteress passed on in maiden meditation. Fancy free,

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yet marked I where the bolt of Cupid fell. It

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fell upon a little western flower before milk white, now

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purple with love's wound, and maidens call it in idleness.

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Fetch me that flower. Mark the Queen's flushed cheek and

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parted lips. The mermaid on the dolphin's back is no

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fancy picture, but an exact description of one of the

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pageants at the festivities in her honor at Kenilworth. Although

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twenty years have passed, Memory still loves to linger about

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those days when she visited her favorite, the fascinating Earl

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of Leicester, on her royal progress, before state policy and

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private peak had combined to create strife and alienation. From memory.

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Also was the verse picture painted the lad of eleven,

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who had made light of the fifteen miles between Kenilworth

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and Stratford, by tearing across ditch and hedge and meadow,

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could not easily forget the sights of that memorable day.

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Little then could he foresee the present hour. But rightly

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now does he judge that these reminiscences of the olden

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days will please her majesty? Rightly also does he judge

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that the ridiculous situations between the lovers will not be displeasing.

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A queen whose whole reign has been marked by warfare

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against the marriage of her courtiers and her clergy, whose

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own mother's marriage had been so unhappy, will sympathize with

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Puck when he says of the lovers, those things do

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best please me? That fall out preposterously? Or Lord, what

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fools these mortals be? A mad frolic now begins in Fairyland.

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Puck stirs up all sorts of complications by squeezing the

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magic flower juice on the wrong eyes, with such sad

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results that Titania falls in love with the weaver bottom

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with the ass's head on his shoulders. The two friends,

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Hermia and Helena, rail at each other over the seeming

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desertion of their life, But in the morning, the spell

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having been removed, and each lover restored to his proper relations,

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the rivals become once more true friends. The fairy king

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and Queen also have become reconciled, and prepare to celebrate

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the double wedding of the mortals with sports and revels

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throughout their fairy kingdom. The fifth act restores the lower

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stage and the palaces of theseus. His wedding festivities have begun.

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The hard handed men of Athens perform their crude interlude,

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made all the more grotesque by the awkwardness of Francis

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Flute the bellows mender in the character of thisby it

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is his part to fall upon the sword and die,

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thus ending the play. Imagine the delight of the courtly

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auditors when the clumsy man in the part of the

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disconsolate lady falls not upon the blade but upon the

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scabbard of the unfamiliar weapon. But laughter and applause are

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arrested by the appearance of a bright, transparent cloud. It

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reaches from heaven to earth, and borne in upon it.

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With music and with song are Oberon, Titania and their

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elfin train. The cloud parts, and Puck steps forth to speak.

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The epilog if we shadows have offended, think but this

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and all is mended, that you have but slumbered here

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while these visions did appear. The Christmas play is over,

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but not over the Christmas fun. Lords and ladies are

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but human, and have devised a stately dance in which

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they themselves participate until nearly sunrise, the Queen herself joining

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at times, and never so happy as when assured of

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her wondrous majesty and grace. Did they did any one

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at this Christmas play of three hundred years ago feel

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the full charm and glow glory of this immortal creation

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of the poet? Did its lines ring in their ears

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the next day, and the next and the next? Did

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they foresee how its rhythm would dance down the ages

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and abide in these present days and in this present

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speech of ours? But this is something that I, your

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truthful reporter, cannot answer. Three. An old time Christmas carol

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sung to the Queen in the presence at Whitehall fifteen

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ninety six. I sing of a maiden, that is Machelus,

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king of all Kings, to her son she chests. He

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came all so still there his mother was as do

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in April that falleth on the grass. He came all

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so still to his mother's bower, as do in April,

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that falleth on the flower. He came all so still

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there his mother lay, as do in a pril, that

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falleth on this spray. Mother and maiden was never none

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but she well. May such a lady God's mother be

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the end end of Shakespeare's Christmas Gift to Queen Bess

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in the year fifteen ninety six by Anna Bearonson MacMahon