Now let them drink, till they nod and wink, And all poor souls that have scoured bowls, God save the lives of them and their wives, Back and side go bare, &c. JOHN REDFORD. 15 [John Redford was a contemporary of John Heywood's, a fact sufficiently shown by the MS. of Wit and Science, already referred to, which Mr. Halliwell thinks is probably contemporary with the author, and which includes several songs by Heywood. Of John Redford nothing more is known than is disclosed by the MS., which contains the moral play of Wit and Science, and a few lines of two other interludes by the same author. Mr. Collier conjectures that Redford was a professor of music, perhaps employed at court. Wit and Science, which is after the manner of Heywood's interludes, must have been written sometime in the reign of Henry VIII., probably towards its close. The characters, like those in Heywood's pieces, are pure abstractions, and their conversation throughout consists of the same sort of dreary discussion, mottled over with the species of wordcatching in vogue at that period. The dialogue,' says Mr. Halliwell, 'is not in some respects without humour, but the poetry is too contemptible to be patiently endured.' The song is curious as an illustration of the manner of these interludes. It is supposed to be sung by a character called Honest Recreation, coming in to the help of Wit, who has been overthrown in a contest with Tediousness, and who, according to the stage directions, 'falleth down and dieth,' when he is recovered by Honest Recreation, with the assistance of his friends Comfort, Quickness, and Strength.] THE PLAY OF WIT AND SCIENCE. SONG OF HONEST RECREATION. I HEN travels grete* in matters thick WE Have dulled your wits and made them sick, What medicine, then, your wits to quick, Is to give place to Honest Recreation : 2 Where is that Wit that we seek than? O, Wit! how doest thou? Look up, man. O, Wit! give place to Honest Recreation— 3 After place given let ear obey: Give an ear, O Wit! now we thee pray; Give an ear and help will come straightway: Give an ear now, for thy consolation. 4 After ear given, now give an eye: Quickness am I, and Strength here bye. Give an eye to Honest Recreation : Give an eye now, for thy consolation. * Become enlarged. 5 After an eye given, an hand give ye: Feel Quickness here, feel Strength to thee. Give an hand to Honest Recreation: Give an hand now, for thy consolation. 6 Upon his feet, would God he were! O Wit! give place to Honest Recreation: THOMAS INGELEND. 15 [ALL the information that has come down to us respecting Thomas Ingelend is to be found on the title-page of the interlude of the Disobedient Child, where he is designated as late student in Cambridge.' It is the only literary record by which he is known. The original edition has no date, but Mr. Halliwell, who edited a reprint of it for the Percy Society, thinks it was published about 1560. Mr. Collier remarks that the Disobedient Child is less like a moral play than most others of the same class, the introduction of the Devil, in the usual manner, constituting its strongest resemblance to that species of dramatic representation. In other points of view it approaches more nearly to the realization of the actual characters of every-day life than the dramatic allegories of Heywood. The persons of the drama, instead of representing abstract qualities, indicate certain social conditions and relations that are brought into direct collision by the story. Thus we have the Rich Man, and the Rich Man's Son, the Young Woman, whom the Rich Man's Son is determined to marry against the wishes of his father, the Priest who marries them, and the Devil who stirs up strife in their household. The titles of these characters reveal the plot, and the following illustrates the main incident, the resolution of the son to pursue his own inclinations in opposition to the will of his father-a brave resolution, for which he pays dearly in the sequel. The Young Woman turns out a vixen, and after she has beaten him and rendered him sufficiently miserable, he is glad to make his escape from her, and seek refuge in his father's house.] THE DISOBEDIENT CHILD. SPITE MY FANTASY WILL NEVER TURN. PITE of his spite,* which that in vain, I am professed for loss or gain, To be thine own assuredly: Wherefore let my father spite and spurn, Although my father of busy wit, For I am set and will not swerve, Wherefore, &c. Anger. And that which spites me more than all these wants.' SHAKESPEARE. Who is afraid, let you him fly, Who listeth thereat to laugh or lour,* For whereas he moved me to the school, This minion here, this mincing trull,† Whatsoever I did it was for her sake, This day I intended for to be merry, *To look sad. † Not a term of reproach.-Cf. 1 Henry VI.-HALLIWELL. |