46
NOTES AND QUERIES, [ii s. xn. JULY 17, ms.
MOEE EVIDENCE FROM WILLOBY'S ' Avis A.'
Despite the fact that the poem ' Willobie
Ills Avisa,' published 3 Sept., 1594,* has been
ransacked by scholars for evidence on the
life and love affairs of " W. S." (presumably
Shakespeare ?), no one seems to have noted
two other references to contemporary drama-
tists. Canto III., stanza 7, runs :
Shores wife, a Princes secret frend,
Faire Rosamond, a Kings delight :
Yet both haue found a gastly end,
And fortunes friends, felt fortunes spight : What greater ioyes, could fancie frame, Yet now we see, their lasting shame.
The reference in the first line seems to be to one of the following plays: (1) the second part of Heywood's ' Edward IV.' ; <2) 'The Life and Death of Master Shore and Jane Shore his Wife ' ; (3) the play by Chettle and Day (non-extant), " wherein Shore's wiffe is written." It is improbable that the reference is to the last of these, as this play seems to have been only in pre- paration by 9 May, 1603.f The second play was entered anonymously in the Stationers' Register on 28 Aug., 1599, as follows :
"Entred for their copyes vnder the handes of the Wardens : Twoo playes beinge the first and Second parte of EDWARD the nu th and the Tanner of Tamworth With the history of the life and deathe of master SHORE and JANE SHORE his Wyfe os yt was lately acted by the Right honorable 'the
E[a]rle of Derbye his servants xiv* 1 . "
Halliwell says this play " may be the second part of Heywood's ' Edward IV.' "J There seems to be no room for doubt that such is the case, and that, therefore, the first two plays mentioned by me above are identical.
Willoby's mention of Shore's wife, then, gives us to know that the second part of
- Edward IV.' was written and played as
early as 1594, five years before our present date for it. Moreover, the first part of the play must antedate this.
As for the Rosomond reference, the only character I think of who might fill the bill is the Rosamund whose death plays quite a noticeable part in the anonymous ' Look about You,' which is now dated 1600.
Of course, both references may be to the legends and ballads in which the characters figured and not to the plays mentioned.
- This is the date accepted by all who mention
the book, and is the one which occurs in the Stationers' Register. The preface of the book is, however, dated Oct. 1. This would seem to show that the actual publication did not take place until a month after the poem itself was registered.
f Fleay, ' Biog. Chron. of Eng. Drama,' i. 288.
Halliwell, * Diet, of Old Eng. Plays,' p. 226.
However, inasmuch as such a green bay tree
has been made to flourish over Shake-
speare's grave by the presence in the ' Avisa '
of " W. S., described as an " old player "
in the game of love,* it is only reasonable to
believe that with similar cultivation the
two grains of wheat suggested herein may
be made to bear equal fruit. One might
also point out that the owners of the other
initials" N. O. B.," " D. B.," and " D. H."
who figure considerably more in the poem
than does poor " W. S.," have been shame-
fully neglected. C. L. POWELL.
LORD BAREACRES. Most people probably, like myself, have considered this suggestive title of one of the characters in Thackeray's ' Vanity Fair ' to be the invention of the author. I find, however, that in an in- quisition made in the eleventh year of Edward III. one of the sworn witnesses bears the name of Ricardus de Beraere. It is printed in the recently published ' Hand- book to Kent Records,' by I. J. Churchill. Is there such a place-name in Kent ?
A. SMYTHE PALMER.
Tullagee, Eastbourne.
KING WILLIAM STREET, E.G. The re- building of this well-known thoroughfare is worth recording. Although no buildings of special interest have been destroyed, and no landmarks are endangered, it is a change in familiar London, an alteration that some may regret.
In 1833 it was proposed to form a new street to London Bridge. It had been part of a design of Sir Robert Smirke for the im- provement of this part of the City, and although it involved the destruction of bank premises in the narrow western entrance of Lombard Street, it was supported by the bankers, who petitioned that additional ground should be taken to give a wide open- ing to the street and improve the view of St. Mary Woolnoth (vide ' The History of a Banking House,' by H. T. Easton, 1903). This entailed the removal of Nos. 1 to 10, Lombard Street, the whole of Dove Court, and Little Lombard Street ; but the advan- tages were obvious, and ultimately Messrs. Smith, Payne & Smith were left in possession of a site (No. 1, Lombard Street) unexcelled for importance.
In appearance the street did not lack dignity. The style of restrained pseudo-clas- sicism was suitable for such a thoroughfare,
- Vide Fleay, 'Life of Shake.,' p. 24, and
'Biog. Chron.,' ii. 22L; also Grosart, Inbrod. to his reprint of ' Avisa.'
