below that upon Cawarden's death the Office of the Revels was removed to the 'late Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem' in Clerkenwell. Probably the transfer had taken place by 10 June 1560, as an inventory was drawn up on that date of 'certeyne stuff remaynynge in the Black Fryers in London'.[1] The Tents, as well as the Revels, seem to have been moved to St. John's.[2]
In accordance with Benger's request, a survey of the Revels was undertaken, under a warrant from the Privy Council of 27 April 1560, by Sir Richard Sackville and Sir Walter Mildmay, the Under Treasurer and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and a draft of a document submitted to them is preserved at Loseley.[3] This contains a detailed account of the transactions of the Office since the last audit in 1555, as a result of which Cawarden's executors established a claim for a balance or 'surplusage' of £740 13s. 1012d. against the Exchequer. The total expenditure of the Office for the period covering Elizabeth's coronation and first Christmas had been £602 11s. 10d. To the account are appended inventories showing the sets of masking garments which existed in 1555, the materials since issued from the Wardrobe, the use made of both of these in the fashioning of new garments and the 'translation' of old ones, and the sets found in the Office at the time of the survey. These are marked as either 'serviceable' or 'not serviceable' or 'chargeable', but 'fees', and the warrant from the Council instructs the commissioners that cast garments 'being fees incydente to the saide office may be taken by ye Master of ye Revelles & dystributed in soche sorte as haue bene accostomed'. Probably the officers sold them to players.[4] No further detailed accounts are available until the last year of Benger's Mastership, but there are summaries which show an average annual expenditure of about £570.[5] For some reason, there was a great increase
- ↑ Hist. MSS. vii. 615.
- ↑ Lady Derby writes to Sir Christopher Hatton in 1580 that she had been with her cousin Sackford (Master of the Tents) in 'his house at St. John's' (Nicolas, Hatton, 148).
- ↑ Printed by Feuillerat, Edw. and M. 180; Eliz. 18, 77.
- ↑ Sometimes garments no longer useful for masks, but not yet cast as fees, had been altered for players, and either kept in the office and 'often used by players', or given to the players or musicians 'by composicion' or 'for their fee'. Some were missing because 'the lordes that masked toke awey parte', or they had been 'gyven awaye by the maskers in the queenes presence'. Some were treated as fees, because 'to moche knowen'; in an earlier inventory of 1555 we find 'ffees because the King hath worin hit' (Feuillerat, Edw. and M. 299; Eliz. 24, 25, 27, 40.
- ↑ Feuillerat, Eliz. 109, 119, 124, 125, 126. Possibly the amounts of imprests are in some years to be added.
