without the same, thoroughte oure Realme of England. Willynge and commaundinge yow and everie of yowe, as ye tender our pleasure, to permytte and suffer them herein withoute anye yowre lettes, hynderaunce, or molestacion duringe the terme aforesaid, anye acte, statute, proclamacion, or commaundement heretofore made, or hereafter to be made, to the contrarie notwithstandinge. Prouyded that the said Commedies, Tragedies, enterludes, and stage playes be by the master of oure Revells for the tyme beynge before sene & allowed, and that the same be not published or shewen in the tyme of common prayer, or in the tyme of greate and common plague in oure said Citye of London. In wytnes whereof &c. wytnes oure selfe at Westminster the x^{th} daye of Maye.
per breve de priuato sigillo
The names in this patent only differ from those in the letter
of 1572 by the omission of Thomas Clarke. By the time of
its issue Leicester's men were again a Court company. They
had made their reappearance at the Christmas of 1572-3
with three plays, all given before the end of December.
They continued to appear in every subsequent year until the
formation of the Queen's men in 1583. The building of the
Theatre by James Burbadge in 1576 gave them a valuable
head-quarters in London[1]; but they are still found from time
to time about the provinces. Their detailed adventures are
as follows. In 1572-3 they were at Stratford-on-Avon, on
8 August 1573 at Beverley, on 1 September at Nottingham,
and in October at Bristol. On 26 December they played
Predor and Lucia at Court, on 28 December Mamillia, and on
21 February 1574 Philemon and Philecia. In 1573-4 they were
at Oxford and Leicester, on 13 June 1574 at Maldon, on 3 December
at Canterbury. In 1574 they were also at Doncaster,
where they played in the church. For the Court they rehearsed
Panecia, and this was probably either their play of 26 December
in which 'my Lord of Lesters boyes' appeared, or that
of 1 January 1575, in which there were chimney-sweepers.
From 9 to 27 July 1575 Elizabeth paid her historic visit to
Kenilworth, and there is no proof, but much probability,
that the company were called upon to take their part in her
entertainment. Its chronicler, Robert Laneham, may well
have been a kinsman of the player. I have not come across
them elsewhere this year, except at Southampton. They
played at Court on 28 December 1575 and 4 March 1576,
and are described in the account for their payment as 'Burbag
- ↑ Probably they occupied the Theatre, at any rate in summer, until 1583. A letter of Gabriel Harvey's in the summer of 1579 mentions 'Lycesters', the 'Theater', and 'Wylson', but in no very definite connexion with each other (cf. p. 4). The Privy Council letter of 23 Dec. 1579, for their toleration at the Blackfriars, printed by Collier, New Facts, 9, is a forgery (cf. ch. xvii).
