T. C. Noble reported in 1871 that a bill mentioning
Jonson
from
Thomas Cooke,
a groom of
Prince Charles
's
chamber, was in the possession of Mr John Carter of 17 Fleet
Street. This bill, dated January 1620 , has never
subsequently been verified, and Eccles (1936) suggests that it is inauthentic.
Considering the marked similarity to bills from other messengers sent to
Jonson
(Life Records 53 and 54) which were discovered after the report of this record, it
seems likely that this document is authentic. The bill, for a message requesting
that
Jonson
and other Blackfriars
actors to come from Cripplegate
to attend court, also mentions
Sir Robert Carey
(first earl
of Monmouth, ?1560-1639, courtier)
.
Eugene Giddens
Mensis Jenevar Anno Regis Jacobi Decimo Septimo, 1619.
[Trans.: January in the seventeenth year of
James
's reign, 1619 [for
1620].]
Thomas Cooke
, one of the Gromes of
the Prince
his chamber,
being sent in his Highnes service by ye comand of Mr Welter
Alexander, Gentellman
Usher, Daily Waiter to
the Prince
his Highnes, of two Message two severall tymes
from the Court at Whithaell into
London
by Cripellgatt, to warn Mr Ben Johnson the
Poet, and the Players at the Blackfriers to atend Hys Highnes that night following
at Court, wch. severall services being done, he returned each tyme with answer, also
being sent another tyme by the lyke comand to the honorabl. the lorde Hubarde with
letters, wch service being done he returned answer to the Court aforesaid, for wch
services he praieth to have alowance for his boot hier and charges to and fro for
thre jornies to be 4 s octed by the honarbl
Sir Robert
Cary
Knyght Chamberlin to ye
Prince Hys Highnes and to be paid by the worshipfull Mr Addams
Newton, Recever
Generall of Hys Highnes Tresurer.
Bibliography
Noble (1871)
JAB, 119 [from Noble]
H&S, 1.235 [from
Noble]
Eccles (1936)
Charles I (1600-49) was the second son and third child of James I and VI and Anne of Denmark . He was created Prince of Wales in 1617, following the death of his brother Prince Henry in 1612.
Blackfriars was the former location of the Dominican foundation in London , south-west of St Paul's. It retained the right of sanctuary, and in the early seventeenth century was home to many fashionable people (including, for example, the earl and countess of Somerset , and Jonson 's patron and friend Esmè Stuart, Lord Aubigny), many of whom lived in converted monastic buildings. Two parts of the former monastery housed the first and second Blackfriars theatres, in 1577-1584 and 1596- respectively; a number of Jonson 's plays were first performed here by the resident boys' companies.
In the north of the City of London. 'Cripplegate' refers to the tunnel or covered way (Anglo-Saxon 'cruplegate') which originally ran from the city gate to the Barbican, or fortified watchtower.
Carey was the seventh and youngest son of Henry , first Lord Hunsdon , and brother of George Carey. He was an emissary to the Low Countries in his teens, fought there in 1587, and against the Armada. He was knighted by Essex in 1591. As he was on good terms with James VI, he managed, by careful planning, to be the one to bring the king the news of Elizabeth 's death, riding from London to Edinburgh (where he arrived on 26 Mar. 1603) in the space of two days. His reward was to be appointed a gentleman of the bedchamber; his wife gained a position in the queen 's household and his daughter became a maid of honour to Princess Elizabeth . Carey became governor of Prince Charles 's household in Feb. 1605, and in 1611 his master of the robes. When Charles was created Prince of Wales in 1617, Carey became his chamberlain. He followed Charles and Buckingham to Spain in 1623, on James 's instructions. He was created earl of Monmouth in Feb. 1626 and died in Apr. 1639.