Tom Dough, Part 2
William Haughton and John Day (1601)
Historical Records
Payments to Playwrights (Henslowe's Diary)
F. 92 (Greg I.145)
- lent vnto John daye the same time [i.e. 30 July 1601] in earnest of
upon - a Boocke called the 2 part of thome dowghe the some of . . . xs
F. 93v (Greg I.148)
- Lente vnto the company the 3 of septmber
- 1601 to paye vnto John daye & wm
- hawghton in part of payment of a
- Boocke called the 2 parte of thome dowghe . . . iijll
- Lent at the apoyntment of Robart shawe the
- 11 of septmber 1601 to lend vnto wm hawghton
- in part of payment of the 2 part of thome
- dowghe some of . . . xs
Theatrical Provenance
The Admiral's Men would have performed the play in the Fortune Theatre, although no performance dates are recorded. Henslowe does not record a final payment for the playwrights.
Probable Genre(s)
Comedy (?) (Harbage). Romance (Wiggins).
Possible Narrative and Dramatic Sources or Analogues
It seems plausible that the play was a sequel to "The Six Yeomen of the West," which was likely based Thomas Deloney's novel Thomas of Reading, or, The Six Worthy Yeomen of the West. One of Deloney's eponymous yeomen was "Tom Doue" of Exeter, so perhaps the present play dramatized an episode in which he played a central role. In Deloney's novel, Tom is introduced as a singularly merry figure: "this was as sure as an acte of Parliament, that Tom Doue could not digest his meat without musicke, nor drinke wine with out women, so that his hostesse being a merrie wench, would often times call in two or three of her neighbours wiues to keepe him companie, where, ere they parted, they were made as pleasant as Pies" (sig. A4r). A later episode in Thomas of Reading, chapter 14, describes the prodigal Tom's fall and restoration: "How Tom Doue bei[n]g fallen to decay, was forsaken of his friends, and despised of his seruants: and how in the end he was raised againe through the liberality of the Clothiers" (sig. I3v).
References to the Play
(Information welcome.)
Critical Commentary
Greg (II.219) notes that in Deloney's novel Tom's last name is apparently pronounced "Dove," evinced by a single rhyme with "love" (sig. B1r), although he allows the possibility that the playwrights may have overlooked this clue.
Wiggins (4:328-29) proposes that the play may have dramatized the story of Tom's decline and restoration in Chapter 14 of Deloney's novel. On the title of the play, Wiggins notes the comparison with the sequels to Chettle and Day's The Blind Beggar of Bethnal Green, namely, the two parts of "Tom Strownd."
For What It's Worth
<Enter any miscellaneous points that may be relevant, but don't fit into the above categories. This is the best place for highly conjectural thoughts.>
Works Cited
Site created and maintained by Misha Teramura, Reed College; updated 11 June 2017.