Bridegroom and the Madman, The

Anon. (c.1619)

Historical Records

Cotton MS. Tiberius E. X.

In 1925 Frank Marcham transcribed and published the contents of the then British Museum manuscript, Cotton MS. Tiberius E. X. It contains the History of Richard III by the Master of the Revels, Sir George Buck, written on what appears to be “Revels Office waste,” sometime after 1617 (Chambers, RES 479). Amongst the papers are “four lists of plays, bare lists without any indication of their objects,” which may or may not be all in Buck’s hand (Chambers, RES 479). Chambers believes it “most likely that the lists represent plays which the Revels Office had at some time or times under consideration for performance at court” (RES 484).

The list designated ‘D’ by Chambers (f.247) contains “The Bridegr".

Lord Chamberlain's List

On 7 August 1641, the Lord Chamberlain issued a list of play titles which were the property of the King's Men, and not to be printed without their consent. On this list appears "The Bridegroome & ye Madma". (Bentley, 5.1297).

Theatrical Provenance

Prince's Men in 1619; King's Men by 1641.

Probable Genre(s)

Unknown

Possible Narrative and Dramatic Sources or Analogues

None known

References to the Play

None known

Critical Commentary

Bentley (5.1296-7) hesitates over identifying "the Bridegr" as a Prince's Men play, but concludes that it probably is: "No other play title beginning with the letters of the Revels entry is known in the Elizabethan, Jacobean, or Caroline periods". Since Bentley was writing, the connection has been further corroborated by the record printed by Orbison.

For What It's Worth

What kind of plot could one have, featuring both a bridegroom and a madman?

Works Cited

Chambers, E. K. (review author), “The King’s Office of the Revels, 1610-1622. Fragments of Documents in the Department of Manuscripts, British Museum, transcribed by FRANK MARCHAM, with a Preface by J. P. GILSON. London: Frank Marcham, 53, Chalk Farm Road, N.W.1. Pp. 50, including 19 Collotype Plates. £2. 2s. 1925.” The Review of English Studies, 1.4 (1925): 479-84. Print.

Marcham, Frank. The King's Office of the Revels 1610-1622: Fragments of Documents in the Department of Manuscripts, British Museum. London: F. Marcham, 1925. Print.

Orbison, Tucker. "Traces of Two Jacobean Dramatic Performances at the Middle Temple," Yearbook of English Studies 1 (1971): 55-62.

Site created and maintained by David McInnis, University of Melbourne; revised by Matthew Steggle, Sheffield Hallam University; updated, 17 November 2010.