William Longsword (William Longbeard)

Michael Drayton (1599)

Historical Records

Payments to Playwrights (Henslowe's Diary)

F. 52^v (Greg I.100)

Lent vnto thomas downton the 20 of Janewary

1598 to lend vnto m^r drayton in earneste of

his playe called w^m longberd the some of ... xxxx^s

F.31 (Greg I.59)

J receued forty shillingees of m^r

Phillip Hinslowe in part of vj^li for

the playe of William longsword

to be deliu^r p^rsent w^th 2 or three dayes

the xxj^th of January/1598/

Mih Drayton

Dramatic Records of Sir Henry Herbert

Revels Documents, 1660-1673 (Bawcutt 249, item R29):

A declaration under William Earle of Pembrokes Hande of the Antient powers of the Office dated the 20^th of Nouemb. 1622.

Seuerall Plays allowed by M^r Tilney In 1598. which is .62. years since.

Sir William Longsword allowed to be Acted the. 24. May. 1598

The Faire Mayd of London

And Richard Cordelyon.

Kinge and noe Kinge to be Acted In 1611 & y^e same to be printed,
Allowed by Sir George Bucke
And Hogg Hath Loste His Pearle by Sir George Buck.

Richard Hall

A variation of this note was subsequently reproduced in the "Breviat of Sir Henry and Simon Thelwall v. Thomas Betterton" (Bawcutt 255, item R33):

A Declaration under William Earle of Pembrokes hand of the Ancient Powers of the Office Dated Nouember 20. 1622.

Seuerall Plays allowed by M^r Tilney In 1598. As

S^r William Longsword Allowed to bee Acted in 1598.

The Fair Maid of London

Richard Cor de Lyon.

See the Bookes

Allowed by Sir George Buck

King and Noe Kinge to bee Acted in 1611. and the same to bee Printed

Hogg hath lost his Pearle and hundreds more

Richard Hall

Joseph Quincy Adams includes transcriptions of both, with minor differences, in the "Miscellaneous Papers" section of his edition of Herbert's records (Adams, 105; Adams, 112).

Theatrical Provenance

In January 1598 (i.e. 1599) Michael Drayton promised to deliver to the Admiral's men within two or three days his play of "Willm longsword," having been advanced two pounds by Henslowe against an agreed total fee of six pounds. The Diary offers no further proof that Drayton delivered on this promise, and there are no corresponding signs of production expenses for a play by his title.

Among the papers Sir Henry Herbert preserved into the Restoration period were records of Elizabethan licences by his predecessor Edmund Tilney, including the entry "Sir William Longsword allowed to be Acted the. 24. May. 1598." If Herbert and Tilney had their dates right there was at least one (anonymous) "Longsword" play completed and performed in the late sixteenth century. The relationship between the play licensed in May 1598 and the play Drayton was working on in January 1598 [1599] is unclear. The license may refer to Drayton's project, or to another "Longsword" play altogether (possibly for another company).

Probable Genre(s)

History (Harbage)

Possible Narrative and Dramatic Sources or Analogues

A third play, "The History of Will Longsword, Son to Rosamund" was certainly completed by Philip Massinger for Prince Charles's men playing at the Red Bull in 1639, its licence recorded by Herbert: "Massinger, History of Will: Longesword, son to Rosamund, lic. to the bull 1639" (Bawcutt 205). Massinger may have revised or adapted earlier dramatic material; it seems that Ellis Worth, an actor then with Prince Charles's troupe, had some access to older manuscripts. Herbert's entry identifies the likely subject of all the Longsword dramas: William Longespée, 3rd Earl of Salisbury (1167-1226), soldier and diplomat. Early modern romantic legend identified him as the son of Henry II (which he was) and Rosamund Clifford, "the fair Rosamund" (which he was not: see The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography). Dramatic treatments of his career are likely to have made much of his military successes against the French, and his political involvement in the difficult reign of King John. Some contemporaries of Drayton and Massinger might have known that William's funeral effigy stood, as it still stands, in Salisbury cathedral, showing him as an armoured knight with a large shield displaying his arms of six rampant lions.

References to the Play

(information needed)

Critical Commentary

(information needed)

For What It's Worth

(information needed)

Works Cited

Bawcutt, N. W. The Control and Censorship of Caroline Drama. Oxford: OUP, 1996.

Foakes, R. A., ed. Henslowe's Diary. 2nd ed. Cambridge: CUP, 2002.

Strickland, Matthew. “Longespée , William (I), third earl of Salisbury (b. in or before 1167, d. 1226).” Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Ed. H. C. G. Matthew and Brian Harrison. Oxford: OUP, 2004. Web. ODNB.

Site created and maintained by John Astington, University of Toronto; updated 15 Feb 2010.