Collier, The

Anon. Play Titles A (1576)Property "Paratext" (as page type) with input value "{{{paratexts}}}" contains invalid characters or is incomplete and therefore can cause unexpected results during a query or annotation process.Property "Contributor" (as page type) with input value "{{{contributors}}}" contains invalid characters or is incomplete and therefore can cause unexpected results during a query or annotation process.Property "Partnering Institution" (as page type) with input value "{{{partneringInstitutions}}}" contains invalid characters or is incomplete and therefore can cause unexpected results during a query or annotation process.

Historical Records

Government Documents

Accounts of the Office of the Revels

		The Paynters daughter showen at Hampton Court on St Stevens daie
		at night, enacted by th'erle of warwickes seruntes
		Toolie showen at Hampton Court on St Iohns daie at night enacted by the
Histories &          }		Lord Howardes seruauntes.
Invencions          }   vj		The historie of the Collyer showen at Hampton Court on the Sundaie
showen within  }		folowing enacted by th'erle of Leicesters men
the tyme               }   viz		The historie of Error showen at Hampton Court on Newyeres daie at
aforesaid               }		night, enacted by the Children of Powles.
		The historye of Mutius Sceuola showen at Hampton Court on Twelf
		daie at night, enacted by the Children of windsore and the Chappell
		The hystorye of the Cenofalles showen at Hampton Court on Candlemas
		day at night, enacted by the lord Chamberleyn his men.

Theatrical Provenance

The performance at court is the only offering documented in records known to have survived. It stands to reason, though, that Leicester's men would include "The Collier" in its public repertory, both in London and the provinces.

Probable Genre(s)

Comedy? Harbage

History Wiggins, Catalogue #602

Possible Narrative and Dramatic Sources or Analogues

Scholars have not proposed a storyline for "The Collier." Wiggins, Catalogue #602 assigns several entries in Feuillerat's transcriptions from the office of the Revels that imply features of the staging, for example, "ffor Cariadge by water of a paynted cloth and two frames for the Earle of Leicesters to the Court 28: Decembris@ v^s (p. 266). The hire of three horses "at xx^d the daie apece" and payment for their feed ("for their meate at xij^d daie and night a pece for those two daies" (p. 267).

References to the Play

None known.

Critical Commentary

Fleay, BCED makes no comment on the narrative or stage history of "The Collier" (2.#34, p. 289).

For What It's Worth

If nothing else, the linking of "history" with "collier" implies a story of more significance than the biography of a man who mines coal for a living.

Works Cited

Site created and maintained by Roslyn L. Knutson; Last updated by Rlknutson on 28 February 2023 18:26:37