Devil of Dowgate, or Usury Put to Use

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John Fletcher (1623).

Historical Records

The Office-Book of Sir Henry Herbert

New play, The Deuill of Dowgate, or Usury putt to use, by Fletcher, King’s Company, 17 Oct. 1623. 1 li.

(Bawcutt, Control and Censorship, 146)

Theatrical Provenance

For the King's Men

Probable Genres

City comedy; usurer comedy

Possible Narrative and Dramatic Sources or Analogues

See Critical Commentary.

Critical commentary

F. G. Fleay wrote:

The Devil of Dowgate, or Usury put to use, was licensed 1623, Oct. 17 (in place of an old play by Middleton), for the King's men. As Massinger was away, we must look for a play by Fletcher, Middleton, or Rowley. Such a play is Wit at several Weapons. Fletcher only writ in an "act or two" (see the Epilogue at a revival, when the name of the play, no doubt, was altered). The old title is alluded to i. 2, 'Father, you shall know that I put my portion to use." The scene, is in London, and the subject is of such a father and son as the old ballad title. The Devil of Dowgate and his Son, would lead us to expect. Fletcher's part is i. I ; ii. I ; iii. i ; iv. i, 2, 3 ; but it has been altered at the revival, of course after Fletcher's death... I find no notice of a Court performance under either of the above names, but as it is not likely that any play of Fletcher's should at this late date have been omitted from the Court list, I would suggest that The Buck is a Thief presented 1623, Dec. 28, was this play. Sir Ruinous Gentry, of course, would be the Buck.

Almost none of this is tenable, but it introduces the major themes of speculation and scholarship around the play.

Firstly, the confusion with a Middleton play: early printed versions of Herbert simply concatenated the entry for The Devil of Dowgate onto the end of the preceding entry for More Dissemblers Besides Women. This gave the impression that the latter was somehow a substitute for the former. Bawcutt concludes that this is an error, and that they are two separate entries.

Secondly, authorship: Herbert’s record in fact assigns it firmly to Fletcher.

Thirdly, Fleay’s argument that the play survives as a palimpsest in Wit at Several Weapons has met with no favour, and is indeed rendered impossible by the modern consensus that the play is earlier than 1623. Elsewhere it has been suggested that the play survives in The Night Walker, which is equally wishful thinking. Nor is there anything to substantiate Fleay’s claim that The Devil of Dowgate might also be the lost Buck is a Thief. (On all these claims, see Bentley, 3.328-9).

Dowgate is a ward of the city of London, on the north bank of the Thames, running downhill to the river. John Stow’s extensive description of the ward gives no clue to the “devil”. For a map see [[1]]; for Stow’s description, see [[2]].

For What It's Worth

We can say something about the genre of this lost play. Insofar as it names a central London location in its title – Dowgate - it seems reasonable to identify it as a city play, probably a city comedy. “Usury put to use” suggests a plot in which a usurer is himself exploited, and this seems in line with the usual fate of usurers in city comedies.

Secondly, an EEBO-TCP search turns up a surprising new reference to the tradition of the Devil of Dowgate. It is from 1573, twenty years earlier than the earliest yet known. The controversialist John Bridges - now chiefly remembered as the victim of Martin Marprelate - is attacking a Catholic writer:

Even with this extra example, the original story of the Devil of Dowgate still awaits elucidation. But the phrase is fifty years old by the time it comes to be used by Fletcher.

Works Cited

To be completed

Bowers, Fredson (ed.). Dekker, Thomas. The Dramatic Works of Thomas Dekker. Vol. 1. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1970. Print.

Fleay, F. G. A Biographical Chronicle of the English Drama, 1559-1642. London: Reeves and Turner, 1891. Print. Internet Archive

Page created and maintained by Matthew Steggle: last revised 30 April 2010.