Play of Oswald (BL MS Egerton 2623)
Anon. (date unknown)
Historical Records
British Library MS Egerton 2623, ff.37-38
22. Fragment of a play, in which the characters are, Ethelbert, the Duchess (his wife), Oswald (their son, conveyed to Northumberland in his infancy to escape his uncle, and newly discovered), Orina, Count Coell, Sir Ingram, Mouse-trap, etc.: late XVIth cent. The fragment, which is in two different hands, ends "Nay my lord, Ile speak thus much in his praise to his face, tho hee bee as fell a mastiue as euer rann vpon a gentleman: yett the curre is of a good breede, and to one hee knowes will shake his tayl"; but the words in italics, which are intended to convey a covert allusion to Will. Shake-speare, are a modern fabrication. f. 37.
Transcription:
| F. 37v. | . now not at my returne what dore to knock at | |||
| (Greg 149) | . or where my parents dwell, nor whom to ask for | |||
| __________ | ||||
| . . . . . . | . ood hart | |||
| __________ | ||||
| . . . . . . | . ray tell ye duchesse this & that I p . . T out my last last | |||
| . arewell to her | 5 | |||
| __________ | ||||
| . . . . . . | . .is I shall doe & w . . . . . . . . k which Ile exercize | |||
| . ind out the misle . . . . . . . . her Change | ||||
| __________ | ||||
| . . . . . . | will you, y'are m . . . . . . . Angell & with all . . . ause of | |||
| not bee [. . . . ] . . . . . . . . . . H the shadow of any thing | ||||
| that euer shee . . . . . . . . . . Pray lett her haue | 10 | |||
| this Cloke & . . . . . . . . . . t . . . . . . . . d plometts | ||||
| hanging at my . . . . . . . will as they are lett downe | ||||
| keepe a l . . D . . . . . . . To tell me how ye day goes, | ||||
| __________ | ||||
| . . . . . . : | giue mee. . . . . . . . . . . thou partst not hence yett wind | |||
| vp all thy . . . . . . . . . elles shall fill thine eares, | 15 | |||
| a chyme of . . . . . . . | Exeunt | |||
| __________ | ||||
| .oris | Enter . . . . . . . . . .thelbert . orina .Sibert Ardeia | |||
| Clerimond Adrian ..rtrand .bracy.Ranulph | ||||
| : le beau | ||||
| __________ | ||||
| .thel: | the sunn to heare this story has gon slowly as wondr . . . | 20 | ||
| & delighting in ye Change, of this yor oswalds fortune | ||||
| __________ | ||||
| . . . . . . : | all (I sweare by my best hopes) being true that I | |||
| related, | ||||
| __________ | ||||
| . . . er: | in her discoursing on your Cheeke I noted the | |||
| battaile of a palenes and a redd fighting together | 25 | |||
| often | ||||
| __________ | ||||
| .thel: | vmh . Vmh . ^twas nothing but a selfe-feeling, & Compassonate | |||
| sharing of oswalds Ioy or sorrowes | ||||
| __________ | ||||
| Enter ye duchesse & oswald hand in hand | ||||
| __________ | ||||
| Duch: | before my voice aduance it self to heigth | 30 | ||
| my lord, deere husband, husband | ||||
| __________ | ||||
| .thel: | whats the matter | |||
| __________ | ||||
| Duch: | looke on theis Iewells--looke vpon vm well | |||
| rownd turne vm rownd--duke gerard--noble | ||||
| madame, siberte princely sibert--girle,--vpon | 35 | |||
| my blessing shoote at his face fixd lookes--cast | ||||
| all your eyes on this young man & wonder--wond. . | ||||
| at him | ||||
| __________ | ||||
| oswa: | what owle am I now made | |||
| __________ | ||||
| Duch: | know you thes toyes | 40 | ||
| __________ | ||||
| .thel: | I doe--& if ye god of scilence please to lay his | |||
| finger on each lippe but myne. I with strange | ||||
| musick, will fill euery eare, whilst I am rapt | ||||
| to tell what you shall heare | ||||
| __________ | ||||
| .r | pray sr goe on and scilence | 45 |
Theatrical Provenance
Unknown; information welcome.
Probable Genre(s)
Comedy / romance? (based on the revelation of Oswald's identity)
Possible Narrative and Dramatic Sources or Analogues
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References to the Play
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Critical Commentary
Harbage listed the fragment under "Titleless Plays and Fragments" in Supplementary List I (p.203):
'Fragment of a play.' Chief characters are Ethel-[bert?], the Duch[ess] his wife, Os[wald] their son, Orina, Sir Ingram, Mousetrap, etc.; contains a Collier forgery. Brit. Mus. MS. Egerton 2623, ff. 37-38.
Bentley (5.1452) offers a slightly better account of the manuscript's condition:
The two pages in Egerton 2623 disfigured by damp may be part of the same play; though the ink differs, the hands are similar and may be identical. 'Duch[ess]', 'Ethel:', and 'Osw[ald]' are characters on fol. 37. Oswald sems to be the lost son of the Duchess, discovered by a crucifix and the print of a ripe mulberry on his neck. Oswald's real name appears to be Eldred. Characters on the second folio are Ingram, Toogood, Count Coell, Malfreda, and Mousetrap, among others.
Greg ("A Dramatic Fragment") offered the first and most sustained account of the fragment, reprinting it and transcribing it. Quoting Collier's description ("Dramatic Manuscripts. Fragments of two old Plays, apparently of about the time of Shakespeare. They are in a very bad state from damp, and must have been used as fly-leaves. Portions in each are illegible") Greg drew attention to Collier's errors:
Collier was, of course, wrong in supposing the fragments to belong to different plays. The oversight is all the more curious since one would suppose that he must have read the MS., so far as he could at least, with some care before venturing upon the insertion of an original addition. Such attention, however, as he may have bestowed upon the curious relic, the history of which he has not recorded, did not prevent his sticking the leaves into his scrap-book the wrong way round, so that in each case the text begins on the verso. (148)
Greg provided additional detail about the writing:
With regard to the statement in the catalogue that the MS. is written in two hands I must, with all deference to authority, express my belief that, except for the forgery, there is only one. There are, however, three different inks and two pens. As far as F. 37a, 1. 31, the MS. is in a dark-brown ink which has suffered very much where the damp has attacked it; then to F. 38b, 1. 8, it is in a rather lighter coloured ink, but the difference is not very noticeable. From here to the end a dead black ink has been used and also a finer pen, which gives a rather different character to the hand. This ink has been absolutely unaltered by the damp, even where this has almost destroyed the paper itself. Finally, there is the forgery, which is similar to this last portion in ink and style, except that it is cramped up in a corner. It is cleverly executed, and I must admit that I doubt whether I should have detected it if I had not already known of its existence. (153)
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
A COLLECTION of papers chiefly relating to the English drama, temp. Hen. VII.-1778; formed by John Payne Collier, who has inserted a brief description... [Contains forgeries]. 16th century AD-17th century AD. MS Egerton 2,623. British Library. British Literary Manuscripts Online. Web. 5 Nov. 2014. (subscription required)
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