door to the Theatre. N.B. Between the two parts of the Concert will be presented an historical Play, called the Life and Death of King Richard the Third; containing the distresses of King Henry the Sixth; the artful acquisition of the Crown by Richard; the Murder of young Edward the Fifth and his brother in the Tower; the landing of the Earl of Richmond, and the Death of King Richard in the memorable Battle of Bosworth-field, being the last that was fought between the houses of York and Lancaster; with other true historical passages. The part of King Richard by a Gentleman (Garrick) who never appeared on any stage; King Henry, Mr. Giffard; Richmond, by Mr. Marshall; Prince Edward, Miss Hippesley; Duke of York, Miss Naylor, &c.; with an entertainment of dancing, &c. To which will be added, a Ballad Opera in one act, called the Virgin Unmasked. Both of which will be performed by persons gratis, for diversion. The Concert to begin at Six o'Clock exactly."

FIRST ENGLISH ACTRESS.

The first woman who appeared on the English stage was a Mrs. Coleman, who represented Ianthe, in Davenant's Siege of Rhodes. This was in 1656. Up to that period, men enacted the women characters, dressed as such.

PUNCH.

It is very difficult to trace accurately the origin of any character of this description; the reader, therefore, must be satisfied with an unconnected notice of it.

In some of the old mysteries, wherein, no doubt, some of our readers are well read, the devil was the buffoon of the piece, and used to indulge himself most freely in the gross indecencies tolerated in the earlier ages. When those mysteries began to be refined into moralities, the Vice gradually superseded the former clown, if he may be so designated; and at the commencement of such a change, frequently shared the comic part of the performance with him. The Vice was armed with a dagger of lath, with which he was to belabour the devil, who sometimes, however, at the conclusion of the piece, carried off the Vice with him. Here we have something like the club wielded by Punch, and the wand of Harlequin, at the present time, and a similar finish of the Devil and Punch may be seen daily in our streets.

Thus much may be said of the origin of the character, and as to which most writers agree. The term Punch is an abbreviation from the Italian policinello or punchinello, which signifies a merry fool.

COXCOMB.

The fool, in the early drama, was frequently dressed in a

motley or parti-coloured coat, and each leg clad in different coloured hose. A sort of hood covered his head, resembling a monk's cowl: this was afterwards changed for a cap, each being usually surmounted with the neck and head of a cock, or sometimes only the crest, or comb; hence was derived the term Coxcomb.

FOOLS.

The custom of keeping fools for the purpose of producing amusement, ascends, as we are assured by the learned Fosbroke, to the classical ages. In Britain they were retained at court till the reign of Charles II., and in noblemen's families till perhaps a somewhat later date. Even the dignitaries of the Church in the middle ages kept fools to make them laugh-or to laugh at them. Nay, the grave David I. of Scotland, who built so many churches and monasteries, had a jester. The Lord Mayor of London also had his fool, one of whose regular jokes it was, at the great annual feast, to leap, clothes and all, into a huge custard-a jest which certainly could not be considered as deficient in cream, however monotonous it would be apt to become from repetition. In those days, moreover, fools were often retained at taverns to keep the guests in good humour.

PANTOMIME.

Pantomime, or Pantomimic Mystery in its more extended sense, was known to the Greek and Roman stages, being introduced on the latter by Pylades and Bathyllus, in the time of Augustus Cæsar. From that time to the present, different modifications of this representation have taken place on the continent, and the lofty scenes of ancient pantomime are degenerated to the bizarre adventures of Harlequin, Pantaloon, and Merryandrew. first pantomime performed by grotesque characters in this country was at Drury Lane Theatre, in the year 1702. It was composed by Mr. Weaver, and called "The Tavern Bilkers." In 1717, the first harlequinade was performed at the theatre in Lincoln's Inn Fields, called “Harlequin Executed." It was composed by Mr. Rich.

HARLEQUIN.

The

Writers differ as to the origin of the term Harlequin; one says, "There was a young Italian actor of eminence in this style of character, came to Paris in the time of Henry III. of France, and having been received into the house of the President, Achilles de Harlai, his brother actors are said to have called him Harlequin, from the name of his master." Another says, "There was a knight called Harlequin, an extravagant dissipated man, who spent his substance in the wars of Charles Martel against the

Saracens, and afterwards lived by pillage." Tradition says, he was saved from perdition in consequence of his services against the infidels, but condemned for a certain time to appear nightly on earth, with those of his lineage.

PANTALOON.

The old character of Zany was similar to our modern clown, who now is generally the possessor of all the wit in the performance. The name of Pantaloon is said to be derived from the watchword of the Venetians, pianta-leone; if so (which is doubtful), it must have been applied in derision of their fallen state, as compared with their former splendour.

MERRYANDREW.

Some have derived the term Merryandrew from the time of the Druids, an Drieu, i. e., Arch-Druid; others, from the celebrated Andrew Borde, the writer and empiric. The Merryandrew used at fairs to wear a patched coat like the modern Harlequin, and sometimes a hunch on his back. It has been remarked, that the common people are apt to give some wellknown facetious personage the name of a favourite dish; hence the Jack-pudding of the English; the Jean-potage of the French; the Macaroni of the Italians; the Hans Wurst of the Germans, &c.

GOD SAVE THE KING.

The simplicity and grandeur of "God save the King," is universally admitted; and much research has been bestowed in the endeavour to ascertain its origin. One writer says, This popular song was sung, as an anthem, at the Chapel Royal, in the reign of James II. It is uncertain by whom the words were written, but the music was composed by Dr. John Bull, belonging to the choir of that chapel. It first became a popular song (with the alteration of the name of our James to George), through the late Dr. Arne, who set it in parts, and introduced it at one of the London Theatres during the Irish rebellion in 1746, where it met with unbounded applause, and has continued to be a favourite national air from that period to the present time.

The general opinion is, that it was composed by Henry Carey, as stated by W. Chappell in his National English Airs. About the year 1795, George Savile Carey asserted his father's claim to the authorship of this song, and made a journey to Windsor, hoping to obtain some pecuniary recompense from the king. His claim was acquiesced in by Archdeacon Coxe, in his Anecdotes of J. C. Smith; and by Mr. S. Jones in his Biographia Dramatica. It was also proved, by concurrent testimonies, to have been originally sung, "God save great James our King." Add to this,

that all attempts to prove a copy before Carey's time have failed; moreover, it is admitted that he sang it in public (announcing it as his own production) five years before the first publication; and his not claiming it, when it attained its great popularity in 1745, being explained by his having put an end to his existence three years before, at the advanced age of eighty, and leaving his son an infant.

RULE BRITANNIA.

The words of this celebrated national anthem, or song, were taken from Thomson's "Masque of Alfred," and was composed by Doctor Arne.

DRYDEN'S CELEBRATED ODE.

Dryden's Ode on the Power of Music is the most unrivalled of his compositions. By that strange fatality which seems to disqualify authors from judging of their own works, he does not appear to have valued this piece, because he totally omits it in the enumeration and criticism he has given of the rest, in his preface to his works. "I shall add nothing to what I have already said on this subject (says Dr. Warton in his Essays on the Writings and Genius of Pope, vol. ii.), but only tell the occasion and manner of writing it. Mr. St. John, afterwards Lord Bolingbroke, happening to pay a morning visit to Dryden, whom he always respected, found him in an unusual agitation of spirits, even to a trembling. On enquiring the cause, I have been up all night,' replied the old bard; 'my musical friends made me promise to write them an Ode for the Feast of St. Cecilia. I have been so struck with the subject which occurred to me, that I could not leave it till I had completed it; here it is, finished at one sitting.' And immediately he showed him this Ode, which places the British lyric poetry above that of any other nation. This anecdote, as true as it is curious, was imparted by Lord Bolingbroke to Pope, by Pope to Mr. Gilbert West, by him to his ingenious friend (Richard Berenger, Esq.), who communicated it to me. The rapidity, and yet the perspicuity of the thoughts, the glow and expressiveness of the images, these certain marks of the first sketch of a master, conspire to corroborate the truth of the fact."

CATHERINE AND PETRUCHIO.

The play of Catherine and Petruchio, or the Taming of the Shrew, was derived from an Italian tale, called Silverio and Pizardo. See particulars, which would take up too much space here, in New London Gleaner, vol. ii., 1809.

THE BALLAD, "AULD ROBIN GRAY."

The following extract from a letter, written to the late Thomas Hammersley, Esq., by the Rev. Wm. Jervis, rector of Wrington, in Somersetshire, in June 1812, has been handed to us. It shows that the words of the ballad of Auld Robin Gray were written by Lady Ann Lindsay, and that the music was composed by Wm. Jervis. A gentleman now residing in Edinburgh, and intimately acquainted with the composer, can answer for the authenticity of this letter:—

My dear Sir-Anxious as you have ever been for the sake of right, as well as for the fair fame of your friends, you have more than once solicited that I should publicly claim an offspring which, for more than forty years, has been of uncertain origin. Nothing could have induced me to undertake this at my time of life, but the offer of your kind testimony to the genuineness of this my early production, which an acquaintance with it in manuscript, long before it surreptitiously found its way to the public eye, enables you so convincingly to bear. As to the ballad or story, you may remember that I received it from the Hon. Mr. Byron, and understood it to have been written by Lady Ann Lindsay.

THE LASS OF RICHMOND HILL.

This celebrated song was composed by William Upton, who published Poems on Several Occasions, 1788; and a Collection of Songs sung at Vauxhall, 1798. It was long popularly ascribed to the Prince Regent (George IV.)

THE POPULAR ROMANCE, "CASTLE OF OTRANTO."

The ingenious author of this popular romance, in a letter to Mr. Cole, now in the British Museum, gives the following account of its origin :-" I waked one morning in the beginning of last June from a dream, of which all I could recover was, that I had thought myself in an ancient castle, and that on the uppermost banister of a great staircase I saw a gigantic hand in armour. In the evening I sat down, and began to write, without knowing in the least what I intended to say or relate. The work grew on my hands, and I grew fond of it, so that I was very glad to think of any thing rather than politics. In short, I was so engrossed with my tale, which I completed in less than two months, that one evening I wrote from the time I had drank tea (about six o'clock) till half an hour past one in the morning, when my hands and fingers were so weary, that I could not hold my pen to finish the sentence, but left Matilda and Isabella talking in the middle of a paragraph."