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When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given e.g. AUTHOR (year of submission) "Full thesis title", University of Southampton, name of the University School or Department, PhD Thesis, pagination http://eprints.soton.ac.uk 1 UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON FACULTY OF HUMANITIES School of English A Study in Sixteenth-Century Performance and Artistic Networks: British Library, Additional Manuscript 15233 by Louise Ellen Elma Rayment Thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy January 2011 2 3 UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON ABSTRACT FACULTY OF HUMANITIES SCHOOL OF ENGLISH Doctor of Philosophy A STUDY IN SIXTEENTH-CENTURY PERFORMANCE AND ARTISTIC NETWORKS: BRITISH LIBRARY, ADDITIONAL MANUSCRIPT 15233 by Louise Ellen Elma Rayment This thesis is a modern spelling edition of unedited poems and song lyrics from British Library, Additional Manuscript 15233, and a cultural and sociological study of the collection. The manuscript contains music, poetry and fragments of drama attributed to John Redford, Organist, Almoner and Master of the Choristers at St. Paul's Cathedral c.1534–1547, as well as work by at least six other mid Tudor poets. The manuscript has systematically been cited as a ‘St. Paul’s miscellany’(because the main body of work within it is attributed to Redford), and despite its varied content, has been considered almost solely from the perspective of Early Modern drama. This thesis considers the manuscript anew: as a whole, rather than in parts divided along disciplinary lines, as an example of material culture, and separately from the well-researched centres of St. Paul’s and John Redford. Chapters one and two comprise a study of the physical makeup of the manuscript, demonstrating new evidence for its date, and suggesting that it is the product of an artistic network centred on the London parish church of St. Mary-at-Hill. Chapters three and four comprise new studies of the content of the manuscript. Chapter three examines The Play of Wit and Science, with particular attention to its bibliographical status, and its engagement with contemporary artistic debate in performance. It also demonstrates its importance as a source for two later sixteenth- century plays. Chapter four is a case study of a single poem from the manuscript. This demonstrates the overall significance of MS 15233 as a source for verse and song, uncovers a network of printers involved in the transmission of its contents, and calls into question the long-standing theory that the Elizabethan poet George Gascoigne was a contributor to the manuscript. The final chapter of the thesis comprises a modern spelling edition of the poems and song lyrics from MS 15233 with individual commentaries and textual apparatus. This thesis demonstrates that to examine MS 15233 purely in relation to St. Paul’s Cathedral and John Redford, and from any one perspective, is reductive, and that these approaches have caused evidence to be skewed, and scholars to miss more complex possibilities regarding its compilation and provenance. 4 5 List of Contents List of Tables 7 Author’s Declaration 9 Acknowledgements 11 Abbreviations 13 Chapter 1: A Material Study of MS 15233 15 The Contents of the Manuscript 16 Binding 21 Paper Description and Watermark 22 Date 23 Collation and Shape 24 Signatures 25 Hands 26 Losses 27 Disorder 28 Stubs 29 Ownership 29 John Redford and St. Paul’s School 33 Redford as Almoner and Master of Choristers 36 Sebastian Westcott and the Boys of St. Paul’s 38 Chapter 2: The Evidence for a London Network 43 St. Mary-at-Hill: An Unusual Parish Church 44 Richard Edwards 49 John Thorne 50 John Day & his Publications 52 The Whole Book of Psalmes 53 Certaine Notes 54 Master Knyght 55 John Heywood & Thomas Pridioxe 57 Miles Huggarde 68 The Network and its Implications for MS 15233 71 Chapter 3: The Play of Wit and Science: Text, Theatre and Artistic Debate 73 Wit and Science: A Scribal Copy 74 The Purpose of the Copy: Wit and Science as a Performance Text 75 Wit and Science as a Play for Choirboys 78 6 ‘A pycture of wyt’: Stage Properties and Artistic Debate 85 Wit and Science as a Source 95 The mariage of Witte and Science 96 A Contract of Mariage between Wit and Wisdome 101 Chapter 4: Poetry and Song: 107 Networks of Transmission & Problems of Attribution Table of Verse Content in MS 15233 and Concordance 109 The Draper/Stationer Controversy 111 The Network and the Circulation of Let not the sluggish sleep 113 A Good Exhortation (1580) 113 A Norfolk Common Place Book (1590s) 116 A Godly Exhortation (1603) 117 A Garden of Spirituall Flowers (1610) 119 Psalmes Songs and Sonnets (1611) & Symond Byrd’s Ownership 120 MS 15233 and the Evidence for Gascoigne’s Authorship 121 A Comparison of Let not the sluggish sleep with Later Versions 126 Chapter 5: An Edition of Poems and Song Lyrics from MS 15233 139 Reading this Edition: Grace and Salvation 139 Reading this Edition: Metre, Rhythm and Performance 143 Transcription Policy 147 Spelling and Glossaries 148 Punctuation and Re-lineation 148 Choruses 148 Diplomatic Transcriptions 148 A Modern Spelling Edition of Poems and Song Lyrics 149 from BL Add. MS 15233 First Line Index to Poems and Songs (in alphabetical order) 349 Conclusion 351 Appendices Appendix A. Diplomatic Transcriptions 355 Poems and Song Lyrics from BL Add. MS 15233 Appendix B Musical Contents of BL Add. MS 15233 453 Appendix C. Diplomatic Transcriptions 459 Versions of Poems from BL Add. MS 15233 from Other Manuscript Sources Bibliography 479 7 List of Tables Table of Contents of BL Add. MS 15233 17 Table of Verse Content in MS 15233 and Concordance 109 Table Comparing Verses of Let not the sluggish sleep with A Good Exhortation 114 Table Comparing Let not the sluggish sleep with Gascoigne’s Good nyghte 124 Appendix B. Table of Musical Contents of BL Add. MS 15233 454 8 9 Declaration of Authorship I, Louise Ellen Elma Rayment declare that the thesis entitled A Study in Sixteenth-Century Performance and Artistic Networks: British Library, Additional Manuscript 15233 and the work presented in the thesis are both my own, and have been generated by me as the result of my own original research. I confirm that: . this work was done wholly or mainly while in candidature for a research degree at this University; . where any part of this thesis has previously been submitted for a degree or any other qualification at this University or any other institution, this has been clearly stated; . where I have consulted the published work of others, this is always clearly attributed; . where I have quoted from the work of others, the source is always given. With the exception of such quotations, this thesis is entirely my own work; . I have acknowledged all main sources of help; . where the thesis is based on work done by myself jointly with others, I have made clear exactly what was done by others and what I have contributed myself; . none of this work has been published before submission. Signed: ……………………………………………………………………….. Date:………………………………………………………………………… 10 11 Acknowledgements First and foremost I would like to thank Ros King, whose enthusiastic teaching on undergraduate courses at Queen Mary, University of London, inspired my interest in the Renaissance, and whose encouragement and advice resulted in me pursuing research to MA and PhD level. She has given me the numerous benefits of her knowledge, whilst always allowing me the space to develop my own ideas, and has been unfailingly generous and supportive, both as an academic supervisor and as a friend. I am also grateful to the Arts and Humanities Research Council for a three year doctoral award which enabled me to carry out this research. Many other people have helped me during the researching and writing of this thesis, only some of whom it is possible to mention here. I would particularly like to thank those members of the Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Culture at the University of Southampton who have variously given me the benefits of their time and knowledge, numerous introductions to colleagues, and friendship over the last few years. I am especially grateful to Alice Hunt and John McGavin for being so generous in their roles as my advisors, and for reading and commenting on drafts of my work at various stages. I am also grateful to colleagues at the Royal Household and the Royal Collection; Phil Elsdon for enabling me to fit paid work in around my research commitments, and Irène Campden for allowing me privileged access to the Royal Library and Book Conservation Studios at Windsor Castle, which directly benefitted my research. Last, but by no means least, I would like to thank my family and my friends for their constant support and encouragement, for being such careful proof readers, and for providing never-ending supplies of tea, coffee and cake. 12 13 Abbreviations Arundel Harington The Arundel Harington MS, Arundel Castle BL British Library, London BL Add. MS British Library, Additional MS CLA City of London Archives, previously Corporation of London Records Office. CLA manuscripts are held at the London Metropolitan Archives CSP Calendar of State Papers Dallis The Dallis Book (Trinity College, Dublin, MS D.