264 Chippenham. Notes of its History. 



kind at Skinner's Wells, near Smithfield, which continued three 

 days : the King, Queen, and many of the nobility being present. 

 In the next reign, Hen. IV. (1409), another play was acted at the 

 same place which lasted eight days. This drama began with the 

 Creation of the World, and contained the greater part of the 

 history of the Old and New Testament ! 



A few specimens of this sort of ancient play are still left : and 

 certainly anything more ridiculous according to our notion, cannot 

 well be imagined — ridiculous as well both in tone and style, as 

 from the confusion and utter misplacing of the times and events 

 of history. What sort of notion for instance, could the common 

 people have had of the order of events, when listening to such a 

 scene and dialogue as this ? The play was the play of the Flood : 

 Noah's wife positively refuses to go into the ark : when the follow- 

 ing edifying conversation takes place. (Modern English is here 

 adopted, many of the original words being quite unintelligible.) 



" Noah. Good wife, doe now as I thee bid. 

 "Wife. By Christ, not I, ere I see more need; 

 Thoughi thou stand all day and stare. 

 Noah. Lord, how crabbed women be ! 



And are not meek, I dare well say. 

 As is well seen by me to day. 

 Good wife, a done with all this babble, 

 And let us not in this place squabble : 

 Or they'll all say, thou master art ! 

 And master by Saint John thou art ! " 



Sir William Dugdale who died in 1686, says he was told by old 

 people that in their younger days they had seen some of these 

 plays : that the yearly crowds of country people to see them was 

 extraordinary great, and yielded no small advantage to the towns. 

 But this sort of performance was generally suppressed at the 

 Reformation: and if they were all in the style of the extract just 

 given, the loss is not much to be regretted. 



The old building we are speaking of, has also always been the 

 scene of the election of Burgesses to serve in Parliament. The 

 list of Members of Parliament for Chippenham is complete from 

 A.D. 1553, (1 Mary) ; but a few names of much older date can be 

 collected out of ancient Parliamentary writs. The very oldest I 



