390 Elbert N. S. Thompson 
a traveling company that carried it from town to town. Two 
heralds went ahead to advertise the play that their fellows purposed 
to playe 
bis day seuenenyt, be-fore Zou in syth, 
At—on pe grene, in ryall a-ray. (132—34) 
One may fancy the interest that this proclamation would arouse, 
and the crowds that would throng to the green a week later to 
watch the stage-hands and the players. Although I imagine that 
this early play was given in a well-restricted territory, possibly 
a diocese whose bishop encouraged its performance, the first step 
toward secularization was here taken. The church could not long 
control a drama that was entrusted to traveling players. 
The free performance, however, of The Castle of Perseverance 
was hindered by its scope. Its long and diversified allegory re- 
quired a more elaborate stage than a troupe of professional actors 
could readily equip. In the center stood the castle itself as a refuge 
for Man from the vices—a turret-like structure spanning a narrow 
passage-way in which stood a bed to conceal Man’s Soul. About 
this castle, allowing sufficient room for s ne of the players, at least, 
but not for “ ouer many stytelerys ” (ma ‘s), was dug a ditch, or, 
where that was impossible, was riggeC 1p some sort of barricade. 
Just without this circular enclosure five scaffolds provided conspicuous 
seats for God, Caro, Mundus, Belial, and Covetousness, which would 
not be too remote from the audience, who stood before the castle. 
1 The staging of Zhe Castle of Perseverance, as illustrated in the sketch 
accompanying the text in the unique manuscript of the play, was ap- 
parently common. The King in Zhe Pride of Life boasts that his messenger, 
Mirth, can 


liztly lepe oure pe lake, 
Qwher so euer he go. (269-70) 
In Ane Satyre of Thrie Estaits, the shrewish wives “stand be the watter 
syde”; Deceit runs off with the King’s strong box “ through the water ” ; 
the cobbler’s wife immodestly “lifts vp hir clais aboue hir waist, & enters 
in the water”; and John in escaping must “loup the stank, or els fall 
in it” (1367, 1571, 1383, 2430). It may be that a ditch proved an effec- 
tive means of keeping back a too eager audience, Hven more common 
was the use of scaffolds upon the stage. The King of Life had his 
“place”? upon the stage, called specifically a “ tent,” to which he retired, 
and, drawing the curtain, remained unseen while his queen talked with 
the bishop (Zhe Pride of Life). So, too, a “ house” was provided in Zvery- 
man for Salvation. And in the monumental Scottish play, Axe Satyre of 
Thrie Estaits, the “seats” belonging to Truth and other characters are 
