412 



SHIP-WORM 



SHIRLEY 



WoUey should never reach York wan long current. 

 ;i>n hv linker. Mid was claimed it- fulfilled by 

 the fact that Wolsey was arrested at Cawood, a 

 few ilays before his formal installation cm Arch- 

 bishop of York. In W. Lilly's Collection of A Indent 

 iiinl Motltnir Prophesies (1645) occurs 'Shipton's 

 prophecy,' and from it we see that all her prophecies 

 were considered as already fnllilled. Again, an 

 extant comedy on the subject dates from about 

 1660. A prophecy in doggerel verse under her 

 name was put into circulation about 1862 by Charles 

 Hindley, on his own confession (Note* and Queries, 

 Ajiril 26, 1873). These wretched lines concluded 

 with a prophecy that the world should come to an 

 end in 1881, which caused great anxiety among>t 

 a few MM v ignorant persons in corners of England. 

 See William H. Harrison's Mother Shipton Inresti- 

 gaied ( 1881 ), in which all the facts available are 

 excellently set forth. Mr Harrison points out, 

 moreover, the striking likeness between the tradi- 

 tional Mother Shipton represented on the chap- 

 books and the conventional Punch. 



Ship-worm. See TEREDO. 



Shipwrecks. See WRECKS. 



Sliira/. . a city of Persia and capital of the pro- 

 vince of Fare, much celebrated in Persian poetry 

 for its climate, its wine and roses, and its beautiful 

 gardens, is situated in a broad plain, 1 15 miles ENE. 

 of Bushire and 35 miles SW. of the ancient Perse- 

 polis (q.v. ). It is enclosed by ruined walls, and 

 previous to the earthquakes contained many 

 splendid mosques, bazaars, caravanserais, and 

 other public buildings. The place has now a 

 mean and ruined appearance, and is greatly 

 neglected. The wine of Shiraz, which is very 

 strong and resembles Tokay, is, however, still 

 famous throughout the East. Hose-water is pre- 

 pared in large quantities. Inlaid articles in 

 wood and metal, glass, and woollens are made 

 here. The city was founded in the 8th century, 

 and from its beautiful situation and charming 

 climate became a favourite resort of the Persian 

 princes. In 1812 a destructive earthquake laid a 

 large portion of it in ruins, and another in 1824, 

 which cost the lives of 4000 of the inhabitants, com- 

 pleted the wreck of it- prosperity. It was, how- 

 ever, rebuilt, and numbered 40,000 people, when a 

 third and more terrible visitation, in April 1853, 

 laid almost the whole town again in ruins, and 

 caused the death of 10,000 people. It has since 

 been partially rebuilt in a somewnat inferior style, 

 and it* pop. is now estimated at 30,000. The 

 tombs of the poets Haliz and Sadi, both natives of 

 the town, exist in the vicinity. 



Shire. See COUNTY. 



Shir* 4 , a river of East Africa, has its source in 

 Lake Nyama, and after a southerly course of 370 

 miles joins the Zaml>esi. It forms part of the chief 

 highway to the Lakes region, and was discovered 

 by Livingstone during the Zambesi expedition 

 (1858-63). The navigation is obstructed by cata- 

 ract* (Murchison Calumet) for 35 miles, in which 

 the Shire falls 1200 feet. The river passes through 

 the In-art, of the Shire Highlands, the scene of the 

 Church of Scotland's and the English Universities' 

 miion*, ami of the labours of the African Lakes 

 Company. This district was declared British ter- 

 ritory in 1889. See John Buchanan, The Shirt 

 Highlands (1885) ; also NY \ss \. / AMIIKSIA. 



Shirley. JAMES, dramatist, was bom in London, 

 Septenil>cr 13, 1596, and went at twelve to Merchant 

 Taylors' School, whence In- passed in 1612 to St 

 John's College. Oxford. Wood tells u that Laud 

 esteemed him highly, but deterred him from seek- 

 ing holy orders IHTRIIM of the large mole on his left 

 cheek. He migrated, however, to Catharine Hall, 



Cambridge, took orders, and held for a short time 

 a living at or near St Alhans, but, In-coming a 

 Catholic, resigned it, and made his bread ( Hi'J.'t '-'4 ) 

 by teaching in the grammar-school then-, 'which 

 employment also,' sn\s Wood, 'finding uneasy to 

 him, he retired to (he metropolis, lixcil in Cray's 

 Inn, and set up for a play-maker.' He worked 

 hard in his vocation, In-ing a diligent student of 

 his great predecessors, and Shakespeare alone has 

 Itt-queathed us a larger number of regular live act 

 plays there are as many as thirty-three printed in 

 the edition of Giffbrd and Dyce. In 1636 or 1637 

 he went to Ireland, probably under the pmtection 

 of Lord Kildare, but soon returned to l.iuidon. 

 where the suppression of stage-plays in Hi-1'2 ended 

 his livelihood. For some time he attended on th<- 

 Earl of Newcastle, then returned to London again 

 to earn his bread by teaching. He contributed 

 the address ' To the Reader ' to the first folio of 

 Beaumont and Fletcher ( 1647 ). The Restora- 

 tion revived his plays, but brought him no lietter 

 fortunes ; and Wood tells us that he and his second 

 wife died on the same day, distracted by the Great 

 Fire, and were buried in the same grave, October 

 29, 1666. 



For his plots Shirley drew upon his own inven- 

 tiveness, and Dyce points out that not one, if we 

 except that extraordinary failure, .V I'ntrn-l; for 

 Inland, is founded upon event* of British histon. 

 Beaumont and Fletcher were his models, <-\< n 

 more than Ben Jonson, his ' acknowledged mastei,' 

 but it must be owned he has but little of the grand 

 Elizabethan manner. Most of his plays are tragi- 

 comedies, and his best work is ever the tragic and 

 pathetic portions. He is chaste by comparison 

 with his contemporaries, and his plays breuthi- 

 throughout a pensive and tender beauty that 

 touches a sympathetic reader with a charm of its 

 own. Bright and playful fancy, sweet and flowing 

 dialogue, honest emotion and unwronght pathos 

 these are the threads out of which his magic robe 

 is woven. 



His chief plays were Love Trick*, a bright but ill- 

 constructed comedy, though Pepys calls it a ' silly play ' 

 ( 1625 ) ; The Maid's Revenue, a poor tragedy ( 162G ) ; The 

 Brother*, a comedy (1626); The Witty Fair One, an 

 excellent comedy ( 1628 ) ; The Weddiny, a charming and 

 indeed exquisite comedy ( 1628) ; The Gratrful Servant, a 

 fine tragi-comcdy, prefaced by eleven copies of verses by 

 various friends, including Massinger ( 1629) ; The Traitor, 

 his finest and also his strongest tragedy ( 1(31 ) ; The 

 Changes, or Love in a Mate, a comedy (1632) ; The II ml 

 in a ''iifir, a comedy (1632, printed next year with a 

 sarcastic dedication to Prynne, then suffering liis cruel 



fnnishment ) ; Hyde Park, a bright comedy, branded by 

 'epys as 'a very moderate play' (1(32); Tlie Young 

 Admiral, specially commended by the Master of the 

 Revels as free from oaths (1633); The (jamcttrr, an 

 admirable comedy, revived by Garrick in 1768 (1(33); 



comedy ( 1634 ) ; Thr Lady of Pleasure, the most brilliant 

 of his comedies (1(35); The Impotture, a tragi-oomedy 

 (1640); and The Cardinal, to the author himself 'the 

 best of his flock,' a tragedy coloured by Webster's 

 Duchess of Malfl (1041 ). In 1646 he printed a volume 

 of his poems, including his masque of Thr Triumph of 

 Beauty. As a writer of niaxques he is second only to 

 Ben Jonson. Among his belt was Thr Triumph </ 

 Peace, presented by the Inns of Court before the king 

 and queen in 1633. Another, The Contention of Ajnr 

 and Ul iintes (1659), contains the noble and solemn lyric, 

 ' The glories of our blood and state are shadows, not sub- 

 stantial things.' Almost as good is the ode, ' Victorious 

 man of earth,' in Cupid and Death ( 1653], or that be- 

 ginning ' Ye virgins that did late despair in his dull 

 play, The Imposture. The only complete edition of his 

 works is that edited by Giffbrd and Dyce (6 vols. 1X3). 

 There is a selection of five pUys, with The Triumph of 

 Peace, in the ' Mermaid' series, by E. W. Gone (1888). 



