SPELTHORNE HUNDRED 



and frivolous. She was seen through a window 

 dancing 'The Spanish Panic (?pavane) to a whistle 

 and tabourem (pipe and tabor), none being with her 

 but my Lady Warwick.' 4W The Scottish Ambas- 

 sador also reported that when she left Hampton 

 Court she wished to go on horseback as usual, 

 though she was ' scarce able to sit upright,' and 

 ' the day being passing foul, my Lord Hunsdon 

 said " It was not meet for one of Her Majesty's 

 years to ride in such a storm." She answered in 

 great anger, " My years ! Maids, to your horses 

 quickly," and so rode all the way.' As she passed 

 Kingston an old man fell on his knees praying 

 God ' that she might live a hundred years, which 

 pleased her so as it might come to pass.' 43 Three 

 and a half years later Elizabeth died at Richmond 

 Palace. 



James I came to Hampton Court for the first 

 time about four months after his accession."* 1 On 

 17 July 1603 he issued from there a general 

 summons to all persons who had 40 a year in 

 land or upwards to come and receive the ' honour 

 of knighthood ' ; the payment of the necessary fees 

 in return being understood, or a fine in default." 1 

 The first two of those who had this ' honour ' 

 thrust upon them were Mr. John Gamme of Rad- 

 norshire and Mr. William Cave of Oxfordshire, 

 who were knighted by the king at Hampton 

 Court on 20 July.* 31 On 2 1 July the king created 

 eleven peers, and the ceremony took place with 

 much magnificence in the Great Hall at Hampton 

 Court."' 



A Roman Catholic plot to seize the king, and so 

 to enforce some change in his policy towards the 

 recusants, was betrayed by John Gerard, a Jesuit, 434 

 and the proclamation for the apprehension of the 

 chief conspirators was issued from Hampton Court 

 on 1 6 July. 



James apparently determined to keep up Eliza- 

 beth's habit of spending Christmas at Hampton 



HAMPTON 



Court with suitable festivity. In December 1603 

 he and the queen returned to the palace, and a 

 grand ' masque ' called The Vision of the Twelve 

 Goddesses was specially written for the occasion by 

 Samuel Daniel. 4 " Lady Arabella Stuart, in a letter 

 dated 1 8 December 1603, says, 'The Queen in- 

 tendeth to make a masque this Christmas, to which 

 end my Lady Suffolk and my Lady Walsingham 

 hath warrant to take of the late Queen's best 

 apparel out of the Tower at their discretion.' 436 

 Sir Dudley Carleton also wrote of a ' Merry 

 Christmas at Hampton Court,' and said that ' the 

 Duke (of Lennox) is rector chori of one side (of 

 the masques about to be produced) and the lady 

 Bedford of the other.' "' The exchequer accounts 

 for the queen's royal household and wardrobe 4M 

 give an idea of the preparations in the Great Hall 

 and ' Great Watching Chamber ' for this masque, 

 and in a copy of the first edition, now at the 

 British Museum, in the King's Library, the names of 

 the twelve ladies who took part in it are inserted 

 in a contemporary handwriting, thought to be 

 that of Lord Worcester. 439 The representation 

 took place in the Great Hall on Sunday, 8 January 

 1604, at nine or ten o'clock in the evening. All 

 the ambassadors were entertained at court this 

 Christmas, and were present at the masque. A 

 letter from Sir Dudley Carleton, printed in Mr. 

 Law's History, speaks of the banquet afterwards as 

 being ' despatched with the customary confusion." 40 

 Shakespeare belonged to ' the King's Company of 

 Comedians,' 4<1 and it is extremely probable that he 

 took part in some of the numerous plays presented 

 before the king and queen in the Great Hall at 

 different times. 442 



The first political difficulty with which James 

 had to deal related to the necessity for a recog- 

 nized form of religion. James was anxious to 

 make a satisfactory compromise, and consented that 

 a conference should be summoned at Hampton 



439 An unpublished report of Lord 

 Semple of Beltreis to the King of Scots, 

 in possession of Sir John Maxwell of 

 Police 5 cit. Strickland, Lives of ike 

 Quetns of Engl. iv, 710. 



480 Ibid. 709-10. 



480a In 1602 Philip, Duke of Stettin 

 Pomerania, travelling with his tutor 

 through Europe, visited Hampton 

 Court, which he described at length in 

 his diary. The diary is still extant. 

 Tram. Royal Hist. Sac. (new sen), vi, I, 

 et seq. 



481 Rymer, Foedera, xvi, 530. The 

 'noble order of Baronets' was founded 

 later, also as an expedient for raising 

 money. They each had to pay a fee of 

 1,000. 



48 > Nichols, Progresses of Jas. I, i, 204. 



488 S.P. Dom. Jas. I, ii, 72. During 

 his reign he conferred 1 1 1 peerages, 

 about seven times as many as Queen 

 Elizabeth had created in a reign twice 

 as long. 



484 Diet. Nat. Biog.; S.P. Dom. Jas I, 

 ii, 54 (1603). 



484 For an account of the masque see 

 Law, A Royal Masque at Hampton 

 Court (1880), in which it a reprint of 

 The Piston of the Twelve Goddesses, 



436 James was determined to make 

 use of the late queen's wardrobe. Be- 

 fore he left Scotland he wrote asking 

 that her dresses and jewels might be 

 sent to his wife. Elizabeth is said to 

 have left 500 gowns, all of the greatest 

 magnificence ; Law, Hist. Hampton 

 Court Palace, ii, 7 ; Nichols, Progresses 

 of Jas. I, iv, 1060. 



48 ' S.P. Dom. Jas. I, v, 20. The 

 plague which raged in London at the 

 time was one reason for being at 

 Hampton Court. The deaths in Lon- 

 don during the autumn had amounted 

 to three or four thousand a week. 



488 Exch. Q.R Household and Ward- 

 robe Accts. bdle. 82, no. i. 



489 Law, op. cit. ii, 9-22. Lady 

 Suffolk, the queen, and Lady Rich were 

 Juno, Pallas, and Venus. The Ladies 

 Hertford, Bedford, and Derby repre- 

 sented Diana, Vesta, and Proserpine. 

 The Ladies Hatton, Nottingham, and 

 Walsingham were Macaria, Concordia, 

 and Astraea. Lady Susan Vere, Lady 

 Dorothy Hastings, and Lady Elizabeth 

 Howard took the parts of Flora, Ceres, 

 and Tethys. Inigo Jones is said to 

 have designed the scenery. 



440 yide Winwood, Mem. ii, 44. 



347 



Daniel, the author of the masque, was 

 afterwards made ' Master of the Queen's 

 Children of the Revells,' a post for 

 which there appears to be evidence 

 that Shakespeare himself applied. 



441 The warrant for enrolling the 

 King's Company of Comedians is among 

 the Chapter House Privy Seal Papers, 

 no. 71, now in the Record Office 

 Museum, dated 7 May 1603. Shake- 

 speare's name is the third on the list. 

 It was rather the queen than the king 

 who rejoiced in and encouraged these 

 revelries ; Dudley Carleton remarked 

 that * he takes no t-.traordmary pleasure 

 in them. The Queen and Prince 

 (Henry) were more the players' friends.' 

 S.P. Dom. Jas. I, vi, 21 (1604). 



442 Halliwell-Phillipps, Life of Shake- 

 speare, 205 j Collier, Ne-w Facts about 

 Shakespeare (ed. 1835), 48; Extracts 



from Revels Accts. (Shakespeare Soc.). 

 Mr. Law says that ' Unfortunately the 

 career of the masque, though brilliant, 

 was short-lived. With the decay of the 

 drama in Charles I's reign, masques 

 entirely died out, and were not re- 

 vived when the taste for the theatre 

 returned with Charles II'; Law, op. cit. 

 ii, 29. 



