Ale, and Tobacco 19 



other two. Ale's somewhat formal argument, with his citation of 

 etymology, and his reference to his "Works" as evidence that he is 

 possessed of the "liberal sciences," Water's scraps of Latin, and 

 Wine's quotation from the poets, all combine to give the piece an 

 academic flavor. The general atmosphere, however, as might have 

 been expected from the subject matter, is rather that of the tavern 

 than of the classrdom. It might be argued that the one scene no less 

 than the other would have to the academic audience the charm of the 

 familiar. 



Against the hjrpothesis of Cambridge authorship we have the 

 absence of any clear and definite local "hits" such as we might expect 

 to find in a college play. But there is surprisingly little of this sort of 

 thing in Lingua, and, save for the two references in the concluding 

 songs, nothing in Workefor Cutlers or Exchange Ware. There are, on 

 the other hand, in Wine, Beere, and Ale one or two allusions to London 

 matters. Thus Tost (line 540) refers to the New River, a canal, 

 dedicated in 1613, which brought water from some twenty miles 

 north of London to a reservoir near Islington, to supply the city. 

 And Water, speaking of the musicians, remarks that they are some 

 friends of his who often " come upon the water. " It must be remem- 

 bered, however, that London references would be perfectly familiar 

 to a Cambridge audience. 



Assuming that Wine, Beere. and Ale is indeed of Cambridge origin, 

 was it ever acted and, if so, under what conditions and by whom? 

 Mr. G. C. Moore Smith" suggests that Exchange Ware and Workefor 

 Cutlers, being alike so short, were played as interludes in the course of 

 some longer plays performed before King James on his earlier visit to 

 Cambridge in 1615. An imperfect copy of Exchange Ware exists in 

 the manuscript collection of Dramatic Pieces on the Visits of James I 

 to Cambridge. Wine, Beere, and Ale is but little longer and may have 

 been similarly used.^ We know that a comedy and other entertain- 

 ments were prepared for the final visit of James to Cambridge in 1625 



" Notes on Some English Universily Plays, Modern Language Retiew, III, 152. 



" Nichols, Progresses of James 1, III, 66, gives the text of "A Cambridge Madrigal sung before the 

 King instead of Interlude music in Ignoramus," showing that such substitutions were in use. G. C. 

 Moore Smith notes that in the RaHo Studiorum of the Jesuits there Is mention, with tragedies and 

 comedies, of interludes between the acts 



