[261] Shillingford’s Letters, 141, 142. Rec. Nottingham, i. 183. For Rochester, Eng. Chron. 124; Hist. MSS. Com. ix. 76. For London see Lit. Cantuar. iii. 169.
[262] Boys’ Sandwich, 673, 676, 684. The town council of Lynn decreed in 1431 “that the three players shall serve the community this year for 21s., and their clothing to be had of every house;” but two years later the players demanded an increase of their “reward,” and a grant was made to each of them of 20s. and their clothing, in return for which “they shall go through the town with their instruments from the Feast of All Saints to the following Feast of the Purification.” (Hist. MSS. Com. xi. 3, p. 162-3.) In Canterbury four minstrels were appointed every year, and each one was given a silver scutcheon worth 100s.—a badge which was returned at the end of the year to the city chamberlain.
[263] Chronicle of the Grey Friars of London (Camden Society), 12.
[264] Hist. MSS. Com. ix. 147-8. A most interesting example of an English play is given in the “Commonplace book of the fifteenth century,” ed. by Miss Toulmin Smith, pp. 46-9, the play of Abraham and Isaac. The vivacity, the pathos, the dramatic movement, the strong human interest, are very remarkable.
[269] Hist. MSS. Com. v. 540, 541, 544, 552, 548, 549.
[271] “Two Sermons of the Boy Bishop at S. Paul’s” have been published by the Camden Society, 1875.
[275] Davies’ York, 43, 77; Eng. Guilds, 141-3. The expenses that fell on a town at a royal visit were exceedingly heavy. (Davies’ York, 69.) For Canterbury, Hist. MSS. Com. ix. 140-151.
[276] In 1415 there were fifty-seven crafts in York, each of which had its special play. (Davies’ York, 233-236; English Guilds, 141-3; Hist. MSS. Com. i. 109.) Plays were given over to certain trades to act. _Abraham and Isaac_, for instance, was given to the slaters in Newcastle, the bowyers and fletchers in Beverley, the weavers in Dublin, the parchminers and bookbinders in York, the barbers and wax-chandlers in Chester. (Commonplace Book, ed. by Miss Toulmin Smith, 47-8.)
[277] The prices charged by players and minstrels seem to have risen considerably between 1400 and 1500. For a growing economy, see Hist. MSS. Com. iii. 345.