Quarter Sessions Records

NYCRO: QSM 2/3

p 500 (8 July)

Iuratores pro domino rege super sacramentum suum presentant quod Iacobus Stubbs de Wilton in Cleveland in Northriding comitatus Eboraci Alehouskeeper sciens Edwardum Lister de Allerston in Northridding comitatus Eboraci weaver etatis quinquaginta et duorum annorum Rogerum Lister de Buttercrambe in dicto Northriding comitatus predicti weaver etatis septem annorum et amplius Thomam Burdsall de Thornton infra Libertatem de Pickeringlieth in Northridding comitatus predicti weaver ⸢etatis septem annorum et amplius⸣ Lucam Burdsall de eademweaver etatis septem annorum et amplius marmaducum Paley de Bridlington in Eastridding comitatus Eboraci Tailor etatis septem annorum et amplius Robertum Marchant de eadem Tailor etatis septem annorum et amplius et willelmum dickonson de eadem tailor etatis septem annorum et amplius, esse communes histriones vagabundos et mendicos validos (anglice common playors of Enterludes vagabundes and sturdie beggars) hac illac passim vagantes ludicra ludentes (anglice playinge of Enterludes) xxviiijo die Ianuarij Anno regni domini nostri Iacobi dei gracia Anglie ffrancie et Hibernie regis fidei defensoris &c. decimo sexto et Scotie quinquagesimo secundo in domo sua mansionali apud wilton in Cleveland predictam in Northridding comitatus predicti, predictos Edwardum Lister Rogerum Lister Thomam Burdsall Lucam Burdsall, marmaducum Paley, Robertum marchant et willelmum dickonson hospitavit, et predicti Edwardo Lister, Rogero Lister, Thome Burdsall, Luce Burdsall Marmaduco Paley Roberto Marchant et willelmo dickonson adtunc et ibidem panem et potum voluntarie dedit et sinebat eos effugere sine deprehencione et sine supplicio in contemptu dicti domini regis, Et contra formam diversorum statutorum in huiusmodi casu provisorum et editorum./

  • Marginalia
    • Iacobus Stubbs

      [Footnote: Jacobus Stubbs: in display script]

    • °contra formam°
    • James Stubbs
    • °Contrary to the form (of the statutes)°
  • Footnotes
    • Iuratores: in display script
    • Jacobus Stubbs: in display script
    • xxviiijo … secundo: ie, 29 January 1618/19
  • Record Translation

    p 500 (8 July)

    Jurors for the lord king on their oath present that James Stubbs of Wilton in Cleveland in the North Riding of Yorkshire, alehouse-keeper, knowing Edward Lister of Allerston in the North Riding of Yorkshire, weaver, fifty-two years of age, Roger Lister of Buttercrambe in the said North Riding of the aforesaid county, weaver, more than seven years of age, Thomas Burdsall of Thornton within the liberty of Pickering Lythe within the North Riding of the aforesaid county, weaver, more than seven years of age, Luke Burdsall of the same, weaver, more than seven years of age, Marmaduke Paley of Bridlington in the East Riding of Yorkshire, tailor, more than seven years of age, Robert Marchant of the same, tailor, more than seven years of age, and William Dickonson of the same, tailor, more than seven years of age, to be common entertainers, vagabonds, and healthy beggars – in English 'common playors of interludes, vagabonds, and sturdy beggars' – wandering here, there, (and) everywhere playing interludes – in English 'playing of interludes' – on 29 January in the sixteenth year of the reign of our lord James by the grace of God king of England, France, and Ireland, defender of the faith, etc, and the fifty-second (year of his reign) of Scotland received into his dwelling house in the aforesaid Wilton in Cleveland in the North Riding of the aforesaid county the aforesaid Edward Lister, Roger Lister, Thomas Burdsall, Luke Burdsall, Marmaduke Paley, Robert Marchant, and William Dickonson and then and there willingly gave food and drink to the aforesaid Edward Lister, Roger Lister, Thomas Burdsall, Luke Burdsall, Marmaduke Paley, Robert Marchant, and William Dickonson, and allowed them to flee without detention and without punishment in contempt of the said lord king and contrary to the form of various statutes established and ordained in a case of this kind.

  • Document Description

    Record title: Quarter Sessions Records
    Repository: NYCRO
    Shelfmark: QSM 2/3
    Repository location: Northallerton

    Itinerant performers in the North Riding ranged from individual pipers, fiddlers, jugglers, and others living close to or below the poverty line, to organized companies of travelling players. Most of these did not play under gentry patronage and so were vulnerable to arrest and punishment under the Elizabethan and Stuart poor laws governing 'rogues, vagabonds, and sturdy beggars' (39 Eliz c4; Great Britain, Statutes of the Realm, vol 4, pt 2 (London, 1819; rpt 1963), 899–902). Edward Lister and Richard Hudson, who figure regularly in the presentments of 1616, were the leaders of the small playing company. They were based in Hutton Buscel, just over four miles southwest of Scarborough, but they were active throughout the North Riding. The seven members of the company included three children, Lister's son and Hudson's two sons as well as Christopher Hutchinson, a boy of sixteen. The court is careful to note the ages of the boys in the company since those seven and under formed a separate category under the poor laws (The Workhouse: The Story of an Institution, http://www.workhouses.org.uk/education, accessed 8 October 2021). Between December 29, 1616, and February 18, 1616/17, the company played for thirty-two of the North Riding gentry and yeomen farmers, each of whom was fined 10s following their prosecution in the quarter sessions. Following this extensive tour, the company was arrested and appeared at the Hutton Buscel assize court on 4 April, 1616. They were convicted of being common vagabonds and were sent on for sentencing at the full sessions at Thirsk on 10 April, where Richard Hudson was sentenced to be whipped. This sentence seems to have convinced Hudson to disband his players and nothing further is seen of them.

    1616–20; Latin and English; paper; vol 1: i + 170 + i, vol 2: i + 172 + i; 300mm x 200mm; contemporary foliation (often damaged), modern pagination 1–340, 341–684 (used here); original in very poor condition; casebound 1979 in 2 volumes of tan double buckram with pages mounted individually (original calfskin binding on marbled paper boards slipped in case), original labels on spine of vol 1, upper red, lower black, with gold lettering, respectively: 'Minutes | and | Orders' and '1616 | to | 1620,' new labels (upper red, lower blue) with same text on vol 2.

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