James Burbage

“ Was it because they knew “all the world’s a stage” that they called it then “the Globe”? There Shakespeare was free to create, and Burbage to interpret his creations. Londoners on the other side had known of its exodus, and had watched its rising, and again it was its own advertisement. The hopes of the Thames watermen were radiant as it grew.
The litigation which had handicapped the Burbages had ceased with the death of the two principals, Margaret Braynes and James Burbage. But Cuthbert, even before he left Holywell, had been sucked again into the vortex of the law. ”

“ James Burbage was owner of "The Theatre," and it was in his time, we may presume, that Shakespeare acted as ostler and call-boy. But he must have risen up from the ranks at no small pace when his gifts became well known, for not only do we find him a regular member of the company, but a friend of the leading members, men like Richard Burbage, son of the proprietor, and Augustus Phillips. ”

“ In all our discussions about the Shakespeare Memorial and the National Theatre, it would be well to remember what one man did towards that end 330 years ago.
James Burbage, the joiner by apprenticeship, the player by inspiration, the manager by sheer superiority, formed the best company of players of his day, and persuaded the greatest Earl of the kingdom to secure him the first Royal Patent to players, a patent which raised them from being “vagabonds” into artists. ”

“ I have discussed this at full in my paper, "The Earliest Official Record of Shakespeare's Name," Berlin (a copy at the British Museum) ; also in a long letter to the Times, January, 1895.
Page 70.—James Burbage bought the part of a house in Blackfriars from Sir William More, February 4, 1596, which he afterwards converted into a theatre. Regarding the quarrel with Allen and "the Theatre" lease, see the depositions in the case of Burbage v. Allen taken at Kelvedon, in Essex, August, 1600, reproduced in Halliwell-Phillips's "Outlines," i. 350. ”

“ BURBAGE, JAMES (d. 1597) , actor, and the first builder of a theatre in England, is often stated to have been a native of Stratford-on-Avon. A John Burbage was certainly bailiff of the town in 1556, and a family of the name was well known there throughout the sixteenth century. But when James's son Cuthbert applied for a grant of arms in 1634 he claimed to belong to a Hertfordshire family. The theory of the Stratford origin of the family has been chiefly maintained with a view to confirming the apocryphal story that Shakespeare and Richard Burbage [q. v.] ”

“ On 23rd March [77] it was stated in court that the Burbages had been examined upon interrogatories, and these committed to the consideration of Mr. Dr. Cæsar. On 24th April 1591, [78] Burbage continued his case against Mrs. Braynes, she having put in an insufficient demurrer; consideration was referred to Mr. Dr. Carew. On 15th June, [79] as nothing material had been advanced on her side, Burbage asked for a subpœna against her and Myles. On 20th July [80] Margaret Braynes appeared in her own case against Cuthbert and James Burbage ”

“ In 1587, this company became "The Lord Chamberlain's servants"; and we shall in due time find Shakespeare belonging to it. James Burbadge was the father of Richard Burbadge, the greatest actor of that age. The family was most likely from Warwickshire, and perhaps from Stratford, as we have already met with the name in that town. Such were the opportunities our embryo Poet had for catching the first rudiments of the art in which he afterwards displayed such learned mastery. ”

“ Unscrupulous characters might find congenial companions in the throng. Somewhere in 1594 a diamond, which had gone astray from the loot of a Spanish vessel, was shown in Finsbury Fields by a mariner [397] to certain goldsmiths, who said that they had met him by chance at a play in the Theatre at Shoreditch. [1149] But James Burbadge had obtained for himself a tactical advantage by building outside the jurisdiction of the City and within that, less organized or more easy-going, of the Middlesex magistrates. ”

“ The major looked at him sternly. "See here, sir! If you attempt for a moment to hint that—"
"My dear Major Burbank," Astro replied amiably, "I hint at nothing. All I wish is to be able to distinguish between the astral emanations of those who frequent your place. It is possible that Mrs. Burbank was most affected by a woman; but it is not likely."
The major, still frowning, replied: "We lead a very quiet life. My friend Colonel Trevellian is the only close friend of the family. But I must tell you, sir, that my wife has of late confessed to me that she did not like him. ”

“ It happens continually, in the process of nature, that a man’s calling is declared in his personality. The soldier, the clergyman, the lawyer and the horse-dealer are cases in point. But no man could have borne clearer evidence of the unhappy estate to which it had pleased providence to call him than Richard Burbage, the tragedian. ”

“ Burbige ye actor’. The inveterate tendency of mankind to guess has led to suggestions that he may have painted the portrait of himself in the same gallery, the Chandos portrait of Shakespeare, or the original of the Droeshout print.
One other record of Burbadge, apart from his company, may be noted. On 31 May 1610 he was employed by the City, with his fellow James Rice, to deliver a speech to Prince Henry at a water-pageant on [310] the Thames (cf. ch. iv) . ”

“ His scruples were doubtless begotten of a false pride, a sentiment in which there was a thread of moral tinsel, as there was in the Southern idea of chivalry; but he felt ashamed of his own poverty, the positive flatness of his situation, when he thought of the gilded nimbus that surrounded the protégée of Mrs. Burrage. This shame was possible to him even while he was conscious of what a mean business it was to practise upon human imbecility, how much better it was even to be seedy and obscure, discouraged about one's self. ”

“ The minuteness of his observation, the keenness of his perception of all these things, give him a real originality which is confirmed by a style sometimes indeed idiomatic and unfinished to a fault, but capable of remarkable felicity and vividness. Mr. Burroughs is also, fortunately for his literary prosperity in these days, a decided "humourist"; he is essentially and genially an American, without at all posing as one, and his sketches have a delightful oddity, vivacity, and freshness. ”

“ Such revelations ought to have been satisfactory; if they failed to be completely so, it was only on account of the elder girl's regret that the subject as to which her judgement was wanted should be a young man destitute of the worst vices. Henry Burrage had contributed to throw Miss Chancellor into a "state," as these young ladies called it, the night she met him at Mrs. Tarrant's; but it had none the less been conveyed to Olive by the voices of the air that he was a gentleman and a good fellow. ”

“ He turned away because, as we know, he had been taught that a gentleman talking to a lady must always do that when a new gentleman is presented; though he observed, looking back, after a minute, that young Mr. Burrage evidently had no intention of abdicating in favour of the eminent philanthropist. He thought he had better go home; he didn't know what might happen at such a party as that, nor when the proceedings might be supposed to terminate; but after considering it a minute he dismissed the idea that there was a chance of Verena's speaking again. ”

“ I have lernt a good eal a bout what theay Aim to do, theay aim to use James cash as a witness a gainst me and sum of uncle allen Burrow’s folks. Now heare is a man that has bin heare serving his three years in the penitenchery and after his time was out theay warnt willing to turn him loos thin. he is a good man & I think he is all rite. ”

“ Olive Chancellor watched Henry Burrage very closely that evening; she had a special reason for doing so, and her entertainment, during the successive hours, was derived much less from the delicate little feast over which this insinuating proselyte presided, in the brilliant public room of the establishment, where French waiters flitted about on deep carpets and parties at neighbouring tables excited curiosity and conjecture, or even from the magnificent music of Lohengrin, than from a secret process of comparison and verification, which shall presently be explained to the reader. ”

“ We don't take a groat less."
"I see," said Burbage blandly: "twopence for salving your conscience, hey? And so, being a decent man, you don't stomach players?"
"No, nor the Bankside at this hour o' night. I live clean, I tell you."
"'Tis a godless neighbourhood and a violent." Burbage drew a silver whistle from his doublet and eyed it. "Listen a moment, master wagoner, and tell me what you hear."
"I hear music o' sorts. No Christmas carols, I warrant."
"Aught else?"
"Ay: a sound like a noise of dogs baying over yonder." ”

“ The Burgrave's great laugh was echoing up to them from the inner recesses of the winding stairs.
"O Heavens!" said the lady suddenly.
Steven turned. The cry was so tragic, apparently so unwarranted. The Burgravine's eyes were dry, but there was real terror on her pretty face.
"Why did you come?" she whispered. "In the name of mercy! was it not evident that it was a trap?"
"A trap!" he stammered.
"Yes, yes! O, do you not feel it? He is watching us like a cat—a cat going to spring; and I am the wretched mouse waiting—waiting. O, I can stand it no longer! I shall go mad. ”

“ The stand was in an uproar, for many were still shouting aloud about the buckler and others were screaming with delight over the neat manner in which Sir James had drawn his first blood. Wagers were being freely made, and though Sir Malud still ruled favorite in the betting, the odds against Blake were not so great, and while men had no money to wager they had jewels and arms and horses. ”

“ Burrage. "There is an immense desire throughout the University to hear you, and there is no such sympathetic audience as an audience of Harvard men. Gracie and I are only two, but Gracie is a host in himself, and I am sure he will say as much of me." The young man spoke these words freely and lightly, smiling at Verena, and even a little at Olive, with the air of one to whom a mastery of clever "chaff" was commonly attributed.
"Mr. Burrage listens even better than he talks," his companion declared. "We have the habit of attention at lectures, you know. ”

“ Richard Burbage felt himself unworthy of the sacred duty imposed upon him by his fraternal intimacy with the poet. He had an insight into human nature which enabled him to understand a certain weakness that must inevitably attend such transcendent powers as those of William Shakespeare. ”

“ It had big round eyes that looked all cold and dead, and its cheeks were sunken in deep, and I could see its yellow teeth behind thin, tight-drawn lips—like a man who had been dead a long while, sir," he added, turning toward Bradley.
"Yes!" James had not spoken since the apparition had passed over them, and now it was scarce speech which he uttered—rather a series of articulate gasps. "Yes—dead—a—long—while. It—means something. It—come—for some—one. For one—of us. One—of us is goin'—to die. I'm goin' to die!" he ended in a wail.
"Come! Come!" snapped Bradley. "Won't do. Won't do at all. ”

“ Father was very proud of me and Jim was, too, for he had always said that having no son of his own, Father must share me with him.
And then I turned toward the girl who had slipped from the roof and was approaching us. She moved with the same graceful dignity that was Mother’s—not at all like the clumsy clods that belonged to the Kalkars, and she came straight to me and laid a hand upon my arm.
“Thank you,” she said, “and God bless you! Only a very brave and powerful man could have done what you have done.” ”

“ He was sincerely mourned by all those who loved the dramatic art; and he numbered among his friends Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, Beaumont, and Fletcher, and other "common players," whose names were destined to become the most honored in the annals of English literature. Burbage was the first great actor that England ever saw, the original representative of many of Shakespeare's noblest creations, among others, of Shylock, Richard, Romeo, Hamlet, Lear, Othello, and Macbeth. We may fairly conclude Burbage's acting to have had all the best characteristics of Natural, as opposed to Artificial acting. ”

“ What's the matter?"
"I be thinking of the morrow, James, and my heart be heavy within me," replied the other.
"And why?" demanded Blake.
"Malud is not the best swordsman in Nimmr," replied Sir Richard, "but——" he hesitated.
"I am the worst," Blake finished the sentence for him, laughingly.
Sir Richard looked up and smiled. "Thou wilt always joke, even in the face of death," he said. "Art all the men of this strange country thou tell'st of alike?"
"It is your move, Richard," said Blake.
"Hide not his sword from thine eyes with thy buckler, James," cautioned Richard. ”

“ Good night, little girl. Remember, we’ll all stick to Guy, no matter what he has done.”
He kissed her then and left her, but he did not return to his room. Instead, he went down to the stables and saddled his horse, for the stableman, when Eva came in with the missing animal, had put it in its box and returned to the bunk house.
The colonel rode immediately to the sleeping camp in Jackknife Cañon. His calls went unanswered for a time, but presently a sleepy man stuck his head through the flap of a tent.
“What do you want?” he asked.
“I am looking for Mr. Crumb. Where is he?” ”