At the Court of Charles II., Tom Killigrew, whom Pepys styles “a merry droll, but a gentleman of great esteem with the King,” seems to have been in much requisition as a jester; and under February 13, 1667-68, the diarist makes this entry: “Mr. Brisband tells me, in discourse, that Tom Killigrew hath a fee out of the wardrobe for cap and bells, under the title of the King’s Foole or Jester, and may revile or jeer anybody, the greatest person without offence, by the privilege of his place.” For a time he is said to have been the most conspicuous man at Court, and to have kept up the traditions of his class by his eccentric pranks. One day he appeared before Charles in the disguise of a pilgrim, whereupon his Majesty inquired, “Whither away?” “I am going to hell,” replied Killigrew, “to ask the devil to send back Oliver Cromwell to take charge of the affairs of England; for, as to his successor, he is always employed in other business.” The patronage bestowed by Queen Anne on Tom d’Urfey, the song-writer of her era, resembled that extended by the sister queens, Mary and Elizabeth, to their dramatic buffoons, Heywood and Tarleton. After dinner D’Urfey took his stand by the sideboard at the time of dessert, to repeat political gibes or doggerel ballads, so framed as to flatter some of the well-known prejudices of his royal mistress. CHAPTER XX ROYALTY AND THE DRAMA It is affirmed that the ex-monarch Dionysius died of excess of joy at receiving intelligence that a tragedy of his own had been awarded a poetical prize at a public competition. Whatever the truth of this story, there can be no doubt that, even in its primitive form, the monarch, like his subjects, interested himself in the production and performance of the drama. At an early period in our own history the courts of our kings and the castles of the great earls and barons “were crowded with the performers of the secular places, where they were well received and handsomely rewarded.”[133] Thus Eleanora of Aquitaine, queen of Henry II., patronised representations nearly allied to the regular drama, and we find Peter of Blois congratulating his brother William on his tragedy of Flaura and Marcus played before the Queen. Richard III., when Duke of Gloucester, entertained a company of players, and in the reign of Henry VII. dramatic performances seem to have been frequent throughout England. When Margaret, the King’s eldest daughter, was sent to Scotland on her marriage with James IV., John English was the principal member of a company of players forming part of the retinue of the Princess. Sometime after the birth of Prince Arthur in 1486, there was a company of actors under the name of “The Prince’s Players” who were required to contribute to the amusement of the Court. In the household books of Henry, extending from 1492 to 1509, we find numerous items relating to the theatrical amusements at this period.