and five: two men had mischances, the one broke his leg, and so did the other. This house was made in three weeks and three days, and was ended the eighteenth day of April, and cost one thousand seven hundred forty and four pounds, nineteen shillings, and od mony, as I was credibly informed by the worshipful master Thomas Grave, surveyor unto Her Majesty's works, who served and gave order for the same. [Footnote 656: Edition of 1808, IV, 434. See also Stow's _Chronicle_, under the year 1581.] Although built in such a short time, and of such flimsy material, this expensive Banqueting House seems to have been allowed to stand, and to have been used thereafter for masques and plays. Thus, when King James came to the throne, he ordered plays to be given there in November, 1604. We find the following entry in the Treasurer's accounts: For making ready the Banqueting House at Whitehall for the King's Majesty against the plays, by the space of four days ... 78_s._ 7_d._ And the accounts of the Revels' Office inform us: Hallomas Day, being the first of November, a play in the Banqueting House at Whitehall, called _The Moor of Venice_. Apparently, however, the King was not pleased with the Banqueting House as a place for dramatic performances, for he promptly ordered the Great Hall of the palace--a room approximately ninety feet in length and forty feet in breadth[657]--to be made ready for the next play: For making ready the Great Chamber at Whitehall for the King's Majesty to see the play, by the space of two days ... 39_s._ 4_d._ [Footnote 657: This had once already, on Shrove Tuesday, 1604, been used for a play. The situation and ground-plan of the "Great Hall" are clearly shown in Fisher's _Survey_ of the palace, made about 1670, and engraved by Vertue, 1747.] The work was completed with dispatch, for on the Sunday following the performance of _Othello_ in the Banqueting House, _The Merry Wives of Windsor_ was acted in the Great Hall. The next play to be given at Court was also presented in the same room: On St. Stephen's Night, in the Hall, a play called _Measure for Measure_. And from this time on the Great Hall was the usual place for Court performances. The abandonment of the Banqueting House was probably due to the facts that the Hall was smaller in size, could be more easily heated in the winter, and was in general better adapted to dramatic performances. Possibly the change was due also to the decayed condition of the old structure and to preparations for its removal. Stow, in his _Annals_ under the date of 1607, writes: The last year the King pulled down the old, rotten, slight-builded Banqueting House at Whitehall, and new-builded the same this year very strong and stately, being every way larger than the first.[658] [Footnote 658: Stow's _Annals_, continued by Edmund Howes (1631), p. 891.]