The Battle of Hexham; or, Days of Old: a play in three acts

Name: The Battle of Hexham; or, Days of Old: a play in three acts
Author: Colman, George

Colman, George

Margaret, of Anjou, Queen, consort of Henry VI, King of England, 1430-1482 -- Drama

The adverse parties at Hexham had each a sovereign. Edward the Fourth
was the lawful king of the York adherents, as Henry the Sixth was of
those of Lancaster; and Edward had at least birthright on his side,
being the lineal descendant of the elder brother of Henry the Fourth,
and, as such, next heir to Richard the Second, setting aside the
usurper.--But, possibly, the degraded state of Henry the Sixth was
the strongest tie, which bound this valiant soldier to his supposed
allegiance;--for there are politicians so compassionate towards the
afflicted, or so envious of the prosperous, they will not cordially
acknowledge a monarch until he is dethroned.--Even the people of
England never would allow the Bourbon family to be the lawful kings
of France, till within these last fifteen years[1].

The youthful reader will delight in the conjugal ardour of Adeline;
whilst the prudent matron will conceive--that, had she loved her
blooming offspring, as she professes, it had been better to have
remained at home for their protection, than to have wandered in camps
and forests, dressed in vile disguise, solely for the joy of seeing
their father.--But prudence is a virtue, which would destroy the best
heroine that ever was invented. A mediocrity of discretion even,
dispersed among certain characters of a drama, might cast a gloom over
the whole fable, divest every incident of its power to surprise, take
all point from the catastrophe, and, finally, draw upon the entire
composition, the just sentence of condemnation.

[Footnote 1: It was since the French Revolution that the crown of
England relinquished its title and claim to the kingdom of France.]




DRAMATIS PERSONÆ.


  MARQUIS OF MONTAGUE                _Mr. Gardner._
  DUKE OF SOMERSET                   _Mr. Johnson._
  A NOBLEMAN                         _Mr. Iliffe._
  LA VARENNE                         _Mr. Williamson._
  PRINCE OF WALES                    _Miss Gaudry._
  GONDIBERT                          _Mr. Bannister, jun._
  BARTON                             _Mr. Aickin._
  GREGORY GUBBINS                    _Mr. Edwin._
  FOOL                               _Mr. R. Palmer._
  CORPORAL                           _Mr. Baddeley._
  DRUMMER                            _Mr. Moss._
  FIFER                              _Mr. Barret._
  FIRST ROBBER                       _Mr. Bannister, sen._
  SECOND DITTO                       _Mr. Davies._
  THIRD DITTO                        _Mr. Chapman._
  FOURTH DITTO                       _Mr. Rees._
  OTHER ROBBERS                      _Mr. Mathews_, _Mr. Chambers_, _&c._
  FIRST MALE VILLAGER                _Mr. Burton._
  SECOND DITTO                       _Mr. Painter._
  FIRST FEMALE SINGING VILLAGER      _Mrs. Bannister._
  SECOND DITTO                       _Mrs. Iliffe._
  MARGARET                           _Mrs. S. Kemble._
  ADELINE                            _Mrs. Goodall._

  _Various ROBBERS, SOLDIERS, VILLAGERS, &c. &c._


_SCENE--Northumberland._

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

The Battle of Hexham; or, Days of Old: a play in three acts

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