Yorkshire North Riding, Marske-by-the-Sea, 1615/16

Quarter Sessions Records

NYCRO: QSM 2/2
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f 198v (9 January)

Qui dicunt ut sequitur./

veredictum

Iuratores pro domino Rege super sacramentum suum presentant Quod Georgius White nuper de Egton in Northriding comitatus Eboraci Weaver etatis xxiiijor annorum Iohannes Simpson nuper de Egton predicto cordiner etatis viginti quinque annorum Ricardus Simpson nuper de Egton predicto cordiner etatis xxiiijor annorum Cuthbertus Simpson nuper de Egton nuper de Egton predicto cordiner etatis octodecem annorum Recusantes papales existentes, et Nicholaus Postgate nuper de Egton predictolaborarius etatis tresdecim annorum Edwardus Concett nuper de Egton predicto Tailor etatis triginta annorum, Robertus Simpson nuper de Staithes in dicto Northriding comitatus Eboraci cordineretatis septem annorum et amplius. et Robertus Harbutt alias Cawdmer nuper de Goteland in dicto Northriding comitatus Eboraci husbandman etatis septem annorum et amplius sunt communes Histriones vagabundi et mendici validi (anglice common players of Enterludes vagabundes and sturdy beggars) hac illac passim vagantes, ludicra ludentes (anglice playing of enterludes Et quod xiijo die Ianuarij Anno regni domini nostri Iacobi dei gracia Anglie ffrancie et Hibernie Regis fidei defensoris &c. xijo et Scotie xlviijo Apud Leadham in dicto Northriding comitatus Eboraci vagati fuerunt et ibidem ludicra ludebant et multis alijs in locis in dicto comitatu Eboraci ante diem predictum hac illac passim vagati fuerunt et ludicra ludebant contra pacem dicti domini Regis et contra formam diversorum statutorum in huiusmodi casu provisorum et editorum Et vlterius quod Radulphus Rookby nuper de marske in Northriding comitatus Eboraci predicto Armiger sciens predictos Georgium White Iohannem Simpson Ricardum Simpson Cuthbertum Simpson Nicholaum Postgate Edwardum Concett, Robertum Simpson et Robertum Harbutt alias Cawdmer modo et forma predictis esse communes histriones vagabundos et mendicos validos hac illac passim vagantes ludicra ludentes predictos tamen Georgium White, Iohannem Simpson, Ricardum Simpson, Cuthbertum Simpson, Nicholaum Postgate, Edwardum Concett Robertum Simpson et Robertum Harbutt alias Cawdmer in domo sua mansionali apud Marske predictum <...> ⸢primo⸣ die Ianuarij predicto hospitavit, et predictis Georgio White Iohanni Simpson Ricardo Simpson Cuthberto Simpson, Nicholao Postgate Edwardo Concett, Roberto Simpson et Roberto Harbutt alias Cawdmer 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 Statutorum predictorum &c.

  • Marginalia
  • Footnotes
    • Qui dicunt: in display script
    • veredictum Iuratores: in display script
    • (anglice … enterludes: closing parenthesis missing
    • xiijo … xlviijo: ie, 13 January 1614/15
    • fuerunt: written in left margin
  • Record Translation

    f 198v (9 January)

    Who say as follows.

    Presentment.

    Jurors for the lord king on their oath present that George White, recently of Egton in the North Riding of Yorkshire, weaver, twenty-four years of age, John Simpson, recently of the aforesaid Egton, cordwainer, twenty-five years of age, Richard Simpson recently of the aforesaid Egton, cordwainer, twenty-four years of age, Cuthbert Simpson, recently of the aforesaid Egton, cordwainer, eighteen years of age, (all) being papal recusants, and Nicholas Postgate, recently of the aforesaid Egton, labourer, thirteen years of age, Edward Concett, recently of the aforesaid Egton, tailor, thirty years of age, Robert Simpson, recently of Staithes in the said North Riding of Yorkshire, cordwainer, more than seven years of age, and Robert Harbut, alias Cawdmer, recently of Goathland in the said North Riding of Yorkshire, husbandman, more than seven years of age to be common entertainers, vagabonds, and healthy beggars – in English 'common players of interludes, vagabonds, and sturdy beggars' – wandering here, there, (and) everywhere playing interludes – in English 'playing of interludes' – and that on 13 January in the twelfth 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 in the forty-eighth (year of his reign) of Scotland, they wandered into Leadham in the said North Riding of Yorkshire and there they played interludes and in many other places in the said Yorkshire before the aforesaid day they wandered here, there, (and) everywhere and were playing interludes contrary to the peace of the said lord king and contrary to various statutes established and ordained in a case of this kind. And further that Ralph Rookby, recently of Marske in the aforesaid North Riding of Yorkshire, esquire, knowing the aforesaid George White, John Simpson, Richard Simpson, Cuthbert Simpson, Nicholas Postgate, Edward Concett, Robert Simpson, and Robert Harbut alias Cawdmer to be, in the aforesaid manner and form, common entertainers, vagabonds, and healthy beggars wandering here, there, (and) everywhere playing interludes, nevertheless received the aforesaid George White, John Simpson, Richard Simpson, Cuthbert Simpson, Nicholas Postgate, Edward Concett, Robert Simpson, and Robert Harbut alias Cawdmer into his dwelling house at the aforesaid Marske on the first of the aforesaid January and then and there willingly gave food and drink to the aforesaid George White, John Simpson, Richard Simpson, Cuthbert Simpson, Nicholas Postgate, Edward Concett, Robert Simpson, and Robert Harbut alias Cawdmer and allowed them to flee without detention and without punishment in contempt of the said lord king and contrary to the form of the aforesaid statutes, etc.

  • Endnote

    Leadham is likely Kirkleatham, just inland from Marske-by-the-Sea along the Tees estuary. A will of 1524 gives the place name as 'Lethome' (J. Raine Sr, J. Raine Jr; J.W. Clay (eds), Testamenta Eboracensia: a Selection of Wills from the Registry at York (1300-1551), vol 5, Surtees Society 79 (Durham, 1884), 314). White, a weaver, was a member of the Egton-based Simpson's company and lived in Egton himself. The Simpson players would have been very familiar with the area, having performed at Marske, Wilton, Stainsby, Skelton, and Staithes. Boddy, "Players of Interludes," p. 110, 123. Nicholas Postgate (c 1596–1679), aged thirteen at the time of the Quarter Sessions prosecution, entered the English College at Douai in 1621 and was ordained in 1628/9. He returned on the English mission on 29 June 1630, settling in the 1660s in Ugthorpe, North Riding, not far from his birthplace. His parish extended between Guisborough, Pickering, and Scarborough. He was arrested during the anti-Catholic persecutions of 1679 and was executed at York on 6 August of that year. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1987 (William Joseph Sheils, 'Postgate, Nicholas (c. 1596–1679),' ODNB, accessed 8 January 2021; Godfrey Anstruther, The Seminary Priests: A Dictionary of the Secular Clergy of England and Wales 1558–1850. II. Early Stuarts 1603–1659 (Great Wakering, 1975), 249–50; 'Blessed Nicholas Postgate 1599–1679,' The Postgate Society, http://www.postgatesociety.org.uk/nicholas%20postgate.htm, accessed 8 January 2021).

  • Document Description

    Record title: Quarter Sessions Records
    Repository: NYCRO
    Shelfmark: QSM 2/2
    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' (see the Introduction and 39 Eliz c4; Great Britain, Statutes of the Realm, vol 4, pt 2 (London, 1819; rpt 1963), 899–902). When these companies were apprehended, the court normally recorded not only the names of all the members but also prosecuted those who provided lodging and performance space for them, allowing us to map their touring routes. The Simpson company of Egton (North Riding) appeared before the court on several occasions (see the Quarter Session Records). These appearances give us considerable information on their local organization. Notably, however, Gouthwaite Hall – the site of their best-known performance on 2 February 1608/9 – was in the West Riding until 1974, when the county boundaries were redrawn. That performance brought their host, Sir John Yorke, before the court of Star Chamber; the documentation of that case will appear in the forthcoming Yorkshire West Riding collection. Documents presented here concern the local organization of the company, with special reference to the position of boy players.

    17 April 1610–12 January 1615/16; English and Latin; paper; iv + 254 + iv ; 300mm x 180mm; contemporary foliation 1–221 (ff [4, 6, 12, 19, 22, 27–33] blank, ff 216–21 also blank); contemporary calfskin binding, 2 leather labels on spine, upper red, lower black, with gold lettering, respectively 'Minutes | and | Orders' and '1610 | to | 1615.'

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