Yorkshire North Riding, Buttercrambe, 1616

Quarter Sessions Records

NYCRO: QSM 2/3
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p 20 (10 April)

veredictum

Iuratores pro domino Rege super sacramentum suum presentant quod Ricardus Hudson de Huton bushell in Northriding comitatus Eboraci Weaver etatis xlixo annorum Willelmus Hudson de eadem laborer etatis duodecem annorum Georgius Hudson de eadem laborer etatis vndecem annorum Christoferus Hutchinson de eadem laborer etatis etatis sexdecem annorum, Edwardus Lister de Allerston in Northriding comitatus Eboraci weaver etatis xlvj annorum Rogerus Lister de eadem laborer etatis septem annorum et amplius et Robertus Skelton de wilton infra Libertatem de Pickering lieth in Northriding comitatus Eboraci predicti laborer etatis septem annorum et amplius sunt communes Histriones vagabundi et mendici validi (anglice common playors of enterludes vagabundes and sturdy beggars) hac illac passim vagantes ludicra ludentes (anglice playing of enterludes) Et quod xxixo die decembris Anno regni domini nostri Iacobi dei gracia Anglie ffrancie et Hibernie Regis fidei defensoris &c. xiijo et Scotie xlixo apud Buttercrambe 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 coronam et dignitatem suas: Et quod Willelmus West de Buttercrambe predictus in Northriding comitatus Eboraci predicti yeoman sciens predictos Ricardum Hudson Willelmum Hudson Georgium Hudson, Christoferum Hutchinson, Edwardum Lister, Rogerum Lister et Robertum Skelton modo et forma predictis esse communes Histriones vagabundos et mendicos validos hac illac passim vagantes ludicra ludentes predictos tamen Ricardum Hudson Willelmum Hudson, Georgium Hudson, Christoferum Hutchinson, Edwardum Lister Rogerum Lister et Robertum Skelton in domo sua mansionali apud Buttercrambe predictam xxixo die decembris predicto hospitavit et predictis Ricardo Hudson Willelmo Hudson Georgio Hudson Christofero Hutchinson Edwardo Lister Rogero Lister et Roberto Skelton 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

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  • Footnotes
    • veredictum: in display script
    • Iuratores: in display script
    • xxixo … xlixo: ie, 29 December 1615
  • Record Translation

    p 20 (10 April)

    Presentment

    Jurors for the lord king present on their oath that Richard Hudson of Hutton Buscel in the North Riding of Yorkshire, weaver, forty-nine years of age, William Hudson of the same, labourer, twelve years of age, George Hudson of the same, labourer, eleven years of age, Christopher Hutchinson of the same, labourer, sixteen years of age, Edward Lister of Alleston in the North Riding of Yorkshire, weaver, forty-six years of age, Roger Lister of the same, labourer, more than seven years of age, and Robert Skelton of Wilton within the liberty of Pickering Lythe in the North Riding of the aforesaid county of Yorkshire, labourer, 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 29 December in the thirteenth 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 the forty-ninth (year of his reign) of Scotland, at Buttercrambe in the said North Riding of Yorkshire they wandered and there they played interludes and they wandered here, there, (and) everywhere into many other places in the said Yorkshire before the aforesaid day and played interludes contrary to the peace of the said lord king, his crown, and dignity, and that William West of the aforesaid Buttercrambe in the aforesaid North Riding of Yorkshire, yeoman, knowing the aforesaid Richard Hudson, William Hudson, George Hudson, Christopher Hutchinson, Edward Lister, Roger Lister, and Robert Skelton in the aforesaid way and form to be common entertainers, vagabonds, and healthy beggars, wandering here, there, (and) everywhere, nevertheless received the aforesaid Richard Hudson, William Hudson, George Hudson, Christopher Hutchinson, Edward Lister, Roger Lister, and Robert Skelton into his dwelling house at the aforesaid Buttercrambe on the aforesaid 29 December and then and there willingly gave the aforesaid Richard Hudson, William Hudson, George Hudson, Christopher Hutchinson, Edward Lister, Roger Lister, and Robert Skelton food and drink 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.

  • Document Description

    Record title: Quarter Sessions Records
    Repository: NYCRO
    Shelfmark: QSM 2/3
    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' (39 Eliz c4; Great Britain, Statutes of the Realm, vol 4, pt 2 (London, 1819; rpt 1963), 899–902). Edward Lister and Richard Hudson, who figure regularly in the presentments of 1616, were the leaders of the small playing company. They were based in Hutton Buscel, just over four miles southwest of Scarborough, but they were active throughout the North Riding. The seven members of the company included three children, Lister's son and Hudson's two sons as well as Christopher Hutchinson, a boy of sixteen. The court is careful to note the ages of the boys in the company since those seven and under formed a separate category under the poor laws (The Workhouse: The Story of an Institution, http://www.workhouses.org.uk/education, accessed 8 October 2021). Between December 29, 1616, and February 18, 1616/17, the company played for thirty-two of the North Riding gentry and yeomen farmers, each of whom was fined 10s following their prosecution in the quarter sessions. Following this extensive tour, the company was arrested and appeared at the Hutton Buscel assize court on 4 April, 1616. They were convicted of being common vagabonds and were sent on for sentencing at the full sessions at Thirsk on 10 April, where Richard Hudson was sentenced to be whipped. This sentence seems to have convinced Hudson to disband his players and nothing further is seen of them.

    1616–20; Latin and English; paper; vol 1: i + 170 + i, vol 2: i + 172 + i; 300mm x 200mm; contemporary foliation (often damaged), modern pagination 1–340, 341–684 (used here); original in very poor condition; casebound 1979 in 2 volumes of tan double buckram with pages mounted individually (original calfskin binding on marbled paper boards slipped in case), original labels on spine of vol 1, upper red, lower black, with gold lettering, respectively: 'Minutes | and | Orders' and '1616 | to | 1620,' new labels (upper red, lower blue) with same text on vol 2.

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