31 March, 1597 - Belin Dun

Here's what the Admiral's Men performed at the Rose playhouse on this day, 424 years ago...

Henslowe writes: m^r pd | 31 | tt at belendon | 01 | 15 

In modern English: Master paid ... 31^st  [March, 1597] ... total at Belin Dun ... £1 and 15 shillings [i.e. 35 shillings]

A highwayman portrayed in Richard

Head's The English Rogue (1666)

Here's a surprise! Today, for the first time since July, the Admiral's Men have performed Belin Dun, their lost play about the notorious robber who terrorized the highways around Dunstable during the reign of King Henry I; you can read more about this play in the entry for 10 June, 1594.

Belin Dun cannot be kept down. Once a very popular play, it gradually declined until the company ceased performing it back in November, 1594. They returned it for a single performance in July, 1596. Now, it's back again. 

As before, the long wait seems to have returned London's enthusiasm for the play: it has drawn an audience that half-filled the Rose, although that might be caused in part by the festive atmosphere of Easter Week.

Today's entry also includes a note that Henslowe paid the license for the Rose to the Master of the Revels; you can read more about this in the entry for 8 November, 1595.

Henslowe links

• Transcript of this page of the Diary (from W.W. Greg's 1904 edition)
• Facsimile of this page of the Diary (from the Henslowe-Alleyn Digitisation Project)

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