25 July, 1594 - Belin Dun

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

Henslowe writes: y^e 25 of Julye 1594 ... R at bellendon ...  xlviij^s 

In modern English: 25^th July, 1594 ... Received at Belin Dun ... 48 shillings

A highwayman portrayed in Richard

Head's The English Rogue (1666)

Today, the Admiral's Men once again 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.

After a brief respite, the company has now gone back to its habit of performing Belin Dun every few days - the last performance of it was only five days ago.  And that decision has paid off handsomely, with a box office far above the average! Exactly why the theatre was so busy today is hard to know, but the actors must have been relieved after a fairly humdrum week.

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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