29 November, 1595 - The Welshman

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

Henslowe writes: y^e 29 of novmbȝ 1595 ... R at the welche man ... vij^s 

In modern English: 29^th November, 1595 ... Received at The Welshman ... 7 shillings

Sir Richard Clough (1530-70),
a Welsh merchant

Today's entry represents one of those occasional strange moments in Henslowe's Diary when a previously unknown play suddenly appears, draws a tiny audience, and then never reappears. We know nothing of The Welshman beyond its title and its one enigmatic entry.

Is this performance of The Welshman really what it seems to be: a one-off, spectacularly unsuccessful revival of an old play from the archives? Or is Henslowe giving a new name to an existing play in the repertory, such as Longshanks, which features a Welsh villain named Llywelyn? We'll probably never know. And perhaps it doesn't matter, since hardly anyone in London seems to have cared.

What's next?

There will be no blog entry tomorrow because 30 November was a Sunday in 1595 and the players did not perform. Henslowe's Diary ... as a Blog! will thus return on 1 December. See you then!

FURTHER READING

The Welshman information

• Roslyn L. Knutson, "Welshman, The", Lost Plays Database (2016). 
• Martin Wiggins, British Drama, 1533-1642: A Catalogue, vol. 3 (Oxford University Press, 2013), entry 882.

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)

Comments?

Did I make a mistake? Do you have a question? Have you anything to add? Please post a comment below!