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abeth. Heywood, however, was also a dramatist of some distinction, and Tarleton, a very popular comic actor of the period. Later we find Archie Armstrong, at the court of James I; and Tom Killigrew, who besides being jester was "Master of the Revels," to Charles I. The latter is described by Pepys as "a merry droll, but a gentleman of great esteem with the king." Killigrew was probably the last of the licensed court fools, and the office of household jester ceased to exist, the character subsequently degenerating into the itinerant merry-andrew, a buffoon who appeared at country fairs and village festivals, and is now seen only at Christmas time with the mummers that accompany the waits and carol singers in old-fashioned English villages.

In romance the fool has prominently figured, always with picturesque and frequently with dramatic effect.

Sir Walter Scott, in his romantic novel "Ivanhoe," has described with much detail and fidelity the character of "Wamba," and has given us a very accurate and impressive picture of the life

and characteristics of the jester-minstrel of the time of Richard Coeur-de-Lion.

We are indebted to Victor Hugo, in "Le Roi s'ammuse," for a striking and powerful picture of the Italian court fool. The character is more familiar, perhaps, in a dramatic version of the same story, called "The Fool's Revenge," by Tom Taylor, in which the late Edwin Booth gave such a wonderfully effective presentation of the poor deformed jester Bertuccio, concealing under the motley garb and mocking tones of the fool the intensity of a father's love.

The French court fool is most picturesquely presented in "La Dame de Monsereau," in which the elder Dumas has woven a very interesting and exciting romance around the character of "Chicot," jester to King Henry III. Chicot is represented as a gallant soul, full of honor and chivalry, as ready with his sword as with his wit, both being equally effective. The romance was dramatized for me recently, under the title of "The Duke's Jester," by Mr. Espey Williams, who transferred the scene of action from the court

[graphic]

From an etching by W. J. Hennessy in possession of "The Players," New York

Edwin Booth as "Bertuccio" in "The Fool's Revenge"

of France to that of the Duke of Milan, in Italy; and changed the name of "Chicot" to "Cecco." I played the part of the jester with some success, and retained the play in my repertoire for several years.

In the drama we have an admirably constructed and splendidly written play, "Francesca di Rimini," by the late George Boker, where we find the fool "Pepe," keen of wit, but depraved in mind, a very “Iago" in motley. His fun is malicious, his humor mischievous and his wit malevolent. A masterly performance of the character was given by my friend and comrade, Mr. Louis James, with whose name it will always be identified.

It is Shakespeare, however, who has given us the best types of fool, in which may be found not only wit and wisdom, but all of those qualities I have endeavored to enumerate. He has left us enduring pictures of medieval life and manners, that make the characters live again in their true and perfect body and environment.

Of pertinent interest after this brief sketch of

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