Lord Hay's Masque
Encyclopedia
Lord Hay's Masque was an early Jacobean era masque
, written by Thomas Campion
, with costumes, sets and stage effects designed by Inigo Jones
. The masque was performed on Twelfth Night
, January 6, 1607
, in the Great Hall of Whitehall Palace. It was the premier event at the Stuart
Court for the 1606-7 Christmas holiday season.
— in this case, the marriage of Sir James Hay
, a favorite of King James I
(and one of the masquers in Hymenaei the previous year), with Honoria Denny, daughter of Edward, Lord Denny
. The intricate politics of the Stuart Court decreed some key differences between the two events, though: while the bill for the previous masque, Hymenaei, had been paid by King James, the expenses of the masque for Lord Hay were covered by the powerful Howard and Cecil
families. The principal masquers were led by Theophilus Howard, Lord Walden, the son and heir of the Earl of Suffolk. Since James's queen consort, Anne of Denmark
, was antipathetic to the Howards, she sat out the masque, claiming illness. (Partially as a result, the documentary record on Lord Hay's Masque is thinner than for some other Court masques of the era.)
with nine golden trees, flanked by a Bower of Flora
on the right and a House of Night on the left. One scene featured artificial owls and bats flying around the set on wires. The nine gold trees moved and danced and split apart to reveal the nine principal masquers (the trees then sank into the stage below, at a touch from Night's wand). The masquers, dressed in carnation and cloth of silver and initially concealed in green and silver leaves, were nine kinghts of Apollo
, and the torchbearers were the nine Hours of the night.
, bandora
, sackbut
, and two violins as well as lutes, and a group of cornets
. A few details of the musical arrangements have survived, including the fact that at least one song was sung by a doubled set of voices, with a treble and bass situated near the King and another set of singers on the stage, "so that the words of the song might be heard of all."
on January 26, 1607, and was published in quarto
shortly after, printed by John Windet for the bookseller John Browne. Campion's verses conjoin the personal and political, hailing the marriage of Hay and Denny and looking forward to a day when English/Scottish intermarriage will produce a new "British" citizen.
about Stuart high society.
Masque
The masque was a form of festive courtly entertainment which flourished in 16th and early 17th century Europe, though it was developed earlier in Italy, in forms including the intermedio...
, written by Thomas Campion
Thomas Campion
Thomas Campion was an English composer, poet and physician. He wrote over a hundred lute songs; masques for dancing, and an authoritative technical treatise on music.-Life:...
, with costumes, sets and stage effects designed by Inigo Jones
Inigo Jones
Inigo Jones is the first significant British architect of the modern period, and the first to bring Italianate Renaissance architecture to England...
. The masque was performed on Twelfth Night
Twelfth Night (holiday)
Twelfth Night is a festival in some branches of Christianity marking the coming of the Epiphany and concluding the Twelve Days of Christmas.It is defined by the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary as "the evening of the fifth of January, preceding Twelfth Day, the eve of the Epiphany, formerly the...
, January 6, 1607
1607 in literature
The year 1607 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:*February 2 - The King's Men perform Barnes's The Devil's Charter at Court.*June 5 - John Hall marries Susanna, daughter of William Shakespeare....
, in the Great Hall of Whitehall Palace. It was the premier event at the Stuart
House of Stuart
The House of Stuart is a European royal house. Founded by Robert II of Scotland, the Stewarts first became monarchs of the Kingdom of Scotland during the late 14th century, and subsequently held the position of the Kings of Great Britain and Ireland...
Court for the 1606-7 Christmas holiday season.
The marriage
Lord Hay's Masque celebrated the wedding of an important Scottish aristocrat with a socially prominent English gentlewomanGentlewoman
A gentlewoman in the original and strict sense is a woman of good family, analogous to the Latin generosus and generosa...
— in this case, the marriage of Sir James Hay
James Hay, 1st Earl of Carlisle
James Hay, 1st Earl of Carlisle was a Scottish aristocrat.-Life:He was the son of Sir James Hay of Fingask , and of Margaret Murray, cousin of George Hay, afterwards 1st Earl of Kinnoull.He was knighted and taken into favor by James VI of Scotland, brought into England in 1603, treated as a "prime...
, a favorite of King James I
James I of England
James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...
(and one of the masquers in Hymenaei the previous year), with Honoria Denny, daughter of Edward, Lord Denny
Edward Denny, 1st Earl of Norwich
Edward Denny, 1st Earl of Norwich , known as The Lord Denny between 1604 and 1627, was an English courtier, Member of Parliament and peer.-Life:...
. The intricate politics of the Stuart Court decreed some key differences between the two events, though: while the bill for the previous masque, Hymenaei, had been paid by King James, the expenses of the masque for Lord Hay were covered by the powerful Howard and Cecil
Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury
Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, KG, PC was an English administrator and politician.-Life:He was the son of William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley and Mildred Cooke...
families. The principal masquers were led by Theophilus Howard, Lord Walden, the son and heir of the Earl of Suffolk. Since James's queen consort, Anne of Denmark
Anne of Denmark
Anne of Denmark was queen consort of Scotland, England, and Ireland as the wife of King James VI and I.The second daughter of King Frederick II of Denmark, Anne married James in 1589 at the age of fourteen and bore him three children who survived infancy, including the future Charles I...
, was antipathetic to the Howards, she sat out the masque, claiming illness. (Partially as a result, the documentary record on Lord Hay's Masque is thinner than for some other Court masques of the era.)
The masque
Jones's design for the masque had a sylvan theme, centered on a Grove of DianaDiana (mythology)
In Roman mythology, Diana was the goddess of the hunt and moon and birthing, being associated with wild animals and woodland, and having the power to talk to and control animals. She was equated with the Greek goddess Artemis, though she had an independent origin in Italy...
with nine golden trees, flanked by a Bower of Flora
Flora (mythology)
In Roman mythology, Flora was a goddess of flowers and the season of spring. While she was otherwise a relatively minor figure in Roman mythology, being one among several fertility goddesses, her association with the spring gave her particular importance at the coming of springtime...
on the right and a House of Night on the left. One scene featured artificial owls and bats flying around the set on wires. The nine gold trees moved and danced and split apart to reveal the nine principal masquers (the trees then sank into the stage below, at a touch from Night's wand). The masquers, dressed in carnation and cloth of silver and initially concealed in green and silver leaves, were nine kinghts of Apollo
Apollo
Apollo is one of the most important and complex of the Olympian deities in Greek and Roman mythology...
, and the torchbearers were the nine Hours of the night.
The music
The masque was richly supplied with music, created by several composers — including Campion himself, who contributed two "airs" for songs and a dance. The published text indicates that the music was played by a "consort of twelve," violins with three lutes, a "consort of ten" that included harpsichordHarpsichord
A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It produces sound by plucking a string when a key is pressed.In the narrow sense, "harpsichord" designates only the large wing-shaped instruments in which the strings are perpendicular to the keyboard...
, bandora
Bandora
The Bandora or Bandore is a large long-necked plucked string-instrument that can be regarded as a bass cittern though it does not have the "re-entrant" tuning typical of the cittern. Probably first built by John Rose in England around 1560, it remained popular for over a century...
, sackbut
Sackbut
The sackbut is a trombone from the Renaissance and Baroque eras, i.e., a musical instrument in the brass family similar to the trumpet except characterised by a telescopic slide with which the player varies the length of the tube to change pitches, thus allowing them to obtain chromaticism, as...
, and two violins as well as lutes, and a group of cornets
Cornet
The cornet is a brass instrument very similar to the trumpet, distinguished by its conical bore, compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B. It is not related to the renaissance and early baroque cornett or cornetto.-History:The cornet was...
. A few details of the musical arrangements have survived, including the fact that at least one song was sung by a doubled set of voices, with a treble and bass situated near the King and another set of singers on the stage, "so that the words of the song might be heard of all."
Publication
Campion's text was entered into the Stationers' RegisterStationers' Register
The Stationers' Register was a record book maintained by the Stationers' Company of London. The company is a trade guild given a royal charter in 1557 to regulate the various professions associated with the publishing industry, including printers, bookbinders, booksellers, and publishers in England...
on January 26, 1607, and was published in quarto
Book size
The size of a book is generally measured by the height against the width of a leaf, or sometimes the height and width of its cover. A series of terms is commonly used by libraries and publishers for the general sizes of modern books, ranging from "folio" , to "quarto" and "octavo"...
shortly after, printed by John Windet for the bookseller John Browne. Campion's verses conjoin the personal and political, hailing the marriage of Hay and Denny and looking forward to a day when English/Scottish intermarriage will produce a new "British" citizen.
Aftermath
Such political and social import is a heavy load to lay on a new marriage. Within two years the couple were facing difficulties. Honoria was supposedly unfaithful and Hay was jealous; he broke open her cabinets in search of love letters and threatened her servants. Lady Mary Wroth exploited their troubles in Urania, her prose roman à clefRoman à clef
Roman à clef or roman à clé , French for "novel with a key", is a phrase used to describe a novel about real life, overlaid with a façade of fiction. The fictitious names in the novel represent real people, and the "key" is the relationship between the nonfiction and the fiction...
about Stuart high society.
Sources
- Barroll, John Leeds. Anna of Denmark, Queen of England: A Cultural Biography. Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2001.
- Cerasano, S. P., and Marion Wynne-Davies. Gloriana's Face: Women, Public and Private, in the English Renaissance. Detroit, Wayne State University Press, 1992.
- Chambers, E. K.Edmund Kerchever ChambersSir Edmund Kerchever Chambers was an English literary critic and Shakespearean scholar. His four-volume history of Elizabethan theater, published in 1923, remains a standard resource for scholars of the period's drama....
The Elizabethan Stage. 4 Volumes, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1923. - Leapman, Michael. Inigo: The Troubled Life of Inigo Jones, Architect of the English Renaissance. London, Headline Book Publishing, 2003.
- Lindley, David. Thomas Campion. Leiden, Brill Academic Publishers, 1986.
- Walls, Peter. Music in the English Courtly Masque, 1604–1640. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1996.