Along with it went appendices filled with inventories, list and tables, from the time. Particularly, to accompany the story of the moderately wealthy country gentleman, William Darrell, “the lineal descendant of Sir George Darrell, whose daughter Elizabeth married Sir John Seymour, and became the grandmother of Jane Seymour, the wife of Henry VIII.”
Darrell had become a protege of Sir Francis Walsingham, the powerful secretary to Queen Elizabeth I, by virtue of having acquitted on some of the secretary's obligations to supply the English forces against the invasion of the Spanish Armada. Being so serviceable, he was invited to present himself at court. Matters grew so promising that he moved to London in order to become a courtier.
Darrell was in the habit of writing letters and keeping accounts. These provided Hall with the materials to provide a particularly detailed and charming account of daily life in 1589 London, for a bachelor of means.
When Darrell came to Court as a privileged suitor, he occupied a house in Warwick Lane, a narrow thoroughfare which, jointly with Ave Maria Lane, connects Newgate Street with Ludgate Hill, running across the bottom of Paternoster Row. The position was a very good one, for on the south lay the river by which, as we have seen, he had easy access to Westminster or the Court. On the west side, he was ten minutes’ walk (with Holborn Hill to climb) from Gray’s Inn and Staple Inn. As near neighbours he had the Lords Cobham, St. John, Dacres, and Buckhurst, with many more of note; whilst in the Strand was Leicester House, where Lady Leicester, her daughter, Penelope Rich, and her daughter-in-law, Frances Essex, talked and jested...
Here, then, Darrell took up his abode, living in such style as befitted his condition. Such of his retainers as could find no accommodation in the house were quartered elsewhere, for there were some half-score at least who wore their lord’s livery and badge. Bedding and other necessary furniture had been sent up by carrier, and with the addition of a set of long “table-bordes,” “formes,” and a “countinge table,” together with a few dozen trenchers, pewter pots, and other substantial ware, the arrangements might be considered complete for a bachelor establishment, which could well dispense with such embellishments as prints in “ small black frames hung all over the rooms.” Tapestry and hangings en suite covered a multitude of sins (or vermin), and then the family plate, reduced, alas ! in bulk year by year, set out in the broad cupboards, or on the oaken presses, would light up the recesses of the great chamber with a golden glory. Darrell, however, added a few artistic touches of his own. He ordered two chairs, “ covered with grene,” in the true aesthetic style; curtains of “ Wedmoll” lace, hung on rods and looped with rings, carpets, and some expensive matting for the reception rooms.
But if Darrell was humbly lodged, at least he fared sumptuously at his table. Littlecote was a long day’s ride from London (by easy stages it was three), yet its owner contrived to have nearly all the delicacies of the country conveyed to him from thence. Throughout the summer there were always two at least of the local “ talent ” engaged in fishing upon the manor, and the results of their skill, in the shape of baskets of fresh-caught “ trowtes,” the famous trout of Littlecote, coveted prey of the modern angler’s day-dreams, were despatched to London by express messengers. Besides these, “ fesant netts ” were plied, and partridges decoyed, with other fowl, in goodly numbers for the London household. It is sad, indeed, to learn that this “ pot hunting ” was chiefly perpetrated during the month of May. The capture or consumption of a “fesant” on May 9th was a barbarity unknown to earlier ages, which kept their seasons in principle like our own. The home dove-cote — that lucrative seignorial appanage — furnished countless “ pigeon pies,” twelve of which were delivered to Holborn Bridge on a single occasion; and venison, rabbits, chickens, “ grene gese,” and other poultry were forthcoming in equal abundance. Then there were the strawberries which Cornelius, the Dutch gardener, supplied with a niggardly hand (as might be expected from one of his class). The summer of 1589 must have been indeed an early one, for in that year these were ripe in the middle of May (old style).
Sometimes we find his worship with a party dining out at the “ Bell,” close at hand, at the “ Queenes Hed ” in Paternoster Row, at the “ Kinges Hed ” in New Fish Street, or even at Ratcliff. Once there is an entry for 6d. paid to see a play at “ Powles,” and many a one for alms given to the poor. For a new-fledged courtier Darrell was perhaps remarkable for the studied plainness of his dress. There was the inevitable clean shirt daily, with collars, cuffs, bands, and socks, according to the evidence of the weekly washing bill. For common wear there was a suit of plain “ gene ” fustian, with silk buttons. But Cornelius, the tailor, had orders for two doublets and cloaks, one of “ murry satten ” and the other of “black satten,” both lined with taffeta of corresponding shades, for State occasions. Darrell no doubt both wrote and read much; we know that his correspondence was extensive, and we find him quoting the Fathers. Certainly he made use of a great quantity of paper and ink. As a solace of his lonely hours he smoked enormously for the times, ordering at one time half a pound of tobacco, which cost 30s., nearly £10 of our money. At the same time he drank but little, usually half a pint of “ charnikoe ” or claret at his two meals, and perhaps ale as a breakfast, or sack allayed with oranges, sugar, and milk.
Source: Hall, Hubert. Society in the Elizabethan Age (1901). 99-101.
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Check out the English Renaissance Article Index for many more articles and reviews about this fascinating time and about the Shakespeare Authorship Question.
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