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Congratulations to David and the whole REED team!!! Happy holidays! Diane On Tue, Dec 14, 2021 at 2:58 PM Pamela King <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > What excellent news with which to go out of an otherwise rather dismal > 2021. Many congratulations to David! > > Sent from my iPhone > > > On 14 Dec 2021, at 18:59, Matthew Sergi <[log in to unmask]> > wrote: > > > > Congratulations to David and to REED -- I can't imagine that all the > "difficult, often impassable, moorland terrain" made your travels > particularly easy, either -- and we all very much appreciate the work and > the excellent results! > > > > Matt > > > > > > ________________________________________ > > From: REED-L: Records of Early English Drama Discussion < > [log in to unmask]> on behalf of Sarah MacLean < > [log in to unmask]> > > Sent: Tuesday, December 14, 2021 7:15 AM > > To: [log in to unmask] > > Subject: Re: Announcing Yorkshire North Riding, ed. David N. Klausner, > online now > > > > The Records of Early English Drama is delighted to announce the open > access publication of a new edition in the REED series. The first > North-east collection of medieval and renaissance dramatic records, for > Yorkshire North Riding, edited by David N. Klausner, is now available on > REED Online (https://ereed.library.utoronto.ca< > https://ereed.library.utoronto.ca/>) and > https://ereeddev.library.utoronto.ca/collections/yksnr/. > > > > The records of Yorkshire North Riding begin as early as ca. 680, with > Bede’s account of Caedmon, the gifted singer of Whitby Abbey, and conclude > with notices of the Scarborough waits in 1641-2. The edition includes > extensive evidence of recusant and anti-Protestant drama in an area which > remained strongly Catholic after the Reformation. With only two boroughs, > the North Riding was largely rural and records of performances in the > houses of the Yorkshire gentry are found especially in legal records > associated with attempts to control and suppress small companies of > players. The North Riding may be linked to the metropolitan area of London > by legal issues and touring entertainment traditions but it was also a > contrast in its resistance to central control through recusancy and in > fewer mimetic folk customs, perhaps because of widely dispersed populations. > > > > > > In 1855, when Lady Holland, daughter of the Yorkshire clergyman, the > Rev. Sydney Smith, wrote a memoir of her father, she noted that his initial > reaction to the north country was less than enthusiastic: ‘My living in > Yorkshire was so far out of the way, that it was actually twelve miles to a > lemon.’ Smith may not have been entirely serious, but his reaction > certainly would have applied with some accuracy to the North Riding, where > large distances between gentry houses was the norm and travel was > complicated by difficult, often impassable, moorland terrain. > > > > > > > > Such difficulties provided a challenge to travelling players, and many > of the London playing companies simply avoided the county, limiting their > appearances to the city of York. To fill this gap, the North Riding became > the home of a least two local companies of travelling players, though in > their appearances before the assize court on those occasions when they were > apprehended, they claimed to be shoemakers (in Egton, just west of Whitby) > and weavers (in Hutton Buscel, southwest of Scarborough), respectively. > Since they played without gentry patronage, these companies were constantly > trying to stay one step ahead of the assize courts. The Egton company, led > by members of the Simpson family, regularly played anti-Protestant > material, as well as having plays of Shakespeare (King Lere, Perocles) in > their repertoire. The records which derive from the occasions when they > were brought before the courts give extensive information on the business > of playing in such a challenging atmosphere. The Hutton Buscel company, led > by members of the Hudson family, was perhaps even more organized, for in > 1615-16 they undertook a tour of the North Riding which took them to > thirty-two houses over the course of eight weeks. > > > > > > > > The songs in the life litigious of gentry families and frequent > appearance of musical instruments in wills and household inventories will > be of special interest for musicologists. > > > > > > > > David Klausner is Professor Emeritus of English and Medieval Studies at > the University of Toronto. He is the editor of the REED collections for > Herefordshire, Worcestershire, and Wales, and has published widely on late > medieval and early modern drama and music. > -- Diane Jakacki, Ph.D. Digital Scholarship Coordinator Affiliate Faculty in Comparative & Digital Humanities Bucknell University [log in to unmask] (she/her/hers) Principal Investigator, LAB Cooperative and REED London Online Executive Board Chair-Elect, Chair, ADHO Conference Coordinating Committee