> I'm working on a
> paper about the Coventry Hock Tuesday play and keep finding vague
> references to "the tradition of Hocktide plays", yet I can't find specific
> references to any performance traditions aside from Coventry.
Dear Paulette,
It all depends upon what your commentators mean by 'plays' and by 'tradition'.
1. There is certainly evidence for a play at Coventry, which according to Throgmorton (1566), dramatises the victory
of the city's inhabitants over the Danes (_REED: Coventry_, p. 233). However, I'm not aware of specifically
_medieval_ evidence for this play at Coventry, except the mention in the retrospective city annals (1416 and 1561)
and the mention of expenses for Hock Tuesday in the Dyers' accounts (1469). If you or anyone else has evidence for
a medieval 'tradition' of this play at Coventry, or elsewhere in England, I would be very interested to hear about it.
2. The other tradition of 'plays' is the practice of hocking, that delightful medieval custom whereby men and women
chased one another with ropes on the alternate days of Hocktide in order to raise money for their parish churches.
This is certainly a 'play' in the wider sense of the word and as David says, there is plenty of evidence of a tradition of
this activity. For a list of churchwardens' accounts in which hocking receipts appear see Hutton, _Rise and Fall of
Merry England_, p. 300 n. 68, as well as his more general discussion (p. 26). You probably already have the article
by Sally-Beth MacLean ('Hocktide: A Reassessment', in _Festive Drama_, ed. Meg Twycross), which gives a very
full account of the evidence.
Hope that this helps to clarify the issue somewhat. I can also let you have a fuller bibliography on Hocktide and
Hocking if you need one. Is anyone else out there working on Hocktide? I ask because I'm interested in the origins
and dating of the custom, so please reply to the list or off-list if you prefer.
Best wishes, Chris.
__________________________________________
Dr Christopher Humphrey
British Academy Research Fellow
Centre for Medieval Studies, University of York,
King's Manor, Exhibition Square, York, YO1 7EP.
Tel: (01904) 433956 (work) (01937) 557620 (home)
Fax: (01904) 433918 E-mail: [log in to unmask]
__________________________________________
