Shropshire, Vol. 1: The Records

David E. Kemp is chair of the Drama Department at Queen’s University
and the author of The Pleasures and Treasures of the United Kingdom.

The aim of the Records of Early English Drama (REED) series is to find,
transcribe, and publish external evidence of dramatic, ceremonial, and
minstrel activity in Great Britain before 1642. These pre-Civil War
records are drawn from a multiplicity of sources and demonstrate an
impressively detailed and comprehensive scholarship. The two volumes
under consideration deal with the County of Shropshire and draw
documentation from the relevant dioceses, boroughs, parishes, and most
especially from the county’s two largest and most important
conurbations in early times, Ludlow and Shrewsbury.

Volume 1 provides extracts from the account books of the various trade
guilds with respect to items bought for Corpus Christi processionals as
well as details of fairs within town boundaries, ceremonial activities
within the church, and minstrel activity within the great houses. One of
many wonderful stories concerns a Nicholas Millichap, who in 1619
borrowed a communion cloth in order to make a flag for a morris dance
and was brought to court for the offence and made to do public penance.
Translations of records in Latin can be found in Volume 2. This
different but equally captivating volume offers a historical background
to the county; details of the drama, music, and popular customs of the
day; the translations themselves; a select bibliography; and glossaries
of Latin, English, and Welsh. Although primarily intended for the
scholar (they are a must for libraries with theatre history
collections), these volumes will give much pleasure to the general
reader.