The Truro cordwainers' play: a "new" eighteenth-century Christmas play - Research article: focus on traditional drama

Plays of this subtype are most well known from Hampshire and adjacent counties, but they are also found in the West Country. There is, however, no obvious published archetype, such as a chapbook, that can be used for the purposes of comparison. For this study, therefore, I have used four other texts from Cornwall--two different unlocated versions (Sandys in Hone 1826, 2:1226; Sandys 1833, 177), one from Camborne (Tiddy 1923, 144-7) and one from St Keverne (Nance 1925). I will use the descriptive designation Father Christmas and Turkish Knight (or just Father Christmas for brevity) for this group of plays.

Truro is the oldest of the Father Christmas and Turkish Knight plays, but this does not necessarily make it the original source, although it is of course likely that all the plays of this sub-type did ultimately develop from the same original text. The principal difference between Truro and the other Father Christmas plays is Saint George's introductory speech. As already discussed, Truro has the speech used in the Irish plays, whereas the other Father Christmas plays have a different speech, such as the following:

   Here am I, Saint George,
   That worthy champion bold.
   And with my sword and spear
   I won three crowns of gold (Sandys 1833, 177).

Alexander and the King of Egypt, and Evolutionary Implications

The previous speech (for Prince George) is also found in the Alexander and the King of Egypt chapbook text, as are certain other Father Christmas and Turkish Knight lines. Because Truro does have other lines that are found in the Alexander text, and in fact has more such lines than Father Christmas, Truro's omission of the Prince George speech is significant. A probable explanation is that the "Irish" speech was substituted deliberately when the Truro play was compiled from its various sources. Otherwise, the main Alexander lines that also appear in Truro are the speeches of the King of Egypt and Sampo, plus a few of the Doctor's lines.

Allowing for slight variations in the wording, the presence of lines from Alexander and the King of Egypt in both the Truro/Father Christmas and Irish plays provides clues as to their possible evolution. All the Alexander lines that appear in the Irish plays also appear in the Truro/Father Christmas plays. On the other hand, the elecampane speech and the seemingly related Turkish Knight and Turkey Champion characters occur in the Truro/Father Christmas and Irish plays, but not in the Alexander text. Consequently, the evolutionary links between the Alexander and Irish plays must have involved the Truro/Father Christmas plays as an intermediate. Three ancestral routes are possible:

Alexander [right arrow] Truro / Father Christmas [right arrow] Irish

In this case, Alexander lines are lost at each step, and other new lines are added.

Irish [right arrow] Truro / Father Christmas [right arrow] Alexander

Here, Alexander lines are added at each step, perhaps to replace older speeches.

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