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The Truro cordwainers' play: a "new" eighteenth-century Christmas play - Research article: focus on traditional drama
Folklore, April, 2003 by Peter Millington
Speech designations are given as the actors' names on separate lines, with a generous indent. A speech number, given in words, accompanies the first four designations. Thereafter, speech numbers are appended as figures using a sequence that runs throughout the whole script. At least some of the figures appear to have been added later. This is indicated by their alignment, and by the fact that the numbers are missing from page four, without a break in the sequence between pages three and five. This suggests that two pages were turned over by mistake during the numbering process. There is a gap for speech number eighteen between pages five and six. This clarifies a speech on page two that appears on its own in the lower half of the side. Its speech number has been corrected, and is difficult to discern. Thurstan Peter thought it was twelve or thirteen, but on closer inspection it is clearly the missing speech number eighteen.
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The layout of the speeches on the folded sheets is complicated. The first sheet is written on one side only, with the first speeches down the left-hand half of the sheet. These continue onto the top of the right-hand half, with the inserted speech number eighteen lower down. A small square of paper has been snipped out of the bottom right hand corner of this sheet, of a size that might have been used for writing a receipt or note. However, if so, this seems strange, because one complete half of the last sheet is unused, and that would have made a better target for spare paper.
Taking the folded second sheet, the first side has speeches but its verso is blank. However, both sides of the remaining half are written on. On the folded third sheet, there are speeches written on the first and third sides only, their versos being blank. The fourth sheet has writing in the left-hand half of one side only. Given this complicated layout, it is fortunate that the speeches are numbered. Indeed, it may have been the reason why the speeches were numbered in the first place, although the fact that speech numbers were omitted from one page still leaves some scope for error, made worse by the sheets being loose.
Thurstan Peter's Transcript
Thurstan Peter's transcript appears to be reasonably accurate as regards spelling and orthography. There are a few capitalisation errors, and a few incorrect letters (for example, "pees" instead of "pus"--meaning "purse"). The only significant orthographical difference is the speech designation for "F. Rowe." The "F" does not resemble other capital "F" letters in the manuscript. It does however resemble the capital "J" letters, although it has the appearance of being crossed. I believe it to be a "J." "F. Rowe" is therefore identical with "John Rowe," this actor playing the bit parts of "father Christmas," "sampo," and "ould belzey bob."
Other than orthography, Peter's main error was to place the page of unnumbered speeches incorrectly between speeches seventeen and nineteen. The consequences are the dislocation of the cure, remarked on by Chambers, and the incongruous assignment of two adjacent speeches to William Williams, once as the Doctor and then as the "bloody Woror." Although there are indisputable examples of similar adjacent speeches elsewhere in the manuscript (speeches 20 and 21 are both assigned to William Solomon, and speeches twenty-five and twenty-six are assigned to Henry Crossman), the correct position of the unnumbered page should be between speeches 11 and 12. The full sequence of pages and speeches is therefore as follows.
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