''The Masque of Owls at Kenilworth'' was written by Ben Jonson and performed at Kenilworth Castle on 19 August 1624 for

Prince Charles Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to ...

On 19 August 1624, King James was at Whichnor for dinner with Henry Griffiths of

Burton Agnes Burton Agnes (named after Agnes de Percy) is a village and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is situated on the A614 road midway between Driffield and Bridlington. Local landmarks include an Elizabethan manor hou ...

, and then went to Tamworth, while Prince Charles was at Kenilworth with Sir Robert Carey. The Prince's dinner involved artichokes, ducks, and a barrell of sturgeon, after which he was entertained by an interlude, ''The Masque of Owls''.

Masque of Owls

The masque opens with the ghost of Captain Cox riding a hobby horse. His speech alludes to previous entertainments at Kenilworth for Elizabeth I, including '' The Princely Pleasures''. He had found a nest of six owls, formerly men. The first owl was a London tobacconist, the second a cheesemonger. The third owl was dressed in Coventry blue, and had lost his living as spinner of embroidery thread, and so on. The fifth owl, a language teacher, had pinned his hopes on the

Spanish Match The Spanish match was a proposed marriage between Charles I of England, Prince Charles, the son of James I of England, King James I of Great Britain, and Infante, Infanta Maria Anna of Spain, the daughter of Philip III of Spain. Negotiations too ...

John Wolfgang Rumler at the Red Lion

The court apothecary

John Wolfgang Rumler John Wolfgang Rumler (died 1650) was a German physician and apothecary in Augsburg, known for his ''Observationes medicae'', who eventually served the English royal family in the households of Prince of Wales, Queen Anne, King James and Charles I ...

was with the Prince's party at Kenilworth. He was involved in court theatre, and in 1621 had devised special theatrical makeup for Ben Jonson's masque, ''

The Gypsies Metamorphosed ''The Gypsies Metamorphosed'', alternatively titled ''The Metamorphosed Gypsies'', ''The Gypsies' Metamorphosis'', or ''The Masque of Gypsies'', was a Jacobean era masque written by Ben Jonson, with music composed by Nicholas Lanier. It was fi ...

'' to darken the actors' faces. On 20 August 1624 Rumler and Dr James Chalmers, a Scottish court physician, went to an inn called the Red Lion on the green at Kenilworth. They were angry to find no food and drink and left disappointed, saying they might as well burn the inn's sign. A bystander called Gilbert Tonckes joined in their abuse of the landlord, but went on to criticise hospitality in Scotland, where it was thought few inns offered hospitality on the English model. Chambers and Rumler, as servants of the Scottish-born King James took exception to this. The argument was renewed in the evening. Tonckes' speech against the Scots was considered seditious and he was examined by a magistrate. He begged for the king's mercy for himself and his wife. At this time a few printed works and manuscripts circulated in England, describing inns and hospitality in Scotland, some written with satirical intent.P. Hume Brown, ''Early Travellers in Scotland'' (James Thin reprint, 1978).

References

External links

Text of ''The Masque of Owls'', Cambridge edition online
{{DEFAULTSORT:Masque of Owls Masques by Ben Jonson English Renaissance plays Kenilworth 1624 plays