Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 3.djvu/204

 NOTES AND QUERIES. [io th s. HI. MARCH 4, 1905.

the droll anecdotes told over the supper table by him and his manager, the late E. P. Kingston. About 1874 Messrs. Maske- lyne & Cooke came here, and only just now has their entertainment finished, and with it the final closing of the hall has taken place, it was here that the box trick was introduced, which has mystified many thousands of sight- seers. Mr. Maskelyne, at his first appearance here (which I very well remember), wished to stay at the Egyptian Hall for a year, so that he might return to the provinces with a reputation made in London. The reputation has been made, but since that time the provinces have seen but little of this marvel- lously ingenious man. He introduced many truly wonderful illusionsduringhisoccupancy of this hall, not the least remarkable being "Psycho," the whist-playing automaton, the popularity of which was run very close by " Mephisto," a figure playing the cornet, and "Zoe," which made exceedingly interesting sketches of public characters.

The list given of the entertainments in the two larger rooms is in no sense exhaustive, and in addition to those already mentioned, I may add that in 1861 the pictures known as the "Victoria Cross Gallery " were on view in 1865 Chang, the Chinese giant, a native of OFychow, and Chung Mow, a dwarf, were to be seen ; and in 1868 Frederic Maccabe gave his well-known entertainment ' Begone, Dull Care,' and this performer in his fourfold capacity of author, pianist, vocalist, and character delineator has had very few equals. It may also be put on record that Mr. Maskelyne a manager, when the firm was " Maskelyne & Cooke," was Mr. William Morton, of Southport, who afterwards became the proprietor of Morton's Theatre at Green- wich.

It may be well to state that The Daily Telegraph of Monday, 13 February, records among the deaths : " Cooke. On the 2nd inst, at The Gables, Whitton Road, Twicken- ham, George Alfred Cooke, late of the Egyp- tian Hall, aged seventy -nine." He thus passed away within a fortnight of the closing of the hall.

Many will regret the disappearance of the Egyptian Hall ; for during nearly a century it held an almost unique place in the world of London. Its end had long been looked for ; its fate was inevitable, as there was no room to rebuild it in conformity with the require- ments of the London County Council. Some structural alterations were made a few years ago, but at the time they were felt to be inadequate, though nothing more could be done. Places of amusement should be, above

all things, safe, and it had been long felt that that term could hardly be applied to this building, so its closing cannot be altogether deplored. W. E. HARLAND-OXLEY.

Westminster.

QUEEN ANNE AS AMATEUR ACTRESS. By way of illustrating the carelessness with which our early theatrical records were first compiled, and of demonstrating the necessity of taking nothing in the old chroniclers on trust, I beg leave to pillory in ' N. & Q.' a fla- grant example of old-time blundering. Chet- wood, in his ' General History of the Stage ' (London, 1749), gives a full account of Joseph Ashbury, for long the conductor of the Dublin Theatre. Dealing with 1713, at p. 84, the old prompter adds, in a foot-note :

" Mr. Ashbury taught the Queen, when she was Princess Anne, the Part of Semandra in 'Mithri- dates, King of Pont us,' which was acted at Court by Persons of the first Rank in the Banqueting- House, Whitehall, where Mr. Ashbury was Prompter, and conducted the Whole."

All tin's reads precise and circumstantial, but one has one's doubts aroused by the fact that Colley Cibber, in dealing with Mrs. Betterton in his 'Apology ' (1740, p. 96), had previously credited her with the honour of having coached the princess in the character.

Lee's tragedy 'Mithridates, King of Pontus,' was licensed for printing on 28 March, 1678, and presumably produced at Drury Lane a month or two earlier. On 15 November, 1681, it was performed at Edinburgh by ladies of honour in celebration of the queen's birthday. In Scott's 'Dryden' (vol. x.) an epilogue to ' Mithridates ' is quoted from the Luttrell Collecjtion as spoken by Goodman and Mrs. Cox, and the note adds that it was " the first play acted at the Theatre Royal [London?], 1681." Presumably by "Theatre Royal," Drury Lane is referred to, and not the king's private playhouse at Whitehall.

On 6 February, 1685/6, Peregrine Bertie wrote to the Countess of Rutland saying, " Thursday was acted 'Mithridates,' for the Queen, and Goodman played. To-day is 'Othello.'"

This performance doubtless took place at Court. A subsequent letter in the same correspondence (Hist. MSS. Coram, Reports on 'The Rutland Papers'), written eleven days later, says, "To-night will be the last play at Court, they tell mee 'tis the ' Mocke Astrolager.' "

Is any clue extant to the date of the Princess Anne's appearance as Semandra?

W. J. L.

Dublin.