John Fletcher & Philip Massinger The Beggars Bush 1622

“The Beggars Bush” is a play written by John Fletcher and Philip Massinger in 1622, but commonly included in the “Beaumont and Fletcher” canon. Through performance, print, characters and development of the original text it was likely to have made a substantial contribution to the survival and distribution of the literary phrase. As to the eponymous Beggars Bush itself the play is vague. It is a meeting place for the beggar characters, some of whom, it is revealed, are not beggars at all. It does not attempt to portray a real location – the play is not set in England but in and around Bruges.

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted: March 20th, 2011 | Filed under: Writers, The Play | Tags: Ben Jonson, Clause, Dutch, Francis Beaumont, Francis Kirkman, Henry Chettle, Izaak Walton, John Day, John Fl, John Taylor, Literary, Londons Ordinary, Performance Chronology, Philip Henslowe, Philip Massinger, Publishing Chronology, The Lame Commonwealth, The Play, beggars, geuzen | No Comments »

James River, Virginia, USA Beggars Bush 1620

This is one of three frontier sites where English settlers arrived in a non English speaking country. Before Virginia English settlers arrived in Philipstown, County Offally, Ireland, and after it, Albany, Cape Province, South Africa. They have many features in common; they were on the very edge of the British Empire, they were remote. the settlers were poorly prepared, may not have been told the whole truth before they emigrated and the natives were not friendly.
Read the rest of this entry »

Posted: March 13th, 2011 | Filed under: Places | Tags: Albany, Cape Province, Charles River, County Offaly, Ireland, Philipstown, South Africa, USA, Virginia, beggars, frontier, geuzen, proverb | 4 Comments »