The Ashmole Fragment is a tiny
little scrap left over from a play now lost. It really is blink and you’ll miss it. It features one character - Secundus Miles (second soldier) – who speaks his loyalty to
his Emperor – to defend him from any gedling (rascal) and then to a high
priest – offering his dagger to Mahound (or in modern terms Mohammed – a name
generally used as an oath in medieval drama, ironically, by anyone who was a
bit pagan). It isn’t clear what the
surrounding play was – something with a tyrant and priests, and whilst Herod
springs to mind, there are plenty of other biblical stories that could use the
same motif.
SECUNDUS
MILES:
Sure
Emperor, dread ye no thing!
If
there be any fresh gedling [rascal]
That
would you grieve with any thing,
In
word or in deed,
By
the beard I shall him shake
That
his skull shall all to crake [crack]
And
his soul from him take
And
roast him over a glede. [fire]
To the high priest
O
Mahound, thou great God and true,
Lowuely
[handsome] and also meek of hue,
Offer
to thee I will new
A
dagger that is good and fine.
And
all else is lost.
No comments:
Post a Comment