in The Vow Breaker, or The Fair Maid of Clifton — Sampson, William
Metadata
Play
The Vow Breaker, or The Fair Maid of Clifton
Author
Sampson, William
Year (catalogued)
1636
First performance
1625
Decade
1630s
Genre
Tragedy
Play type
Nonprofessional (?)
Speech prefix(es)
Arg. | Ar.
Words
311
Characters
1887
Typicality
0.64 (cosine to cluster centroid)
TCP id
A11435
BritDrama no.
2260
Cluster
Cluster 6 — Battlefield messengers & soldiers
Important excerpts
Passages from this character's speech that contain the most distinguishing words for Cluster 6 (armies, fleece, pestle, wonted, pikes, thundering…). Matches are highlighted.
Tigers; The Frenchmen labour, greedy for the prey, Now the hardy Scots as swift as Roes, Climb the walls, and toss the Frenchmen down, Now from the mount their thundering Cannons roar, Whose direful clangors shake their huge structures, And Like and earthquake tumble to the Earth, Their steeples, Ordinance, Gunners, all at once,
Full speech
Peruse this bedroule from Duke Chattenreault Wherein their names are, their persons attend At Inskeith, and with willingness are bound To attend the mighty Queen of England. Seven score my Lord, and prisoners of noble worth Poiteers, Augois, Burbon, Shamoont, Shaldone, Labrosse, and of the English merely one man slain. Hew him in pieces. Man the water-ports, With all the Engines of defensive war; Well fought Vaughan he men the trenches bravely Young Arthur Gray assaults the stony mures, Un goes the scaling Ladders, now they mount, Now Somerset, now Read, now Valiant Brey, Towering Like eager Hawks who shall get highest! Like angery Lions, or incensed Tigers; The Frenchmen labour, greedy for the prey, Now the hardy Scots as swift as Roes, Climb the walls, and toss the Frenchmen down, Now from the mount their thundering Cannons roar, Whose direful clangors shake their huge structures, And Like and earthquake tumble to the Earth, Their steeples, Ordinance, Gunners, all at once, Now Inskeith, Sutton, Newport, Conway, Fitton, As dreadless enter dangers, as their Tents; Accursed chance, the Ladders are too short, Which gives a Triple, vantage to the French. Now the foe triumphs, now our white coats fallen, Now groans the mother, now the virgin sighs; Death will be master, neither party wins Now flies the English; now the French follow, And now their horsemen fling about the sands, Howard counterbuffs their canvasadoes Like chaffed Bulls, or foaming Boars they strive For mastery; the Frenchmen fly the Town, And seek for shelter. Now men your Trenches, Count Mortigue, and Doysells from the Town Make expedition! now sings the God of war His direful Anthems; now fight, or never, We now are freemen or elce bondmen ever. I relish your opinion. Two thousand hardy Scots, With glaved blades, bum daggers, and white Kerchers, Such as will fight, and face the fiery French.
Plot summary
Plot — The Vow Breaker, or The Fair Maid of Clifton
Though Young Bateman is betrothed to Anne Boot and loved by her, her father reneges on the ===== PAGE 347 ===== 1628 arrangement. Meanwhile, war looms: England enters an alliance with a federation of Scottish lords hostile to the French Queen Regent of Scotland, and troops are being recruited to march north. Bateman joins up, hoping that his absence will make Old Boot’s heart grow fonder, and Anne vows to love only him; but her father puts pressure on her to marry German, and, seduced by his wealth, she agrees. The French are vanquished, and Bateman distinguishes himself in battle; but he is troubled by dreams about Anne, and returns home on the day of her wedding, just missing the ceremony. German goes away on a long business trip, leaving Anne in her father’s house. Old Bateman sues Boot for breach of the pre-contract; Young Bateman hangs himself outside Anne’s door, and his ghost haunts Anne, invisible to the rest of her family. Anne gives birth to a baby girl. While the women around her sleep, she sees the ghost and runs out of the house; following her footsteps in the snow, the household find her drowned in the river. The two bereaved fathers, Boot and Bateman, commiserate together. In Scotland, Sir Gervase Clifton insults the Queen Regent by drawing an unfavourable comparison with Queen Elizabeth, and captures Martigues in a single combat, but releases him with honour. Joshua the Puritan intends to hang his cat for Sabbath-breaking - she killed a mouse on Sunday - but the cat is saved by the arrival of a French ambassador. The English attack Leith, and Clifton captures a French colonel’s armour. Hostilities are ended by diplomatic means, and Scotland is to be demilitarized. The English and French lords feast together, and Joshua gets drunk. The English troops return south to meet the Queen at Nottingham; the common soldiers plan to put on a play for her, but decide on a morris dance instead. She meets the civic authorities and rewards her military commanders.