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)
Mor. | Mar.
Words
292
Characters
1619
Typicality
0.24 (cosine to cluster centroid)
TCP id
A11435
BritDrama no.
2260
Cluster
Cluster 15 — Devils, vices & grotesques
Important excerpts
No keyword-matching excerpt could be extracted (the cluster label doesn't share vocabulary with this character's speech).
Full speech
Omit this Doisells, They now are healthing, and carousing deep. Now is our time to work a stratagem, Gaining these Trenches that oppress the town. Thus as we are, we pass without suspect, Nine Bona Roba nine stout Viragoes, Nine manly lasses which will stand the squeak; Jove went a wenching, as we go to'th wars; If this exploit take root, we built a strength That nine months seidge cannot again redeem. Now is the time make your appearance? And the beans of me ise a pure lurden? And the Lard nare thee with and my bore bones. Clifton thou mayest! Traitor thou liest? With such and overture, but thy barbarous head nothing can calm it? In all things as befits a man of worth Thou hast abused my princely mistress name Sullied her royalties with infamies, And from thy throat, as from a Serpents chaps. Belched poisons against the Dowager of France; To prove these false I made this sally forth Only to combare thee. Through chance of war I am. I shall report thee noble! I came to seek thee, Gray; We obey, and instant will give order. Doy. Which, we as duty binds, must obey. We much desire to hear the Articles, On which this peace stands fully ratified. We Subject's are the hands, Kings are the heads, And what the head commands, the hands must act, Our barrocadoed portals shall fly open, And yield entrance; if warlike Clifton please, As we have fought together, so we'll feast, Such viands, as a razed Town can yield You shall receive; noble sir Francis Leak Hath in this manner proclaimed this peace On the North-side whom we will gratulate Which terms of honour, will it please you enter? Marry Jove forbid.
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.