# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Carlell, Lodowick

​CARLELL, LODOWICK (fl. 1629-1664), dramatist, held varioufl positions at court under Charles I and II. Aooording to ​Langbaine, 'he was an ancient courtier, being gentleman of the bows to King Charles the First, groom of the king and queen's privy chamber, and served (sic) the queen mother many years.' He is the reputed author of nine plays, of which eight survive. These are as follows:
* 'The Deserving Favourite,' 4to, 1629, 8vo, 1659, a tragicomedy, played at Whitehall before Charles I and his queen, and subsequently at the private theatre in Blackfriars.
* and 3. 'Arviragus and Philicia,' a tragi-comedy in two parts, 12mo, 1639, acted at Blackfriars, and with a preface by Dryden spoken by Hart, revived in 1672 by the king's company at Lincoln's Inn Fields.
* and 5. 'The Passionate Lover,' a tragi-comedy in two parts, 4to, 1655, played at Somerset House, and subsequently at Blackfriars.
* 'The Fool would be a Favourite, or the Discreet Lover,' 8vo, 1657, 'acted with great applause' (Langbaine).
* 'Osmond, the Great Turk, or the Noble Servant,' a tragedy, 8vo, printed in the same volume with the foregoing under the title 'Two New Playes.'
* ' Heraclius, Emperor of the East,' 4to, 1664.
* 'The Spartan Ladies,' a comedy entered on the books of the Stationers' Company, 4 Sept. 1646, and mentioned in Humphrey Moseley's catalogue at the end of Middleton's 'More Dissemblers besides Women.' No copy of the play has been traced. According to Mr. Halliwell-Phillipps, an entry in the diary of Sir H. Mildmay shows it to have been acted so early as 1634.
Of these plays, all except one seem to have been put on the stage. Concerning 'Heraclius,' which is a translation from Pierre Corneille, Langbaine, following the author's statement in the dedication, says it was never played, another version being preferred by the players whom Carlell supposed to have accepted his work. No other play on the subject is preserved. Pepys, in his 'Diary,' 4 Feb. 1666-7, writes as follows: 'Soon as dined my wife and I out to the Duke's Playhouse, and there saw "Heraclius," an excellent play, to my extraordinary content, and the more from the house being very full and great company.' The note to this ascribes the play in question to Carlell. The plots of most of the remaining pieces are borrowed. Carlell has some power of character painting. As regards construction and language, his plays will stand comparison with those of the minor dramatists of his day. They are dedicated to his fellow-courtiers, and contain in prologues and epilogues some slight autobiographical indications. In the prologue to the second part of the ' Passionate Lover' Carlell say:
Most here know This author hunts, and hawks, and feeds his deer, Not some, but most fair days throughout the year.
'Heraclius' is in rhymed verse, which Carlell manages indifferently well. One or two others are in prose, with rhymed tags to certain speeches; the remainder are in blankverse of indescribable infelicity. It is difficult to resist the conviction that the plays were intended for prose, and were measured into unequal lengths and supplied with capitals by the printers.
[Genest's Account of the English Stage; Langbaine's Dramatic Poeta; Diary of Pepys; Halliwell's Dictionary of Old Plays; plays of Carlell cited.]
J. K.