Charlevoix county herald., 1905-07-22

1T is a great glory for the house of
Sherborne and for Sherborne school to
have him among u.s." says the warrior
prelate. For his presence lifts Sher-
borne on high as the chief city of
Wessex"
Brief comment from the chorus fills
up a gap of considerably over a Gen.
fury and introduces the fourth episode,
the date of which is 99S. 1t graph
cally depicts the laxity of life into
which the monastery at Sherborne, in
common with other monasteries, had
fallen at that time. The monks are
shown drinking and feasting and hav
ing high old time generally. Upon
this scene enters Bishop Wulfsy ILL.,
and reads an ecclesiastical riot act to
them, denouncing them as "graceless
brood Of vipers," reminding them that
life is short and hell is near at
hand" and soaring them into a peni
tentiaI mood, In which they accept the
rule of st. Benedict.
Time takes another jump, and Will
liam the Conqueror, full armed, stern
and wrathful. stalks upon the scene
and frightens the monks worse than
Wulfsy did.
"By Gods grace" he says, I'VE shall
find William the Norman hath a swift
hand to seize and a strong hand to
hold"
Then he goes on to declare that
Sherborne is no longer a see, the
church no longer cathedral, and the
town no longer the chief city of Yves
sex. He transfers the bishopric to
Sarum, and departs, attended by his
knights on horseback and followed by
the bishop, whom he compels to trudge
after him afoot to his new billet.
The next episode shows Roger of
Caen, the chief minister of Henry l.,
laying the foundations of the castle
whose ruins supplied the stage on
which the folk play was performed.
The episode which followed, the sew
enth, presents striking contrast to
those which precede it and is carried
out in the Dorset dialect. 1t portrays
dispute between the parishioners and
the monks, which starts in contro-
versy concerning the erection of font
in the parish church and ends with
the firing of the abbey by the parish
priest. During the progress of this
scene Robin Hood, Maid Marian, Friar
Tuck, Little John and their retinue
were introduced and gave Morris
dance. 1t was danced to the original
tune, too.
The foundation of the almshouse,
still a flourishing institution in Sher-
borne, by Sir Humphry Stafford and
others in the year 1887, forms the
subject of the eighth episode.
The ninth shows the expulsion OF
the monks at the dissolution of the
monastery by King Harry and the
sale Of the abbey church.
The next illustrates the refounding
of the famous Sherborne school and
the receipt of its charter from King
Edward vi. in 1850.
The last of the episodes introduces
one of the most heroic and tragic
figures Of English history, Sir Walter
Raleigh, whose association with Sher-
borne is accounted not the least of its
claims TO distinction. IL depicts MS
homecoming with his wife, to the cas-
tie which had been granted him by
Queen Elizabeth. Sir Walter makes
some pretty and gallant speeches to
his wife, which puts her in such good
humor that she fills his pipe for him
and leaves him to the enjoyment of
the "Virginian weed" which he is sup
posed to have first introduced into
England. Then occurs that humorous
incident with which every smoker is
familiar A servant comes in, and
imagining his master is on fire, souses
him with a jug Of ale.
The performance concluded with a
final tableau emblematic of the pres
ent and past greatness of Sherborne,
in which all the principal figures that