Evening journal., 1913-05-02
GOSSIP OF THE COURTS
BY FL A N Z UR.

Among the myriads TO whom Shore
ditch Church, of London, rs merely
the familiar end of penny bus fare
from ST. Paul's, not many are aware
that this Is the Actors church
Nor is this "A surprise. For but few
are aware that i'm the days when
ShOrcditch was "A pleasant village I'm
the open fields beyond the Bishops
Gate" when street cars or subways
were only dream, the first two the
atros ever built in England were
erected close by The Theater.' in
what used 10 be Haliwell Lane and
now is ShOrcditch-lligh street and
"lhc Curtain namc-that has been
pcrpctuatcd i'm Curtain Road And
not many Englishmen recall that the
few acres that surround ShOreditch
Church must have been hardly less
dear TO Shakespeare than those other
and later-haunts OF his across the
Thames And finally how many land
owners OF today. or those Who 20 TO
the metropolis of the world TO zee tho
sights know that i'm Shorcditch
churchyard lie buried half dozen
men or more, who made Shakes
peare possible
There is movement on foot at
present to erect some memorial 10
tnat little band of ElizabetLan play
ors who I'm reality were SO very much
moro than merely the colleagues OF
the immortal Bard of Avon. Some
whore within the grim ratings, may
hap IN the church itself. Tie both Bur
bages. James, the first builder of
playhouscs ana scenic rclormor
the "Hemhardt" of his tlmel and
"stout Richard" his son. Shakes
peares partner and leading man. tho
creator of Hamlet, of Lclr. and of
Othcllo. There also lies win Som
ers. Henry the lighths court jester
who bestod Cardinal Wolsey in mem
Orable battles of wit; there. too.
Gabriel Sponsor. who fell in the fa-
nous duel with Ben Jonsou. also Will
liam Sly aud Richard COwlcy. both
Of them original performers i'm
Shakcspcarcs plays, and Nicholas
Wilkinson. another member of the or
iginal Shakespearean CASTS whose
bonefaction Of an annual six and a
half pounds is still distributed every
year. ia the form of bread. to thu
Shoreditch poor
Not least. here lies Yorick him
self--poor glorious Dick Tarleton,
whose iests "wcre IL for gentlemen
TO laugh at an hour" n was just
two years after shakespeare then
still struggling and obscure actor
had come TO town. that Tarlcton died
In ShOroditch. "at the house of Emma
Ball" and was buried the same day
at Shoroditch Church II was in
Shoreditch Churchyard that Shakes
peare stood by Yorick's grave. to sec
his old friend laid, as last-century
Shorcditch doctor phrases 1t upon a
tombstone facing the trans. lin his
best bed ROOM
AS yet there is no tangible mem
orial whatever anywhere 20 tell how
the way was cleared for Shakespeare
by those Shoreditch actors. Shakes
pcare himself TO be sure. began his
career as an actor In Shoreditch. Ills
first Job" ia London was probably
under James Burbage at THE Thea
tcrr whose timbers were afterward
TO go to the making of the immortal
Globe
We know from cOntcmporaneous
chloniclers that later he lodged in
ST. Hclens. Bishopsgate. scarcely
three-Quarters of mile away. How
many times the great lorick must
have trudgcd through the thrOngs OF
mcrrymakors and afternoons men
ON their way out TO LOndon's play
groundsl How many times. no doubt
he watched the trained bands drilling
IN Nooredclds. or apprentices shoot
inc at thcir rowing marks" or hcarC
the songs OF the registering sots. a'
M passed the front benches at the
inns
There is not much nowadays. eithei
ia Shoreditch Church or outside Of !
that remains 10 tell MS of the times
much less OF the men, for the ole
church that Shakespeare knew wal
pulled down nearly two centuries ago
and the present ugly edifice erected
I'm its place. The steeple is an imita