PREFACE. In the scanty annals of the early Scotish drama, the comedy of Philotus occupies a very conspicuous place. It is therefore a subject of some regret that the name of the poet has not hitherto been ascertained; for there is no evidence, and indeed no great probability, of its having been written by Robert Semple, who has sometimes been represented as the author. He is mentioned as the writer of a play, which on the 17th of January 1568 was acted before the regent and others of the nobility;' and it has been taken for granted that he was the writer of Philotus, which has not been appropriated by any other author. Various plays were however written and acted which were never printed, and which are no longer preserved in manuscript; nor must we so rapidly hasten to the conclusion, that this particular drama could only be the composition of an individual who is recorded as the writer of some drama, unnamed and undescribed. 4to. 'Birrel's Diary, p. 14, in Dalyell's Fragments of Scotish History. Edinb. 1798, On evidence equally doubtful, several writers have represented this poet as a Scotish peer.' The evidence indeed amounts to little more than this :-the fourth Lord Semple bore the same name, and after the year 1570 the poet changed his signature to Semple. The identity of the name is itself a very slender proof, and requires no particular consideration. In Bannatyne's MS. he appears as Semple, without the addition of his Christian name; but if this circumstance is to be admitted as evidence, Dunbar, Henryson, Scott, and various other poets may in the same manner be elevated to the dignity of the peerage. Lord Semple succeeded his grandfather in 1572, and the manuscript was written in 1568: it is evident that at this latter date Robert Semple was not a peer, though we find him here mentioned by his surname. In the Legend of the Bishop of Sanctandrois Lyfe, which, as it mentions Adamson's journey to London, must have been written so late as the year 1583, the author describes himself by his initials R. S. It is admitted that Lord Semple continued to profess the popish religion; but the poems of Robert Semple contain the most unequivocal proofs of having been written by a protestant, and the Legend was manifestly written by a zealous presbyterian. According to 1 Sibbald's Chronicle of Scottish Poetry, vol. iii. p. 397. Preface to Semple's Sege of the Castel of Edinburgh. [Lond. 1813] 4to. Motherwell's Essay on the Poets of Renfrewshire (p. xvii.) prefixed to the Harp of Renfrewshire. Paisley, 1819, 12mo. * Wood's Peerage of Scotland, vol. ii. p. 494. 1 Dempster, the poet died in 1595; but the peer is known to have survived till 1611. Whatever credit may be due to this literary historian, there are other circumstances more than sufficient to render their identity extremely dubious. Montgomery, in a sonnet addressed to Robert Hudson, specifies Semple as not exempted from the ordinary misfortunes of poets; and as this sonnet appears to have been written when he was advanced in years, it affords another presumption against the identity of the poet and the peer. Ye knau ill guyding genders mony gees, And specially in poets: for example, Ye can pen out tua cuple, and ye pleis, It is not perhaps to be considered as very probable that Montgomery would have applied these expressions to the presumptive heir of a baron; and it is certain that he would not thus have described the baron himself. There is some reason to believe that Semple was a captain in the army: he speaks of himself as having been present at the siege of Edinburgh Castle; in the progress of his narrative, he specifies particular incidents which he had not himself Dempsteri Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Scotorum, p. 602.-He represents Semple as exhibiting the combined excellencies of Propertius, Tibullus, Ovid, and Callimachus; an eulogium which cannot but be regarded as extravagant by those who have perused such of his compositions as are now to be found. 'Montgomery's Poems, p. 75. Edinb. 1821, 8vo. an opportunity of observing, and he distinctly mentions a captain of his own name. Four capitanis followit, at thair bak to byde, The comedy of Philotus exhibits a plot sufficiently complex. The principal character, from which the play derives its name, is a very rich and very old man, deeply enamoured of Emily, the young and beautiful daughter of Alberto. As she feels little inclination to listen to the addresses of such a lover, he employs a macrell, or procuress, "to allure the madyn ;" though, with his honourable intentions, it is not very obvious why he should have had recourse to an agent of this class. In the course of a long conference, she endeavours, but without success, to persuade Emily to marry Philotus. Some of her suggestions may be supposed to reflect considerable light on the usages of that period. He afterwards addresses himself to Alberto, who very willingly listens to his proposal, and endeavours to obtain his daughter's consent; but she declares her repugnance to such a match, and thus excites the violent indignation of her father. Flavius, a youthful lover, now makes his appearance, and finds a more favourable reception. He commences with a long and pedantic oration, interspersed with divers notices of Apollo, Daphne, Mars, Venus, Demosthenes, and other notable personages. We may suppose the young gentleman to be newly dismissed from the schools, but the young gentlewoman seems to be equally familiar with Parnassus and Helicon. Last, sen ze may my meladie remeid, Releiue zour Sysiphus of his restles stane : 1 Telephus, when wounded by Achilles, could only be cured by the spear which had inflicted the injury. See Hygini Fabulae, p. 161, edit. Munckeri, and Musgrave's Euripides, vol. iii. p. 588. This subject has furnished the ancient poets with many allusions, which are frequently of the amatory kind. The following distich Valckenaer has quoted from a manuscript Anthology. (Diatribe in Euripidis perditorum Dramatum Reliquias, p. 210. Lugd. Bat. 1767, 4to.) Τήλεφον ὁ τρώσας καὶ ἀκέστατο· μὴ σύγε κούρη Εἰς ἐμὲ δυσμενέων γίνεο πικροτέρη. The entire story is contained in an epigram of another ancient poet. (Poematia veAnthologia Burmanni, tom. i. p. 80.) tera Pithoei, p. 49. Telephus excellens Alcidis pignus et Augae Externae sortis bella inopina tulit. Nam Grai Trojam peterent cum mille carinis, Tangeret et classis litus adacta suum, Syria pugnanti percutit hasta femur. Pro cujus cura consultus dixit Apollo, Hostica quod salubrem cuspis haberet opem. b |