For several nights a detachment of
fifty soldiers protected the building and its approaches; but the
public peace was not further disturbed. The footmen were compelled to
acknowledge themselves defeated. They were admitted _gratis_ to the
upper gallery no more.
Arnot's "History of Edinburgh," 1789, contains an account of a
servants' riot in the theatre of that city on the occasion of the
second performance of the Rev. Mr. Townley's farce of "High Life Below
Stairs," originally played at Drury Lane in 1759. The footmen, highly
offended at the representation of a farce reflecting on their
fraternity, resolved to prevent its repetition. In Edinburgh the
footmen's gallery still existed. "That servants might not be kept
waiting in the cold, nor induced to tipple in the adjacent ale-houses
while they waited for their masters, the humanity of the gentry had
provided that the upper gallery should afford gratis admission to the
servants of such persons as were attending the theatre." On the second
night of the performance of the farce, Mr. Love, one of the managers
of the theatre, came upon the stage, and read a letter he had
received, containing the most violent threatenings both against the
actors and the house, in case "High Life Below Stairs" should be
represented, and declaring "that above seventy people had agreed to
sacrifice fame, honour, and profit to prevent it.
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