" The widow of the Earl of Holland who was beheaded in March,
1649, occupied Holland House at this time. She was the granddaughter
of Sir Walter Cope, and a stout-hearted lady, who doubtless took pride
in encouraging the entertainments her late lord's foes had tried so
hard to suppress. Alexander Goffe, "the woman-actor at Blackfriars,"
acted as "Jackal" on the occasion of these furtive performances. He
had made himself known to the persons of quality who patronised plays,
and gave them notice of the time when and the place where the next
representation would "come off." A stage-play, indeed, in those days
was much what a prize-fight has been in later times--absolutely
illegal, and yet assured of many persistent supporters. Goffe was
probably a slim, innocent-looking youth, who was enabled to baffle the
vigilance of the Puritan functionaries, and to pass freely and
unsuspected between the players and their patrons. At Christmas-time
and during the few days devoted to Bartholomew Fair, the actors, by
dint of bribing the officer in command of the guard at Whitehall, and
securing in such wise his connivance, were enabled to present
performances at the Red Bull in St.
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