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The worthy custome of honouring worthy marriages, with these noble solemnities, hath, of late yeeres, aduanc'd it selfe frequently with vs; to the reputation no lesse of our court, then nobles: expressing besides (through the difficulties of expence, and trauell, with the cheerefulnesse of vnder-taking) a most reall affection in the personaters, to those, for whose sake they would sustayne these persons. It behoues then vs, that are trusted with a part of their honor, in these celebrations, to doe nothing in them, beneath the dignitie of either. With this preposed part of iudgement, I aduenture to giue that abroad, which in my first conception I intended honorably fit: and (though it hath labour'd since, vnder censure) I, that know Truth to be alwayes of one stature, and so like a rule, as who bends it the least way, must needes doe an iniurie to the right, cannot but smile at their tyrannous ignorance, that will offer to slight me (in these things being an artificer) and giue themselues a peremptorie licence to iudge, who haue neuer touch'd so much as to the barke, or vtter shell of any knowledge. But, their daring dwell, with them. They haue found a place, to powre out their follies, and I a seate, to sleepe out the passage.

The scene to this Masque, was a high, steepe, red cliffe, aduancing it selfe into the cloudes, figuring the place, from whence (as I haue beene, not fabulously, informed) the honourable family of the Radcliffes first tooke their name (à cliuo rubro) and is to be written with that Orthography; as I haue obseru'd out of M. Cambden, in his mention of the Earles of Sussex. This cliffe was also a note of height, greatnesse, and antiquitie; before which, on the two sides, were erected two pilasters, chardg'd with spoiles and trophees, of loue, and his mother, consecrate to marriage: amongst which were old and yong persons figur'd, bound with roses, the wedding garments,

rocks, and spindles, hearts transfixt with arrowes, others flaming, virgins girdles, gyrlonds, and worlds of such like; all wrought round and bold: and ouer-head two personages, triumph and victorie, in flying postures, and twise so big as the life, in place of the arch, and holding a gyrlond of myrtle for the key. All which, with the pillars, seem'd to be of burnished gold, and emboss'd out of the mettall. Beyond the cliffe was seene nothing but cloudes, thick, and obscure; till on the sodaine, with a solemne musique, a bright skie breaking forth; there were discouered, first two doues, then two swannes with siluer geeres, drawing forth a triumphant chariot; in which Venvs sate, crowned with her starre, and beneath her the three Graces, or Charites, Aglaia, Thalia, Evphrosyne, all attyr'd according to their antique figures. These, from their chariot, alighted on the top of the cliffe, and descending by certayne abrupt and winding passages, Venvs hauing left her starre, onely, flaming in her seate, came to the earth, the Graces throwing gyrlonds all the way, and began to speake.

VENVS.

Gr. I.
Not I.

Gr. 2.
Nor I.

Gr. 3.
Nor I.

Ve.
Stay nymphs, we then will trie
A neerer way. Looke all these ladies eyes,
And see if there he not concealed lyes;
Or in their bosomes, 'twixt their swelling brests:
(The wag affects to make himselfe such nests)
Perchance, he'hath got some simple heart, to hide
His subtle shape in: I will haue him cry'd.
And all his vertues told. That, when they know
What spright he is, shee soone may let him goe,
That guards him now; and thinke her selfe right blest,
To be so timely rid of such a guest.
Begin soft Graces, and proclaime reward
To her that brings him in. Speake, to be heard.

I. Grace.
Beauties, haue yee seene this toy,
Called

In this loue, I expresse Cupid, as he is Veneris filius, and owner of the following qualities, ascrib'd him by the antique and later Poets.

loue, a little boy,
Almost naked, wanton, blind,
Cruell now; and then as kind?
If he be amongst yee, say;
He is Venvs run-away.

2. Grace.
Shee, that will but now discouer
Where the winged wag doth houer,
Shall, to night, receiue a kisse,
How, or where her selfe would wish:
But, who brings him to his mother,
Shall haue that kisse, and another.

3. Grace.
H' hath of markes about him plentie:
You shall know him, among twentie.
All his body is a fire,
And his breath a flame entire,
That being shot, like lightning, in,
Wounds the heart, but not the skin.

I. Grace.
At his sight, the

See Lucian. Dial. Deor.

sunne hath turned,
Neptvne in the waters, burned;

And Claud. in raptu Proserp.

hath felt a greater heate:
Iove himselfe forsooke his seate:
From the center, to the skie,
Are his

Such was the power ascribd him, by all the ancients: whereof there is extant an elegant greeke Epigram, Phil. Poë. wherein hee makes all the other deities dispoyld by him, of their ensignes. Joue of his thunder, Phœbus of his arrowes, Hercules of his club, &c.

trophæes reared hie.

2. Grace.
Wings he hath, which though yee clip,
He will leape from lip, to lip,
Ouer liuer, lights, and heart,
But not stay in any part;
And, if chance his arrow misses,
He will shoot himselfe, in kisses.

3. Grace.
He doth beare a golden Bow
And a Quiuer, hanging low,
Full of arrowes, that out-braue
Dian's shafts: where, if he haue
Any head more sharpe then other,
With that first he strikes his mother.

I. Grace.
Still the fairest are his fuell.
When his daies are to be cruell,
Louers hearts are all his food;
And his bathes their warmest bloud:
Nought but wounds his hand doth season;
And he hates none like to Reason.

2. Grace.
Trust him not: his words, though sweet,
Seldome with his heart doe meet.
All his practise is deceit;
Euerie gift it is a bait;
Not a kisse, but poyson beares;
And most treason in his teares.

3. Grace.
Idle minutes are his raigne;
Then, the straggler makes his gaine,
By presenting maids with toyes,
And would haue yee thinke 'hem ioyes:
'Tis the ambition of the else,
To 'haue all childish, as himselfe.

I. Grace.
If by these yee please to know him,
Beauties, be not nice, but show him.

2. Grace.
Though yee had a will, to hide him,
Now, we hope, yee'le not abide him.

3. Grace.
Since yee heare his falser play;
And that he is Venvs Run-away.

At this, from behind the Trophæes, Cvpid discouered himselfe, and came forth armed; attended with twelue boyes, most antickly attyr'd, that represented the sports, and prettie lightnesse, that accompanie Loue, vnder the titles of Ioci, and Risvs; and are said to wait on Venvs, as she is Præfect of Mariage. Which Horat. consents to

—Erycina ridens, Quam Iocus circumvolat, & Cupido.

Car. lib. I. Ode 2.
CVPID.
Come my little iocound sports,
Come away; the time now sorts.
With your pastime: This same night
Is Cvpid's day. Aduance your light.
With your Reuell fill the roome,
That our triumphs be not dumbe.

Wherewith they fell into a subtle capriccious Daunce, to as odde a Musique, each of them bearing two torches, and nodding with their antique faces, with other varietie of ridiculous gesture, which gaue much occasion of mirth, and delight, to the spectators. The Daunce ended, Cvpid went forward.
CVPID.
Well done Antiques: Now, my Bow,
And my Quiuer beare to show;
That these Beauties, here, may know,
By what armes this feat was done,
That hath so much honor wonne,
Vnto Venvs, and her Sonne.

At which, his Mother apprehended him: and circling him in, with the Graces, began to demand.
VENVS.
What feat, what honor is it, that you boast,
My little straggler? I had giuen you lost,
With all your games, here.

Cvp.
Mother?

Ven.
Yes sir, she.
What might your glorious cause of triumph be?
Ha'you shot

She vrges these as miracles, because Pallas, and the Muses are most contrarie to Cupid. See Luc. Dialog. Ven. & Cupid.

Minerva, or the Thespian dames?
Heat aged

Rhea, the mother of the gods, whom Lucian, in that place makes, to haue falne frantikely in loue, by Cupids meanes, with Attys. So of the Moone, with Endymion, Hercules, &c.

Ops againe, with youthfull flames?
Or haue you made the colder Moone to visit
Once more, a sheepe-cote? Say, what conquest is it
Can make you hope such a renowne to winne?
Is there a second Hercvles brought to spinne?
Or, for some new disguise, leaues Iove his thunder?

CVPID.
Nor that, nor those, and yet no lesse a wonder;
Which to tell, I may not stay:
And there slips from her.

Here Hymen, the god of mariage, entred; and was so induc'd here, as you haue him describ'd in my Hymenæi.

Hymen's presence bids away;
'Tis, alreadie, at his night,
He can giue you farther light.
You, my sports may here abide,
Till I call, to light the Bride.

HYMEN.
Venvs, is this a time to quit your carre?
To stoope to earth? to leaue, alone, your starre,
Without your influence? and,

When she is Nuptijs Præfecta, with Iuno, Suadela, Diana, and Iupiter himselfe. Paus. in Messeniac. & Plut. in problem.

on such a night,
Which should be crown'd with your most chearing sight?
As you were ignorant of what were done
By Cvpids hand, your all-triumphing Sonne?
Looke on this state; and if you yet not know,
What Crowne there shines, whose Scepter here doth grow;
Thinke on thy lou'd

Aeneas, the sonne of Venus, Virgil makes through-out, the most exquisit patterne of Pietie, Iustice, Prudence, and all other Princely vertues, with whom (in way of that excellence) I conferre my soueraigne, applying, in his description, his owne word, vsurped of that Poets. Parcere subiectis, & debellare superbos.

Æneas, and what name,
Maro, the golden trumpet of his fame,
Gaue him, read thou in this. A Prince, that drawes
By'example more, then others doe by lawes:
That is so iust to his great act, and thought,
To doe, not what Kings may, but what Kings ought.
Who, out of pietie, vnto peace, is vow'd;
To spare his subiects, yet to quell the proud,
And dares esteeme it the first fortitude,
To haue his passions, foes at home, subdued.
That was reseru'd, vntill the Parcæ spunne
Their whitest wooll; and then, his thred begun.
Which thred, when

In that monstrous conspiracie of E. Gowrie.

Treason would haue burst, a soule
(To day renown'd, and added to my roule)
Oppos'd; and, by that act, to his name did bring
The honor, to

Titulo tune crescere posses, nunc per te titulus.

be Sauer of his King.
This King, whose worth (if gods for vertue loue)
Should Venvs with the same affections moue,
As her Æneas; and no lesse endeare
Her loue to his safetie, then when she did cheare,
(

Virg. Aeneid. lib. I.

After a tempest) long afflicted Troy,
Vpon the Lybian shore; and brought them ioy.

VENVS.
I loue, and know his vertues, and doe boast
Mine owne renowne, when I renowne him most.
My Cvpid's absence I forgiue, and praise,
That me to such a present grace could raise.
His champion shall, hereafter, be my care;
But speake his bride, and what her vertues are.

HYMEN.
She is a noble virgin, styl'd the maid
Of the Red-cliffe, and hath her dowrie waigh'd;
No lesse in vertue, bloud, and forme, then gold.
Thence, where my Pillar's rear'd, you may behold,
(Fill'd with Loues Trophæes) doth she take her name.
Those Pillars did vxorious

The ancient Poets, whensoeuer they would intend any thing to be done, with great Masterie, or excellent Art, made Vulcan the artificer, as Hom. Iliad. Σ. in the forging of Achilles his armour: and Uirg. for Aeneas, Aenei. 8. He is also said to be the god of fire, and light. Sometime taken for the purest beame: and by Orph. in Hym. celebrated for the Sunne and Moone. But more specially, by Eurip. in Troad. he is made Facifer in nuptijs,. Which present office we giue him here, as being calor nature, and præses luminis. See Pluto in Cratyl. For his description, read Pausa. in Elia.

Vvlcan frame,
Against this day, and vnderneath that hill,
He, and his Cyclopes, are forging still
Some strange, and curious peece, t'adorne the night,
And giue these graced Nuptials greater light.

Here Vvlcan presented himselfe (as ouer-hearing Hymen) attyr'd in a cassocke girt to him; with bare armes; his haire and beard rough; his hat of blue, and ending in a Cone: In his hand, a hammer, and tongs; as comming from the Forge.
VVLCAN.
Which I haue done; the best of all my life:
And haue my end, if it but please my wife,
And she commend it, to the labor'd worth.
Cleaue solid Rock, and bring the wonder forth.

At which, with a lowd and full musique, the Cliffe parted in the midst, and discouered an illustrious Concaue, fill'd with an ample and glistering light, in which, an artificiall Sphere was made of siluer, eighteene foot in the Diameter, that turned perpetually: the Coluri were heightned with gold; so were the Arctick and Antarctick circles, the Tropicks, the Æquinoctiall, the Meridian, and Horizon; onely the Zodiake was of pure gold: in which, the Masquers, vnder the Characters of the twelue Signes, were plac'd, answering them in number; whose offices, with the whole frame, as it turned, Vvlcan went forward, to describe.
VVLCAN.
It is a spheare, I'haue formed round, and euen,
In due proportion to the spheare of heauen,
With all his lines, and circles; that compose
The perfect'st forme, and aptly doe disclose
The heauen of marriage: which I title it.
Within whose Zodiack, I haue made to sit,
In order of the signes, twelue sacred powers,
That are præsiding at all nuptiall howers:
1. The first, in Aries place, respecteth pride
Of youth; and beauty; graces in the bride.
2. In Tavrvs, he loues strength, and manlinesse;
The vertues, which the bridegrome should professe.
3. In Gemini, that noble power is showne,
That twins their hearts; and doth, of two, make one.
4. In Cancer, he that bids the wife giue way
With backward yeelding, to her husbands sway.
5. In Leo, he that doth instill the heate
Into the man: which, from the following seate,
6. Is tempred so, as he that lookes from thence
Sees, yet, they keepe a Virgin innocence.
7. In Libra's roome, rules he that doth supply
All happy beds with sweet æquality.
8. The Scorpions place he fills, that make the iarres,
And stings in wedlocke; little strifes, and warres:
9. Which he, in th'Archers throne, doth soone remoue
By making, with his shafts, new wounds of loue.
10. And those the follower, with more heate, inspires,
As, in the Goate, the sun renewes his fires.
11. In wet Aqvarivs stead, reignes he, that showres
Fertilitie vpon the geniall bowres.
12. Last, in the Fishes place, sits he, doth say;
In married ioyes, all should be dumbe, as they.
And this hath Vvlcan, for his Venvs, done,
To grace the chaster triumph of her sonne.

VENVS.
And for this gift, will I to heauen returne,
And vowe, for euer, that my lampe shall burne
With pure and chasest fire; or

As Catul. hath it in nup. Iul. and Manl. without Hymen, which is marriage: Nu potest Venus, fama quod bona comprobit, &c.

neuer shine,
But when it mixeth with thy spheare, and mine.

Here Venvs returnd to her chariot with the graces: while Vvlcan calling out the priests of Hymen who were the musicians, was interrupted by Pyracmon,

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one of the Cyclops; of whom with the other two, Brontes, and Steropes, see

Ferrum exercebant vaslo Cyclopes in antro, Brontesque, Steropesque, & nudus membra Pyracmon, &c.

Vir. Æneid.
VVLCAN.
Sing then yee priests.

PYRACMON.
—Stay Vvlcan, shall not these
Come foorth and daunce?

VVLCAN.
Yes, my Pyracmon, please
The eyes of these spectators, with

As when Hom. Jliad. Σ makes Thetis for her sonne Achilles, to visit Vulcans house, he fains that Uulcan had made twenty Tripodes or stooles with golden wheeles, to mooue of themselues, miraculously, and goe out, and returne fitly. To which, the inuention of our daunce alludes, & is in the Poet a most elegant place, and worthy the tenth reading.

our art.

PYRACMON.
Come here then, Brontes, beare a Cyclops part,
And Steropes, both with your sledges stand,
And strike a time vnto them as they land;
And as they forwards come, still guide their paces
In musicall, and sweet proportion'd graces;
While I vpon the worke, and frame attend,
And Hymens priests forth, at their seasons, send
To chaunt their hymnes; and make this square admire
Our great artificer, the god of fire.

Here, the musicians attir'd in yellow, with wreathes of marioram, and veiles, like Hymens priests, sung the first staffe of the following Epithalamion: which, because it was sung in pieces, betweene the daunces, shew'd to be so many seuerall songs; but was made to be read an intire Poeme. After the song, they came forth (descending in an oblique motion) from the Zodiack, and daunc'd their first daunce; Then, musique interpos'd (but varied with voyces, onely keeping the same Chorus) they daunc'd their second daunce. So after, their third, and fourth daunces; which were all full of elegancy, and curious deuice. The two latter were made by M. Tho. Giles, the two first by M. Hie. Herne: who, in the persons of the two Cyclopes, beat a time to them, with their hammers. The tunes were M. Alphonso Ferrabosco's. The deuice and act of the scene, M. Ynigo Iones his, with addition of the Trophæes. For the inuention of the whole and the verses, Assertor qui dicat esse meos, Imponet plagiario pudorem.

The attire of the masquers, throughout, was most gracefull, and noble; partaking of the best both ancient and later figure. The colours carnation, and siluer, enrich'd both with embrodery, and lace. The dressing of their heads, fethers and iewels; and so excellently order'd, to the rest of the habite, as all would suffer vnder

any description, after the shew. Their performance of all so magnificent, & illustrous, that nothing can adde to the seale of it, but the subscription of their names.

• The Duke of Lenox.
• Earle of Arvndell.
• Ear. of Pembroke.
• Ear. of Montgomery.
• Lo. D'Avbigny.
• Lo. of Walden.
• Lo. Hey.
• Lo. Sankre.
• Sir. Ro. Riche.
• Sir. Io. Kennethie.
• Mr. Ersskins.

EPITHALAMION.