The Somerset Masque, sometimes known as The Squire's Masque,David M. Bergeron, The Duke of Lennox 1574–1624: A Jacobean Courtier's Life (Edinburgh University Press, 2022), pp. 126, 178. was written by Thomas Campion and performed on 26 December 1613 at the old Banqueting House at Whitehall Palace, to celebrate the wedding of Robert Carr, 1st Earl of Somerset and Frances Howard. Anne of Denmark, queen consort of James VI and I, took part in the performance by offering a branch from a magic golden tree.Barbara Ravelhofer, The Early Stuart Masque: Dance, Costume, and Music (Oxford University Press, 2006), p. 1: David Lindley, Thomas Campion (Brill, 1986), pp. 216–229.
Masques for a wedding The scheme of The Somerset Masque appears to be derived from the story of Peleus and Thetis, as related by Catullus.David Lindley, "Thomas Campion", Fredson Bowers, Jacobean and Caroline dramatists (Detroit, 1987), p. 42. Campion's masque on the night of the wedding ceremony was the first of a number of entertainments, including Ben Jonson's A Challenge at Tilt and The Irish Masque at Court, Thomas Middleton's lost Masque of Cupids, and The Masque of Flowers. The costs of the masque, excluding the costumes, were met by James VI and I.David Lindley, "Embarrassing Ben: The Masques For Frances Howard", English Literary Renaissance, 16:2 (Spring 1986), pp. 347–48: Norman Egbert McClure, Letters of John Chamberlain, vol. 1 (Philadelphia, 1939), pp. 495–98.Masque of Cupids, Lost Plays Database The master of ceremonies, Lewes Lewknor, invited diplomats to the events, and the recently arrived Spanish ambassador Diego Sarmiento de Acuña, 1st Count of Gondomar and his wife were seated close to Anne of Denmark at The Somerset Masque.Allen B. Hinds, HMC Manuscripts of the Marquess of Downshire, 4 (London, 1940), p. 299–301: John Orrell, "The Agent of Savoy at The Somerset Masque", Review of English Studies, 28:111 (August 1977), pp. 303–305.
The show The speaking parts were delivered by four squires, hence the alternative title, The Squire's Masque.Because of the noble dancers, Edmund Howes called the performance "a gallant mask of lords" and Robert Sidney wrote of three planned masques, "one of earls and lords", in Allen B. Hinds, HMC Manuscripts of the Marquess of Downshire, 4 (London, 1940), p. 259. Error, Rumour, Curiousity and Credulity work their enchantments on a group of twelve knights who arrive by sea from the four quarters of the earth. The opening scene included a seascape, with ships, some "cunningly painted" others "artificially sailing". The Squires relate that their ships encountered a storm and sea serpents appeared. Six knights climbed the rigging with their swords drawn. Suddenly, the storm cleared, the serpents were gone, and the knights were transformed into pillars of gold.John Nichols, Progresses of James the First, 2 (London, 1828), p. 709.
While this tale is being told, two enchanters (Error and Rumour) and two enchantresses (Curiosity and Credulity, both in contrasting costumes painted with eyes and ears) appear on the stage, whispering together as if to celebrate their success. The four winds, the four elements, and the four corners of the earth (the four continents) appear in turn and dance, and dance together "in a strange kind of confusion". They depart from the stage dancing "by four and four". The whole world, it seems, is in discord.John Nichols, Progresses of James the First, 2 (London, 1828), p. 710.
The rescue or disenchantment of the knights is achieved by Eternity, assisted by the Three Destinies and Harmony, using a branch from Bel-Anna's golden tree, as Anne of Denmark and "only she, can all knotted spells untie".Susan Dunn-Hensley, Anna of Denmark and Henrietta Maria: Virgins, Witches, and Catholic Queens (Palgrave Macmillan, 2017), p. 131: Clare McManus, Women on the Renaissance stage: Anna of Denmark and Female Masquing in the Stuart Court (Manchester, 2002), pp. 167, 170.Gabriel Lonsberry, "Queen Anna of Denmark, Prince Henry Stuart, and an Education in Masquing", Ben Jonson Journal, 33:1 (May 2026), pp. 54–55. The tree of gold was carried to Anne of Denmark by the Destinies, while Harmony sang Vanish, vanish hence, Confusion.M. A. Katritzsky, "Travelers' tales: magic and superstition on early modern European and London stages", Verena Theile & Andrew D. McCarthy, Staging the Superstitions of Early Modern Europe (Routledge, 2013), p. 233: Simon Jackson, George Herbert and Early Modern Musical Culture (Cambridge, 2023), pp. 104–195. The knights' predicament is understood to represent the false rumour and notoriety surrounding the Carr/Howard marriage, to be dispelled by royal authority.Clare McManus, Women on the Renaissance Stage: Anna of Denmark and Female Masquing in the Stuart Court, 1590–1618 (Manchester, 2002), p. 167.
The lyric Bring away this sacred Tree, sung by Nicholas Lanier, credits the queen with facilitating the marriage of the king's favourite, although she had previously opposed it.David M. Bergeron, The Duke of Lennox 1574–1624: A Jacobean Courtier's Life (Edinburgh University Press, 2022), p. 125: Martin Butler, The Stuart Court Masque and Political Culture (Cambridge, 2008), p. 216: Alison V. Scott, Selfish gifts : the politics of exchange and English courtly literature, 1580–1628 (Farleigh Dickinson, 2006), p. 181. Anne passed a bough of the tree to William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke, a noted supporter of Somerset,Henry Paton, HMC Manuscripts of the Earl of Mar and Kellie (London: HMSO, 1930), p. 52. and here an actor and mediator in "a chain of accomodation".Martin Butler, The Stuart Court Masque and Political Culture (Cambridge, 2008), p. 218.Jason O'Toole, Exploring Early Modern Sexualities: The Desires of King James VI & I (Bloomsbury, 2025), p. 114.
Ben Jonson had given her the name Bel-Anna in The Masque of Queens.Clare McManus, Women on the Renaissance Stage: Anna of Denmark and Female Masquing in the Stuart Court, 1590–1618 (Manchester, 2002), pp. 169–170, 176–177: Peter Holman, The Masque at the Earl of Somerset's Marriage, 1614 (Scholar Press, 1973). Considering Anne of Denmark's dislike of Somerset and the Howard family, Barbara Kiefer Lewalski suggests this role in The Somerset Masque "constrains the use of her power to an unwelcome arena",Barbara Kiefer Lewalski, Writing women in Jacobean England (Harvard, 1993), p. 41. and for Clare McManus represents a "real political capitulation in front of the watching court".Clare McManus, Women on the Renaissance Stage: Anna of Denmark and Female Masquing in the Stuart Court, 1590–1618 (Manchester, 2002), p. 170.Susan Dunn-Hensley, Anna of Denmark and Henrietta Maria: Virgins, Witches, and Catholic Queens (Palgrave Macmillan, 2017), pp. 130–131. The queen's acquiescence to the marriage, her "late pacification", is thought to have been connected with the king's gift of Greenwich Palace, added to her jointure in November 1613. The gift would lead her into conflict with the Earl of Northampton.Jemma Field, Anna of Denmark: The material and visual culture of the Stuart Courts, 1589–1619 (Manchester, 2020), pp. 71, 82 fn. 165: Linda Levy Peck, Northampton: Patronage and Policy at the Court of James I (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1982), p. 74: Ethel C. Williams, Anne of Denmark (Longman, 1970), p. 166: Norman Egbert McClure, Letters of John Chamberlain, 1 (Philadelphia, 1939), p. 487: A. B. Hinds, HMC Manuscripts of the Marquess of Downshire, 4 (London, 1940), p. 252: A. B. Hinds, Calendar of State Papers, Venice, 1613–1615 (London: HMSO, 1907), p. 81 no. 166.
A chorus draws attention to the central conceit of the masque, an inversion or reversal of traditional chivalric gender roles.Clare McManus, Women on the Renaissance stage (Manchester, 2002), p. 169. Anne, as the Squires announce, is the Queen of Dames:Since knightly valour rescues Dames distressed,By virtuous Dames let charmed Knights be released.John Nichols, Progresses of James the First, 2 (London, 1828), p. 711.
Next, after the spell is unravelled, twelve lords dance as six formerly enchanted knights and six reanimated gold pillars; they were the Duke of Lennox, Earl of Pembroke, Earl of Dorset, Earl of Salisbury, Earl of Montgomery, Lord Walden, Lord Scrope, Lord North, Lord Hay, and the "three brethren of Lord Walden", Thomas Howard, Henry Howard, and Charles Howard.Peter Holman, The Masque at the Earl of Somerset's Marriage, 1614 (Scholar Press, 1973): Folkestone Williams & Thomas Birch, Court and Times of James the First, 1 (London: Colburn, 1848), p. 285.John Leeds Barroll, Anna of Denmark, Queen of England: A Cultural Biography (Philadelphia, 2001), p. 139. The lords-masquers descended in a stage cloud designed by Costantino de' Servi, the device was a disappointment as the rope and pulleys were visible and it was noisy in operation. Spectators compared it with the winch of a portcullis and the noise made when lowering a ship's mast.John Orrell, "The Agent of Savoy at The Somerset Masque", Review of English Studies, 28:111 (August 1977), pp. 301, 304.Caterina Pagnini, "The Spectacle of Power: Diplomatic Mediation, Patronage and Cultural Exchanges between the Court of the Medici and the England of James I Stuart", Drammaturgia
The knights dance to songs written by John Coprario. Then they dance with ladies from the audience. When the knights return to their seats on the stage, four London barges appear with their singing skippers. The Squires wish the audience goodnight.John Nichols, Progresses of James the First, 2 (London, 1828), pp. 712–714. The show concludes with Haste aboard, an appeal to Hymen and Venus:Haste aboard, hast now away,Hymen frowns at your delay;Hymen doth long nights affect,Yield him then his due respect.The sea-born Goddess straight will come,Quench these lights and make all dumb,Some sleep, others she will call;And so good-night to all, good-night to all.John Nichols, Progresses of James the First (London, 1828), p. 714, spelling modernised here.
Performance notes Richard Ansell, a specialist matlayer, covered the floor of the Banqueting house and hall with green cloth for the masque.David Cook and F. P. Wilson, "Dramatic Records in the Declared Accounts of the Treasurer of the Chamber", Malone Society Collections, VI (London, 1962), p. 57. One would-be performer, the courtier Henry Bowyer (a son of William Bowyer of Denham), died after over-exertion at the rehearsals.Barbara Ravelhofer, The Early Stuart Masque: Dance, Costume, and Music (Oxford University Press, 2006), pp. 75–76: Folkestone Williams & Thomas Birch, Court and Times of James the First, 1 (London: Colburn, 1848), p. 286: Henry Bowyer was the father of Sir William Bowyer, 1st Baronet.Norman Egbert McClure, Letters of John Chamberlain, 1 (Philadelphia, 1939), p. 497 John Chamberlain provided an unfavourable review of Campion's masque "I heare litle or no commendation of the maske made by the Lords that night, either for devise or dauncing, only yt was rich and costly".Norman Egbert McClure, Letters of John Chamberlain, 1 (Philadelphia, 1939), p. 496 Campion himself criticised the stage machinery devised by Costantino de' Servi, who was said to have been secretive and unprofessional.Barbara Ravelhofer, The Early Stuart Masque: Dance, Costume, and Music (Oxford, 2006), p. 1: See external links.