for him to do was to rent somewhere a large hall which
could at small expense be converted into a place suitable for training
the Children in their plays, and for the entertainment of
select--possibly at first invited--audiences. The performances, of
course, were not to be heralded by a trumpet-and-drum procession
through the street, by the flying of a flag, and by such-like vulgar
advertising as of a public show; instead, they were to be quiet,
presumably "private," and were to attract only noblemen and those
citizens of the better class who were interested in the drama.[148]

[Footnote 148: From this notion of privacy, I take it, arose the term
"private" theatre as distinguished from "common" or "public" theatre.
The interpretation of the term suggested by Mr. W.J. Lawrence, and
approved by Mr. William Archer, namely, that it was a legal device to
escape the city ordinance of 1574, cannot be accepted. The city had no
jurisdiction over the precinct of Blackfriars, nor did Farrant live in
the building.]

[Illustration: THE SITES OF THE TWO BLACKFRIARS PLAYHOUSES

The smaller rectangle at the north represents the Buttery, later
Farrant's playhouse, the larger rectangle represents the Frater, later
Burbage's playhouse. (From Ogilby and Morgan's _Map of London_, 1677,
the sites marked by the author.)]

Such was Farrant's scheme. In searching for a hall suitable for his
purpose, his mind at once turned to the precinct of Blackfriars, where
in former years the Office of the Revels had been kept, and where the
Children had often rehearsed their plays. The precinct had once, as
the name indicates, been in the possession of the Dominican or "Black"
Friars. The Priory buildings had consisted chiefly of a great church
two hundred and twenty feet long and sixty-six feet broad, with a
cloister on the south side of the church forming a square of one
hundred and ten feet, and a smaller cloister to the south of this. At
the dissolution of the religious orders, the property had passed into
the possession of the Crown; hence, though within the city walls, it
was not under the jurisdiction of the city authorities. Farrant
probably did not anticipate any interference on the part of the Common
Council with the royal choristers "practicing" their plays in order
"to yield Her Majesty recreation and delight," yet the absolute
certainty of being free from the adverse legislation of the London
authorities was not to be ignored. Moreover, t