The play in which King Herod interviews the Three Kings from the east is an interesting one because it probably used two wagons in tandem, each produced by a different guild. The Masons and the Goldsmiths cooperated in this play. The Masons put on the King Herod part, so their wagon arrived first at the stop. The Goldsmiths’ wagon pulled up just behind them, and one or other of the wagons must have put down a bridge between them so that the Three Kings could come to Herod’s court. It was probably the Masons’ wagon that held the bridge, their wagon’s only moving part, so that when Herod’s lines were done, they could pull up the bridge and move on if time was pressing, while the Goldsmiths finished out the arrival of the Three Kings.
It’s possible, too, that the stops had extra stage platforms that the wagons could use. They may have pulled up to a narrow but wide stage so that players from both wagons could step onto it and walk between, while at the same time being out in front where the audience could see clearly. It seems likely that at least some of the stops, perhaps ones where the street was wider, built extras like this.
The Masons may have chosen this play because Herod, a king, would live in a stone castle, so probably the back of their stage was painted like a stone wall. Herod’s robes would have been as rich as the Masons could pay the Mercers or Drapers for deep purple or bright red fabric. So, too, would have been the robes of the Three Kings on the Goldsmiths’ wagon. In fact, this play may have had the brightest colors and richest fabrics of any of them. The Goldsmiths certainly chose the Three Kings because they wanted to show off their craft.
Did the “kings” actually carry gold boxes and vases as gifts to Mary? I tend to think that they did, and that the wagon may have brought armed guards along for the day. The props may have had only gold foil, not solid gold, but gold foil had enough value that thieves must have eyed the crowns and gifts. However, I don’t know. Maybe it’s buried deep in the financial records of the play.
Herod’s character is established quickly with his first speech. He comes on stage bombastically, claiming that he can control the weather. This was the greatest hubris a medieval audience could imagine. His speech bristles with alliteration in five-foot lines that rhyme ABABBCBC (and then a short line to introduce a pause, perhaps the moment he sat down on a throne). Bear with the medieval spelling; I’ll put a modernized version below it:
The clowdes clapped in clerenes that ther clematis inclosis,
Jubiter and Jovis, Martis and Mercurii emyde,
Raykand overe my rialté on rawe me rejoyses,
Blonderande ther blastis to blaw when I bidde.
Saturne, my subgett, that sotilly is hidde,
Listes at my likyng and laies hym full lowe.
The rakke of the rede skye full rappely I ridde,
Thondres full thrallye by thousandes I thrawe
When me likis.
The clouds clapped in clearness that their climate encloses,
Jupiter and Jove, Mars and Mercury amid,
Raking (rushing) over my royalty in a row makes me rejoice,
Blundering their blasts to blow when I bid.
Saturn, my subject, that subtly is hid,
Listens to my liking (wishes) and lays himself low.
The rack (clouds) of the red sky full rapply (quickly) I [get] rid [of]
Thunders full thrally (violently) by thousands I throw
When I feel like it.
When his servants bring him news of the Magi, Herod’s first instinct is to order someone to beat the boy who brought the news. He growls and curses, calling people dastards and harlots. Herod’s character is bigger than life, because after all, what kind of monster would order babies to be killed? And everyone knew that was coming soon, three wagons later.
The Kings from the east meet by chance, all on the same errand, and agree to travel together. This is where it seems to me that they must come from corners of the Goldsmiths’ wagon and meet on the bridging platform, on the proscenium closest to the audience. Called to Herod’s castle, they walk onto the Masons’ stage. After Herod dismisses them, they return to the Goldsmiths’ wagon, but now there is a pop-up stable with Mary seated. Perhaps she was there the whole time, and a curtain drew back to reveal her.
The Kings’ speech is dramatically different from Herod’s. Their lines are shorter, and their use of alliteration is lighter. They speak piously, for example, here is how the second King introduces himself:
All weldand (powerful) God, that all has wroght,
I worshippe thee als is worthye
That with thy brightnes has me broght
Owte of my reame, riche Arabie.
When the Three Kings meet Herod, there’s a curious detail: the medieval writers in York thought it was likely that Herod would call his God “Mahounde.” In other words, Mohammed. Let’s count the ways that this is wrong: Herod was Jewish in a Roman culture and Mohammed was not yet born, nor do Muslims worship him. But to these medieval Britons who had heard tales of Saracens for the last two centuries, it made sense that some exotic king over there would cite Mohammed.
After Herod dismisses the Kings with order to return, smirking to his servants that he’s tricked them pretty good, there’s a stage direction line: “Nota: The Harrode passeth and the three kynges commyth agayn to make there offerynges.” The fact that it says this at all suggests that the Masons’ wagon may have actually moved away, leaving the Kings walking on the proscenium stage back to the Goldsmiths’, where Mary is now revealed. We really don’t know. But there are almost no stage directions in the York plays, leaving the actors free to come and go as seemed right, which suggests this one was a major deal.
The finale of this play had to be the rich gifts the Kings pulled out of bags. We should not imagine something like what a Sunday School play would have, things covered with tin foil or painted in gold spray paint. Whatever base metal may have been underneath, the Goldsmiths would have covered some very interesting vases and chests in thinly-beaten gold foil, something that was used in many applications, even paintings.
One of the Kings suggests that they’d better get some shut-eye before traveling back to see Herod, which allows an angel (who probably also had gold foil on some part of his costume) to advise them to return home. I enjoy the way two of the Kings’ lines repeat the same words and alliteration. “Rede” means advise:
2nd King:…Farre fro his force I rede we flee.
3rd King: Syrs, faste I rede we flitte…