I am a new member of this list, and am involved--with my
co-editor, Jane Cowling--in preparing an edition of records
of drama, music and ceremony in Hampshire for the Records of
Early English Drama series. I hope the members of the list
might be able to help us identify 'Saynte Harrys
Merthe'--which appears in a late fifteenth century
chamberlain's account for the city of Winchester. Minstrels
were rewarded for performing at St. Harry's Mirth, but we do
not know whether that phrase identifies the feast day on
which the performance occurred, or an obscure local festival
of some kind, or what. Can anyone identify St. Harry's
Mirth, or suggest which particular saint is referred to
here? We'd be very grateful.
Peter Greenfield
Dept. of English
University of Puget Sound
(A visiting fellow this summer at the Hartley
Institute, University of Southampton)
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