e true to themselves and their calling, though sometimes the
results of their adventures were luckless enough. "Our plantations in
America have been voluntarily visited by some itinerants, Jamaica in
particular," writes Chetwood, in his "History of the Stage" (1749). "I
had an account from a gentleman who was possessed of a large estate in
the island that a company in the year 1733 came there and cleared a
large sum of money, where they might have made moderate fortunes if
they had not been too busy with the growth of the country. They
received three hundred and seventy pistoles the first night of the
'Beggar's Opera,' but within the space of two months they buried their
third Polly and two of their men. The gentlemen of the island for some
time took their turns upon the stage to keep up the diversion; but
this did not hold long; for in two months more there were but one old
man, a boy, and a woman of the company left. The rest died either with
the country distemper or the common beverage of the place, the noble
spirit of rum-punch, which is generally fatal to new-comers. The
shattered remains, with upwards of two thousand pistoles in bank,
embarked for Carolina, to join another company at Charlestown, but
were cast away in the voyage. Had the company been more blessed with
the virtue of sobriety, &c., they might perhaps have lived to carry
home the liberality of those generous islanders."

It is to be observed that the strolling profession had its divisions
and grades. The "boothers," as they are termed, have to be viewed as
almost a distinct class. These carry their theatre, a booth, about
with them, and only pretend to furnish very abridged presentments of
the drama. With them "Richard III.," for instance, is but an
entertainment of some twenty minutes' duration. They are only anxious
to give as many performances as possible before fresh assemblies of
spectators in as short a time as may be. "Boothers" have been known to
give even six distinct exhibitions on Saturday nights. And they
certainly resort to undignified expedients to lure their audiences.
They parade in their theatrical attire, dance quadrilles and
hornpipes, fight with broadswords, and make speeches on the external
platform of their booth. Histrionic art is seen to little advantage
under these conditions, although it should be said that many notable
players have commenced the study of their profession among the
"boothers." The travelling circus is again