> On Apr 22, 2017, at 3:37 PM, Chris Barker <csbarker...@att.net> wrote: > > I have > read that John Dowland was a Roman Catholic.
He was. > I also read that he was from > time to time lutenist to Queen Elizabeth I of England. He was not. > Queen Elizabeth, in > dealing with Protestant/Catholic conflicts, liked to play both ends against > the middle, kept some of each at court. She also liked to have one or the > other drawn and quartered, burned at the stake, etc. when it seemed > politically "correct" (in her view anyway). Well, mostly she liked to draw and quarter lute players. It wasn’t just a personal quirk. Lute players were so unpopular in her time that drawing and quartering them was a spectator sport, with announcers making lots of tasteless jokes about gut strings. Selling tickets to "Monday Night Luter Drawing & Quartering” was a major source of revenue to the crown, second only to the fees for the TV rights. To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
