Enter Harry Percy

BOLINGBROKE                      But who comes here?

NORTHUMBERLAND            It is my son, young Harry Percy,

Sent from my brother Worcester whencesoever.

Harry, how fares your uncle?

PERCY                                    I had thought, my lord, to have learned his health of you.

NORTHUMBERLAND            Why, is he not with the Queen?

PERCY                                    No, my good lord. He hath forsook the court,

Broken his staff of office and dispersed

The household of the King.

NORTHUMBERLAND                                                            What was his reason?

Because your lordship was proclaimed traitor.

But he, my lord, is gone to Ravenspur

To offer service to the Duke of Hereford,

And sent me over by Berkeley to discover

What power the Duke of York had levied there,

Then with directions to repair to Ravenspur.        (2.3.20-35)

 

Hotspur! Or at least, future Hotspur! Young Harry Percy, who would soon become big box office, one of the selling points of the play which he arguably comes to dominate, Henry IV Part 1, first performed around 1597 and printed in 1598 (and the most frequently printed of Shakespeare’s plays): the 1598 quarto advertises itself on its title page as ‘THE HISTORY OF HENRIE THE FOVRTH; With the battell at Shrewsburie, betweene the King and Lord Henry Percy, surnamed Henrie Hotspur of the North, With the humorous conceits of Sir Iohn Falstalffe. (Falstaff is almost an afterthought in this marketing blurb; Hal doesn’t rate a mention.) That’s in the future of this play of Richard II, both in its historical events and in its writing, but Harry Percy’s introduction here might well make an audience sit up and take notice, especially in performance from the late 1590s onwards, not least because his age (especially in 1 Henry IV) is one of Shakespeare’s main changes to the history. Historically, Harry Percy was two years older than Bolingbroke, but here his youth (and his roughness, his impetuousness) is emphasised. (In 1 Henry IV it is dramatically crucial that he parallel Prince Hal, rather than King Henry IV, formerly Bolingbroke.)

Bit of exposition, getting everyone up to speed, reminding us of the close family interconnections of so many of these characters, as well as establishing Harry Percy’s character. What news of uncle Worcester? I thought you’d know better than me, have more recent news, replies Harry. Update: he’s not with the Queen—and then a repetition of something already known, that Worcester, the steward of the royal household, has resigned his office and dispersed the household, in essence dissolved the court. Chaos. This is news to Northumberland: he was not so resolved when last we spoke together, he says. Ah, but that’s because your lordship had just been proclaimed traitor, replies Harry. (Depending on how teenager-y he’s appearing—and I have seen a couple— there may be a bit of an eye roll, duh, dad, you were proclaimed an actual traitor? here.) A rapid update follows: Worcester’s gone to Ravenspur to offer service to the Duke of Hereford (Bolingbroke), he sent me to Berkeley (where Bolingbroke and Northumberland are headed) to find out how what power, how large an army the Duke of York has been able to muster there, and then to come on to Ravenspur, with that information. It’s functional—and one of those easily parodiable bits of the histories, lots of place names, in both locations and titles, although at least no cheese names here—but it does also give the impression of a nation in turmoil, armies on the move, riders criss-crossing the countryside, the situation changing rapidly. And, Hotspur!