Flourish. Enter Bolingbroke with York, other lords and attendants

BOLINGBROKE          Kind uncle York, the latest news we hear

Is that the rebels have consumed with fire

Our town of Ci’cester in Gloucestershire,

But whether they be ta’en or slain we hear not.

Enter Northumberland

Welcome my lord, what is the news?

NORTHUMBERLAND First, to thy sacred state wish I all happiness.

The next news is I have to London sent

The heads of Salisbury, Spencer, Blunt and Kent.

The manner of their taking may appear

At large discoursèd in this paper here.

BOLINGBROKE          We thank thee, gentle Percy, for thy pains,

And to thy worth will add right worthy gains.       (5.6.1-12)

The flourish, the fanfare, leaves no doubt that this is a King, holding court; it also cues the formal, even ritual quality that this scene—the last in the play—can have. It’s Bolingbroke, King Henry, with the faithful York (kept close, rewarded for his loyalty over the small matter of Aumerle) and as many lords and attendants as can be mustered. In some ways this is a re-run of the play’s opening scene, but with a change of regime: instead of chivalric posturing, lofty accusations of treason, and long speeches of high-flown rhetoric, this is a series of status reports, stark and economical accounts of the savage suppression of a rebellion. Bolingbroke’s emphatically in charge, but it’s been a tricky time: the rebels have consumed with fire our town of Ci’cester (that is, Cirencester) in Gloucestershire (a line that sounds almost like a parody of all possible history plays, a bear trap for those unfamiliar with the vagaries of English place name pronunciation). So the rebels have had some success, but it was, it seems, short-lived, as Bolingbroke brings York up to speed: although they burned the town, they were defeated, although it’s not known yet whether they were taken prisoner (to face certain execution, presumably) or slain in the fighting.

Northumberland, of course, anxious to be at the heart of things. Protests his loyalty (how long will that last?): to thy sacred state wish I all happiness. Something of a contrast with the news he brings, that he’s sent to London the heads of Salisbury, Spencer, Blunt and Kent. (Salisbury had appeared, briefly, as one of Richard’s loyal supporters; Kent was formerly the duke of Surrey, a supporter of Aumerle in 4.1. No matter now; the relevant actors are almost certainly on stage, perhaps with a brief shiver at the mention of their erstwhile roles.) Northumberland’s not going to take up time with all the details though; a pair of brisk couplets, and he hands over the required paperwork. The manner of their taking may appear at large discoursed in this paper here. He’s made his report, sticking to procedure, and the scrupulousness pays off: We thank thee, gentle Percy, for thy pains (nicely ironised, surely, by that casual consignment of severed heads) and to thy worth will add right worthy gains. You’ll be rewarded. A smirk of satisfaction, a glance at York, with whom he’s surely jockeying a bit for position? More such news to come…