The Welsh Dialogue of Patient Grissil

Abstract

Thomas Dekker's comedy, Patient Grissil, includes three Welsh characters who sometimes speak to each other in a language described as "Welsh". This so-called "Welsh" dialogue, however, has generally been treated as nonsensical, the speeches mere gibberish existing for purposes of ridicule only. It is the contention of this paper that these speeches are, in fact, written in Welsh and, furthermore, that they make sense not merely as independent statements but also within the context of the play itself. The interpretation of the Welsh speeches suggested here tends to support the argument that the text was printed from Dekker's own foul papers rather than, as Fredson Bowers suggests, from prompt copy.