NELL GWYN

Evening Star, Issue 21319, 25 January 1933, Page 10

NELL GWYN

41 A DARLING OF DESTINY " On what does Nell Gwyn’s fame rest? The question puzzles her latest biographer, Mr Clifford Bax, whose study, ‘ Pretty Witty Nell ’ —the title is’ derived from a reference to Nell in Samuel Pepys’s diary—has just been published by Chapman and Hall, London. “ She has won her position in tlie memory of the world by no obvious means,” writes* Mr Bax. “ Nell Gwyn’s was one of those winsome English faces, and she had more than a period of prettiness. Many of the ! beauties ’ commemorated by Sir Peter Lely (a famous painter who painted the portraits of most of the beauties of the Court of Charles II.) and not to our twentieth-century taste; but his picture of Nell, in the National Portrait Gallery, shows that she would have enchanted any cocktail party or diplomatic reception of our time. We cannot say, though, that she was one of the world’s most beautiful women. Wo could say this, in my judgment, of the Princess Mazarin—one of her rivals at Whitehall; but Nell Gwyn was just vital, dainty, and alluring. , Nor, again, did she achieve anything of importance —unless the world is right in clinging to the tradition that it was she who inspired the foundation of the Chelsea Hospital She never put a finger into the political pie, and in consequence had no effect upon history. In fact, she is surpassed at every point by somebody else. . . . Nell Gwyn is unique because she has held the attention of posterity by force of personality alone. So clear is that personality that we know what it was like before we have read a single word about her. . . . To those who are born to speak English her name has more sunlight in it than the name of any other woman in history. No one can think of her without a kindling of kindliness ; nor would it be too much to say that, although she lias been dead for 250 years, men still fall in love with her. That is the fate of exceedingly few women—perhaps of not more than five or six. Nell Gwyn, in fact, has been one of the, darlings of destiny.” It is obvious that Mr Bax is in love with Nell, and. that state of feeling has impaired his judgment in writing about her. The more one knows of Nell’s career before she reached the dizzy social eminence of being one of the mistresses of King Charles II. —and it was seriously regarded by almost everyone in those days as a dizzy social eminence —the less likely is the ordinary man to fall in love with her. She was the daughter of a drunken, , dissolute mother, and at the age of twelve she was serving drinks in a notorious liouso of ill-fame, kept by Madame Ross. When a year or two, later she became an orange girl at the King’s Theatre, in Drury lane, which had been built after the Restoration, this promotion did not represent an advance in morals. “ The orange girls were a managerial side attraction, and a well-known character, who went by the nickname of Orange Moll, was in charge of them,” writes Mr Bax. . “They stood in the pit of the theatre with their backs to the stage, and in addition to selling fruit to thirsty spectators they were supposed to stimulate the gentlemen with amusing back-chat. ... Orange Moll’s duty, we may take it, was not .to look after their morals, but to see that • they sold their fruit and their persons ■to good advantage. Oranges, were at that time a luxury. They cost sixpence each; and it was a point of honour among gentlemen not to haggle over the price. In a book of directions how a'young gallant should behave in all,places and company wo find that the next step is to give a turn to the China orange wench, and give her her own rate for her oranges (for ’tis below a gentleman to stand haggling like a citizen's wife), and then to present the fairest to the next vizard mask—that is to say, to any female stranger with whom the purchaser fancied that he would like to have a little conversation.” -

In 1862, when Nell was twelve years old, Charles 11. removed the ban which had prevented women appearing on the stage; Previously the female parts in plays had been taken by boys. Nell, as an orange girl at the King’s Theatre, had attracted the attention of some of the chief actors and the officials of the theatre, and they were , of the opinion that she would make a good actress if properly trained. She was taught to act and dance, and apparently also to read, so as to learn her parts; but she never learned to handle a pen, and even her will was signed only with her initials, E.G.—-her Christian manic being Eleanor. We have the authority of her contemporary Samuel Pepys that Nell was a stage favourite at an early ago. After seeing Dryden’s new play ‘The Mayden Queene,' Samuel Pepys wrote in Ids diary on March -2, 1667: “ There is a comical part done by Nell, which is Florimell, that I -never can hope ever to see the like done- again by man or woman The King and Duke of York were at the play. But so great performance of a comical part was never' J believe, in the world before as Nell do this, both as a mad girle, then most and best of all when she comes in like a young gallant; and hath the auctions and carriage of a spark, the most that ever T saw any man have.” But Pepys had no- admiration for Nell in serious parts, and complained of how ill she acted them. ■ James Granger, who, however, was not a contemporary of Nell, wrote of her: “ Her person, tho’ below middle size, was well turned; she had a good natural air and a sprightliness which promised everything in ■ 'comedy. . . . She acted the most spirited and fantastic parts, and spoke a prologue and epilogue with admirable address—her flow of spirits sometimes carried her; .to cx-

travagancc, hut even her highest flights rather provoked laughter than excited disgust.”

As an actress Noll had a succession of lovers, and in IGG7 she attracted the attention of the King, who was a regular patron of the theatre. ( Tho story of her social elevation at court as tho King’s mistress is sympathetically handled by Mr Bax, who champions her in her rivalry with the King’s other mistress, Louise do Queronailles, whom Charles ennobled ns Duchess of Portsmouth. Nall wanted a title, but diaries was afraid of a public outcry against a woman of her antecedents being ennobled. He did eventually give way, and arranged to make her (Jountcss of Greenwich, but lie died before tlm arrangements were completed. She bad two sons of whom Charles was the father. The elder was made Earl of Burford and afterwards Duke of St. Albans. The younger died at £he age of eight yearn*