Sir John Oldcastle to Henry Carey's son George, second Lord Hunsdon, and the actors regained their previous patronage. Soon after the premier of Shakespeare's Oldcastle/Falstaff in 1597–98, literary and dramatic works began to appear that defended the reputation of the historical Oldcastle; scholars argue that the muse that inspired these works was Henry Brooke, 11th Baron Cobham. In 1601 a narrative poem, "The Mirror of Martyrs," by one John Weever, was published; it praises Oldcastle has a "valiant captain and most godly martyr." And two years earlier, in 1599, the play "Sir John Oldcastle" was performed by the Admiral's Men, the main theatrical
John Shakespeare jest with him at any time." As Katherine Duncan-Jones points out, this is impossible, since Mennes was two years old when John Shakespeare died. She thinks Plume may have been recording an anecdote related by Mennes taken from his father. In the 18th century a tract signed by John Shakespeare, in which he pledged to remain a Catholic in his heart, was found in the rafters of the house on Henley Street. It was seen and described by the scholar Edmond Malone. Although it was subsequently lost, a very similar copy of the formulaic text came to light in the