The movable stages were, of course, not very large, so sometimes more than one was needed for a play.  At other times the players overflowed, as it were, into the audience.  “Here Herod rages on the pageant and in the street also” is one stage direction.  The devils, too, often ran among the people, partly to amuse them and partly to frighten and show them what might happen if they remained wicked.  At the Creation, animals of all kinds which had been kept chained up were let loose suddenly, and ran among the people, while pigeons set free from cages flew over their heads.  Indeed, everything seems to have been done to make the people feel the plays as real as possible.

The pageants were on wheels, and as soon as a play was over at the first appointed place, the stage was dragged by men to the next place and the play again began.  In an old MS. we are told, “The places where they played them was in every streete.  They begane first at the abay gates, and when the first pagiante was played, it was wheeled to the highe crosse befor the mayor, and soe to every streete.  And soe every streete had a pagiant playinge before them at one time, till all the pagiantes for the daye appoynted weare played.  And when one pagiante was neare ended worde was broughte from streete to streete, that soe they mighte come in place thereof, exceedinge orderly.  And all the streetes have theire pagiantes afore them all at one time playinge togeather."*

Harleian MS., 1948.

Thus, if a man kept his place all a long summer’s day, he might see pass before him pageant after pageant until he had seen the whole story of the world, from the Creation to the Day of Judgment.

In time nearly every town of any size in England had its own cycle of plays, but only four of these have come down to us.  These are the York, the Chester, the Wakefield, and the Coventry cycles.  Perhaps the most interesting of them all are the Wakefield plays.  They are also called the Townley plays, from the name of the family who possessed the manuscript for a long time.

Year after year the same guild acted the same play.  And it really seemed as if the pageant was in many cases chosen to suit the trade of the players.  The water-drawers of Chester, for instance, acted the Flood.  In York the shipwrights acted the building of the ark, the fishmongers the Flood, and the gold-beaters and money-workers the three Kings out of the East.

The members of each guild tried to make their pageant as fine as they could.  Indeed, they were expected to do so, for in 1394 we find the Mayor of York ordering the craftsmen “to bring forth their pageants in order and course by good players, well arrayed and openly speaking, upon pain of losing of 100 shillings, to be paid to the chamber without any pardon."*

Thomas Sharp, Dissertation on the Pageants.

So, in order to supply everything that was needful, each member of a guild paid what was called “pageant silver.”  Accounts of how this money was spent were carefully kept.  A few of these have come down to us, and some of the items and prices paid sound very funny now.