Horseshoe Robinson

Horseshoe Robinson (1856), a play by Clifton W. Tayleure. [Holliday Street Theatre (Baltimore), in repertory.] The roughhewn woodsman and Indian fighter Galbraith “Horseshoe” Robinson ( William Ellis) is helping his friend Major Arthur Butler ( George C. Boniface) sneak through redcoat lines during the Revolution. Not only does Butler want to reach friendly forces, but he wants to visit the Lindsay home. Although Mr. Lindsay ( J. H. Jack) is a loyalist, his daughter Mildred ( Mrs. I. B. Phillips) is a rebel supporter who has secretly married Butler. At one point Butler and Robinson are surrounded, but Robinson escapes and uses all his wiles to enlist further aid to free Butler, now under sentence of death. His ruses include making himself and one associate appear to outnumber the British force. Based on John P. Kennedy's historical romance, Horseshoe Robinson: A Tale of the Tory Ascendency, it was originally adapted (probably by Charles Dance) in 1836 as a vehicle for the elder James Hackett, who played the role for several seasons. Whether Tayleure made his own version or simply revamped Dance's is unknown, for Tayleure's alone survives. It is a lively piece, filled with colorful characters. In one form or another, the play remained popular, especially at lower‐class houses, well beyond the Civil War.