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Betsy Baker! or, Too Attentive by Half; A Farce, in One Act cover

Betsy Baker! or, Too Attentive by Half; A Farce, in One Act

Chapter 5: Transcriber’s Note
By John Maddison Morton
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About This Book

A brisk one-act farce that follows a self-absorbed husband and his exasperated wife as domestic idiosyncrasies and professional rivalries set off comic disturbances. An officious partner, a persistent laundress called to deliver household items, and gossip about a threatened marital separation generate a string of misunderstandings, boasts, and thwarted errands. Rapid entrances, costume changes, and exaggerated manners lampoon vanity and social pretension, driving a succession of humorous reversals and reconciliations that highlight the absurdities of marital life and petty ambition in a compact stage piece.

Transcriber’s Note

This transcription is based on two sets of scans of the Lacy edition. The first is available through the Internet Archive from a copy held by the University of Warwick:

archive.org/details/betsybakerortooa0000mort

The second, available through the Hathi Digital Library, is from a copy of Volume 8 of Lacy’s Acting Edition of Plays from the University of Michigan:

hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015067453061

The text of Betsy Barker! begins on page 302 of the scans. Other than differences in Lacy’s business address on the title page and information about the printer at the end, the text of the two scan sets appears to be the same. Because of issues related to publication, the condition of the scanned copies, and the scanning process itself, both sets were used for the transcription.

The following changes were made to the text:

  • Title page: Milliner’s Holiday—Changed to “Milliners’ Holiday”, the correct title of the play.
  • p. 3: I thought I heard my dear Cousin Crummy outside—Added a period to the end of the sentence.
  • p. 5: who places it on back of chair, R. of table.—Added a closing parenthesis.
  • p. 7: ’Tisn’t every woman, sir, as get’s a Mouser.—Changed “get’s” to “gets”.
  • p. 9: but it won’t do do—ugh! you Don Juan!—Deleted the second “do”.
  • p. 9: CRUM. Wink at her,—Changed the comma at the end of the line to a period.
  • p. 10: CRUM. Umph! so, so: (in a contemptuous tone)—Changed colon to an exclamation mark.
  • p. 12: such as John, and Timothy, and Marmadook—Added a period after “Marmadook”.
  • p. 12: MOUS. (aside) Mouser, be firm—Added a period after “firm”.
  • p. 13: (rushes at BETSY—she avoids him, leaving the veil in his hand.—Changed the period after “hand” to a closing parenthesis for consistency.
  • p. 15: (great noise of WOMEN’S voices suddenly heard—Changed “great” to “Great”.
  • p. 18: Young woman, speak this moment (angrily)—Added an exclamation mark after “moment”.

Some inconsistencies, such as the inconsistent hyphenation of the phrase “by the bye” and the different spellings of “pshaw”, have not been standardized.