number of songs and witticisms of the day were attributed to him, and after his death the text Tarlton's Jests, containing many jokes in fact older than he was, made several volumes. Other books, and several ballads, coupled his name with their titles. Some have suggested that the evocation of Yorick in Hamlet's soliloquy was composed in memory of Tarlton. In addition to his other talents, Tarlton was a fencing master. He wrote at least one play, The Seven Deadly Sins (1585); though it was enormously popular in its day, no copy has survived. Besides ballads and a play, Tarlton wrote several pamphlets starting in the 1570s, one of which was A True report of this earthquake in London (1580). These were apparently genuine, though after his death a variety of other works were attributed to him as well. Gabriel Harvey refers to him as early as 1579, indicating that Tarlton had already begun to acquire the reputation that rose into fame in later years. That fame transcended the social limits that judged players to be little more than rogues. Tarlton, according to one source (one of Tarlton's sons), gambled away the family's entire fortune. Tarlton lived in Hanwell and is rumoured to be buried in the grounds of the Drayton Manor House, where he and his family lived. The building now forms part of a school named after Tarlton's family called Drayton Manor High School. Tarlton made his last will on 3 September 1588, describing himself as "Richard Tarlton, one of the Grooms of the Queen's Majesty's Chamber". In the will he entrusted the son he had illegitimately fathered, Philip Tarlton, to the care of "my most loving mother, Katherine Tarlton, widow, and my very loving and trusty friends Robert Adams, gentleman, and my fellow, William Johnson, one also of the Grooms of her Majesty's Chamber". Legacy Richard Tarlton has left a strong legacy behind him; he is now studied in Universities across the world and there have been a number of pubs across England named after him. See also Jest book William Kempe References Bibliography Dutton, Richard, Alison Gail Findlay, and Richard L. Wilson, eds. Lancastrian Shakespeare: Region, Religion, and Patronage. Manchester, Manchester University Press, 2004. Gurr, Andrew. The Shakespearean Stage 1574–1642. Third edition, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1992. External links Will of Richard Tarleton or Tarlton, Groom of Her Majesty’s Chamber, proved 6 September 1588, National Archives