The Cobler [SIC] of Castlebury, a Musical Entertainment, in Two Acts (London: G. Kearsley, 1779), PP. 1–40.

Charles Stuart (dates unknown) authored a number of musical plays on the London stage in the late eighteenth century between 1779 and 1791. The Cobler of Castlebury, performed in 1779 at Covent Garden Theatre, was his first. Little information has survived about the author, other than that he was a native of Scotland and brother to the editor of the London Courier, with whom he collaborated in other journalistic efforts. Stuart concluded the play’s dedication with a comment that “the characters are all low” (p. v), and intended for comedic effect. The play followed the popular trope of the deceptive recruiting sergeant preying upon the naïve country boy, but added a parody of marital intrigues as its backdrop. Its small cast included Lapstone, the cobbler of the title, his wife, Kate, and her brother, prospective recruit, Rawboy.