‘’Tis a mad world at Hogsdon’: Leisure, Licence and the Exoticism of Suburban Space in Early Jacobean London.

This article is an examination of the long poem 'Pimlyco, Run Red Cap or, 'tis a Mad World at Hogsdon [Hoxton], published as an anonymous pamphlet in 1609. Written apparently in praise of the tavern of Pimlyco and its famous ale, this 'medley poem' describes the Carnival spirit of this suburban resort, analysed in this article as a heterotopic adjunct to early modern London. It is argued that this text construes the suburbs within the discourses of urban pastoral, carnival, the theatre and madness, and that there is ample evidence to suggest that 'Pimlyco' is a minor but still significant source of Shakespeare's play The Tempest.