Drue is the author of a historical play, ‘The Life of the Dvtches of Svffolke,’ 1631, 4to, which has been wrongly attributed by
Gerard Langbaine and others to
Thomas Heywood. The play was published anonymously, but it is assigned to Drue in the ‘Stationers Registers’ (under date 13 November 1629) and in Sir Henry Herbert's ‘Office-book.’ This play was first produced during a period in which
James I was active in suppressing criticism of his foreign policy, particularly the attempt to marry the future
Charles I to the
Catholic Maria Anna of Spain. The play was staged by the
Palsgrave's Men, a theatre troupe sponsored by
Frederick of the Palatinate. Drawing on the flight and exile of
Catherine Willoughby, one of the
Marian exiles, Drue further embellished the story recorded in Foxe's Book of Martyrs, making the story closer to that of Frederick's wife
Elizabeth of Bohemia, James I's daughter. In this way the play highlighted the plight of Elizabeth, who had been forced into exile from the Palatinate following the defeat of the Protestant cause at the
Battle of White Mountain, fought near
Prague in 1620. ==References==