A Puritan censor morum, born near Bath, bred to the bar; wrote a book or pamphlet called "Histrio-Mastix, or the Player's Scourge," against the stage, for which and a reflection in it against the virtue of the queen he was brought before the Star Chamber in 1634, sentenced to the pillory, and had his ears cropped off, and for an offence against Laud, whether by order of the Star Chamber or not is uncertain, was in 1637 sentenced anew, and "lost his ears a second and final time, having had them 'sewed on again' before; this time a heroine on the scaffold," adds Carlyle, "received them on her lap and kissed him"; after this the zeal of Prynne appears to have waxed cold, for he was as a recalcitrant imprisoned by Cromwell, after whose death he espoused the Royalist cause, and was appointed Keeper of the Records of the Tower (1600-1669).