Chapter I: Part 1

THE LIVES
_Of the Most Famous_
_English Poets_.

(1687)

BY
_William Winstanley_.

A FACSIMILE REPRODUCTION
WITH AN INTRODUCTION
BY
_William Riley Parker_

GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA
SCHOLARS' FACSIMILES & REPRINTS
1963

SCHOLARS' FACSIMILES & REPRINTS
1605 N.W. 14th AVE.
GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA, U.S.A.

HARRY R. WARFEL, GENERAL EDITOR

REPRODUCED FROM A COPY OWNED BY
HARRY R. WARFEL

L.C. CATALOG CARD NUMBER: 63-7095

MANUFACTURED IN THE U.S.A.

LETTERPRESS BY J.N. ANZEL, INC.
PHOTOLITHOGRAPHY BY EDWARDS BROTHERS
BINDING BY UNIVERSAL-DIXIE BINDERY

_Introduction_

This book merits more attention and respect from literary historians than thus far have been accorded it. The case must be stated carefully. The work has obvious faults and limitations, which probably account for its never having been reprinted since its appearance in 1687. Almost forty percent of it is largely or entirely derivative. Its author, William Winstanley (1628?-1698), was undoubtedly a compiler and a hack-writer; his attitudes and methods can hardly be termed "scholarly." Nevertheless, this pioneer in biographical and bibliographical research was more nearly a scholar than the man he is usually alleged to have plagiarized; he wanted to _see_ the books that Edward Phillips was often content merely to list by title in his _Theatrum Poetarum_ (1675), and altogether, for his own enjoyment and that of his readers, he quoted from the works of more than sixty poets. Moreover, unlike Phillips, he tried to arrange his authors in chronological order, from Robert of Gloucester to Sir Roger L'Estrange.

Though Winstanley's _Lives_ advertises on its title page accounts "of above Two Hundred" poets, only 147 are actually listed in the catalogue, and only 168 are noted throughout. Of these 168, only 34 had not already been mentioned by Phillips, a dozen years before. Some borrowing was inevitable, and, in fact, Winstanley leaned heavily upon both Phillips and Fuller for information and clues, just as Phillips had leaned heavily upon Bale's _Summarium_ (1548), Camden's _Remains_, Puttenham's _Art of English Poesy_, several Elizabethan miscellanies, and Kirkman's play catalogues. Both men built (as scholars must build) upon the obvious materials available. Both (in the manner of their age) were extremely casual about documentation and acknowledgment. If this leads us to talk unhistorically about "theft," we must say that Phillips "stole" from a half dozen or so people, whereas Winstanley simply appropriated a lot of these stolen goods. For doing so, he alone has been labelled a plagiarist.

Let us be more specific. Of Winstanley's accounts of 168 poets, 34 seem to have come out of the _Theatrum Poetarum_ with nothing new added (10 of these 34 merely named). Of the remaining 134 accounts, 34 are of poets not mentioned by Phillips, 29 are utterly independent of Phillips, 40 are largely independent (that is, they borrow some from Phillips but add more than they borrow), and 31 are largely derivative. We would praise a doctoral dissertation that succeeded in giving so much new data. Winstanley was careless, but he was not lazy, and he had a literary conscience of sorts. Often he went to Phillips' sources and came away with more than Phillips found (most conspicuously in his use of Francis Kirkman's 1671 play catalogue).

Since the groundwork had so recently been laid, Winstanley's problem, far more than that of Phillips, was one of selection. In the _Theatrum Poetarum_ 252 modern British poets are named. Of these Winstanley chose to omit the 16 female and 33 Scottish poets. Of the remaining 203, he dropped 68, and for the student of literary reputation these omissions raise some interesting questions. Undoubtedly a few were inadvertent. About a dozen were authors noted but not dated by Phillips, and it is probable that Winstanley was unable to learn more about them. Fifteen others were English poets who apparently did not write in the vernacular. An additional fifteen were poets dated by Phillips but described as inferior or almost forgotten. Still another fifteen were older or early Renaissance poets whose names probably meant nothing to Winstanley. On the other hand, he omits the following late Renaissance or contemporary poets whose period is plainly indicated in the _Theatrum Poetarum_ and who, we might suppose, would be known to anyone attempting literary history in the year 1687: Richard Barnfield, Thomas Campion, Francis Davison, John Hall of Durham, William Herbert, William Leighton, Thomas Sackville, Henry Vaughan the Silurist, and Samuel Woodford.

That most of Winstanley's omissions were deliberate, and were prompted by some awareness of literary reputation, is suggested not only by his request for help on a revised edition (which never materialized) but also by the fact that he was able to add to the _Theatrum Poetarum_ thirty-four poets, almost all of whom could have been noted by Phillips. Among these were such recent poets as Thomas Tusser, Giles Fletcher the elder, Sir John Beaumont, Jasper Heywood, Philemon Holland, Sir Thomas Overbury, John Taylor the Water Poet, and the Earl of Rochester. The reader of this volume may want to have the additional names before him; they are: Sir John Birkenhead, Henry Bradshaw, William Chamberlayne, Hugh Crompton, John Dauncey, John Davies (d. 1618), Robert Fabyan, John Gower (fl. 1640), Lewys Griffin, "Havillan," Richard Head, Matthew Heywood, John Higgins, Thomas Jordan, Sir William Killigrew, Sir Roger L'Estrange, Matthew of Paris, John Oldham, Edward Phillips himself, John Quarles, Richard the Hermit, John Studley, John Tatham, Christopher Tye, Sir George Wharton, and William of Ramsey. Mentioned incidentally are John Owen, Laurence Whitaker, and Gawin Douglas.

Among the accounts that are utterly independent of Phillips are those of Churchyard, Chapman, Daniel, Ford, Cower, Lydgate, Lyly, Massinger, Nashe, Quarles, Suckling, Surrey, and Sylvester. Among those that add more than they borrow are the notices of Beaumont and Fletcher, Chaucer, Cleveland, Corbet, Donne, Drayton, Phineas Fletcher, Greene, Greville, Jonson, Lodge, Lovelace, Middleton, More, Randolph, Shakespeare, Sidney, Spenser, Warner, and Withers.

To a modern critic Winstanley may seem devoid of taste, but his acquaintance with English poetry is impressive. Indeed, Winstanley, unlike Phillips, strikes us as a man who really read and enjoyed poetry. Phillips is more the slipshod bibliographer and cataloguer, collecting names and titles; Winstanley is the amateur literary historian, seeking out the verse itself, arranging it in chronological order, and trying, by his dim lights, to pass judgment upon it.

WILLIAM RILEY PARKER _Indiana University_ _12 March 1962_

THE LIVES Of the most Famous English Poets,

OR THE Honour of _PARNASSUS_;

In a Brief ESSAY OF THE WORKS and WRITINGS of above Two Hundred of them, from the Time of K. _WILLIAM_ the Conqueror,

To the Reign of His Present Majesty King JAMES II.

_Marmora_ Maeonij _vincunt Monumenta Libelli_; _Vivitur ingenio, extera Mortis erunt_.

Written by _WILLIAM WINSTANLEY_, Author of the _English Worthies_.

Licensed, _June_ 16, 1685. Rob. Midgley.

_LONDON_,

Printed by _H. Clark_, for Samuel Manship at the Sign of the _Black Bull_ in _Cornhil_, 1687.

* * * * *

TO THE WORSHIPFUL

Francis Bradbury, Esq;

The Judicious Philosopher _Philo-Judaeus,_ in his Book _De Plantatione_ Noe, saith; _That when God had made the whole World's Mass, he created Poets to celebrate and set out the Creator himself, and all his Creatures:_ such a high Estimate had he of those Genius of brave Verse. Another saith, that Poets were the first _Politicians_, the first _Philosophers_, and the first _Historiographers_. And although Learning and Poetick Skill were but very rude in this our Island, when it flourished to the height in _Greece_ and _Rome_, yet since hath it made such improvement, that we come not behind any Nation in the World, both in Grandity and Gravity, in Smoothness and Propriety, in Quickness and Briefness; so that for _Skill, Variety, Efficacy_ and _Sweetness_, the four material points required in a Poet, our _English_ Sons of _Apollo,_ and Darlings of the _Delian Deity,_ may compare, if not exceed them

_Whose victorious Rhime,_
_Revenge their Masters Death,_
_and conquer Time_.

And indeed what is it that so masters Oblivion, and causeth the Names of the dead to live, as the divine Strains of sacred Poesie? How are the Names forgotten of those mighty Monarchs, the Founders of the _Egyptian Pyramids_, when that _Ballad-Poet, Thomas Elderton_, who did arm himself with Ale (as old Father _Ennius_ did with Wine) is remembred in Mr. _Cambden's Remains?_ having this made to his Memory,

_Hic situs est sitiens atque ebrius_ Eldertonus,
_Quid dico; hic situs est; hic potius sitis est_.

Now, Sir, all my Ambition, that I address these _Lines_ unto you, is, that you will pardon the Defects I have committed herein, as having done my good will in so short an _Epitome_ to lay a _Ground-work_, on which may be built a _sumptuous Structure_; a Work well worthy the Pen of a second _Plutarch_; since Poetical Devices have been well esteemed. even amongst them who have been ignorant of what they are; as the judicious Mr. _Cambden_ reports of _Sieur Gauland_, who, when he heard a Gentleman express that he was at a Supper, where they had not only good Company and good Chear, but also savoury _Epigrams_, and fine _Anagrams_; he returning home, rated and belowted his _Cook_, as an ignorant _Scullion_, that never dressed or served up to him either _Epigrams_ or _Anagrams_.

But, _Sir_, I intrench upon your Patience, and shall no further; only subscribing my self,

_Your Worship's ever_
_to be Commanded_,

William Winstanley.

* * * * *

THE PREFACE TO THE READER.

As we account those Books best written which mix Profit with Delight, so, in my opinion, none more profitable nor delightful than those of Lives, especially them of Poets, who have laid out themselves for the publick Good; and under the Notion of Fables, delivered unto us the highest Mysteries of Learning. These are the Men who in their Heroick Poems have made mens Fames live to eternity; therefore it were pity (faith _Plutarch_) that those who write to Eternity, should not live so too. Now above all Remembrances by which men have endeavoured even in despight of Death, to give unto their Fames eternity, for Worthiness and Continuance, Books, and Writings, have ever had the Preheminence; which made _Ovid_ to give an endless Date to himself, and to his _Metamorphosis_, in these Words;

_Famque Opus exegi, &c._

Thus Englished by the incomparable Mr. _Sandys_.

_And now the Work is ended, which_ Jove's _Rage,_
_Nor Fire, nor Sword, shall raze, nor eating Age,_
_Come when it will, my Death's uncertain hour_
_Which only of my Body hath a power;_
_Yet shall my better Part transcend the Sky,_
_And my immortal Name shall never dy:_
_For wherefoe're the_ Roman _Eagles spread_
_Their conquering Wings, I shall of all be read._
_And if we Prophets truly can divine,_
_I in my living Fame shall ever shine_.

With the same Confidence of Immortality, the Renowned Poet _Horace_ thus concludes the Third Book of his _Lyrick_ Poesie.

_Exegi Monumentum aere perennius._
_Regalique situ, &c_.

_A Monument than Brass more lasting, I,
Than Princely Pyramids in site more high
Have finished, which neither fretting Showrs,
Nor blustring Winds, nor flight of Years, and Hours,
Though numberless, can raze; I shall not die
Wholly; nor shall my best part buried lie
Within my Grave_.

And _Martial_, Lib. 10. Ep. 2. thus speaks of his Writings;

----_My Books are read in every place,
And when_ Licinius, _and_ Messala's _high
Rich Marble Towers in ruin'd Dust shall lie,
I shall be read, and Strangers every where,
Shall to their farthest Homes my Verses bear_.

Also _Lucan_, Lib. 9. of his own Verse, and _Caesar's_ Victory at _Pharsalia_, writeth thus;

_O great and sacred Work of Poesie!
Thou freest from Fate, and giv'st Eternity
To mortal Wights; but_ Caesar _envy not
Their living Names; if_ Roman _Muses ought
May promise thee, whilst_ Homer's _honoured,
By future Times shalt Thou and I be read;
No Age shall us with dark Oblivion stain,
But our_ Pharsalia _ever shall remain._

But this Ambition, or (give it a more moderate Title), Desire of Fame, is naturally addicted to most men; The Triumph of _Miltiades_ would not let _Themistocles_ sleep; For what was it that _Alexander_ made such a Bustle in the world, but only to purchase an immortal Fame? To what purpose were erected those stupendious Structures, entituled _The Wonders of the World, viz._ The walls of _Babylon_, the _Rhodian Colossus_, the Pyramids of _Egypt_, the Tomb of _Mausolus, Diana's_ Temple at _Ephesus_, the _Pharoes_ Watch-Tower, and the Statue of _Jupiter_ in Achaya, were they not all to purchase an immortal Fame thereby? Nay, how soon was this Ambition bred in the heart of man? for we read in _Genesis_ the 11th. how that presently after the Flood, the People journeying from the _East_, they said among themselves, _Go to, let us build us a City, and a tower, whose Top may reach unto Heaven; and let us make us a Name_. Here you see the intent of their Building was to make them a Name, though God made it a Confusion; as all such other lofty Buildings built in Blood and Tyranny, of which nothing now remains but the Name; which is excellently exprest by _Ovid_ in the Fifteenth Book of his _Metamorphosis_.

Troy _rich and powerful, which so proudly stood,
That could for ten years spend such streams of Blood,
For Buildings, only her old Ruines shows,
For Riches, Tombs, which slaughter'd Sires enclose_,
Sparta, Mycenae, _were of_ Greece _the Flowers;
So_ Cecrops _City, and_ Amphion's _Towers:
Now glorious_ Sparta _lies upon the ground.
Lofty_ Mycenae _hardly to be found.
Of_ Oedipus _his_ Thebes _what now remains?
Or_ of Pandion's Athens, _but their Names?_

So also _Sylvester_ in his _Du Bartus_.

Thebes, Babel, Rome, _those proud Heaven-daring Wonders,
Lo under ground in Dust and Ashes lie,
For earthly Kingdoms even as men do die._

By this you may see that frail Paper is more durable than Brass or Marble; and the Works of the Brain more lasting than that of the Hand; so true is that old Verse,

Marmora _Maeonij_ vincunt Monumenta Libelli:
Vivitur ingenio, caetera mortis erunt.

_The Muses Works Stone-Monuments outlast.
'Tis Wit keeps Life, all else Death will down cast._

Now though it is the desire of all Writers to purchase to themselves immortal Fame, yet is their Fate far different; some deserve Fame, and have it; others neither have it, nor deserve it; some have it not deserving, and others, though deserving, yet totally miss it, or have it not equall to their Deserts: Thus have I known a well writ Poem, after a double expence of Brain to bring it forth, and of Purse to publish it to the World, condemned to the Drudgery of the _Chandler_ or _Oyl-man_, or, which is worse, to light _Tobacco_. I have read in Dr. _Fuller's Englands Worthies_, that Mr. _Nathanael Carpenter_, that great Scholar for _Logick_, the _Mathematicks, Geography_, and _Divinity_, setting forth a Book of _Opticks_, he found, to his great grief, the Preface thereof in his Printers House, _Casing Christmas-Pies_, and could never after from his scattered Notes recover an Original thereof; thus (saith he) _Pearls_ are no _Pearls_, when _Cocks_ or _Coxcombs_ find them.

There are two things which very much discourage Wit; ignorant Readers, and want of _Mecaenasses_ to encourage their Endeavours. For the first, I have read of an eminent Poet, who passing by a company of Bricklayers at work, who were repeating some of his Verses, but in such a manner as quite marred the Sence and Meaning of them; he snatching up a Hammer, fell to breaking their Bricks; and being demanded the reason thereof, he told them, that _they spoiled his Work, and he spoiled theirs_. And for the second; what greater encouragement to Ingenuity than Liberality? Hear what the Poet _Martial_ saith, _Lib. 10. Epig. 11._

_What deathless numbers from my Pen would flow,
What Wars would my_ Pierian _Trumpet blow,
If, as_ Augustus _now again did live,
So_ Rome _to me would a_ Mecaenas _give._

The ingenious Mr. _Oldham_, the glory of our late Age, in one of his Satyrs, makes the renowned _Spenser_'s Ghost thus speak to him, disswading him from the Study of Poetry.

_Chuse some old_ English _Hero for thy Theme,
Bold_ Arthur, _or great_ Edward_'s greater Son,
Or our fifth_ Henry, _matchless to renown;
Make_ Agin-Court, _and_ Crescy_-fields out-vie
The fam'd_ Laucinan_-shores, and walls of_ Troy;
_What_ Scipio, _what_ Maecenas _wouldst thou find;
What_ Sidney _now to thy great project kind?_
Bless me! how great a _Genius_! how each Line
Is big with Sense! how glorious a design
Does through the whole, and each proportion shine!

How lofty all his Thoughts, and how inspir'd!
Pity, such wondrous Parts are not preferr'd:
_Cry a gay wealthy Sot, who would not bail,
For bare Five Pounds the Author out of Jail,
Should he starve there and rot; who, if a Brief
Came out the needy Poets to relieve,
To the whole Tribe would scarce a Tester give._

But some will say, it is not so much the _Patrons_ as the _Poets_ fault, whose wide Mouths speak nothing but Bladders and Bumbast, treating only of trifles, the Muses Haberdashers of small wares.

_Whose Wit is but a Tavern-Tympany,
The Shavings and the Chips of Poetry._

Indeed such Pedlars to the Muses, whose Verse runs like the Tap, and whose invention ebbs and flows as the Barrel, deserve not the name of Poets, and are justly rejected as the common Scriblers of the times: but for such who fill'd with _Phebean_-fire, deserve to be crowned with a wreath of Stars; for such brave Souls, the darlings of the _Delian_ Deity, for these to be scorn'd, contemn'd, and disregarded, must needs be the fault of the times; I shall only give you one instance of a renowned Poet, out of the same Author.

_On_ Butler_, who can think without just rage,
The glory and the scandal of the age,
Fair stood his hopes, when first he came to Town,
Met every where with welcoms of renown,
Courted, and lov'd by all, with wonder read,
And promises of Princely favour fed:
But what reward for all had he at last,
After a life in dull expectance pass'd?
The wretch at summing up his mispent days,
Found nothing left, but poverty, and praise:
Of all his gains by Verse he could not save
Enough to purchase Flannel, an

Thus you see though we have had some comparable to _Homer_ for Heroick Poesie, and to _Euripides_ for Tragedy, yet have they died disregarded, and nothing left of them, but that only once there were such Men and Writings in being.

I shall, in the next place, speak something of my Undertakings, in writing the Lives of these Renowned Poets. Two things, I suppose, may be laid to my charge; the one is the omission of some that ought with good reason to have been mentioned; and the other, the mentioning of those which without any injury might have been omitted. For the first, as I have begg'd pardon at the latter end of my Book for their omission, so have I promised, (if God spare me life so long) upon the first opportunity, or second Edition of this Book, to do them right. In the mean time I should think my self much beholding to those persons who would give me any intelligence herein, it being beyond the reading and acquaintance of any one single person to do it of himself.

And yet, let me tell ye, that by the Name of Poet, many more of former times might have been brought in than what I have named, as well as those which I have omitted that are now living, namely, Sir _Walter Rawleigh_, Mr. _John Weever_, Dr. _Heylin_, Dr. _Fuller,_ &c. but the Volume growing as big as the Bookseller at present was willing to have it, we shall reserve them to another time, they having already eternized their Names by the never dying Histories which they have wrote.

Then for the second thing which may be objected against me, That I have incerted some of the meanest rank; I answer, That comparatively, it is a less fault to incert two, than to omit one, most of which in their times were of good esteem, though now grown out of date, even as some learned Works have been at first not at all respected, which afterwards have been had in high estimation; as it is reported of Sir _Walter Rawleigh_, who being Prisoner in the Tower, expecting every hour to be sacrificed to the _Spanish_ cruelty, some few days before he suffered, he sent for Mr. _Walter Burre_, who had formerly printed his first Volume of _the History of the World_, whom, taking by the hand, after some other discourse, he ask'd him, How that Work of his had sold? Mr. _Burre_ returned this answer, That it sold so slowly, that it had undone him. At which words of his, Sir _Walter Rawleigh_ stepping to his Desk, reaches the other part of his History, to Mr. _Burre_, which he had brought down to the times he lived in; clapping his hand on his breast, he took the other unprinted part of his Works into his hand with a sigh, saying, _Ah my Friend, hath the first Part undone thee? The second Volume shall undo no more; this ungrateful World is unworthy of it_; When immediately going to the fire-side he threw it in, and set his foot on it till it was consumed. As great a Loss to Learning as Christendom could have, or owned; for his first Volume after his death sold Thousands.

It may likewise be objected, That some of these Poets here mentioned, have been more famous in other kind of Studies than in Poetry, and therefore do not shine here as in their proper sphere of fame; but what then, shall their general knowledge debar them from a particular notice of their Abilities in this most excellent Art? Nor have we scarce any Poet excellent in all its Species thereof; some addicting themselves most to the _Epick_, some to the _Dramatick_, some to the _Lyrick_, other to the _Elegiack_, the _Epaenitick_, the _Bucolick_, or the _Epigram_; under one of which all the whole circuit of _Poetick Design_ is one way or other included.

Besides, should we have mentioned none but those who upon a strict scrutiny the Name of Poet doth belong unto, I fear me our number would fall much short of those which we have written; for as one writes, _There are many that have a Fame deservedly for what they have writ, even in Poetry itself, who, if they come to the test, I question how well they would endure to open their Eagle-eyes against the Sun._ But I shall wade no further in this Discourse, desiring you to accept of what is here written.

I remain

Yours,

_William Winstanley._

* * * * *

The Names of the Poets Mention'd in this Book.

_Robert of Glocester_
_Richard_ the Hermit
_Joseph of Exeter_
_Michael Blaunpayn_
_Matthew Paris_
_William Ramsey_
_Alexander Nequam_
_Alexander Essebie_
_Robert Baston_
_Henry Bradshaw_
_Havillan_
Sir _John Gower_
_Geoffrey Chaucer_
_John Lydgate_
_John Harding_
_Robert Fabian_
_John Skelton_
_William Lilly_
Sir _Thomas More_
_Henry Howard, Earl_ of _Surry_
Sir _Thomas Wiat_
Dr. _Christopher Tye_
_John Leland
_Thomas Churchyard_
_John Higgins_
_Abraham Fraunce_
_William Warner_
_Thomas Tusser_
_Thomas Stow_
_Dr. Lodge_
_Robert Greene_
_Thomas Nash_
Sir _Philip Sidney_
Sir _Fulk Grevil_
Mr. _Edmund Spenser_
Sir _John Harrington_
_John Heywood_
_Thomas Heywood_
_George Peel_
_John Lilly_
_William Wager_
_Nicholas Berton_
_Tho. Kid, Tho. Watson_, &c.
Sir _Thomas Overbury_
Mr. _Michael Drayton_
_Joshua Sylvester_
Mr. _Samuel Daniel_
_George Chapman_
_Robert Baron_
_Lodowic Carlisle_
_John Ford_
_Anthony Brewer_
_Henry Glapthorn_
_John Davis_ of _Hereford_
Dr. _John Donne_
Dr. _Richard Corbet_
Mr. _Benjamin Johnson_
_Fr. Beaumont_ and _Jo. Fletcher_
_William Shakespeare_
_Christopher Marlow_
_Barton Holyday_
_Cyril Turney_
_Thomas Middleton_
_William Rowley_
_Thomas Deckar_
_John Marston_
Dr. _Jasper Main_
_James Shirley_
_Philip Massinger_
_John Webster_
_William Brown_
_Thomas Randolph_
Sir _John Beaumont_
Dr. _Philemon Holland_
_Thomas Goffe_
_Thomas Nabbes_
_Richard Broome_
_Robert Chamberlain_
_William Sampson_
_George Sandys_, Esq;
Sir _John Suckling_
Mr. _William Habington_
Mr. _Francis Quarles_
Mr. _Phineas Fletcher_
Mr. _George Herbert_
Mr. _Richard Crashaw_
Mr. _William Cartwright_
Sir _Aston Cockain_
Sir _John Davis_
_Thomas May_
_Charles Aleyn_
_George Withers_
_Robert Herric_
_John Taylor_, Water Poet
_Thomas Rawlins_
Mr. _Thomas Carew_
Col. _Richard Lovelace_
_Alexander Broome_
Mr. _John Cleaveland_
Sir _John Birkenhead_
Dr. _Robert Wild_
Mr. _Abraham Cowley_
Mr. _Edmond Waller_
Sir _John Denham_
Sir _William Davenant_
Sir _George Wharton_
Sir _Robert Howard_
_W. Cavendish_, _D. of Newcastle_
Sir _William Killegrew_
_John Studly_
_John Tatham_
_Thomas Jordan_
_Hugh Crompton_
_Edmund Prestwich_
_Pagan Fisher_
_Edward Shirburn_, Esq;
_John Quarles_
_John Milton_
_John Ogilby_
Sir _Richard Fanshaw_
Earl of _Orrery_
_Thomas Hobbs_
Earl of _Rochester_
Mr. _Thomas Flatman_
_Martin Luellin_
_Edmond Fairfax_
_Henry King_, Bishop of _Chichester_
_Thomas Manley_
Mr. _Lewis Griffin_
_John Dauncey_
_Richard Head_
_John Philips_
Mr. _John Oldham_
Mr. _John Driden_
Mr. _Elkinah Settle_
Sir _George Etheridge_
Mr. _John Wilson_
Mr. _Thomas Shadwell_
_Thomas Stanley_, Esq;
_Edward Philips_
Mr. _Thomas Sprat_
_William Smith_
Mr. _John Lacey_
Mr. _William Whicherly_
Sir _Roger L'Estrange_

* * * * *

THE LIVES Of the most Famous ENGLISH POETS,

FROM _WILLIAM_ the _Conqueror_, to these Present Times.

* * * * *

_The Life of ROBERT of Glocester._

We will begin first with _Robert_ of _Glocester_, so called, because a Monk of that City, who flourisht about the Reign of King _Henry_ the Second; much esteemed by Mr. _Cambden_, who quotes divers of his old _English_ Rhythms in praise of his Native Country, _England_. Some (who consider not the Learning of those times) term him a Rhymer, whilst others more courteously call him a Poet: Indeed his Language is such, that he is dumb in effect, to the Readers of our Age, without an Interpreter; which that ye may the better perceive, hear these his Verses of _Mulmutius Dunwallo_, in the very same Language he wrote them.

A Kynge there was in Brutayne Donwallo was his Nam,
Staleworth and hardy, a man of grete Fam:
He ordeyned furst yat theeues yat to Temple flowen wer,
No men wer so hardy to do hem despit ther;
That hath he moche such yhold, as hit begonne tho,
Hely Chyrch it holdeth yut, and wole ever mo.

Antiquaries (amongst whom Mr. _Selden_) more value him for his History than Poetry, his Lines being neither strong nor smooth, yet much informing in those things wherein he wrote; whereof to give you a taste of the first planting Religion in this Land by King _Lucius_,

Lucie Cocles Son after him Kynge was,
To fore hym in Engelonde Chrestendom non was,
For he hurde ofte miracles at Rome,
And in meny another stede, yat thurgh Christene men come,
He wildnede anon in hys herte to fonge Chrystendom.
Therefor Messagers with good Letters he nom,
That to the Pape Eleutherie hastelyche wende;
And yat he to hym and his menne expondem sende,
And yat he might seruy God wilned muche thereto,
And seyd he wald noght be glader hyt were ydo.

This _English_ Rhymer or Poet, which you will have it to be, is said to have lived whilst he was a very old man, and to have died about the beginning of the Reign of King _John_.

* * * * *

_RICHARD the Hermit_.

Contemporary with _Robert_ of _Glocester_, was one _Richard_, a Religious Hermit, whose Manuscripts were a while ago (and for ought I know, are still) kept in _Exeter_-Library, although _Exeter_-House in the _Strand_, is converted now into an Exchange: This Religious Hermit studied much in converting the Church-Service into _English_ Verse; of which we shall give you an Essay in part of the _Te Deum_, and part of the _Magnificat_,

Te Deum.

We heryen ye God, we knowlechen ye Lord:
All ye erye worships ye everlasting fader:
Alle Aungels in hevens, and alle ye pours in yis world,
Cherubin and Seraphin cryen by voyce to ye unstyntyng.

Magnificat.

My Soul worschips the Louerd, and my Gott joyed in God my hele
For he lokyd ye mekenes of hys hondemayden:
So for iken of yat blissefulle schall sey me all generacjouns;
For he has don to me grete thingis yat mercy is, and his nam hely.

He likewise translated all the Psalms of _David_, as also the _Collects, Epistles_ and _Gospels_ for the whole year, together with the _Pater Noster_ and _Creed_; though there was then another _Pater Noster_ and _Creed_ used in the Church, sent into _England_ by _Adrian_ the Fourth, Pope of _Rome_, an _Englishman_, the Son of _Robert Breakspeare_ of _Abbots Langley_ in _Hertfordshire_, unto King _Henry_ the Second; which (for variety sake) we shall give you as followeth:

Pater Noster.

Ure fader in hevene riche,
Thi nom be haliid everliche,
Thou bring us to thi michilblisce,
Thi wil to wirche thu us wille,
Als hit is in hevene ido
Ever in erth ben hit also,
That heli bred that lastyth ay,
Thou sende hious this ilke day,
Forgiv ous al that we hauith don,
Als we forgiu och oder mon,
He let ous falle in no founding,
Ak seilde ous fro the foul thing. Amen.

The Creed.

I Beleeve in God fader almigty, shipper of heven and erth,
And in Jhesus Crist his onle thi son vre Louerd,
That is iuange thurch the hooli Ghost, bore of Mary Maiden,
Tholede pine undyr Pounce Pilate, pitcht on rode tre,
dead and yburiid.
Litcht into helle, the thridde day fro death arose,
Steich into hevene, sit on his fader richt hand God Almichty,
Then is cominde to deme the quikke and the dede,
I beleve in ye hooli Gost,
Alle hooli Chirche,
None of alle hallouen forgivenis of sine,
Fleiss uprising,
Lif withuten end. Amen.

When this _Richard_ the Hermit died, we cannot find, but conjecture it to be about the middle of the Reign of King _John_, about the year 1208.

* * * * *

_JOSEPH_ of _Exeter_.

_Joseph of Exeter_ was born at the City of _Exeter_ in _Devonshire_, he was also sirnamed _Iscanus_, from the River _Isk_, now called _Esk_, which running by that City, gave it formerly the denomination of _Isca_. This _Joseph_ (faith my Author) was _a Golden Poet in a Leaden Age_, so terse and elegant were his Conceits and Expressions. In his younger years he accompanied King _Richard_ the First, in his Expedition into the _Holy Land_, by which means he had the better advantage to celebrate, as he did, the Acts of that warlike Prince, in a Poem, entituled _Antiochea_. He also wrote six Books _De Bello Trojano_, in Heroick Verse, which, as the learned _Cambden_ well observes, was no other then that Version of _Dares Phyrgius_ into _Latine_ Verse. Yet so well was it excepted, that the _Dutchmen_ not long since Printed it under the name of _Cornelius Nepos_, an Author who lived in the time of _Tully_, and wrote many excellent pieces in Poetry, but upon a strict view of all his Works, not any such doth appear amongst them; they therefore do this _Joseph_ great wrong in depriving him the honour of his own Works. He was afterwards, for his deserts, preferred to be Arch-bishop of _Burdeaux_, in the time of King _John_, about the year 1210.

* * * * *

_MICHAEL BLAUNPAYN_.

This _Michael Blaunpayn_, otherwise sirnamed the _Cornish_ Poet, or the Rymer, was born in _Cornwall_, and bred in _Oxford_ and _Paris_, where he attained to a good proficiency in Learning, being of great fame and estimation in his time, out of whose Rymes for merry _England_ as _Cambden_ calls them, he quotes several passages in that most excellent Book of his _Remains_. It hapned one _Henry_ of _Normandy_, chief Poet to our _Henry_ the Third, had traduced _Cornwall_, as an inconsiderable Country, cast out by Nature in contempt into a corner of the land. Our _Michael_ could not endure this Affront, but, full of Poetical fury, falls upon the Libeller; take a tast (little thereof will go far) of his strains.

_Non opus est ut opus numere quibus est opulenta,
Et per quas inopes sustentat non ope lenta,
Piscibus & stanno nusquam tam fertilis ora_.

We need not number up her wealthy store,
Wherewith this helpful Lands relieves her poor,
No Sea so full of Filh, of Tin, no shore.

Then, in a triumphant manner, he concludeth all with this Exhortation to his Countrymen:

_Quid nos deterret? si firmiter in pede stemus,
Fraus ni nos superat, nihil est quod non superemus._

What should us fright, if firmly we do stand?
Bar fraud, and then no force can us command.

Yet his Pen was not so lushious in praising, but, when he listed, it was as bitter in railing, witness this his Satyrical Character of his aforesaid Antagonist.

_Est tibi gamba capri, crus passeris, & latus Apri,
Os leporis, catuli nasus, dens & gena Muli,
Frons vetulae, tauricaput, & color undique Mauri,
His argumentis quibus est argutia Mentis,
Quod non a Monstro differs, satis hic tibi monstro._

Gamb'd like a Goat, Sparrow-thigh'd, sides as a Boar,
Hare-mouth'd, Dog-nos'd, like Mule thy teeth and chin,
Brow'd as old wife, Bull headed, black as a _More_,
If such without, then what are you within?
By these my signs the wife will easily conster,
How little thou does differ from a Monster.

This _Michael_ flourished in the time of King _John_, and _Henry_ the Third.

* * * * *

_MATTHEW PARIS_.

_Matthew Paris_ is acknowledged by all to be an _Englishman_ saving only one or two wrangling Writers, who deserve to be arraigned of Felony for robbing our Country of its due; and no doubt _Cambridgeshire_ was the County made happy by his birth, where the Name and Family of _Paris_ is right ancient, even long before they were setled therein at _Hildersham_, wherein they still flourish, though much impaired for their Loyalty in the late times of Rebellion.

He was bred a Monk of St. _Albans_, living in that loose Age a very strict and severe life, never less idle than when he was alone; spending those hours, reserved from Devotion, in the sweet delights of Poetry, and laborious study of History, in both which he excelled all his Contemporaries: His skill also was excellent in Oratory and Divinity, as also in such manual Arts as lie in the Suburbs of the liberal Sciences, Painting, Graving, _&c._ so that we might sooner reckon up those things wherein he had no skill, as those wherein he was skilled: But his _Genius_ chiefly disposed him for the writing of Histories, writing a large Chronicle with great Commendations from the _Norman_ Conquest to the Year of our Lord 1250. where he concludes with this Distich:

_Sifte tui metas studij_, Matthaee, _quietas_
_Nec ventura petas, quae postera proferat atas._

Matthew, here cease thy Pen in peace, and study on no more,
Nor do thou rome at things to come, what next Age hath in store.

Yet, notwithstanding this resolution, he afterwards resumed that Work, continuing it to the Year 1259. a History impartially and judicially written, neither flattering any for their Greatness, nor sparing others for their Vices, no not so much as those of his own Profession; yet though he had sharp Nails, he had clean Hands, strict in his own, as well as linking at the loose conversation of others, and for his eminent austerity, was imployed by Pope _Innocent_ the Fourth, not only to visit the Monks in the Diocess of _Norwich_ but also was sent by him into _Norway_, to reform the Discipline in _Holui_, a fair Covent therein, but much corrupted.

His History was set forth with all integrity about a hundred years ago, by his namesake, _Matthew Parker_, (though some asperse it with a suspition of forgery) and afterwards in a latter and more exact Edition, by the care and industry of Doctor _William Wats_, and is at this present in great esteem amongst learned men.

* * * * *

_WILLIAM RAMSEY_.

This _William Ramsey_ was born in _Huntingtonshire_, a County famous for the richest _Benedictines_ Abbey in _England_; yet here he would not stay, but went to _Crowland_, where he prospered so well, that he became Abbot thereof. _Bale_ saith he was a _Natural Poet_, and therefore no wonder if fault be found in the Feet of his Verses; but by his leave, he was also a good Scholar, and Arithmetician enough to make his Verse run in right Numbers.

This _William_ wrote the Lives of St. _Guthlake_, St. _Neots_, St. _Edmond_ the King, and divers others, all in Verse, which no doubt were very acceptable and praise-worthy in those times; but the greatest wonder of him, and which may seem a wonder indeed, was, that being a Poet, he paid the vast Debts of others, even forty thousand Marks for the engagement of his Covent, and all within the compass of eighteen Months, wherein he was Abbot of _Crowland_. This was a vast Sum in that Age, and would render it altogether incredible for a Poet to do, but that we find he had therein the assistance of King _Henry_ the Second; who, to expiate the Blood of _Becket_, was contented to be melted into Coyn, and was prodigiously bountiful to many Churches as well as to this. He died about the year 1180.

* * * * *

_ALEXANDER NEQUAM_.

_Alexander Nequam_, the learnedest _Englishman_ of his Age, was born at St. _Albans_ in _Hartfordshire_: His Name in _English_ signifies _Bad_, which caused many, who thought themselves wondrous witty in making Jests, (which indeed made themselves) to pass several Jokes on his Sirname, whereof take this one instance: _Nequam_ had a mind to become a Monk in St. _Albans_, the Town of his Nativity, and thus Laconically wrote for leave to the Abbot thereof;

_Si vis, veniam, sin autem, tu autem_.

To whom the Abbot returned,

_Si bonus sis, venias, si nequam, nequaquam_.

Whereupon for the future, to avoid the occasion of such Jokes, he altered his Name from _Nequam_, to _Neckam_.

His admirable knowledge in good Arts, made him famous throughout _England_, _France_, _Italy_, yea and the whole World, and that with incredible admiration, that he was called _Miraculum ingenij_, the Wonder and Miracle of Wit and Sapience. He was an exact Philosopher, and excellent Divine, an accurate Rhetorician, and an admirable Poet, as did appear by many his Writings which he left to posterity, some of which are mentioned by _Bale_.

That he was born at St. _Albans_, appears by a certain passage in one of his _Latine_ Poems, cited by Mr. _Cambden_, and thus Englished by his Translatour, Doctor _Holland_.

_This is the place that knowledge took of my Nativity,
My happy Years, my Days also of Mirth and Jollity.
This Place my Childhood trained up in all Arts liberal,
And laid the ground-work of my Name, and skill Poetical.
This Place great and renowned Clerks into the World hath sent;
For Martyr bless'd, for Nation, for Sight, all excellent.
A troop here of Religious Men serve Christ both night and day,
In Holy Warfare, taking pains duly to watch and pray._

He is thought by some, saith _Bale_, to have been a Canon Regular, and to have been preferred to the Abbotship of _Glocester_, as the Continuater of _Robert of Glocester_ will have it.

And Master Alisander that Chanon was er
Imaked was of Gloucestre Abbot thulk yer.
Viz. 7 Reg. Regis _Johannis_.

But this may be understood of _Alexander Theologus_, who was contempory with him: and was Abbot of St. _Maries_ in _Cirencester_ at the time of his death.

Bishop _Godwin_, in his Catalogue of the Bishops of _Lincoln_, maketh mention of a passage of wit betwixt him and _Phillip Repington_ Bishop of _Lincoln_, the latter sending the Challenge.

_Et niger & Nequam cum sis cognomine Nequam,
Nigrior esse potes, Nequior esse nequis_.

Both black and bad, whilest _Bad_ the name to thee,
Blacker thou may'st, but worse thou canst not be.

To whom _Nequam_ rejoyned,

Phi _not a foetoris_, Lippus _malus omnibus horis_,
Phi _malus_ & Lippus, _totus malus ergo_ Philippus.

Stinks are branded with a _Phi, Lippus_ Latin for blear-eye,
_Phi_ and _Lippus_ bad as either, then _Philippus_ worse together.

A Monk of St. _Albans_ made this Hexameter allusively to his Name:

_Dictus erat_ Nequam, _vitam duxit tamen aquam_.

The Elogy he bestoweth on that most Christian Emperor _Constantine_ the Great, must not be forgot:

From _Colchester_ there rose a Star,
The Rays whereof gave Glorious Light
Throughout the world in Climates far,
Great _Constantine, Romes_ Emperor bright.

He was (saith one) Canon of _Exeter_, and (upon what occasion is not known,) came to be buried at _Worcester_, with this Epitaph,

_Eclipsim patitur Sapientia, Sol sepelitur,
Cui si par unus, minus esset flebile funus;
Vir bene discretus, & in omni more facetus,
Dictus erat_ Nequam, _vitam duxit tamen aequam_.

Wisdom's eclips'd, Sky of the Sun bereft;
Yet less the loss if like alive were left;
A man discreet, in matters debonair,
Bad Name, black Face, but Carriage good and fair.

Yet others say he was buried at St. _Albans_ (where he found repulse when living, but repose when dead) with this Epitaph,

Alexander, _cognomento_ Nequam, _Abbas_ Cirecestriae,
_Literarum scientia clarus, obiit Anno Dom._ 1217. _Lit.
Dom. C. prid. Cal. Feb. & sepultus erat apud Fanum S._ Albani,
_sujus Animae propitietur altissimus_, Amen.

* * * * *

_ALEXANDER ESSEBIE_.

This _Alexander_ was born in _Staffordshire_, say some; in _Somersetshire_, say others; for which, each County might strive as being a Jewel worth the owning, being reckoned among the chief of _English_ Poets and Orators of that Age. He in imitation of _Ovid de Fastis_, put our Christian Festivals into Verse, setting a Copy therein to _Baptista Mantuan_. Then leaving _Ovid_, he aspired to _Virgil_, and wrote the History of the Bible, (with the Lives of some Saints,) in an Heroical Poem, which he performed even to admiration; and though he fell short in part of _Virgil_'s lofty style, yet went he beyond himself therein. He afterward became Prior of _Esseby-Abbey_, belonging to the _Augustines_, and flourished under King _Henry_ the Third, _Anno Dom._ 1220.

* * * * *

_ROBERT BASTON_.

_Robert Baston_ was born not far from _Nottingham_, and bred a _Carmelite_ Frier at _Scarborough_ in _Yorkshire_: He was of such great Fame in Poetry, that King _Edward_ the Second, in his _Scotish_ Expedition pitcht upon him to be the Celebrater of his Heroick Acts; when being taken Prisoner by the _Scots_, he was forced by Torments to change his Note, and represent all things to the advantage of _Robert Bruce_, who then claimed the Crown of _Scotland_: This Task he undertook full sore against his will, as he thus intimates in the two first Lines.

In dreery Verse my Rymes I make,
Bewailing whilest such Theme I take.

Besides his Poem _De Belle Strivilensi_, there was published of his writing a Book of Tragedies, with other Poems of various Subjects.

* * * * *

_HENRY BRADSHAW_.

_Henry Bradshaw_ was born in the City of _Chester_, and bred a _Benedictine_ Monk in the Monastery of _St. Werburg_; the Life of which Saint he wrote in Verse, as also (saith my Author) a no bad Chronicle, though following therein those Authors, who think it the greatest Glory of a Nation to fetch their Original from times out of mind. Take a Taste of his Poetry in what he wrote concerning the Original of the City of _Chester_, in these words;

The Founder of this City, as saith _Polychronicon_,
Was _Leon Gawer_, a mighty strong Gyant,
Which builded Caves and Dungeons many a one,
No goodly Building, ne proper, ne pleasant.

But King _Leir_, a _Britain_ fine and valiant,
Was Founder of _Chester_ by pleasant Building,
And was named _Guer Leir_ by the King.

These Lines, considering the Age he lived in, (which _Arnoldus Vion_ saith, was about the Year 1346.) may pass with some praise, but others say he flourished a Century of years afterwards, _viz._ 1513. which if so, they are hardly to be excused, Poetry being in that time much refined; but whensoever he lived, _Bale_ saith, he was (the Diamond in the Ring) _Pro ea ipsa aetate, admodum pius_.

* * * * *

_HAVILLAN_.

Should we forget the learned _Havillan_, our Book would be thought to be imperfect, so terse and fluent was his Verse, of which we shall give you two Examples, the one out of Mr. _John Speed_ his Description of _Devonshire_, speaking of the arrival of _Brute_.

The God's did guide his Sail and Course, the Winds were at command,
And _Totness_ was the happy shore where first he came on land.

The other out of Mr. _Weever_ his Funeral Monuments in the Parish of St. _Aldermanbury_ in _London_, speaking of _Cornwal_.

There Gyants whilome dwelt, whose Clothes were skins of Beasts;
Whose Drink was Blood; Whose Cups, to serve for use at Feasts,
Were made of hollow Wood; Whose Beds were bushy Thorns;
And Lodgings rocky Caves, to shelter them from Storms;
Their Chambers craggy Rocks; their Hunting found them Meat.
To vanquish and to kill, to them was pleasure great.
Their violence was rule; with rage and fury led,
They rusht into the fight, and fought hand over head.
Their Bodies were interr'd behind some bush or brake,
To bear such monstrous Wights, the earth did grone and quake.
These pestred most the Western Tract; more fear made thee agast,
O _Cornwall_, utmost door that art to let in _Zephyrus_ blast.

* * * * *

_JOHN GOWER_.

_John Gower_, whom some make to be a Knight, though _Stow_, in his _survey of London_, unknighteth him, and saith he was only an Esquire; however he was born of a knightly Family, at _Stitenham_ in the North-Riding in _Bulmore-Wapentake_ in _Yorkshire_. He was bred in _London_ a Student of the Laws, but having a plentiful Estate, and prizing his pleasure above his profit, he quitted Pleading to follow Poetry, being the first refiner of our _English_ Tongue, effecting much, but endeavouring more therein, as you may perceive by the difference of his Language, with that of _Robert of Glocester_, who lived in the time of King _Richard_ the First, which notwithstanding was accounted very good in those days.

This our _Gower_ was contemporary with the famous Poet _Geoffry Chaucer_, both excellently learned, both great friends together, and both alike endeavour'd themselves and employed their time for the benefit of their Country. And what an account _Chaucer_ had of this our _Gower_ and of his Parts, that which he wrote in the end of his Work, entituled _Troilus & Cressida_, do sufficiently testifie, where he saith,

O marvel, _Gower_, this Book I direct
To thee, and to the Philosophical _Strode_.
To vouchsafe, there need is, to correct
Of your benignitees and zeles good.

_Bale_ makes him _Equitem Auratum & Poetam Laureatum_, proving both from his Ornaments on his Monumental Statue in St. _Mary Overies Southwark_. Yet he appeareth there neither _laureated_ nor _hederated_ Poet, (except the leaves of the Bays and Ivy be wither'd to nothing, since the erection of the Tomb) but only _rosated_, having a Chaplet of four Roses about his Head, yet was he in great respect both with King _Henry_ the Fourth, and King _Richard_ the Second, at whose request he wrote his Book called _Confessio Amantis_, as he relateth in his Prologue to the same Book, in these words,

As it befell upon a tide,
As thing, which should tho betide,
Under the town of New Troie,
Which toke of Brute his first ioye,
In Themese, when it was flowende,
As I by Bote came rowende;
So as fortune hir tyme sette,
My leige Lord perchance I mette,
And so befelle as I cam nigh,
Out of my Bote, when he me sigh,
He bad me come into his Barge,
And when I was with him at large,
Amonges other things seyde,
He hath this charge upon me leyde,
And bad me doe my businesse,
That to his high worthinesse,
Some newe thynge I should boke,
That he hymselfe it might loke,
After the forme of my writynge,
And this upon his commandynge
Myne herte is well the more glad
To write so as he me bad.
And eke my fear is well the lasse,
That none enuie shall compasse,
Without a reasonable wite
To seige and blame that I write,
A gentill hert his tongue stilleth,
That it malice none distilleth,
But preiseth that is to be preised,
But he that hath his word unpeised,
And handleth with ronge any thynge,
I praie unto the heuen kynge,
Froe such tonges he me shilde,
And nethelesse this worlde is wilde,
Of such ianglinge and what befall,
My kinges heste shall not faile,
That I in hope to deserue
His thonke, ne shall his will observe,
And els were I nought excused.

He was before _Chaucer_, as born and flourishing before him, (yea, by some accounted his Master) yet was he after _Chaucer_, as surviving him two years, living to be stark blind, and so more properly termed our _English Homer_. His death happened _Anno_ 1402. and was buried at St. _Mary Overies_ in _Southwark_, on the North side of the said Church, in the Chappel of St. _John_, where he founded a Chauntry, and left Means for a Mass, (such was the Religion of those times) to be daily sung for him, as also an _Obit_ within the same Church to be kept on Friday after the Feast of St. _Gregory_. He lieth under a Tomb of stone, with his Image also of stone over him, the hair of his head auburn long to his shoulders, but curling up, and a small forked beard; on his head a Chaplet, like a Coronet of four Roses; an habit of purple, damasked down to his feet, a Collar of Esses of Gold about his neck, which being proper to places of Judicature, makes some think he was a Judge in his old age. Under his feet the likeness of three Books, which he compiled, the first named _Speculum Meditantis_, written in _French_: the second, _Vox Clamantis_, penned in _Latine_: the third, _Confessio Amantis_, written in _English_, which was Printed by _Thomas Berthelette_, and by him dedicated to King _Henry_ the Eighth, of which I have one by me at this present. His _Vox Clamantis_ with his _Cronica Tripartita_, and other Works both in _Latine_ and _French_, _Stow_ saith he had in his possession, but his _Speculum Meditantis_ he never saw, but heard thereof to be in _Kent_.

Besides, on the Wall where he lieth, there was painted three Virgins crowned, one of which was named _Charity_, holding this device,

_En toy qui es fitz de Dieu le Pere,
Sauue soit, qui gist sours cest pierre._

The second Writing _Mercy_, with this Decree,

_O bone Jesu fait ta mercy_,
_Al' ame, dont le corps gisticy._

The third Writing _Pity_, with this device,

_Pour ta pite Jesu regarde,
Et met cest a me en sauue garde._

And thereby formerly hung a Table, wherein was written, That whoso prayed for the Soul of _John Gower_, so oft as he did it, should have a M. and D. days of pardon.

His Arms were in a Field Argent, on a Cheveron Azure, three Leopards heads gold, their tongues Gules, two Angels supporters, on the Crest a Talbot.

His Epitaph.

_Armigeri Scultum nihil a modo fert sibi tutum,
Reddidit immolutum morti generale tributum,
Spiritus exutum se gaudeat esse solutum
Est ubi virtutum Regnum sine labe statutum_.

All I shall add is this, That about fifty years ago there lived at _Castle-Heningham_ in _Essex_, a School-master named _John Gower_, who wrote a witty Poem, called _the Castle Combate_, which was received in that Age with great applause.

* * * * *

_GEOFFERY CHAUCER_.

Three several Places contend for the Birth of that famous Poet. 1. _Berkshire_, from the words of _Leland_, that he was born _in Barocensiprovincia_; and Mr. _Cambden_ avoweth that _Dunington-Castle_ nigh unto _Newbery_, was anciently his Inheritance. 2. _Oxfordshire_, where _J. Pits_ is positive that his Father was a Knight, and that he was born at _Woodstock_. 3. The Author of his Life, set forth 1602. proveth him born in _London_, out of these his own words in the _Testament of Love_.

Also in the City of London, that is to me so dear and sweet, in which I was forth grown, and more kindly love have I to that place, than any other in yerth, as every kindely creature hath full appetite to that place of his kindly ingendure, and to wilne rest and peace in that stede to abide, thilke peace should thus there have been broken, which of all wise men is commended and desired.

For his Parentage, although _Bale_ writes, he termeth himself _Galfridus Chaucer nobili loco natus, & fummae spei juvenis_; yet in the opinion of some Heralds (otherwise than his Virtues and Learning commended him) he descended not of any great House, which they gather by his Arms: And indeed both in respect of the Name, which is _French_, as also by other Conjectures, it may be gathered, that his Progenitors were Strangers; but whether they were Merchants (for that in places where they have dwelled, the Arms of the Merchants of the Staple have been seen in the Glass-windows) or whether they were of other Callings, it is not much necessary to search; but wealthy no doubt they were, and of good account in the Commonwealth, who brought up their Son in such sort, that both he was thought fit for the Court at home, and to be employed for Matters of State in Foreign Countries.