George Gascoigne : Elizabethan Courtier. Soldier, and Poet

Webbe, A Discourse of English Poetrie, p. 33. \* "To the Gentlemen Students of both Universities," in Robert Greene's Menaphon, p. 12. \* "To the Courteous Reader" in Tofte's translation of Benedetto Varchi's The Blazon of Jraloustc (1615), p. 64. This is not an introductory letter to the translation, which is concluded on p. 62. Instead, it apologizes for the old-fashioned meter and style of the poem, "The Fruits of Jealousie," which is appended. I have used the Folger Shakespeare Library copy. 'Page i. ## PROLOGUE held large estates in the county but were extinct in the male line by the early years of the seventeenth century. More interesting than the pattern of the rise and fall of a family is that of the careers of young men of good lineage. Gascoigne, Turbervile, and Whetstone came of well-established families and all three tried to make their fortunes by attaching themselves to the world of the court. Each, however, encountered bad fortune: Whetstone, like Gascoigne, claimed to have been cheated by his father, and Turbervile, also like Gascoigne, was in difficulties with the Privy Council. As were all Elizabethans, these early poets were frequently in the law courts. Googe's marital difficulties, singularly like those of Gascoigne, were decided by Cecil as Gascoigne's were by Sir Nicholas Bacon. When the future was most ominous, Gascoigne, Churchyard, Whetstone, and Barnaby Riche sought their fortunes in the Dutch wars. The world was changing, and the old methods of advancement were disappearing. New families were looming large in the Elizabethan sky, and young men did their best to chart the right course to fame and fortune. Of these young men Gascoigne was typical: he tried careers in the court, the law, soldiering, and finally literature; but in none achieved complete success. It is the story of these attempts which occupies the first four chapters. The remainder of the volume reverts to the first consideration, the writings of George Gascoigne examined as to sources, principles of composition, and technique. I. The Youth ## First of my life, which some (amis) did \nowe, 1 leve mine armes, my acts shall blase the same Yet on a thorne, a Grape wil never growe, No more a Churle, dooth breed a childe of fame. But (for my birth) my birth right was not great My father did, his forward sonne defeat. WHETSTONE ON EASTER MONDAY in the year 1557, the woodwards of the Queen's Majesty's Honour of Ampthill in the county of Bedford discovered that the great stag which had much haunted Willhamstead Wood had at last lain out of Bickering Park, the western part of the Honour. 1 This news was brought to Sir William Dormer, Master of the Game of the Honour, who, knowing the stag to be a very forward deer for that time of year, was desirous to kill him for Queen Mary. Therefore, Sir William sent for one Edmond Conquest, as well as certain other gentlemen dwelling near-by, to be partakers of the pleasure in hunting the stag, as also to help kill the same stag. After being stirred, the stag fled from Bickering Park unto another wood, that of Sir John Gascoigne, called Cardington Wood, and from thence drew homeward to Bickering Park where Sir William made the kill and sent the carcass up to his dread Sovereign Lady. Although the hunt had thus ended, Sir John Gascoigne was much moved by news of the trespass on Cardington Wood and in great rage and fury gathered together his son, George Gascoigne, gent., and his yeomen, Moore, Morgan, and ffawstener, as well as divers other riotous and evilly disposed persons-not only his retainers but also other light and 1 The ensuing account is a condensed paraphrase of PRO St. Ch. 4, Vl/i 1, a petition made to the Queen by Edmond Conquest, who sought a writ of subpoena to bring Sir John and George Gascoigne into the Star Chamber. This petition is undated, but the year must be 1557, since Conquest gives the day of the assault as April 19, describes the day as near Easter, and addresses the bill to Queen Mary. Reference to Fry, Almanacks for Students of English History, shows 1557 the only tenable year. ' Fuller, The History of the Worthies of England, I, 129. ' Ibid. Also noted in Schclling, The Life and Writings of George Gascoigne. p. '' Visitation of Yorkshire, 1 Harl. Soc. Pub., XVI, 139, contains the above genealogical information. Professor Schelling (op. cit., p. 3) notes the descent from James Gascoigne but docs not discuss the establishment of the family in Bedfordshire. 0 Fuller, op. cit., I, 129. ' Ibid. THE YOUTH Though one patron had completed the circuit of Fortune's wheel, there was no reason why another might not be in the ascendant. Such a man was John Neville, Lord Latimer, whose family, like Gascoigne's, had connections in the North. 8 Sir William became steward to Lord Latimer, increased the boundaries of Cardington manor, and having seen at least one grandson born to carry on the family name and fortunes, died, leaving his heir, Sir John Gascoigne, well supplied with the goods of this world." This Sir John, father of George Gascoigne, had, some time before his father's death, returned to the family county of Yorkshire to find a bride. Probably while visiting his cousins at Gawthorpe he had met Margaret, daughter of Sir Robert Scargill of the near-by manor of Thorpehall. 10 Margaret and her sister Mary, wife of Marmaduke Tunstall of Thurland, were the coheirs to whom descended the considerable property noted in the Inquisition Post Mortem taken on Sir Robert. Thus the union of Sir John and Margaret Scargill was a prosperous one which augured well, at least financially, for the three children who were born to them. George, the eldest, was born sometime between 1535 11 and 1540, while soon after came a second son, John, and a daughter, Elizabeth. 12 "Of Sir John Gascoigne," says Professor Schelling, 13 "little is known save that he inherited the patrimonial estates of Cardington and married Margaret, daughter of Sir Robert Scargell." Fortunately, the petition of Edmond Conquest and other surviving records present certain facts concerning this knight's public, as well as private, life. Sir John was a Member of Parliament for Bedford in 1542, 1553, and 1557. 14 He also served as a Justice of the Peace, 15 but it is from his private activities that we learn most about this country squire. At Easter, 1556, Cardinal Pole, the last Catholic Archbishop of Canterbury, made his metropolitan visitation of the diocese of Lincoln-of which Bedford is part. One of the many matters reported to him at that time was the case 8 Dugdale, The Baronage of England, I, 313. \* PRO St. Ch. 5, L 33/28, a dispute about boundaries between Sir John and Lord Latimer, reveals these facts. '"PRO Chanc. IPM (Ser. 12) CLXXXV, 60, on Sir Robert Scargill (d. 1530) mentions Margaret, the wife of John Gascoigne. Professor Schelling (op. cit., p. 4) notes the marriage from the pedigree (supra, n. 5) but gives no date. 11 Vide infra, Appendix I, for a discussion of the date of birth. u Vide supra, n. 5. u Op. cit., p. 4. " Willis, Notitia Parliamentaria, III (pt. 2), 25, 54. PRO St. Ch. 5, G 2/7. ## THE YOUTH gained in a public capacity to prosecute one against whom he had long borne a grudge. It was not long after this dispute that the Privy Council became interested in the religious beliefs of the Justices of the Peace, who could, by reason of their position, be most influential in determining the general acceptance of the new religion. In this connection Sir John Gascoigne, J. P., was considered by the authorities at Westminster. On October 17, 1564, the Privy Council addressed inquiring letters to all the bishops of England, asking them to classify those who were already Justices of the Peace according as they were favorable, indifferent, or hostile to the proceedings of the government in matters of religion. 19 Further, the bishops were asked to name persons who, in their opinion, were fit to be put into office. To this end they were asked to consult those of the leading men of their dioceses who were favorable to the government and with their help to make suggestions for the remedying of disorders, the fuller repression of popery, the maintenance of justice, the promotion of God's gospel, and the punishment of those who afflicted the godly and maintained the perverse and ungodly. Roughly estimated, the total of justices marked favorable is 431; marked indifferent, neuter, or not favorable, 264; hinderers or adversaries, 157. The dioceses reported to be most hostile to the government were those of the North and the West: Carlisle, Durham, York, Worcester, Hereford, and Exeter. Staffordshire was troubled by a knot of hinderers led by the Vernons, and in Buckinghamshire Sir Robert Drury, Sir Robert Peckham, and Sir William Dormer were the leaders of a large band of men "not fit to be trusted." 20 The Bishop of Lincoln reported that in Bedfordshire John Gascoigne, knight, John Cawlbeck, esq., and John fTuller, esq., were noted as "hinderers," 21 while Lewis Dive, Thomas Pygott, and Thomas Dive were commended as being "earnest in religion." 22 Such, then, are the facts which survive concerning Sir John Gascoigne, father of the poet. He was a public official, a Catholic, and a man of

Examines the attitude of the Eastern working-men towards the national land policy during the half century preceding the Civil War. Specifically examines the organized labor and public lands, the evolution of national reform, national reform in politics, land policies and congressional discussions, and the period of Republican acceptance.