A web-based edition of early seventeenth-century political poetry from manuscript sources. It brings into the public domain over 350 poems, many of which have never before been published.
B1 Nevil for the protestant, L Thomas for the papist
Notes. This couplet lists the men of various religious persuasions who had sped from London at the death of Elizabeth I to greet the new King in Scotland. The diarist John Manningham, who transcribed the fragment in April 1603 after hearing it recited by John Isham of the Middle Temple, noted, “There is a foolishe rime runnes up and downe in the Court of Sir H[enry] Bromley, L[ord] Tho[mas] Haward, L[ord] Cobham, and the deane of Canterbury Dr. Nevil, that each should goe to move the K[ing] for what they like”.
Nevil1 for the protestant, L Thomas2 for the papist
Bromley3 for the puritane, L Cobham4 for the Atheist.
Source. Manningham 235
B1
1 Nevil: Thomas Neville, Dean of Canterbury, was sent to Scotland on the death of Elizabeth I. Neville was deputed by John Whitgift, Archbishop of Canterbury, to present King James with the formal greetings of the English clergy. <back>
2 L Thomas: Manningham identifies “L[ord] Thomas” as Lord Thomas “Haward” or Howard, who would be created Earl of Suffolk at the start of the new reign by James I. Chamberlain reported that Thomas Howard’s uncle, Lord Henry Howard, later Earl of Northampton, was sent to Scotland “to possesse the Kinges eare and countermine the Lord Cobham” (1.192). <back>
3 Bromley: Chamberlain reported that Sir Henry Bromley was one of several men who rode post-haste to Scotland on the death of Elizabeth I (1.189). <back>
4 L Cobham: Henry Brooke, Lord Cobham and Warden of the Cinque Ports. Cobham was a friend of Sir Walter Ralegh and thus is tarred here with the charges of atheism that dogged many in the Ralegh circle during the 1590s. Chamberlain (1.191) reported that Cobham had set off for Scotland to “go toward the kinge and do his wonted goode offices”. <back>
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