Alfred Perceval Graves (22 July 184627 December 1931), was an
Anglo-Irish
Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the State rel ...
poet, songwriter and folklorist. He was the father of British poet and critic
Robert Graves
Captain Robert von Ranke Graves (24 July 1895 – 7 December 1985) was an English poet, soldier, historical novelist and critic. His father was Alfred Perceval Graves, a celebrated Irish poet and figure in the Gaelic revival; they were b ...
.
Early life
Graves was born in
Dublin
Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
and was the son of
The Rt Rev. Charles Graves,
Church of Ireland
The Church of Ireland (, ; , ) is a Christian church in Ireland, and an autonomy, autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the Christianity in Ireland, second-largest Christian church on the ...
Lord Bishop of Limerick, Ardfert and Aghadoe, and his wife Selina, the daughter of Dr
John Cheyne (1777–1836), the Physician-General to the British Forces in Ireland. His sister was
Ida Margaret Graves Poore. His paternal grandmother Helena was a Perceval, and the granddaughter of the
Earl of Egmont
Earl of Egmont was a title in the Peerage of Ireland, created in 1733 for John Perceval, 1st Viscount Perceval. It became extinct with the death of the twelfth earl in 2011.
History
The Percevals claimed descent from an ancient Anglo-Norman ...
. His grandfather, John Crosbie Graves, was a first cousin of "Ireland's most celebrated surgeon",
Robert James Graves.
Alfred was educated both in England, at Windermere College,
Westmorland
Westmorland (, formerly also spelt ''Westmoreland''R. Wilkinson The British Isles, Sheet The British IslesVision of Britain/ref>) is an area of North West England which was Historic counties of England, historically a county. People of the area ...
, and in Ireland, at
Trinity College Dublin
Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...
. As an undergraduate he contributed to the literary magazine ''
Kottabos'', starting in 1869.
[ See e.g. ''Kottabos'', first issue (1869)]
p. 39
fifth issue (1870)
p. 134
signed as "A.P.G."
His first poem appeared in the ''Dublin University Magazine'' in 1863.
[ He graduated with a Master of Arts degree.] In 1869, he entered the Civil Service as clerk in the British Home Office
The Home Office (HO), also known (especially in official papers and when referred to in Parliament) as the Home Department, is the United Kingdom's interior ministry. It is responsible for public safety and policing, border security, immigr ...
, where he remained until he became an Inspector of Schools in 1874.
Author
Graves was a contributor of prose and verse to ''The Spectator
''The Spectator'' is a weekly British political and cultural news magazine. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving magazine in the world. ''The Spectator'' is politically conservative, and its principal subject a ...
'', '' Athenaeum'', ''John Bull
John Bull is a national personification of England, especially in political cartoons and similar graphic works. He is usually depicted as a stout, middle-aged, country-dwelling, jolly and matter-of-fact man. He originated in satirical works of ...
'', and '' Punch''.
For a time he lived at Red Branch
The Red Branch (; alternatively, ) is the name of two of the three royal houses of the king of Ulster, Conchobar mac Nessa, at his capital Emain Macha (Navan Fort, near Armagh), in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. In modern retellings it is so ...
House on Laurieton Road, Wimbledon, London
Wimbledon () is a suburb of southwest London, England, southwest of Charing Cross; it is the main commercial centre of the London Borough of Merton. Wimbledon had a population of 68,189 in 2011 which includes the electoral wards of Abbey, Wimb ...
.[
He took a leading part in the late 19th-century renewal of Irish literature. He was for several years president of the Irish Literary Society, and he was the author of the comic song ''Father O'Flynn'' and many other songs and ballads. In collaboration with ]Charles Villiers Stanford
Sir Charles Villiers Stanford (30 September 1852 – 29 March 1924) was an Anglo-Irish composer, music teacher, and conductor of the late Romantic music, Romantic era. Born to a well-off and highly musical family in Dublin, Stanford was ed ...
, he published ''Songs of Old Ireland'' (1882) and ''Irish Songs and Ballads'' (1893), the airs of which are taken from the Petrie manuscripts; the airs of his ''Irish Folk-Songs'' (1897) were arranged by Charles Wood with whom he also collaborated on ''Songs of Erin'' (1901).[ Composer ]Mary Augusta Wakefield
Mary Augusta Wakefield (19 August 1853 – 16 September 1910) was a British composer, contralto, festival organiser, and writer.
Biography Early life
Wakefield was born in Kendal, where her paternal ancestors had been members of the Quakers, ...
also set at least one of his poems to music.
He published an autobiography, ''To Return to All That'', in 1930, as a response to his son Robert
The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, prais ...
's World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
memoir, '' Good-Bye to All That''.[
]
Later life
Graves built a large house, named "Erinfa", near Harlech
Harlech () is a seaside resort and community (Wales), community in Gwynedd, North Wales, and formerly in the Historic counties of Wales, historic county of Merionethshire. It lies on Tremadog Bay in the Snowdonia National Park. Before 1966, it ...
, Wales, which he used as a summer retreat and where he spent his retirement. He had a keen interest in the Welsh language
Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic languages, Celtic language of the Brittonic languages, Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales by about 18% of the population, by some in England, and in (the Welsh c ...
and the culture of Wales
The culture of Wales encompasses the Welsh language, customs, festivals, music, art, cuisine, mythology, history, and politics. Wales is primarily represented by the symbol of the red Welsh Dragon, but other national emblems include the ...
; he was elected as a Welsh bard
In Celtic cultures, a bard is an oral repository and professional story teller, verse-maker, music composer, oral historian and genealogist, employed by a patron (such as a monarch or chieftain) to commemorate one or more of the patron's a ...
in the National Eisteddfod of Wales
The National Eisteddfod of Wales ( Welsh: ') is the largest of several eisteddfodau that are held annually, mostly in Wales. Its eight days of competitions and performances are considered the largest music and poetry festival in Europe. Competito ...
at Bangor in 1902.[Richard Perceval Graves (1986), ''Robert Groves The Assault Heroic'', Biography 1895-1926. p. 75.]
He died in Harlech in 1931.
Legacy
Graves’ obituary in ''The Spectator'' concluded: "Mr Graves not only wrote songs but stirred up fresh public interest in the old folk-songs of Ireland, Wales and the Highlands, and, moreover, induced musicians and singers to become interested too. Keeping clear of politics, he did a great work for the popularizing of good music and good poetry in which Celt and Saxon may share."[
]
Family
Graves' marriage to Jane Cooper, (29 December 187424 March 1886) of Cooper's Hill, County Limerick
County Limerick () is a western Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Reg ...
, resulted in five children:[''Genealogy.net'']
* Philip Perceval, b. 25 February 1876 (or 1870), m. Millicent Gilchrist. Died in 1953.
* Mary, b. 6 June 1877, d. circa 1949. m. Arthur Sansome Preston.
* Richard Massie, b. 14 September 1880, d. 14 August 1960, m. Eva Wilkinson, 1912.
* Alfred Perceval ("Bones"), b. 14 December 1881, m. Eirene Gwen Knight, singer.
* Susan Winthrop Savatier Graves, b. 23 March 1885, m. Kenneth Macaulay.
After the death of his first wife, Graves married Amalie (Amy) Elizabeth Sophie (or Sophia) von Ranke, on 30 December 1891. The couple had five children:[
* Clarissa, b. 29 November 1892. Poet, artist and ]Christian Science
Christian Science is a set of beliefs and practices which are associated with members of the Church of Christ, Scientist. Adherents are commonly known as Christian Scientists or students of Christian Science, and the church is sometimes in ...
practitioner.
* Rosaleen-Louise, b. 7 March 1894, d. 3 August 1989. m. James Francis Cooper.
* Robert Graves
Captain Robert von Ranke Graves (24 July 1895 – 7 December 1985) was an English poet, soldier, historical novelist and critic. His father was Alfred Perceval Graves, a celebrated Irish poet and figure in the Gaelic revival; they were b ...
, also known as Robert von Ranke, b. 24 July 1895, d. 7 December 1985, poet, critic and author of '' I, Claudius'', '' Good-Bye to All That'' and other novels.
* Charles Patrick Ranke Graves, b. 1899, d. 1971, journalist and writer.
* John Tiarks Ranke, b. 1903, d. 1980. m. Mary Wickens.
References
External links
Songs of Old Ireland: A Collection of Fifty Irish Melodies
with words by Alfred Perceval Graves and music arranged by Charles Villiers Stanford
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Graves, Alfred Perceval
1846 births
1931 deaths
Irish Anglicans
Graves, AP
Irish folklorists
Graves family
People from Harlech
1880s in Irish music
1890s in Irish music
1900s in Irish music