Richard Brathwait (or Brathwaite, Braithwaite) (1588 – 4 May 1673) was an English
poet
A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...
.
Life
Brathwait was born at Burnishead, near
Kendal
Kendal, once Kirkby in Kendal or Kirkby Kendal, is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Westmorland and Furness, England. It lies within the River Kent's dale, from which its name is derived, just outside the boundary of t ...
. He entered
Oriel College, Oxford
Oriel College () is Colleges of the University of Oxford, a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford (a title for ...
in 1604, and remained there for some years, pursuing the study of poetry and Roman history. He moved to Cambridge to study law at the
university
A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...
and afterwards to London to the
Inns of Court
The Inns of Court in London are the professional associations for barristers in England and Wales. There are four Inns of Court: Gray's Inn, Lincoln's Inn, Inner Temple, and Middle Temple.
All barristers must belong to one of them. They have s ...
. His father, Thomas, died in 1610, and Brathwait went down to live on the estate he inherited.
He was married at
Hurworth in
County Durham
County Durham, officially simply Durham, is a ceremonial county in North East England.UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. The county borders Northumberland and Tyne an ...
, 4 May 1617, to Frances, daughter of James Lawson, of
Nesham Abbey.
In 1633 his wife died, and in 1639 he married again. His only son by this second marriage, Sir Strafford Brathwait, was killed at sea.
[ Brathwait is believed to have served with the ]Royalist
A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of gove ...
army in the Civil War
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...
.
He was the author of many works of very unequal merit, of which the best known is ''Drunken Barnaby's Four Journeys'', which records his pilgrimages through England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
in rhymed Latin (said by Southey to be the best of modern times), and doggerel English verse. ''The English Gentleman'' (1631) and ''English Gentlewoman'' are in a much more decorous strain. Other works are ''The Golden Fleece'' (1611) (poems), ''The Poet's Willow'', ''A Strappado for the Devil'' (a satire), and ''Art Asleepe, Husband?''
His 1613 book ''The Yong Mans Gleanings'' contains the first known use of the word "computer
A computer is a machine that can be Computer programming, programmed to automatically Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (''computation''). Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic set ...
"; he used the word to refer to an "".
Notes
References
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Further reading
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External links
Richard Brathwait
at PoemHunter
1588 births
1673 deaths
English male poets
Geordie songwriters
17th-century English poets
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