Thomas Edward Brown (5 May 183029 October 1897), commonly referred to as T. E. Brown, was a late-19th century scholar, schoolmaster, poet, and theologian from the
Isle of Man
The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...
.
Having achieved a double first at
Christ Church, Oxford
Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...
, and election as a fellow of
Oriel in April 1854, Brown served first as headmaster of
The Crypt School
The Crypt School is a grammar school with academy status for boys and girls located in the city of Gloucester. Founded in the 16th century, it was originally an all-boys school, but it made its sixth form co-educational in the 1980s and moved ...
,
Gloucester
Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...
, then as a young master at the recently founded
Clifton College
Clifton College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in the city of Bristol in South West England, founded in 1862 and offering both boarding school, boarding and day school for pupils aged 13–18. In its early years, unlike mo ...
, near
Bristol
Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...
(influencing, among others, poet
William Ernest Henley
William Ernest Henley (23 August 1849 11 July 1903) was a British poet, writer, critic and editor. Though he wrote several books of poetry, Henley is remembered most often for his 1875 poem "Invictus". A fixture in London literary circles, th ...
at The Crypt School. Writing throughout his teaching career, Brown developed a poetry corpus—with ''Fo'c's'le Yarns'' (1881), ''The Doctor'' (1887), ''The Manx Witch'' (1889), and ''Old John'' (1893)—of narrative poetry in
Anglo-Manx
Manx English (Manks English), or Anglo-Manx (Anglo-Manks), is the historic dialect of English spoken on the Isle of Man, though today in decline. It has many borrowings from Manx, a Goidelic language, and it differs widely from any other vari ...
, the historic dialect of English spoken on the Isle of Man that incorporates elements of
Manx Gaelic
Manx ( or , or ), also known as Manx Gaelic, is a Goidelic language, Gaelic language of the insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, itself a branch of the Indo-European language family. Manx is the heritage language of the Manx ...
. Retiring in 1892 to concentrate on writing, Brown died in 1897 (age 67), during a visit to Clifton.
Life
Brown was born on 5 May 1830 in
Douglas
Douglas may refer to:
People
* Douglas (given name)
* Douglas (surname)
Animals
* Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking
* Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil ...
, Isle of Man, the sixth of ten children born to Reverend Robert Brown and his wife, Dorothy. His elder brother became the Baptist preacher, pastor and reformer
Hugh Stowell Brown (10 August 182324 February 1886). The family relocated to
Kirk Braddan when Thomas was two years old.
[Simpson, Selwyn George. ''Thomas Edward Brown, the Manx Poet: An Appreciation'', London, U.K.: Walter Scott Publishing, 1906, p. 6]
/ref>
Brown's father is described as a rather "stern, undemonstrative, evangelical preacher". As Rev. Brown became blind partially, he employed his sons in reading to him from a wide variety of works, excepting novels. Brown educated the boy, assisted by the parish schoolmaster.[ Young Brown was a shy and timid boy; the family gardener instilled in him a love of nature, and introduced him to ]Walter Scott
Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European literature, European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'' (18 ...
's Waverley Novels
The Waverley novels are a long series of novels by Sir Walter Scott (1771–1832). For nearly a century, they were among the most popular and widely read novels in Europe.
Because Scott did not publicly acknowledge authorship until 1827, the se ...
. At the age of fifteen, Thomas began attending King William's College
King William's College () is a co-educational Private schools in the United Kingdom, private school for pupils aged 3 to 18 near Castletown, Isle of Man, Castletown on the Isle of Man. It is a member of the International Baccalaureate and Hea ...
in Castletown, Isle of Man
Castletown (, pronounced ) is a town in the Isle of Man, geographically within the historical parish of Malew but administered separately. Lying at the south of the island, it was the Manx capital until 1869. The centre of town is dominated by ...
. It was at this time that he began to write poetry.
Arthur Quiller-Couch
Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch (; 21 November 186312 May 1944) was a Cornish people, British writer who published using the pen name, pseudonym Q. Although a prolific novelist, he is remembered mainly for the monumental publication ''The Oxfor ...
writes:
Brown left the Isle soon afterward, c. 1857, to accept the job of headmaster of The Crypt School
The Crypt School is a grammar school with academy status for boys and girls located in the city of Gloucester. Founded in the 16th century, it was originally an all-boys school, but it made its sixth form co-educational in the 1980s and moved ...
, in Gloucester
Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...
, where a commission had, through the hiring and other efforts, been attempting to revive the school.[John Connell, 1949, ''W. E. Henley'', London: Constable, page numbers as indicated inline.] Brown was considered distinguished academically; while his tenure at the school was relatively brief (c. 1857–1863)—he reportedly found the burden of administration at the school intolerable—he had great influence during this period, including on William Ernest Henley
William Ernest Henley (23 August 1849 11 July 1903) was a British poet, writer, critic and editor. Though he wrote several books of poetry, Henley is remembered most often for his 1875 poem "Invictus". A fixture in London literary circles, th ...
with whom he overlapped from 1861 to 1863. Years later, after becoming a successful published poet (e.g., of '' Invictus'' and other works), Henley would recall Headmaster Brown as a "revelation" and "a man of genius ... the first I'd ever seen", and would eulogise him as one "singularly kind … at a moment … I needed kindness even more than I needed encouragement."[
Quiller-Couch continues:
Hence, Brown created a distinct regional poetic form ][ that earned him the ]appellation
An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication used to identify where the ingredients of a food or beverage originated, most often used for the origin of wine grapes. Restrictions other than geographical boundaries, s ...
of "Manx national poet".
Works
Poetry
*''Fo'c's'le Yarns''. Including the poem "Betsy Lee", First Edition, Macmillan, 1881. New Edition, Macmillan, 1889.
* ''The Doctor, and Other Poems,'' 1887, contains the title poem, as well as "Kitty of the Sherragh Vane" and "The Schoolmasters".[T. E. Brown, 1887, ''The Doctor, and Other Poems'', London, England:Swan Sonnenschein, Lowrey & Co., 1887, se]
accessed 10 May 2015, page numbers as indicated inline. The title poem is the source of the humorous doublet "Money is honey—my little sonny! / And a rich man's joke is allis funny!"[
*''The Manx Witch, and other poems'', Macmillan & Co., 1889.
*''Old John: And Other Poems'', 1893. Including the poem "Indwelling" – "If thou couldst empty all thyself of self, Like to a shell dishabited, Then might He find thee on the Ocean shelf, And say—" This is not dead,"—..."
*''The Collected Poems of T. E. Brown'', Macmillan & Co., 1900. Edited in two volumes by an old friend, Mr S. T. Irwin ]
* ''Poems of T. E. Brown'', 1922, a compilation of many of Brown's most important poetic works.[T. E. Brown, 1922, ''Poems of T. E. Brown'', London, England: MacMillan, page numbers as indicated inline.]
References and notes
Further reading
* Anon., 2015, "T E Brown – The Manx National Poet," at ''Medium'' (online), se
accessed 9 May 2015.
* Neil Hultgren, 2014, ''Melodramatic Imperial Writing: From the Sepoy Rebellion to Cecil Rhodes,'' Athens, OH:Ohio University Press, pp. 5–7, 16, 24, and 93–127 ''passim,'' and corresponding notes, pp. 213–259 ''passim,'' , se
accessed 12 May 2015.
* MNHL, 2007, "The Manx National Poet: Thomas Edward Brown," at ''Manx National Heritage Library'' 'Eiraght Ashoonagh Vannin'' Public Information Sheet No.10, March 2007 S: 03.07 se
accessed 9 May 2015.
* Joanne Shattock, 1999, "Thomas Edward Brown 1830–97," in ''The Cambridge Bibliography of English Literature: 1800–1900,'' pp. 543f, 1989, Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, CUP, (Volume 4 of The Cambridge Bibliography of English Literature, ), se
accessed 9 May 2015.
* Max Keith Sutto, 1991, ''The Drama of Storytelling in T.E. Brown's Manx Yarns,'' Newark, DE:University of Delaware Press, , se
accessed 9 May 2015.
* Frederick Wilse Bateson, Ed., 1966 940 "Thomas Edward Brown (1830–1897)," in ''The Cambridge Bibliography of English Literature'', Volume 2, p. 282, Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, CUP, se
accessed 9 May 2015.
* Arthur Quiller-Couch, Ed., 2015 930
Year 930 ( CMXXX) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Europe
* The Althing, the parliament of Iceland, is established at þingvellir ("Thing Fields"). Chieftains from various tribes gather for ...
"Thomas Edward Brown, Volumes 1830–1930," Cambridge, U.K.:Cambridge University Press, , se
accessed 9 May 2015. [Quote: "Originally published in 1930, this book contains recollections from the friends of the Manx poet and theologian Thomas Edward Brown on the occasion of the centenary of his birth. The volume includes a preface from the then Lieutenant Governor of the Isle of Man, Sir Claude Hill, as well as some unpublished letters written by Browne and a brief biography written by Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch."]
* Brown, Theron & Hezekiah Butterworth, 1906, "Thomas E. Brown, 'Three Kings from out of the Orient'," in ''The Story of the Hymns and Tunes,'' New York, NY:American Tract Society, pp. 1555, 1616, se
an
accessed 9 May 2015.
* Brown, T. E. & Irwin, Sidney Thomas, (Ed.), 1900, "Letters of Thomas Edward Brown, author of 'Fo'c'sle yarns,'" Vol. 1, Westminster:A. Constable and Co., se
accessed 9 May 2015.
Derek Winterbottom, ''T. E. Brown: his life and legacy'' (The Manx Experience, Douglas, 1997)
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Thomas Edward
1830 births
1897 deaths
Manx poets
Fellows of Oriel College, Oxford
People educated at King William's College
People from Douglas, Isle of Man
Culture of the Isle of Man
19th-century British poets
19th-century Manx writers
Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford