Brathwaite, RICHARD

Brathwaite, RICHARD, minor poet, was born in Westmoreland about 1588; entered Oriel College, Oxford, at sixteen; passed afterwards to Cambridge, Pembroke College most likely, and thence to London, where he tells us he devoted himself to poetry and play-writing. In 1611 he published The Golden Fleece, a collection of poems, and in 1614 three works, one of them a book of pastorals, entitled The Poet's Willow. In 1615 he published the collection of satires, A Strappado for the Devil, in imitation of The Abuses Whipt and Stript of George Wither, his 'bonnie brother.' After his first marriage, Brathwaite lived the life of a country gentleman in Westmoreland, and after his second in Yorkshire, without, however, ceasing his literary activity. He died near Richmond, in Yorkshire, in 1673. Of his numerous books, the only one that remains to be mentioned is Barnaby Itinerarium, or Barnabee's Journal, published in 1638 under the pseudonym 'Corymbæus.' Often reprinted under the title of 'Drunken Barnaby's Four Journeys,' this lively book in rhymed Latin and doggerel English verse was popular in the 18th century, and had the honour of an eleventh edition in 1876. With the seventh edition, edited by Joseph Haslewood in 1818, its authorship was first made known. See the life and bibliography, forming a preface to Haslewood's ninth edition (1820).