Charles Cotton

Charles Cotton (1630-1687). 1815 engraving, from Alexander Cargill, "Izaak Walton" (Angling, 1897). Courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

Charles Cotton (April 28, 1630 - February 16, 1687) was an English poet, prose writer, and translator.

Life

Overview

Cotton succeeded to an embarrassed estate, which his happy-go-lucky methods did not improve, wrote burlesques on Virgil and Lucian, and made an excellent translation of Montaigne's Essays, also a humorous Journey to Ireland. Cotton was the friend of Izaak Walton, and wrote a 2nd part of The Complete Angler. He was apparently always in difficulties, always happy, and always a favorite.

Family, youth, education

Cotton was born at Beresford in Staffordshire 28 April 1630, the only child of the Charles Cotton whose brilliant abilities are extolled in Clarendon's Life’ (i. 36, ed. 1827). His father inherited a competent fortune, and by his marriage with Olive, daughter of Sir John Stanhope of Elvaston in Derbyshire, became possessed of estates in Derbyshire and Staffordshire. In Herrick's Hesperides there is a poem addressed to the elder Cotton, and Richard Brome dedicated to him (in 1639) Fletcher's Monsieur Thomas. Among his friends were Ben Jonson, Donne, Selden, Sir Henry Wotton, Izaak Walton, and other famous writers.

The younger Cotton was a pupil of Ralph Rawson of Brasenose College, Oxford, who was ejected from his fellowship by the parliamentary visitors in 1648. There is no evidence to show that Cotton received an academic training, but Cole in his Athenæ (Add. MS. 5865, f. 47) claims him for Cambridge. His classical attainments were considerable, and he had a close knowledge of French and Italian literature. In early manhood he travelled in France and probably in Italy.

Career

He seems to have adopted no profession, but to have devoted himself from his youth upwards to literary pursuits. In 1649 he contributed an elegy on Henry, lord Hastings, to Richard Brome's Lachrymæ Musarum, and in 1651 he prefixed some commendatory verses to Edmund Prestwich's translation of Seneca's Hippolytus.

Lovelace dedicated The Triumphs of Philamore and Amoret to "the noblest of our youth and best of friends, Charles Cotton, Esquire," and hints not obscurely in the dedicatory verses that he was under pecuniary obligations to Cotton. Aubrey states (Wood, Athenæ Oxon., ed. Bliss, iii. 462–3) that Lovelace was for many months a pensioner on Cotton's bounty. One of the elegies on Lovelace, printed at the end of Lucasta, 1659, is by Cotton.

Cotton was an ardent royalist, and Waller's eulogy on Oliver Cromwell (written about 1654) provoked from him some bitterly satirical verses; but neither he nor his father appears to have suffered any persecution at the hands of the Commonwealth party.

In the summer of 1656 he married his cousin Isabella, daughter of Sir Thomas Hutchinson of Owthorpe in Nottinghamshire, and sister of Colonel Hutchinson. Before the marriage took place he and his father vested the manors of Bentley, Borrowashe, and Beresford, with other lands, in trustees, to sell off so much of the property as would pay a mortgage of £1,700, and to hold the rest in trust for the younger Cotton and his heirs. The elder Cotton, who had greatly injured his estate by lawsuits, died in 1658.

At the Restoration, in 1660, Cotton published a panegyric in prose on Charles II; and in 1664 issued anonymously his burlesque poem Scarronides, or the First Book of Virgil Travestie, which was reprinted (with a travesty of the 4th book) in 1670. 6 editions of Scarronides appeared during the author's lifetime; and it is noticeable that the later editions are more gross than the earlier. There is a tradition that a kinswoman of Cotton's, who had determined to leave him her fortune, took offense at a satirical allusion made in the poem to her ruff and revoked her intention.

In 1665 Cotton was empowered by an act of parliament to sell part of his estates in order to pay his debts; and in the same year, for the diversion of his wife's sister, he wrote a translation, which was published in 1671, of Corneille's Horace.’ Another of Cotton's translations, The Moral Philosophy of the Stoics, from the French of Du Vair, had appeared in 1667. From the dedication to his friend and kinsman, John Ferrers, dated 27 February 1663-4, we learn that the translation had been undertaken some years previously at the instance of the elder Cotton.

The posthumous collection of Alexander Brome's Poems, 1668, contains an epistle by Brome to Cotton, and a reply, in which Cotton mournfully states that his only visitors were duns, whose approach drove him to take sanctuary in the neighboring rocks.

In 1670 Cotton published a translation of Gerard's History of the Life of the Duke of Espernon, with a dedicatory epistle, dated from Beresford 30 October 1669, to Archbishop Sheldon. He mentions in the preface that the translation had been begun about 3 years earlier, but that owing to a long and painful illness he had been obliged to desist from literary labour; and he hints that his former literary ventures had been financially unprofitable. Another translation from Cotton's pen, The Commentaries of De Montluc, Marshal of France, was published in 1674, with a dedication to his relative the Earl of Chesterfield, and commendatory verses by Newcourt and Flatman.

A curious and valuable anonymous work entitled The Complete Gamester, which first appeared in 1674, and was frequently reprinted, has been attributed to Cotton. The 2nd and 3rd parts of The Compleat Gamester: In three parts' written for the Young Princesses, by Richard Seymour, Esq. The Fifth Edition, 1734, are compiled from the earlier Complete Gamester, and in the preface it is stated that ‘The Second and Third Parts of this Treatise were originally written by Charles Cotton, Esq., some years since."

Another anonymous book published in 1674, The Fair One of Tunis; or, The generous mistress, which purports to be a translation from the French, is assigned to Cotton in the catalogue of Henry Brome's publications at the end of The Planter's Manual, 1675. Burlesque upon Burlesque; or, The scoffer scoft, being some of Lucian's Dialogues, newly put into English Fustian, appeared anonymously in 1675, and was frequently reprinted. In the prologue the author states that the work was "both begun and ended" in a month, and he promised to travesty the Dialogues of the Dead if the public would give him encouragement; but the promise was not redeemed.

Not only was Cotton an accomplished angler, but he was well skilled in horticulture.< The taste which he showed in planting his grounds at Beresford is commended by Cokayne; and his treatise, The Planter's Manual, being instructions for the raising, planting, and cultivating all sorts of Fruit-Trees, whether stone-fruits or pepin-fruits, with their natures and seasons, first published in 1675, imparts practical information in a plain and easy style. He tells us that it was originally written "for the private satisfaction of a very worthy gentleman, who is exceedingly curious in the choice of his fruits, and has great judgment in planting."

About 1670 Cotton lost his wife, who had borne him 3 sons and 5 daughters, and at some time before 1675 he married Mary, eldest daughter of Sir William Russell, baronet of Strensham in Worcestershire, and widow of Wingfield, 5th baron Cromwell, and 2nd earl of Ardglass. His 2nd wife had a jointure of £1,500 per annum, but this accession of fortune did not relieve him from pecuniary embarrassment, for in 1675 he was again allowed by an act of parliament to sell part of his estates in order to pay his debts.

Cotton and Walton

Charles Cotton's fishing cottage on the Dove, near Hartington, Derbyshire, UK. Photo by Neil Gibbs. Licensed under Creative Commons, courtesy Geograph.org.

Cotton was singularly devoted to his old friend, Izaak Walton, who had also been a friend of his father. To the 1675 edition of Walton's Lives Cotton prefixed a copy of commendatory verses, dated 17 January 1672-3, in which he speaks of Walton as "the best friend I now or ever knew;" and in the Second Part of the Complete Angler he writes: "I have the happiness to know his person, and to be intimately acquainted with him; and in him to know the worthiest man and to enjoy the best and the truest friend ever man had."

In 1674 Cotton built his little fishing-house on the banks of the Dove, and set over the door a stone on which were inscribed his own initials and Walton's, "twisted in cypher." The room was wainscoted, and on the larger panels were paintings of angling subjects; in the right-hand corner was a buffet with folding doors, in which were portraits of Walton, Cotton, and a boy servant.

To the 5th edition (1676) of Walton's Compleat Angler, Cotton contributed a treatise on fly-fishing as a "Second Part." Prefixed is an epistle, dated from Beresford 10 March 1675–6, "To my most worthy father and friend, Mr. Izaak Walton the elder," from which we learn that Cotton's treatise had been hurriedly written in 10 days. At the end of the "Second Part" Walton printed an epistle to Cotton, dated from London 29 April 1676, and Cotton's fine verses (written some years earlier) entitled "The Retirement." In the epistle Walton promised that, though he was in his 83rd year and at a distance of more than 100 miles, he would pay a visit to Beresford in the following month.

Among Cotton's most charming poems is an invitation (undated) to Walton to visit him at Beresford in the spring; and another poem addressed to Walton, "The Contentation," is equally attractive.

Last years

In 1681 Cotton published a descriptive poem, The Wonders of the Peak, written in imitation of Hobbes's De Mirabilibus Pecci. It was dedicated to the Countess of Devonshire.

The last work published in his lifetime was his translation of Montaigne's Essays, 3 volumess. 8vo, 1685, which he dedicated to George Savile, marquis of Halifax. Cotton's Montaigne ranks among the acknowledged masterpieces of translation; it has been frequently reprinted. At the time of the publication of his ‘Montaigne,’ Cotton was undoubtedly living at Beresford. Plot, in his Natural History of Staffordshire, which was licensed to be printed in April 1686, frequently mentions his "most worthy friend, the worshipful Charles Cotton of Beresford, Esquire," and speaks of "his pleasant mansion at Beresford." But in Blore's MS. Collections for a History of Staffordshire it is stated that Cotton surrendered his Beresford property on 26 March 1681 to Joseph Woodhouse of Wollescote in Derbyshire, gentleman, who sold it in the same year to John Beresford, esq., of Newton Grange in that county.

After publishing his translation of Montaigne's Essays, Cotton proceeded to translate the Memoirs of the Sieur de Pontis, but he did not live to finish the translation.

In the burial register of St. James's, Piccadilly, is the entry, "1686–1687, Feb. 16, Charles Cotton, m." (Gentleman's Magazine. 1851, ii. 367). A contemporary manuscript diary (quoted by Oldys) records the fact that he died of a fever.

Writing

Poetry

No collection of Cotton's poems was published until after his death, but they had been passed among his friends in manuscript. Sir Aston Cokayne, who was constantly singing his praises, in some verses addressed "To my most honoured cousin, Mr. Charles Cotton, upon his excellent poems," speaks of his early poems in terms of most extravagant eulogy.

An unauthorised collection of Cotton's poems was published in 1689. From the publisher's preface to Cotton's translation of the Memoirs of the Sieur de Pontis, 1694, it appears that Cotton had prepared a copy of his poems for the press, and that the publication of this authentic edition had been prevented by the "ungenerous proceedings" of the piratical publisher.

Cotton was a man of brilliant and versatile genius. His "Ode to Winter," a favourite poem with Wordsworth and Lamb, is a triumph of jubilant and exuberant fancy; and the fresh-colored, fragrant stanzas entitled "The Retirement" are of rare beauty. "There are not a few of his poems," says Coleridge (Biographia Literaria, ii. 96), "replete with every excellence of thought, images, and passions which we expect or desire in the poetry of the milder muse; and yet so worded that the reader sees no one reason, either in the selection or the order of the words, why he might not have said the very same in an appropriate conversation, and cannot conceive how indeed he could have expressed such thoughts otherwise, without loss or injury to his meaning."

About 1670 he composed A Voyage to Ireland in Burlesque, a spirited poem full of autobiographical interest. It was "neither improvement nor profit" that induced him to take the journey, but having entered the army and received a captain's commission, he was ordered to proceed to Ireland. He expresses his regret at being obliged to abandon his favourite pursuit of angling. At Chester he was invited to supper by the mayor, and, being requested to give some account of his personal history, he informed his host,

That of land I had both sorts, some good and evil,
But that a great part on't was pawn'd to the devil;
That as for my parts, they were such as he saw;
That indeed I had a small smatt'ring of law,
Which I lately had got more by practice than reading,
By sitting o' th' bench whilst others were pleading.

It appears from another copy of verses (Poems, 1689, p. 199) that he narrowly escaped shipwreck on his voyage to Ireland. In an "Epistle to Sir Clifford Clifton, then sitting in Parliament," he states that he had "grown something swab with drinking good ale" (for he frankly confesses that "his delight is to toss the can merrily round"), and again refers to the fact that he was besieged by duns.

Prose

His prose style is always easy and perspicuous, instinct with energy and life. Though his monetary difficulties, which were doubtless largely due to his own improvidence, caused him constant anxiety, his cheerfulness was unfailing. He was loyal to his friends, and generous to the poor; he loved good company and good liquor; he was an excellent angler, a devoted husband, and a man of unaffected piety. The portrait painted by his friend Lely shows him to have been handsome in person, with an engaging, frank countenance.

His masterpiece in translation, the Essays of M. de Montaigne (1685–1686, 1693, 1700, etc.), has often been reprinted, and still maintains its reputation; his other works include The Scarronides, or Virgil Travestie (1664–1670), a gross burlesque of the 1st and 4th books of the Aeneid, which ran through 15 editions; Burlesque upon Burlesque, ... being some of Lucian's Dialogues newly put into English fustian (1675); The Moral Philosophy of the Stoicks (1667), from the French of Guillaume du Vair; The History of the Life of the Duke d'Espernon (1670), from the French of G Girard; the Commentaries (1674) of Blaise de Montluc; the Planter's Manual (1675); and The Wonders of the Peake (1681). The Complete Gamester and The Fair One of Tunis, both dated 1674, are also assigned to Cotton.

Miscellaneous

In addition to the works already mentioned, 2 anonymous pieces have been ascribed to Cotton: 1. ‘The Valiant Knight, or the Legend of St. Peregrine,’ 1663. 2. ‘The Confinement. A Poem, with Annotations,’ 1679. A copy of commendatory verses by Cotton is prefixed to Thomas Flatman's ‘Poems and Songs,’ 1674. Some letters of Cotton to Philip Kynder, who had projected a ‘Natural History of Derbyshire,’ are preserved among the Ashmolean MSS.

The 1689 collection of Cotton's poems has not been reprinted, but selections are given by Chalmers and Sanford. In 1715 was printed The Genuine Works of Charles Cotton, comprising ‘Scarronides,’ ‘Lucian Burlesqued,’ ‘The Wonders of the Peak,’ and ‘The Planter's Manual;’ it reached a 6th edition in 1771. The translation of Montaigne's Essays’ has been frequently reprinted.

Recognition

William Oldys contributed a life of Cotton to Hawkins's edition (1760) of the Compleat Angler. His Lyrical Poems were edited by J.R. Tutin in 1903, from an original edition of 1689. Cotton's translation of Montaigne was edited in 1892, and in a more elaborate form in 1902, by W. C. Hazlitt, who omitted or relegated to the notes the passages in which Cotton interpolates his own matter, and supplied Cotton's omissions.

Cotton's poem "To Coelia" was included in the Oxford Book of English Verse, (1250-1900).

Publications

Poetry

• A Panegyrick to the King's Most Excellent Majesty. London: Tho. Newcomb, 1660.
• The Valiant Knight; or, The legend of Sr. Peregrine. London: J. Johnson, 1663.
• Scarronnides; or, Virgile travestie: A mock-poem: On the first and fourth books of Virgil's Ænæis; in English burlesque. 1664, 1665, London: E. Cotes, for Henry Brom, 1667.
• Poems on Several Occasions. Londo:Tho. Basset / Will. Hensman & Tho. Fox, 1689.
• The Genuine Poetical Works London: T. Osborne / A. Millar / J. Rivington / W. Johnston / et al, 1765.
• Lyrical Poems; including the poems of Izaak Walton (edited by J.R. Tutin). Cottingham, near Hull, UK: J.R. Tutin, 1903.
• Poems from the Works (illustrated by Claud Lovat Fraser). London: Poetry Bookshop, 1922.
• Poems (edited by John Beresford). London: Cobden-Sanderson, 1923; New York: Boni & Liveright, 1924..
• Poems (edited by John Buxton). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1958.
• Charles Cotton (edited by Geoffrey Grigson). Harmondsworh, UK, & Baltimore: Penguin, 1975.
• Critical Editions of 'The Valiant Knight' and 'Scarronides' (edited by A.I. Dust). New York: Garland, 1992.

Non-fiction

• The nicker nicked: or, the cheats of gaming discovered. 1669. x
• The compleat gamester;or, Instructions how to play at billiards, trucks, bowls, and chess. London: A.M., for R. Cutler, 1674.
• The Planters Manual: Being instructions for the raising, planting, and cultivating all sorts of fruit-trees. London: Henry Brome, 1675.
• The Compleat Angler; or, The contemplative man's recreation: Volume II. London: Richard Marriott & Henry Brome, 1676; London: Richard & Henry Causton, 1772; London: F. & C. Rivington / G.G. & J. Robinson / J. & J. Taylor, 1797.
  • facsimile edition (with introduction by Robert Venables). Menston, UK: Scolar Press, 1971.
  • (edited by John Buxton). Oxford, UK, & New York: Oxford University Press, 1982.
  • (edited by Marjorie Swann). Oxford, UK, & New York: Oxford University Press, 2014.
• The Wonders of the Peake. London: J. Wallis, for Joanna Brome, 1683; Nottingham, UK: John Collyer, 1725.

Collected editions

• Genuine Works. London: Printed for R. Bonwicke, Tim. Goodwin, J. Walthoe, M. Wotton, et al, 1715.

Translated

• M. du Vair, The Morall Philosophy of the Stoicks; written originally in French. London: Henry Mortlock, 1664.
• Guillaume Girard, The history of the life of the Duke of Espernon ... Englished. London: E. Cotes & A. Clark, for Henry Brome ..., 1670.
• Pierre Corneille, Horace: A French tragedy of Monsieur Corneille ... Englished. London: Henry Brome, 1671.
• The Fair One of Tunis; or, The generous mistres: A new piece of gallantry. London: Henry Brome, 1674.
• Blaise Monluc, The commentaries of Messire Blaize de Montluc. London: Andrew Clark, for Henry Brome, 1674.
• Lucan, Burlesque upon Burlesque; or, The scoffer scoft: Being some of Lucians dialogues newly put into English fustian. London: Henry Brome, 1675.
• Michel de Montaigne, Essays of Michael Seigneur de Montaigne, and an account of the author's life; newly rendered into English. (3 volumes), London: T. Basset / M. Gilliflower & W. Hensman / et al, 1685. Volume I, Volume II, Volume III
• Louis de Pontis, Memoirs of the Sieur de Pontis, faithfully Englished. London: F. Leach, for James Knapton, 1694.

Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.

An Epitaph On M H by Charles Cotton

See also

• List of British poets

References

•  Bullen, Arthur Henry (1887) "Cotton, Charles" in Stephen, Leslie Dictionary of National Biography 12 London: Smith, Elder, pp. 289-301  Wikisource, Web, Dec. 29, 2017.
• A Fly Fishing History

External links

Poems

• "To Coelia"
• "Laura Sleeping"
• Charles Cotton (1630-1687) info & 3 poems at English Poetry, 1579-1830
• Charles Cotton at PoemHunter (7 poems)
• Charles Cotton at Poetry Nook (163 poems)

Books

• Works by Charles Cotton at Project Gutenberg
• Charles Cotton at the Online Books Page
• Charles Cotton at Amazon.com

Audio / video

• Charles Cotton poems at YouTube

About

• Charles Cotton in the Encyclopædia Britannica
• Charles Cotton at NNDB
• Charles Cotton at A Fly Fishing History
• Charles Cotton at Find a Grave
• Cotton, Charles in the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, the Dictionary of National Biography (edited by Leslie Stephen). London: Smith, Elder, 1885-1900. Original article is at: Cotton, Charles