Richard Savage

Richard Savage (?1697-1743), The Wanderer (1729). Gale / Ecco, 2018. Courtesy Amazon.com.

Richard Savage (?1697 - 1 August 1743) was an English poet, best known for the biography written by his friend, Samuel Johnson.

Life

Overview

Savage was probably of humble birth, but claimed to be the illegitimate son of the Countess of Macclesfield. He was the friend of Johnson in the early and miserable days of the latter in London; and in The Lives of the Poets Johnson has given his story as set forth by himself, which is, if true, a singular record of maternal cruelty. There are strong reasons, however, for doubting whether it was anything but a tissue of falsehoods mingled with gross exaggerations of fact. He led a wildly irregular life, killed a gentleman in a tavern brawl, for which he was sentenced to death, but pardoned; and by his waywardness alienated nearly all who wished to befriend him. For a time he had a pension of £50 from Queen Caroline on condition of his writing an ode yearly on her birthday. He wrote Love in a Veil (1718) (comedy) and Sir Thomas Overbury (1723) (tragedy), and 2 poems, The Bastard (1728) and The Wanderer (1729). He died in prison at Bristol.

Youth

Savage was born about 1697, probably of humble parentage. A romantic account of his origin and early life, for which he at any rate supplied the material, appeared in Curll's Poetical Register in 1719. On this and other information provided by Savage, Samuel Johnson founded his Life of Savage, among the most elaborate of the Lives. It was printed anonymously in 1744, and has made the poet the object of an interest which would be hardly justified by his writings.

In 1698 Charles Gerrard, 2nd earl of Macclesfield, obtained a divorce from his wife, Anna, daughter of Sir Richard Mason, who shortly afterwards married Colonel Henry Brett. Lady Macclesfield had 2 children by Richard Savage, 4th earl Rivers, the 2nd of whom was born at Fox Court, Holborn, on 16 January 1697, and christened 2 days later at St Andrews, Holbom, as Richard Smith. 6 months later the child was placed with Anne Portlock in Covent Garden; nothing more is positively known of him.

In 1718 Richard Savage claimed to be this child. He stated that he had been cared for by Lady Mason, his grandmother, who had put him to school near St Albans, and by his godmother, Mrs. Lloyd. He said he had been pursued by the relentless hostility of his mother, Mrs. Brett, who had prevented Lord Rivers from leaving £6000 to him and had tried to have him kidnapped for the West Indies. His statements are not corroborated by the depositions of the witnesses in the Macclesfield divorce case, and Mrs. Brett always maintained that he was an impostor.

He was wrong in the date of his birth; moreover, the godmother of Lady Macclesf1eld's son was Dorothea Ousley (afterwards Mrs Delgardno), not Mrs Lloyd. There is nothing to show that Mrs. Brett was the cruel and vindictive woman he describes her to be, but abundant evidence that she provided for her illegitimate children. Discrepancies in Savage's story made Boswell suspicious, but the matter was thoroughly investigated for the 1st time by W. Moy Thomas, who published the results of his researches in Notes and Queries (2nd series, vol. vi., 1858).

Career

Richard Savage (?1697-1743). Courtesy PoemHunter.

Savage's earliest certain work was a poem satirizing Bishop Hoadly, entitled The Convocation; or, The battle of pamphlets (1717), which he afterwards tried to suppress. He adapted from the Spanish a comedy, Love in a Veil (acted 1718, printed 1719), which gained him the friendship of Sir Richard Steele and of Robert Wilks. With Steele, however, he soon quarrelled.

In 1723, while frequently lacking both food and lodging, he composed the tragedy Sir Thomas Overbury (printed 1724) which was acted at Drury Lane on 12 June that year. Savage himself made an essay as an actor, and played the title-rôle, "by which he gained no great reputation, the theatre being a province for which nature seemed not to have designed him." After the publication of the play, in the following year, he found that it had brought him in £100.

On 26 June 1724 Aaron Hill, who had already shown Savage several kindnesses, published the story of his birth in the Plain Dealer. The narrative was accompanied by some lines on his mother's conduct, purporting to be written by Savage, but in reality composed by Hill himself. Hill doubtless revised much of Savage's published work, and the substantive authorship of 2 of Savage's principal poems, The Wanderer and the earliest "Volunteer Laureate," has been claimed for Hill in a "Life" of that writer by "I.K." prefixed to the 1760 edition of Hill's Dramatic Works.

After the appearance in the Plain Dealer of Savage's story a subscription was set on foot which enabled him to publish Miscellaneous Poems and Translations by Several Hands in 1726. The poet's story was now well known, and procured him considerable sympathy.

His prospects were steadily improving when, on 20 November 1727, he killed a gentleman named James Sinclair in a tavern brawl. He was tried before the "hanging judge," Sir Francis Page, and condemned to death. It is asserted that after his conviction all Mrs. Brett's influence was employed to obtain his execution. Certainly from this time his hostility to her became more marked. He owed his life to the intercession of Frances Thynne, countess of Hertford, who obtained his pardon on 9 March 1728.

On his liberation an anonymous poem appeared, of which he was probably the author, entitled "Nature in Perfection, or the Mother Unveiled" (London, 1728), in which Mrs. Brett was ironically congratulated on her son's escape, and, with her daughter Anne, was recklessly vilified. This was followed next month by The Bastard, a poem which went through 5 editions in a few months, and which Johnson says had the effect of driving Mrs. Brett from Bath "to shelter herself among the crowds of London." In the same year appeared the bitter narrative of his early life, which prefaced the 2nd edition of the Miscellanies.

Alarmed by public sentiment, and by Savage's growing reputation, Mrs. Brett's nephew, John Brownlow, Viscount Tyrconnel, purchased his silence by taking him into his house and allowing him a pension of £200 a year, on condition of his abstaining from further attacks. Savage accepted the offer and conditions.

Savage was at his best as a satirist, and in The Author to be Let he published a quantity of scandal about his fellow-scribblers. Proud as he was, he was servile enough to supply Pope with petty gossip about the authors attacked in The Dunciad.

Savage tried without success to obtain patronage from Sir Robert Walpole, and hoped in vain to be made Poet Laureate. Through Tyrconnel's influence with Mrs. Clayton (afterwards Lady Sundon), mistress of George II, he obtained the king's consent to his appointment; but at the last moment the Duke of Grafton, who was lord chamberlain, conferred the post on Colley Cibber. Nevertheless Savage published a poem in 1732 on Queen Caroline's birthday, which gratified her so much that she settled on him a pension of £50 a year "till something better was found for him," on condition that he celebrated her birthday annually. Savage assumed the title of "Volunteer Laureate," notwithstanding the remonstrances of Cibber, and continued his yearly tribute until the queen's death in 1737. Several of the poems were printed in the Gentleman's Magazine (1736 p. 100, 1737 p. 114, 1738 pp. 154, 210).

Johnson states that he received a small income from Mrs. Oldfield, but this seems to be fiction. He was equally unfortunate in an attempt to gain the patronage of Frederick, prince of Wales, by a eulogistic poem entitled "Of Public Spirit in regard to Public Works," London, 1737, 8vo.

Meanwhile he had quarrelled with Lord Tyrconnel, and at the queen's death was reduced to absolute poverty. He published "A Poem Sacred to the Memory of Her Majesty" on the anniversary of her birthday, 1 March 1738, but failed to obtain from Walpole the continuance of his pension. Johnson, who came to London in 1737, and early made Savage's acquaintance, relates how they frequently roamed the streets together all night; on an occasion, they traversed St. James's Square for several hours denouncing Sir Robert Walpole and forming resolutions to "stand by their country."

Savage's distress was increased by his irregular habits, which deterred his friends from harboring him, and by his pride, which led him to refuse many offers of assistance because they were made with too little ceremony. He formed the project of printing his works by subscription, and published a proposal to that effect in the Gentleman's Magazine as early as February 1737. But, although he repeatedly printed advertisements of his design, it was not carried out.

In 1739 a vain effort was made by Pope to reconcile him to Lord Tyrconnel. Pope had been the most faithful of his friends, and had made him a small regular allowance. With others he now raised money to send him out of reach of his creditors. Savage went to Swansea, but he resented bitterly the conditions imposed by his patrons, and moved to Bristol, where he was imprisoned for debt.

All his friends had ceased to help him except Pope, and in 1743 he, too, wrote to break off the connection. While Savage was still in prison, Henley published certain insinuations concerning "Pope's treatment of Savage." Pope charged Savage with slandering him to Henley. Savage, in reply, solemnly protested his innocence, but he was agitated by the accusation; his health was infirm, and he developed a fever, of which he died on 1 August 1743. He was buried on the following day in the churchyard of St. Peter's, Bristol.

Writing

As an author Savage was unequal. The Bastard is a poem of considerable merit, and The Wanderer contains passages of poetic power. His satires are vigorous, though extremely bitter. But most of his pieces are mere hack-work written to supply the exigencies of the moment.

His most considerable poem, The Wanderer (1729), shows the influence of Thomson's Seasans, part of which had already appeared. Savage considered The Wanderer his masterpiece, and Pope read the poem thrice with increasing approval. To Johnson and Scott it seemed to lack coherence (Lockhart, Life of Scott, 1845, 447). It bears traces of the influence of Thomson, and contains vivid if somewhat crude descriptions of nature.

Besides the works mentioned, he was the author of: 1. 'A Poem on the Memory of George F,' Dublin, 1727, 8vo. 2. 'Verses occasioned by Lady Tyrconnel's Recovery from the Smallpox at Bath,' London, 1730, fol. 3. 'On the Departure of the Prince and Princess of Orange,' London, 1734, fol. 4. 'A Poem on the Birthday of the Prince of Wales,' London, 1735, fol., besides many minor pieces published in the 'Gentleman's Magazine' and other periodicals. His principal poems were published collectively in 1761 under title 'Various Poems,' London, 8vo; but a complete edition of his works was not issued until 1775, London, 2 vols. 8vo. The 'Memoirs of Theophilus Keene' (London, 1718, 8vo) are also attributed to him (Lowe, Theatrical Literature, p. 291).

Recognition

Savage is best known because of Samuel Johnson, who wrote his biography, The Life of Richard Savage, published in 1744, the year after Savage's death. Johnson later included Savage's biography in his Lives of the Poets series (1779).

Savage is buried in the churchyard of St. Peter's, Bristol. The position of his grave is uncertain, but a tablet has been erected to him in the south wall of the church (Nicholls and Taylor's Bristol, Past and Present, iii. 188; Notes and Queries, 2nd ser. iv. 286).

His poem "Dennis to Mr. Thomson, who had procured him a benefit night" was included by Robert Dodsley in A Collection of Poems in Six Volumes; by several hands.

In popular culture

He is the subject of a novel, Richard Savage (1842), by Charles Whitehead, illustrated by John Leech.

Richard Savage, a play in 4 acts by J.M. Barrie and H.B. Marriott-Watson, was presented at an afternoon performance at the Criterion theatre, London, in 1891. The dramatists took considerable liberties with the facts of Savage's career.

Publications

Poetry

• The Convocation; or, A battle of pamphlets: A poem. London: E. Young, 1717.
• A Poem Sacred to the Glorious Memory of our late King George. London: Samuel Chapman, 1727; Dublin: S. Powell, for G. Risk / G. Ewing / W. Smith, 1727.
• Nature in Perfection; or, The mother unveil'd London: T. Green, 1728.
• The Bastard: A poem. London: T. Worrall, 1728.
• The Wanderer: A poem, in five cantos. London: J. Walthoe, 1729.
• Verses Occasion'd by the Viscountess Tyrconnel's Recovery at Bath. London: A. Millar, 1730.
• A Poem to the Memory of Mrs. Oldfield. London: J. Roberts, 1730; Dublin: George Faulkner, 1731.
• An Epistle to the Right Honourable Sir Robert Walpole. London: J. Roberts, 1732.
• The Volunteer Laureat: A poem to her Majesty on her birthday. London: John Watts, 1732.
• The Volunteer Laureat: A poem to her Majesty on her birthday: Number II. London: Lawton Gilliver, 1733.
• On the Departure of the Prince and Princess of Orange: A poem. London: Lawton Gilliver, 1734.
• The Progress of a Divine: A satire. London: Booksellers of London & Westminster, 1735.
• A Poem on the Birth-day of the Prince of Wales. London: J. Roberts, 1735.
• The Volunteer Laureat: A poem on Her Majesty's birth-day. London: R. Dodsley, 1736.
• The Volunteer Laureat: A poem to her Majesty on her birthday: Number VI. London: 1737.
• Of Public Spirit in Regard to Public Works: An epistle. London: R. Dodsley, 1737.
• Volunteer Laureat, Number VII ... A poem sacred to the memory of the late Queen. London: E. Cave, for R. Dodsley, 1738.
• London and Bristol Compar'd: A satire. London: M. Cooper, 1744.
• Various Poems: The wanderer / The triumph of mirth and health / The bastard. London: J. Turner, 1761.
• Poetical Works. (2 volumes), Edinburgh: Apollo Press, by the Martins, 1780; New York: William A. Davis, 1805.
• Poetical Works (edited by Clarence Tracy). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1962.

Play

• Love in a Veil: A comedy. London: E. Curll, 1719.
• The Tragedy of Sir Thomas Overbury. London: Samuel Chapman, 1724; London: William Woodfall, for Francis Newberry, 1777.

Non-fiction

• An Author to be Lett (as "Iscariot Hackney"). London: Alexander Vint, 1729
  • also published in A Collection of Pieces in Verse and Prose: On the occasion of the 'Dunciad'. London: Lawton Gilliver, 1732.

Collected editions

• Works: With an account of the life and writings by Samuel Johnson. (2 volumes), London: T. Evans, 1775; Dublin: William Whitestone, 1777.

Edited

• Memoirs of the Life of Mr. Theophilus Keenne ... to which is added, Elegies, pastorals, odes, and poems; by several hands. London: W. Chetwood, 1718.
• Miscellaneous Poems and Translations; by several hands. London: Samuel Chapman, 1726.

Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.

See also

• List of British poets

References

•  Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). "Savage, Richard". Encyclopædia Britannica. 24 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 239. . Wikisource, Web, Feb. 24, 2018.
•  Carlyle, Edward Irving (1897) "Savage, Richard (d.1743)" in Lee, Sidney Dictionary of National Biography 50 London: Smith, Elder, pp. 345-348  . Wikisource, Web, Feb. 24, 2018.
• The Project Gutenberg EBook of Lives of the Poets: Addison, Savage, etc. by Samuel Johnson

External links

Poems

• Richard Savage at the Eighteenth-Century Poetry Archive ("Dennis to Mr. Thomson")
• Richard Savage at PoemHunter (14 poems)
• Richard Savage at AllPoetry (15 poems)
• Richard Savage at My Poetic Side (15 poems)

Quotes

• Richard Savage at Great Thoughts Treasury

Books

• Richard Savage at Great Thoughts Treasury

About

• The Project Gutenberg EBook of Lives of the Poets: Addison, Savage, etc. by Samuel Johnson

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, the Dictionary of National Biography (edited by Leslie Stephen & Sidney Lee). London: Smith, Elder, 1885-1900. Original article is at: Savage, Richard (d.1743)
 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, the 1911 Edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica. Original article is at: Savage, Richard