Thomas Percy

Thomas Percy (1729-1811), from The Percy Folio of Old English Ballads and Romances, Vol. I, 1905. Courtesy Internet Archive.

Bishop Thomas Percy (13 April 1729 - 30 September 1811) was an English poet and editor, and bishop of Dromore, County Down, Ireland.

Life

Overview

Percy was the son of a grocer at Bridgnorth, where he was born. Educated at Oxford, he entered the Church, and became in 1778 Dean of Carlisle, and in 1782 Bishop of Dromore. He published various antiquarian works, chiefly with reference to the North of England; but is best remembered for his great service to literature in collecting and editing many ancient ballads, published in 1765 as Reliques of Ancient Poetry, which did much to bring back interest in the ancient native literature, and to usher in the revival of romanticism.

Family, youth, education

Percy was born in Cartway Street, Bridgnorth, Shropshire. His father was a grocer and the son of a grocer, as appears from the Bridgnorth Common Council Books; but, in later life at least, the bishop was anxious to deduce his descent from the Percys of Northumberland, with the living representative of whom he was brought into official and social connection. At Bridgnorth the name was spelt Pearcy and Piercy; in a Battel Book at Christ Church, Oxford, it is spelt Piercy. The earliest noted occurrence of the spelling Percy is in the register at Easton-Maudit, and was probably due to the aspiration just mentioned. In an entry in that register he states that his family came from Worcester; and it is from Sir Ralph Percy, a younger son of Henry Percy, 2nd earl of Northumberland (who, however, was unmarried) that he seeks to trace his pedigree.

He was educated at Bridgnorth grammar school; and, obtaining a Careswell exhibition, he entered Christ Church, Oxford, in 1746. His career at the university was not specially distinguished. He earned a B.A. in 1750 and an M.A. in 1753.

Early career

In 1753 he was presented to a college living: the vicarage of Easton-Maudit, Northamptonshire. This was his home for 29 years, and there his most important and influential works were produced. Among his parishioners were the Marquis of Northampton and the Earl of Sussex. Among the neighbouring clergy was the distinguished Anglo-Saxon scholar Edward Lye, at Yardley Hastings. Even at that time Easton-Maudit was not inaccessible from London. The vicar was often to be seen in town; and Dr. Johnson himself, not to speak of lesser folk, sojourned for some weeks at the vicarage in 1764. In 1756 Percy was also appointed rector of Wilby, some half-dozen miles off.

Meanwhile he was busy with various literary undertakings. Of no great originality, he was by nature peculiarly susceptible to the currents and tendencies of his age. It was an age that was wearying of its old and longing for new idols — wearying of didactic poetry and excessive modernness, and longing for pictures of life; not only of present and European life, but of the life of the past and of the distant in place as well as in time. Accordingly Percy began his literary life by translating from a Portuguese manuscript a Chinese novel,. Hau Kiou Choaun, or the Pleasing History, with an appendix containing the Argument or Story of a Chinese Play, A Collection of Chinese Proverbs, and Fragments of Chinese Poetry, with Notes, 4 vols. 1761. This he followed with two volumes of Miscellaneous Pieces relating to the Chinese, 1762.

An interest in China and in the East generally was "in the air." But more noticeable was the growing interest in the older poetry of Europe. Deeply impressed by Macpherson's studies in Gaelic and Erse poetry, Percy in 1763 published Five Pieces of Runic Poetry, translated from the Islandic Language. In this book he gratefully acknowledges the assistance of his neighbour Lye. In 1763 he also edited Surrey's Poems, giving some account of the early use of blank verse in English.

The Reliques

Reliques of Ancient English Poetry-0

Main article: Reliques of Ancient English Poetry

Percy was already engaged upon the work that was to immortalise him. For some time he had possessed an old folio manuscript containing copies, in an early 17th-century handwriting, of many old poems of various dates. He had found it one day "lying dirty on the floor in a bureau in the parlour" of his friend Humphrey Pitt of Shifnall in Shropshire, "being used by the maids to light the fire," and had begged it of its careless owner.

The suggestion that he should turn this treasure to some account seems to have come from Shenstone — though he did not live to see the ripe fruit of his advice — and was entertained as early as 1761. "You have heard me speak of Mr. Percy," runs a letter from Shenstone to Graves, dated 1 March 1761. "He was in treaty with Mr. James Dodsley for the publication of our best old ballads in three volumes. He has a large folio MS. of ballads which he showed me, and which, with his own natural and acquired talents, would qualify him for the purpose as well as any man in England. I proposed the scheme to him myself, wishing to see an elegant edition and good collection of this kind." A few months later Shenstone wrote to a Mr. McGowan of Edinburgh to ask if he could send any Scottish ballad for Percy's use.

Many others lent their assistance; among them Thomas Warton (the younger), Grainger, Birch, Farmer, Garrick, and Goldsmith. Warton "ransacked the Oxford libraries" for him; Percy himself visited Cambridge and explored Pepys's collection, besides receiving help from "two ingenious and learned friends" there; he secured correspondents in Wales, in Ireland, in "the wilds of Staffordshire and Derbyshire."

At last, in 1765, appeared Percy's Reliques of Ancient English Poetry (3 vols. sm. 8vo). The book made an epoch in the history of English literature. It promoted with lasting effect the revival of interest in our older poetry.

Percy had serious misgivings as to whether he was employing his energies profitably, but expressed the hope that "the names of so many men of learning and character" among his patrons and subscribers would "serve as an amulet to guard him from every unfavourable censure for having bestowed any attention on a parcel of Old Ballads." He occasionally tampered with his texts and inserted at the end of each volume, in conformity with current sentiment, a "few modern attempts in the same kind of writing to atone for the rudeness of the more obsolete poems." Dr. Johnson, Warburton, and other contemporary authorities were not sparing in their condemnation and contempt.

A 2nd edition of the ‘Reliques’ was, however, called for in 1767, a 3rd in 1775, and a 4th, revised by his nephew, Thomas Percy (1768-1808), in 1794. In 1867-1868 the original folio from which Percy drew his materials was edited by Prof. John W. Hales and Dr. F.J. Furnivall, and published in 3 volumes.

Later career

Percy married in 1759 Anne, daughter of Barton Gutteridge of Desborough, Northamptonshire, not far from Rothwell, whose name he spells Goodriche on her tombstone. His well-known lines to Nancy were addressed to her before she became his wife; they were printed in 1758 in the sixth volume of Dodsley's ‘Collection of Poems.’ In 1771 Mrs. Percy was appointed nurse to Prince Edward, afterwards Duke of Kent. 6 children were born to him, 2 of whom died at Easton; a 3rd, said to have been a youth of great promise, died at Marseilles in 1783; and a 4th son, who had been a king's scholar at Westminster, died at Dromore of consumption. 2 daughters survived him — viz. Barbara, married to Ambrose Isted of Ecton House, near Northampton; and Elizabeth, wife of Archdeacon the Hon. Pierce Meade.

His next contribution to antiquarian knowledge was the editing of The Household Book of the Earl of Northumberland in 1512, at his Castles of Wressle and Leconfield in Yorkshire, 1768. This work also made a new departure. It stands chronologically at the head of the long series of household regulations and accounts whose publication has rendered the knowledge of old English life minute and exact.

In 1770 he published another work of great importance on account of its recognition of the high interest of the old Norse life. This was entitled Northern Antiquities, with a Translation of the Edda and other pieces from the Ancient Islandic Tongue. Translated from M. Mallet's Introduction to L'Histoire de Dannemarc, &c. With additional Notes by the English Translator and Goranson's Latin Version of the Edda. Percy's preface is a vigorous and well-informed refutation of a view that had been "a great source of mistake and confusion to many learned writers of the ancient history of Europe, viz. that of supposing the ancient Gauls and Germans, the Britons and Saxons, to have been originally one and the same people, thus confounding the antiquities of the Gothic and Celtic nations." In 1771 he published his familiar ballad The Hermit of Warkworth, a composition very characteristic of the 18th century.

Meanwhile he had not neglected the studies associated directly with his profession as a clergyman. In 1764 he published A New Translation of the Song of Solomon; and in 1769 A Key to the New Testament, which was thrice reissued. He was appointed chaplain to the Duke of Northumberland, and in 1769 chaplain to the king.

At last substantial preferment came. In 1778 he was made dean of Carlisle; but he did not resign the livings of Easton-Maudit and Wilby till four years later, when he became bishop of Dromore in Ireland. Dr. Robert Nares succeeded him at Easton.

29 years had Percy been connected with Easton, and 29 years was he connected with Dromore. But his only contribution to literature after leaving Easton was An Essay on the Origin of the English Stage, particularly on the Historical Plays of Shakespeare. When the fourth edition of the Reliques’ appeared in 1794, his nephew, the editor, defended him against the truculence of Joseph Ritson, who denied the existence of the famous folio manuscript. Possibly Ritson's insolence did something to dishearten Percy from fresh literary labours.

Moreover, the distance of his home from London was not without effect. The county of Down was very much out of the world. "Letters to him frequently never reached their destination, and he was months in arrear with the last magazine." But his correspondence shows that interest in literary things never abated. In 1801 he contributed to an edition of Goldsmith's Miscellaneous Works materials "for an improved account of the author's life."

Percy resided constantly in his diocese, "discharging the duties of his sacred office with vigilance and zeal, instructing the ignorant, relieving the necessitous, and comforting the distressed with pastoral affection." About 1804 his eyesight began to fail; at the end of 1805 he writes that "it is with difficulty I transcribe my name." Twelve months later his wife died, a woman of great tact as well as a devoted and affectionate partner. For nearly 5 years he lingered on, bearing both his blindness and his bereavement with a touching equanimity. He died on 30 September 1811, and was buried by the side of Mrs. Percy in the transept he had added to his cathedral.

Recognition

He was awarded a D.D. from Emmanuel College, Cambridge, in 1770.

4 of his poems were included in Robert Dodsley's Collection of Poems in Six Volumes; by several hands.

Percy's portrait was painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds and was engraved by Dickinson.

In 1840 the Percy Society for the Publication of Ballad Poetry was formed, in commemoration of Bishop Percy. It was dissolved in 1852, after publishing 96 volumes.

Publications

Reliques of Ancient English Poetry (1st edition), 1765. Courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

Poetry

• The Hermit of Warkworth: A Northumberland ballad, in three fits or cantos. London: T. Davies / S. Leacroft, 1771.

Non-fiction

• A letter Describing the Ride to Hulne Abbey. [Newcastle upon Tyne?]: 1765.
• A Key to the New Testament. Lonon: Lockyer Davis, 1766; London: F.C. & J. Rivington, 1805.
• A Sermon Preached before the Sons of the Clergy. London: John & Francis Rivington, 1769.
• A Sermon Preached ... for... the Society for Promoting English Protestant Schools in Ireland. Dublin: George Perrin, for the Society, 1790.
• An Essay on the Origin of the English Stage. London: 1793.
• "Memoir of Goldsmith," in Miscellaneous Works of Oliver Goldsmith, London: H. Baldwin & Son, for J. Johnson, 1801
  • also published as Thomas Percy's Life of Dr. Oliver Goldsmith (edited by Richard Harp). Salzburg, Austria: Institut für Englische Sprache und Literatur, Universität Salzburg, 1976.

Juvenile

• The Boy's Percy: Being old ballads of war, adventure, and love from Bishop Thomas Percy's 'Reliques of Ancient English Poetry', edited for boys (edited by Sidney Lanier). New York: Scribner, 1882.

Translated

• Five Pieces of Runic Poetry: Translated from the Icelandic language. London: R. & J. Dodsley, 1763.
• The Song of Solomon; newly translated. London: R. & J. Dodsley, 1764.
• Paul-Henri Mallet, Northern Antiquities. 2 volumes, London: T. Carnan, 1770; Edinburgh: C. Stewart, 1809; London: H.G. Bohn, 1847; London: George Bell, 1882; Honolulu, HI: University of the Pacific, 2002.
• Paul Henri Mallet, Northern Antiquities; or, A description of the manners, customs, religion and laws of the ancient Danes, and other northern nations; including those of our own Saxon ancestors. With a translation of the Edda, or system of runic mythology, and other pieces, from the ancient Islandic tongue. (2 volumes), London: T. Carnan, 1770.
• Ancient Songs: Chiefly on Moorish subjects (translated by Percy; edited by David Nichol Smith). Oxford, UK:J. Johnson, for H. Milford at the Oxford University Press, 1932.
• Eger and Grime: A parallel-text edition of the Percy and the Huntington-Laing versions of the romance (edited by J.R. Caldwell). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1933.
• The Old Norse Poetic Translations of Percy: A new edition (edited by Margaret Clunies Ross). Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols, 2001.

Edited

• Hau Kiou Choaan; or, The pleasing history (translated by James Wilkinson). (4 volumes), London: R. & J. Dodsley, 1761. Volume I, Volume II, Volume III, Volume IV.
• Miscellaneous Pieces Related to the Chinese. (2 volumes), London: R. & J. Dodsley, 1762.
• The Matrons: Six short histories. London: R. & J. Dodsley, 1762.
• Reliques of ancient English poetry: consisting of old heroic ballads, songs, and other pieces of our earlier poets, (chiefly of the lyric kind.) Together with some few of later date. (3 volumes), London: J. Dodsley, 1765. Volume I, Volume II, Volume III.
• The Regulations and Establishment of the Household of Henry Algernon Percy, the fifth Earl of Northumberland. London: 1768; London: William Pickering, 1827.

Letters

• Letters from Thomas Percy, John Callander, David Herd, and others to George Paton. Edinburgh: J. Stevenson, 1830.
• The Percy Letters (general editors, David Nichol Smith & Cleanth Brooks). 1944-
  • Volume 1: The Correspondence of Thomas Percy and Edmond Malone (edited by Arthur Tillotson). Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press, 1944.
  • Volume 2: The Correspondence of Thomas Percy and Richard Farmer. Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press, 1946.
  • Volume 3: The Correspondence of Thomas Percy and Thomas Warton (edited by M.G. Robinson & Leah Dennis). Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press, 1951.
  • Volume 4: The Correspondence of Thomas Percy and David Dalrymple, Lord Hailes (edited by A.F. Falconer). . Baton, Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press, 1954.
  • Volume 5: The Correspondence of Thomas Percy and Evan Evans (edited by Aneirim Lewis). Baton, Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press, 1957.
  • Volume 6: The Correspondence of Thomas Percy and George Paton (edited by A.F. Falconer). New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1961.
  • Volume 7: The Correspondence of Thomas Percy and William Shenstone (edited by Cleanth Brooks). New Haven: Yale University Press, 1977.
  • Volume 8: The Correspondence of Thomas Percy and John Pinkerton (edited by Harriet Harvey Wood). New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1985.
  • Volume 9: The Correspondence of Thomas Percy and Robert Anderson (edited by W.E.K. Anderson). New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1988.
• Thomas Percy and John Bowle Cervantine Correspondence (edited by Daniel Eisenberg). Exeter, UK: University of Exeter Press, 1987.

Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.

See also

• The Shenstone circle
• List of British poets
• Timeline of British poetry

References

•  Hales, John Wesley (1895) "Percy, Thomas (1729-1811)" in Lee, Sidney Dictionary of National Biography 44 London: Smith, Elder, pp. 437-439  . Wikisource, Web, Sep. 4, 2016.

External links

Poems

• Percy, Thomas (1729-1811) (4 poems) at Representative Poetry Online
• Thomas Percy at the Eighteenth-Century Poetry Archive (4 poems
• Thomas Percy at PoemHunter (10 poems)
• Bishop Thomas Percy at Poetry Nook (186 poems)

Books

• Thomas Percy at Amazon.com

About

• Thomas Percy in the Encyclopædia Britannica
• Thomas Percy at Ricorso

Etc.

• The Percy Library at Queen's University Belfast
• Paranormal Investigation Of Bishop Percy's House
• Bishop Percys House, Bridgnorth

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: Percy, Thomas (1729-1811)