Elkanah Settle (1 February 1648 – 12 February 1724) was an
English poet
A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wri ...
and
playwright.
Biography
He was born at
Dunstable, and entered
Trinity College, Oxford
(That which you wish to be secret, tell to nobody)
, named_for = The Holy Trinity
, established =
, sister_college = Churchill College, Cambridge
, president = Dame Hilary Boulding
, location = Broad Street, Oxford OX1 3BH
, coordinates ...
, in 1666, but left without taking a degree. His first tragedy, ''
Cambyses, King of Persia'', was produced at
Lincoln's Inn Fields in 1667. The success of this play led the Earl of Rochester to encourage the new writer as a rival to
John Dryden. Through his influence, Settle's ''
The Empress of Morocco'' (1673) was twice performed at
Whitehall, and proved a great success. It is said by
John Dennis to have been "the first play that was ever sold in England for two shillings, and the first play that was ever printed with cuts." These illustrations represent scenes in the theatre, and make the book very valuable.
![ONL (1887) 1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/97/ONL_%281887%29_1.193_-_Interior_of_the_Duke%27s_Theatre.jpg)
The play was printed with a preface to the Earl of Norwich, in which Settle described with scorn the effusive dedications of other dramatic poets. Dryden was obviously aimed at, and he co-operated with
John Crowne
John Crowne (6 April 1641 – 1712) was a British dramatist.
His father "Colonel" William Crowne, accompanied the earl of Arundel on a diplomatic mission to Vienna in 1637, and wrote an account of his journey. He emigrated to Nova Scotia whe ...
and
Thomas Shadwell in an abusive
pamphlet entitled "Notes and Observations on the Empress of Morocco" (1674), to which Settle replied in "Some Notes and Observations on the Empress of Morocco revised" (1674). In the second part of ''Absalom and Achitophel'', in a passage certainly by Dryden's hand, he figures as "
Doeg."
Neglected by the court party, he took an active share in the anti-popish agitation. When this subsided he helped expose
Titus Oates
Titus Oates (15 September 1649 – 12/13 July 1705) was an English priest who fabricated the "Popish Plot", a supposed Catholic conspiracy to kill King Charles II.
Early life
Titus Oates was born at Oakham in Rutland. His father Samuel (1610� ...
, and with the Revolution of 1688, he veered towards the
Whig party. Having lost the confidence of both sides, "recanting Settle" abandoned politics for the appointment (1691) of city poet.
From 1700, he initiated what has been called a "successful racket" where he would write
occasional poems, typically eulogistic or nuptial verse, have them bound up in notably ostentatious armorial bindings, which he would send to the wealthy person whose arms he used. The economics of the practice are unclear; he may have had them commissioned, or been offering them for sale, or (a subtle distinction) have offered to present them in return for literary patronage in cash or some other form. If the book was returned he would try another patron with a new set of arms, altering personal references as required; where the subject matter was shared (as in a wedding) much of the verse could be recycled from one poem to another, and the scholar F. C. Brown has noticed that as many as two-thirds of the lines in Settle's wedding poems are "common to all." The books were bound for Settle by an unknown binder, whose work is remarkable for being "the only instance in which a particular binder has consistently ornamented a large series of bindings with heraldic designs" outside of Royal binders. The bindings are sufficiently distinctive to be known as ''Settle bindings''. More than 100 examples survive, from between 1700 and 1723. In his old age he kept a booth at
Bartholomew Fair, where he is said to have played the part of the dragon in a green leather suit devised by himself. He became a poor brother of the
Charterhouse
Charterhouse may refer to:
* Charterhouse (monastery), of the Carthusian religious order
Charterhouse may also refer to:
Places
* The Charterhouse, Coventry, a former monastery
* Charterhouse School, an English public school in Surrey
Londo ...
, where he died.
Settle is one of the ''dunces'' in
Alexander Pope's ''
The Dunciad'', handing over his authority to
Lewis Theobald and in the 1742 edition
Colley Cibber
Colley Cibber (6 November 1671 – 11 December 1757) was an English actor-manager, playwright and Poet Laureate. His colourful memoir ''Apology for the Life of Colley Cibber'' (1740) describes his life in a personal, anecdotal and even rambling ...
. Settle appears in
Boswell's
life of Dr Johnson, when
John Wilkes ascribes the poet's obscurity to his 'queer' name.
Selected works
Settle's numerous works include, beside numerous political pamphlets and
occasional poems:
* ''
Love and Revenge'' (1674), a tragedy
* ''
Pastor Fido
''Pastor Fido; Or, The Faithful Shepherd'' is a 1676 tragicomedy by the English writer Elkanah Settle. It was first performed by the Duke's Company at the Dorset Garden Theatre in London. It is inspired by Giovanni Battista Guarini's pastoral wor ...
'' (1676), a tragicomedy
*''
Ibrahim, the Illustrious Bassa'' (1676), a tragedy taken from
Madeleine de Scudéry's romance
*''
The Female Prelate'' (1680), a tragedy
* ''
Fatal Love'' (1680), a tragedy
* ''
Distressed Innocence'' (1690), a tragedy
*''
The Ambitious Slave'' (1694), a tragedy
*''The World in the Moon'' (1697), an
opera
Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...
inspired by
Francis Godwin
Francis Godwin (1562–1633) was an English historian, science fiction author, divine, Bishop of Llandaff and of Hereford.
Life
He was the son of Thomas Godwin, Bishop of Bath and Wells, born at Hannington, Northamptonshire. He was the great ...
's ''
The Man in the Moone
''The Man in the Moone'' is a book by the English divine and Church of England bishop Francis Godwin (1562–1633), describing a "voyage of utopian discovery". Long considered to be one of his early works, it is now generally thought to have be ...
'', of which the first scene was formed by a moon fourteen feet across
*''
The Virgin Prophetess, or The Fate of Troy'' (1701), an opera
* ''
The City Ramble'' (1701), a comedy
Elkanah Settle in the 21st century
Shortly before the
Scottish Referendum in September 2014, a copy of Settle's ''Carmen Irenicum: The Union of the Imperial Crowns of Great Britain'', a poem supporting the union of England and Scotland that is dedicated to the monarch
Queen Anne, went on sale for £3,250. In 2015, it was reported that the
Wetherspoons pub in Dunstable was going to be called ''The Elkanah Settle''
, until it was realised that the Hollywood actor
Gary Cooper
Gary Cooper (born Frank James Cooper; May 7, 1901May 13, 1961) was an American actor known for his strong, quiet screen persona and understated acting style. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice and had a further three nominations, ...
also had a connection with the town (he attended the local
grammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...
), so the tavern was named ''The Gary Cooper'' instead.
[Buckledee, John (19 February 2015)]
The Gary Cooper pub was nearly named the Elkanah Settle
''Dunstable Today''.
References
*
External links
British Library– Search on "Elkanah Settle" for images and catalogue entries on over 20 bindings by Settle.
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Settle, Elkanah
1648 births
1724 deaths
English librettists
People from Dunstable
People associated with the Popish Plot
Bookbinders
English male poets
Alumni of Trinity College, Oxford
Occasional poets