Martin Parker (c. 1600 – c. 1656) was an English

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

writer, and probably a London tavern-keeper.

Life

About 1625 he seems to have begun publishing ballads, a large number of which bearing his signature or his initials, M.P., are preserved in the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

John Dryden '' John Dryden (; – ) was an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who in 1668 was appointed England's first Poet Laureate. He is seen as dominating the literary life of Restoration England to such a point that the per ...

considered him the best ballad writer of his time. His sympathies were with the Royalist cause during the Civil War, and it was in support of the declining fortunes of

Charles I of England Charles I (19 November 1600 – 30 January 1649) was King of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. He was born into the House of Stuart as the second son of King James VI of Scotland, but after hi ...

that he wrote the best known of his ballads, ''

When the king enjoys his own again When the king enjoys his own again (sometimes known as The king shall enjoy his own again) is a Cavalier ballad written by Martin Parker during the English Civil War (first published in 1643). It was later adopted by Jacobites. According to the his ...

'', which he first published in 1643, and which, after enjoying great popularity at the Restoration, became a favorite Jacobite song in the 18th century. Parker also wrote a nautical ballad, ''Sailors for my Money'', which in a revised version survives as ''When the stormy winds do blow''. It is not known when he died, but the appearance in 1656 of a funeral elegy, in which the ballad writer was satirically celebrated is perhaps a correct indication of the date of his death.

References

;Attribution ; Endnotes: *''The Roxburghe Ballads'', vol. 3. (Ballad Soc., 9 vols., 1871–1899) *Joseph Ritson, ''Bibliographia Poetica'' (London, 1802) *''Ancient Songs and Ballads from Henry II. to the Revolution'', ed. by W. C. Hazlitt (London, 1877) *Sir S. E. Brydges and J. Haslewood, ''The British Bibliographer'', vol. 2 (London, 1810) *Thomas Corser, ''Collectanea Anglo-poelica'' (London, 1860–1883).

External links

"Parker, Martin"
( fl. 1624–1647), Joad Raymond, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004. {{DEFAULTSORT:Parker, Martin English male songwriters Cavaliers 1650s deaths Year of birth uncertain Year of birth unknown