At 04:52 AM 7/27/2003 -0400, A. C. Hamilton wrote:
>On Churchyard's pension, see A. G. Chester, PMLA 1935, 902, and Roger A.
>Geimer, 'Spenser's rhyme or Churchyard's reason: Evidence of Churchyard's
>First Pension', RES 20 (1969), 306-09. Churchyard acknowledged the pension
>several times - if you want the details, let me know - an amount close to
>thirty pounds a year, which did not qualify him for the rank of gentleman.
Bert
Paydirt! Thank you, Miller and Hamilton. For those of you who are keeping
score at home, the entire text of Chester's article is as follows:
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Chester, Allan Griffith. "Thomas Churchyard's Pension." PMLA 50 (1935): 902.
Neither Mr. Gamzue (PMLA, XLIX, 1041-9) nor earlier writers on Churchyard
seem to have noted that on July 19, 1597, the Queen granted the old poet a
pension of 20d. a day--or slightly more than 30£ a year--for life.[1] This
was a respectable sum; certainly it was entirely commensurate with
Churchyard's skill as a poet. It would have enabled Churchyard to live out
his remaining six years in modest comfort; and there is no reason to
suppose that the pension was not paid. Churchyard's annuity is of some
interest, since it is recorded in an official document, and only the
pension granted to Spenser enjoyed a similar distinction.
[1] Calendar of State Papers, Domestic, 1595-97 (London, 1869), IV, 466.
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The wording in the last sentence is interesting: were other poets
annuitized under the table?
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David Wilson-Okamura http://virgil.org [log in to unmask]
East Carolina University Virgil reception, discussion, documents, &c
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