Aston Cockayne

Aston Cockayne

Sir Aston Cockayne (1605 – 1684), also Cokain, was, in his day, a well-known Cavalier and a minor literary figure, now best remembered as a friend of Philip Massinger, John Fletcher, Michael Drayton, Richard Brome, Thomas Randolph, and other writers of his generation. [James Maidment and William Hugh Logan, eds., "Dramatic Works of Sir Aston Cokain", Edinburgh, William Paterson, 1875 / New York, Ayer Co., 1967]

He was the son of Thomas and Ann Cockayne. His mother was the daughter of Sir John Stanhope; Cockayne was born at Ashbourne Hall in Derbyshire in 1605 [ [http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=UusIAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA225 Google books] "The Gentleman's Magazine", 1863, p. 223] , and baptized on December 20, 1608. He was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, the University of Oxford, and at the Inns of Court. Like many other aristocrats of his time, he travelled through Europe in his youth, spending much of 1632 in France and Italy; like a few, he became fluent in their languages, and translated works of literature into English.

He married Mary Kniveton, daughter of Sir Gilbert Kniveton, High Sheriff of Derbyshire. Charles I elevated him to Baronet. He was a Roman Catholic, and like other Catholics in his country in his era, was active in resistance against the Church of England and the social order that supported it. During the English Civil War he took the Royalist side, and joined the future Charles II in exile for a time. For much of the English Interregnum he lived on his estate of Poolley, at Polesworth in Warwickshire.

He is the author of "A Masque at Bretbie," which was performed on Twelfth Night of the Christmas seaon in 1639, and of "Small Poems of Divers Sorts", published in 1658. He also wrote plays: "The Obstinate Lady," a comedy (first printed 1657), and "Trappolin Suppos'd a Prince," a tragicomedy (printed 1658); and "The Tragedy of Ovid" (or "Ovid's Tragedy") (printed 1662). All three were published in one volume by Francis Kirkman in 1669. His works and his surviving letters constitute still-useful sources of information on the social and cultural affairs of mid-17th-century England.

His "Small Poems" collection of 1658 icluded verses to Humphrey Moseley, publisher of the 1647 Beaumont and Fletcher folio. In that poem, Cockayne, a friend to both Massinger and Fletcher, noted that Massinger was part-author of many plays in the 1647 Beaumont and Fletcher folio—which eventually inspired a sweeping examination of the authorship problem in the canon of John Fletcher and his various collaborators.

Cockayne was a cousin of the poet Charles Cotton (1630-87), to whom he dedicated his tragedy on Ovid, and had connections with Cotton's circle, which included Izaak Walton (1598-1683).

In his later years Cockayne suffered financially, and lost his manor in Warwickshire. He died in poverty.

References


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Cockayne Baronets — Cockayne Coat of Arms The Baronetcy of Cockayne of Ashbourne was created in the Baronetage of England on 10 January 1642 for Aston Cockayne, Lord of Ashbourne Hall, Derbyshire and Pooley hall, Polesworth, Warwickshire. Sir Aston Cockayne was a… …   Wikipedia

  • Cockayne (surname) — Cockayne is an English surname. People with the surname Cockayne Aston Cockayne (1608 – 1684),Cavalier, writer Ben Cockayne (born 1983), rugby player David Cockayne, electron microscopist and university professor Edward Alfred Cockayne (1880… …   Wikipedia

  • Thomas Bancroft — Infobox Person name = Thomas Bancroft image size = caption = ... where his parents are buried in Swarston Church.(sic) birth date = before 1633Dictionary of National Biography now in the public domain] birth place = Swarkestone, Derbyshire death… …   Wikipedia

  • 1658 in literature — The year 1658 in literature involved some significant events.Events* Molière arrives in Paris to act at the Louvre. * Edward Phillips continues the Chronicle of the Kings of England from the Time of the Romans Government unto the Death of King… …   Wikipedia

  • Philip Massinger — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Philip Massinger Philip Massinger (nacido en 1583 y fallecido el 7 de marzo de 1640) fue un dramaturgo inglés. Sus obras, de muy buenas tramas, que incluyen A New Way to Pay Old Debts (Nuevo modo de pagar antiguas… …   Wikipedia Español

  • Bradley, Derbyshire — Infobox UK place country = England latitude = 53.009 longitude = 1.666 static static image caption= Church of All Saints, Bradley. map type = Derbyshire official name = Bradley population = shire district = Derbyshire Dales shire county =… …   Wikipedia

  • Tragicomedy — Literature Major forms Novel · Poem · Drama Short story · Novella Genres Epic  …   Wikipedia

  • Philip Massinger — Philip Massinger, copper engraving portrait by Charles Grignion Philip Massinger (1583 – 17 March 1640) was an English dramatist. His finely plotted plays, including A New Way to Pay Old Debts, The City Madam and The Roman Actor, are noted for… …   Wikipedia

  • 1685 in literature — The year 1685 in literature involved some significant events.Events* Antoine Furetière is expelled from the French Academy. * in London, the year sees one of the major theatrical flops of the Restoration era: Albion and Albanius mdash; an… …   Wikipedia

  • 1662 in literature — The year 1662 in literature involved some significant events.Events* Two autos sacramentales by Pedro Calderón de la Barca, entitled Las órdenes militares and Mística y real Babilonia , are the subject of an inquiry by the Inquisition; the former …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”