Barten Holyday

Barten Holyday or Holiday, (1593–1661), was a clergyman, author and poet.F. D. A. Burns, ‘Holyday , Barten (1593–1661)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004] He earned a Doctor of Divinity degree, and entered the clergy in 1615; he was appointed archdeacon of Oxford by King Charles I in 1626. "Technogamia" was his only play. In 1618, the year it was produced, Holyday served as Sir Francis Stewart's chaplain on Stewart's embassy to Spain. Holyday translated the "Odes" of Horace and works of Juvenal and Persius, and wrote "A Survey of the World, in Verse" (1661), plus sermons and miscellaneous works. [Alexander Chalmers, ed., "The General Biographical Dictionary", London, J. Nichols & Son, et al., 1814; Vol. 18, pp. 95-6.] He was summed up by one commentator as "a good scholar, a shrewd critic, and a fair wit." [Adolphus William Ward, "A History of English Drama to the Death of Queen Anne", London, Macmillan, 1899; Vol. 3, pp. 176-8.] His translations show strong fidelity to their originals, and have often been considered the best of his works.

He was subject of a derisory poem called ‘Whoop Holiday’, published in 1625 by Peter Heylin [Anthony Milton, ‘Heylyn, Peter (1599–1662)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004]

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