Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 36.djvu/173

Markham Two years later he published a poem on the fight of the Revenge, entitled 'The most Honorable Tragedie of Sir Richard Grinvile, Knight,' 1595, dedicated to Lord Mountjoy ; it also includes a sonnet addressed to Henry Wriothesley, earl of Southampton, whence Mr. Fleay awkwardly deduces a very strained argument to prove that Markham and Shakespeare were rivals for Southampton's favour, and that Shakespeare reflected on Markham in his sonnets. The original edition is a work of extreme rarity ; only two copies, in the British Museum and Bodleian respectively, are known. It was reprinted by Professor Arber in 1871. Gervase tells the thrilling story of Grenville's fight in 174 stanzas of eight lines each. Tennyson told the same tale in fifteen, and some of his expressions were doubtless suggested by Markham. Where Markham has ' Sweet maister gunner, split our keele in twaine,' Tennyson reads, 'Sink me the ship, master gunner; sink her — split her in twain,'

Markham's 'Poem of Poems, or Sion's Muse, contaynynge the Divine Song of Salomon in Eight Eclogues,' appeared in 1595, 12mo (Bodleian), 2nd edit. 1596 ; it is dedicated to Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Philip Sidney. Meres refers to it approvingly in his 'Palladia Tamia,' 1598. His Devoreux, or Verities Tears,' 1597, 4to, was a lament for the loss of Henry III of France and of Walter Deve- reux, the Earl of Essex's brother, who was slain before Rouen. It is a paraphrase from the French of Madame Genevieve Petau Maulette, and is dedicated to Dorothy, countess of Northumberland, and Penelope, lady Rich, Devereux's sisters. Two sonnets prefixed are by R. Allot and E. Guilpin respectively. In 1600 appeared Markhani's 'Tears of the Be- loved, or Lamentations of St. John concern- ing the Death and Passion of Christ Jesus our Saviour' (4to), and in 1601 ' Marie Mag- dalene's Lamentations for the Loss of her Master, Jesus,' The two last poems were reprinted and edited by Dr. Grosart in 1871. In 1600 John Bodenham mentioned Mark- ham among the poets whom he quoted in his 'Belvidere.'

Markham published in 1607' The English Arcadia alluding his beginning from Sir Philip Sydney's ending,' 4to. On the same subject he issued in 1613 ' The Second and Last Part of the First Book of the English Arcadia, making a Compleate End of the First History,' 4to ; a unique copy is in the Huth Library. Ben Jonson wrote that Markham 'added Arcadia.'

In 1608 appeared the English version of the ' Satires of Ariosto,' which is sometimes assigned to Markham, although it is almost certainly by Robert Tofte [q. v.] Tofte undoubtedly claimed the work in his ' Blazon of Jealousy,' 1615, and complained that it had been printed without his knowledge in another man's name. But Markham is clearly responsible for 'Ariosto's Conclusions of the Marriage of Rogero and Rodomontho,' 1598 , which was reissued in 1608 as' Rodmouth's Infernall, or the Divell Conquered : paraphrastically translated from the Trench' of Philippe des Portes]. Another curious translation of his is 'The Famous Whore, or Noble Curtizan, conteining the Lamentable Complaint of Paulina, the famous Roman CurUzan, sometime Mrs. unto the great Cardinall Hypolito of Est,' translated into verse from the Italian, London (by N. B. for John Budge), 1609, 4to (, Bibl. Cat. i. 516).

Markham collaborated with other writers in at least two dramatic pieces. Lewis Machin was his coadjutor in 'The Dumbe Knight,' published in 1608 (4to),and founded on a novel by Bandello [see under ]. 'Herod and Antipater,' printed in 1622, but played by the company of the Revels at the Red Bull Theatre long before, was by Markham and William Sampson Markham's practical prose treatises were more numerous and popular than his essays in pure literature. Of those treatingof horses the earliest, ' Discourse on Horseinanshippe,' London, 1593, 4to, was written when he was twenty-five, and dedicated to his father. It was licensed for the press 29 Jan. 1592-3, and much of it was reissued in 1596 as ' How to Chuse, Ride, Traine and Dyet both Hunting and Running Horses,' 4to (1599 and 1606), and 'How to Trayne and Teach Horses to Amble,' London, 1605, 4to. His next work on equine topics was ' Cavelarice, or the English Horseman,' in seven books, each dedicated to a distinguished personage, including the king and the Prince of Wales (1607, 2nd edit. 1616-17, 4to, 1625 with an eighth book on the tricks of Banks's horse). There followed four works on farriery, all practically identical, although differing in title: 'The Methode, or Epitome' (1616, :3rd edit. 1623), on the diseases of horses, cattle, swine, dogs, and fowls; 'The Faithfull Farrier, discovering some secrets not in print before,' 1635, 4to; 'The Masterpiece of Farriery,' 1636; and 'The Complete Farrier,' 1639. Finally, 'Le Marescale, or the Horse Marshall, containing those secrets which practice, but never imparted to any man,' is still in manuscript, and belongs to the writer of this article.

His sporting works include 'Country Con-