Brown, Thomas (Tom)

(1663-1704)

   A native of Shropshire, Brown is mainly known for his satirical writing and as author of the poem "Dr. Fell." His intemperate behavior at Christ Church, Oxford, brought him into conflict with the dean, one Dr. Fell. Leaving Oxford without a degree and in need of money, he worked in a school at Kingston-on-Thames and later was headmaster of the grammar school there. After three years he settled down to writing satirical poems and pamphlets and translating Greek, Latin, French, and Spanish authors. He is buried in the East Walk of Westminster Abbey. A collected edition of his works, published in 1707-1778, contains essays, poems, satires, epigrams, original letters and translations. The story goes that his threatened expulsion from Oxford was stayed when the dean challenged him to an impromptu translation of Latin epigram. His result is "Dr. Fell," with its well-known opening line: "I do not love thee, Dr. Fell." Some of his other poems: "Oaths," "To That Most Senseless Scoundrel, the Author of Legion's Humble Address to the Lords," "The Cavalcade, and Disbanding the Royal Regiment," "England's Triumph for Their Conquest in Flanders, in the Year 1694."

   Sources: Dictionary of National Biography. Electronic Edition 1.1. Oxford University Press, 1997. Encyclopædia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite DVD, 2006. English Poetry: Author Search. Chadwyck-Healey Ltd., 1995 (http://www.lib.utexas.edu:8080/search/epoetry/author. html). Folksinger's Wordbook. Irwin Silber and Fred Silber, eds. Oak Publications, 1973. I Saw Esau: The Schoolchild's Pocket Book. Iona Opie and Peter Opie, eds. 1947; American reissue, Candlewick Press, 1992. The Columbia Granger's Index to Poetry. 11th ed. The Columbia Granger's World of Poetry, Columbia University Press, 2005 (http://www.columbiagrangers.org). The Faber Book of Comic Verse. Michael Roberts and Janet Adam Smith, eds. 1978. The Faber Book of Epigrams and Epitaphs. Geoffrey Grigson, ed. Faber & Faber, 1977. The Oxford Companion to English Literature. 6th edition. Margaret Drabble, ed. Oxford University Press, 2000. The Remains of Mr. Tho. Brown, Serious and Comical, in Prose and Verse. Printed for Sam. Briscoe, etc., 1720. Westminster Abbey Official Guide (no date).