Dalton, John

(1709-1763)

   Born at Dean in Cumberland, the son of the rector, he was educated locally and at Queen's College, Oxford, graduating in 1730. He was tutor to the son of the Duke of Somerset, then after earning his M.A. in 1734, he was an assistant preacher at St. James's, Westminster, and took the degrees of B.D. and D.D. in 1750. While employed as tutor, he adapted Milton's masque of Comus for the stage, set to music by Dr. Arne and performed in 1738, a work that ran for many years. In 1750 he put on a benefit performance at Drury Lane Theatre for Mrs. Elizabeth Foster, a granddaughter of Milton, for which Dr. Johnson wrote a new prologue, which was spoken by David Garrick. In addition to several published sermons, he wrote Descriptive Poem, Addressed to Two Ladies at Their Return from Viewing the Mines, near Whitehaven. One poem is "Agape the Sooty Collier Stands." The poet contrasts a miner, face blackened with coal dust, with the two ladies as goddesses whose presence soothes the collier's aching body.

   Sources: Dictionary of National Biography. Electronic Edition 1.1. Oxford University Press, 1997. The Columbia Granger's Index to Poetry. 11th ed. The Columbia Granger's World of Poetry, Columbia University Press, 2005 (http://www.columbiagrangers.org).