Harington, Sir John

(1561-1612)

   Harrington was Queen Elizabeth's godson. Educated at Eton College, King's College, Cambridge (graduating M.A. in 1581), and Lincoln's Inn, London, he was knighted in 1599 for leading a military expedition to Ireland. The queen banished him from court from 1596-1598 for writing some innuendo about the Earl of Leicester. Back in favor, he accompanied Robert Devereux, earl of Essex (1567-1601) (see Essex, Robert Devereux), on his ill-fated expedition to Ireland, where he served as commander of horse under the Earl of Southampton. After James became king (1603), Harington's popularity waned, though he took some part in Prince Henry's education. He invented the flush lavatory and installed one for Queen Elizabeth in her palace at Richmond, Surrey. He translated Ariosto's epic poem Orlando Furioso, published in 1591. Some of his other poems: "A Groom of the Chamber's Religion in King Henry the Eighth's Time," "A Sonnet Made on Isabella Markham," "A Sonnet Written upon My Lord Admiral Seymour," "Elegy Wrote in the Tower, 1554," "Husband to Wife," "I See My Plaint," "Of the Wars in Ireland," "Sir John Raynsford's Confession," "To His Mother," "Wife to Husband."

   Sources: Dictionary of National Biography. Electronic Edition 1.1. Oxford University Press, 1997. Elizabethan Lyrics. Norman Ault, ed. William Sloane Associates, 1949. Encyclopædia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite DVD, 2006. English Poetry: Author Search (http://www.lib.utexas.edu:8080/search/epoetry/author.html). 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 National Portrait Gallery (www.npg.org.uk). The Oxford Book of English Verse. Christopher Ricks, ed. Oxford University Press, 1999. The Oxford Companion to English Literature. 6th edition. Margaret Drabble, ed. Oxford University Press, 2000.