Niccols, Richard

(1584-1616)

   Born in London, at the age of 12 he accompanied the Earl of Nottingham on board the Ark Raleigh Galleon (later Ark Royal) in the battle against the Spanish at Cadiz. In several of his poems Niccols refers to that battle, when a dove rested on the main yard of the ship and did not leave it till the vessel arrived in London. He graduated B.A. from Magdalen Hall, Oxford, in 1602, and in 1614 he published two books of epigrams. Many of his longer works are dedicated to influential people or to commemorate significant events. The Cuckow (1607) is a narrative poem that tells the story of a contest between the cuckoo and nightingale for supremacy in song. In 1610 he published his version of the Mirror for Magistrates-which first appeared in 1559-by George Ferrers and William Baldwin (see entries). Some of his publications: The Beggers Ape, 1627. Expicedium, 1603. The Furies with Vertues Encomium, 1614. Londons Artillery, 1616. Monodia or Walthams Complaint, 1615. Sir Thomas Overbvries Vision, 1616. Three Precious Teares of Blood, 1611. The Three Sisters Teares, 1613.

   Sources: Dictionary of National Biography. Electronic Edition 1.1. Oxford University Press, 1997. English Poetry: Author Search. Chadwyck-Healey Ltd., 1995 (http://www.lib.utexas.edu:8080/search/epoetry/author.html). Stanford University Libraries and Academic Information Resources (http://library.stanford.edu). The Oxford Companion to English Literature. 6th edition. Margaret Drabble, ed. Oxford University Press, 2000.