Percy, Thomas

(1729-1811)

   The son of a grocer, he was born at Bridgnorth, Shropshire, graduated B.A from Christ Church, Oxford, in 1750, and was made doctor of divinity from Emmanuel College, Cambridge, in 1770. From 1753 to 1782 he was the vicar of Easton-Maudit, Northamptonshire, was appointed chaplain to King George III, and was made dean of Carlisle in 1778 and bishop of Dromore in Ireland in 1782. Around 1804 his eyesight began to fail. His wife of nearly fifty years died in 1806, and both were buried in the transept of his cathedral. Some of his poetry publications: Hau Kiou Choaun, or the Pleasing History, 1761 (a translation from the Portuguese of a Chinese novel, which contained a collection of Chinese proverbs and fragments of Chinese poetry). Miscellaneous Pieces relating to the Chinese, 1762. Five Pieces of Runic Poetry, translated from the Islandic Language, 1763. Reliques of Ancient English Poetry, 1768. The Hermit of Warkworth, 1771 (translated from the Hebrew and Spanish). Some of his poems: "Bosworth Feilde," "Chevy Chase," "Edward the Third," "Flodden Feilde," "When First I Sawe Her Face," "Will Stewart and John."

   Sources: Bishop Percy's Folio MS: Ballads and Romances. Vols. 1, 2 and 3. John W. Hales and Frederick J. Furnivall, eds. N. Trübner and Co., 1868. Dictionary of National Biography. Electronic Edition 1.1. Oxford University Press, 1997. Loose and Humorous Songs from Bishop Percy's Folio Manuscript. John Greenway, ed. Folklore Associates, Inc., 1963. The National Portrait Gallery (www.npg.org.uk). 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 Oxford Companion to English Literature. 6th edition. Margaret Drabble, ed. Oxford University Press, 2000.