Chidiock Tichborne
Encyclopedia
Chidiock Tichborne (1563 – 20 September 1586) is remembered as an English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 conspirator
Conspiracy (political)
In a political sense, conspiracy refers to a group of persons united in the goal of usurping or overthrowing an established political power. Typically, the final goal is to gain power through a revolutionary coup d'état or through assassination....

 and poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...

.

Biography

He was born in Southampton
Southampton
Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...

 sometime after 24 August 1562 to Roman Catholic parents, Peter Tichborne and his wife Elizabeth (née Middleton). His birth date has been given as circa 1558 in many sources, though unverified, and thus his age given as 28 at his execution. It is unlikely that he was born before his parents marriage so he could have been no more than 23 years old when he died.

Chidiock's father Peter appears to be the youngest son of Henry Tichborne (born circa 1474) and Anne Mervin (or Marvin) but the records are unclear. Peter was clerk of the Crowne at the trial of Sir Nicholas Throckmorton in 1554 and was an ardent catholic supporter. Being the youngest son of a youngest son he was of little means and required to make his own way. He secured an education and the patronage of Lord Chidiock Paulet. In later life he spent many years imprisoned unable to pay recusancy fines. Chideock's mother was Elizabeth Middleton, daughter of William Middleton (grandson of Sir Thomas Middleton of Belso, Kt.) and Elizabeth Potter (daughter of John Potter of Westram). William had been servant to John Islip
John Islip
John Islip was abbot of the monastery of Westminster, London, in Tudor times.-Biography:Islip was doubtless a member of the family which rose to ecclesiastical importance in the person of Archbishop Simon Islip...

, Abbot of Westminster, and a banner bearer at Islip's funeral 1532 , and later bought lands in Kent. At least two of Chidiock's sisters are recorded: Dorothy, first wife of Thomas Muttelbury of Jurdens, Somerset ; and Mary, second wife of Sir William Kirkham of Blagdon, Paignton, Devon. At his execution Chidiock mentions his wife Agnes, one child, and his six sisters. In his letter to his wife, written the night before his execution he mentions his sisters - and also 'my little sister Babb'.

Given the recent succession of Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...

 to the throne after the death of Mary I
Mary I of England
Mary I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from July 1553 until her death.She was the only surviving child born of the ill-fated marriage of Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon. Her younger half-brother, Edward VI, succeeded Henry in 1547...

, he was allowed to practice Catholicism for part of his early life. However in 1570 the Queen was excommunicated
Excommunication
Excommunication is a religious censure used to deprive, suspend or limit membership in a religious community. The word means putting [someone] out of communion. In some religions, excommunication includes spiritual condemnation of the member or group...

 by the Pope
Pope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...

 for her own Protestantism and support of Protestant causes, most notably the Dutch Rebellion against Spain; in retaliation she ended her relative toleration of the Catholic Church. Catholicism was made illegal, and Roman Catholics were once more banned by law from practicing their religion and Roman Catholic priests risked death for performing their functions.
Chidiock descended from Sir Roger de Tichborne who owned land at Tichborne
Tichborne
Tichborne is a village and civil parish near Winchester in Hampshire, England.The manor of Tichborne is mentioned in a grant of land by Edward the Elder in 909 but it is not mentioned in the Domesday Book...

, near Winchester, in the twelfth century. Chidiock's second cousin and contemporary was Sir Benjamin Tichborne who lived at Tichborne Park and was created a Baronet
Tichborne Baronets
There have been two Baronetcies created for persons with the surname Tichborne, both in the Baronetage of England. Both creations are extinct....

 by King James I in 1621. The Tichborne family is ancient and believed to have held land at Tichborne from before the Norman Conquest. In Chidiock's reported oration from the scaffold before his execution he allegedly stated: "I am descended from a house, from two hundred years before the Conquest, never stained till this my misfortune.".

In 1583, Tichborne and his father, Peter, were arrested and questioned concerning the use of "popish relics", religious objects Tichborne had brought back from a visit he had made abroad without informing the authorities of an intention to travel. Though released without charge, records suggest that this was not the last time they were to be questioned by the authorities over their religion. In June 1586 accusations of "popish practices" were laid against his family.

Chidiock's father secured the patronage of his distant kinsman, Lord Chidiock Paulet (1521–1574, son of the 1st Marquess of Winchester
Marquess of Winchester
Marquess of Winchester is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1551 for the prominent statesman William Paulet, 1st Earl of Wiltshire. He had already been created Baron St John in 1539 and Earl of Wiltshire in 1550, also in the Peerage of England...

), after whom he named his son. The name originates from a Paulet ancestor, Sir John Chideock, Kt., who owned land at Chideock, a village in Dorset. Chidiock Tichborne was never called Charles - this is an error that has grown from a misprint in the AQA
Assessment and Qualifications Alliance
AQA is an Awarding Body in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It compiles specifications and holds examinations in various subjects at GCSE, AS and A Level and offers vocational qualifications. AQA is a registered charity and independent of the Government...

 GCSE English Literature syllabus which has included the Elegy in its early poetry section for several years. Unfortunately this error persists in much of the educational literature supporting the syllabus.

In June 1586, Tichborne agreed to take part in the Babington Plot
Babington Plot
The Babington Plot was a Catholic plot in 1586 to assassinate Queen Elizabeth, a Protestant, and put Mary, Queen of Scots, a Catholic, on the English throne. It led to the execution of Mary. The long-term goal was an invasion by the Spanish forces of King Philip II and the Catholic league in...

 to murder Queen Elizabeth and replace her with the Catholic Mary, Queen of Scots, who was next in line to the throne. The plot was foiled by Sir Francis Walsingham
Francis Walsingham
Sir Francis Walsingham was Principal Secretary to Elizabeth I of England from 1573 until 1590, and is popularly remembered as her "spymaster". Walsingham is frequently cited as one of the earliest practitioners of modern intelligence methods both for espionage and for domestic security...

, Elizabeth's spymaster, using double agent
Double agent
A double agent, commonly abbreviated referral of double secret agent, is a counterintelligence term used to designate an employee of a secret service or organization, whose primary aim is to spy on the target organization, but who in fact is a member of that same target organization oneself. They...

s, most notably Robert Poley who was later witness to the murder of Christopher Marlowe
Christopher Marlowe
Christopher Marlowe was an English dramatist, poet and translator of the Elizabethan era. As the foremost Elizabethan tragedian, next to William Shakespeare, he is known for his blank verse, his overreaching protagonists, and his mysterious death.A warrant was issued for Marlowe's arrest on 18 May...

, and though most of the conspirators fled, Tichborne had an injured leg and was forced to remain in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

. On 14 August he was arrested and he was later tried and sentenced to death in Westminster Hall.

While in custody in the Tower of London
Tower of London
Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, separated from the eastern edge of the City of London by the open space...

 on 19 September (the eve of his execution), Tichborne wrote to his wife Agnes. The letter contained three stanza
Stanza
In poetry, a stanza is a unit within a larger poem. In modern poetry, the term is often equivalent with strophe; in popular vocal music, a stanza is typically referred to as a "verse"...

s of poetry that is his best known piece of work, Tichborne's Elegy, also known by its first line My Prime of Youth is but a Frost of Cares. The poem is a dark look at a life cut short and is a favorite of many scholars to this day. Two other poems are known by him, To His Friend and The Housedove.

On 20 September 1586, Tichborne was executed with Anthony Babington
Anthony Babington
Anthony Babington was convicted of plotting the assassination of Elizabeth I of England and conspiring with the imprisoned Mary, Queen of Scots...

, John Ballard
John Ballard
John Ballard was an English Jesuit priest executed for being involved in an attempt to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I of England in the Babington Plot.John Ballard was the son of William Ballard of Wratting, Suffolk...

, and four other conspirators. They were eviscerated, hanged, drawn and quartered, the mandatory punishment for treason, in St Giles Field. However, when Elizabeth was informed that these gruesome executions were arousing sympathy for the condemned, she ordered that the remaining seven conspirators were to be hanged until 'quite dead' before being eviscerated.

Tichborne's Elegy

My prime of youth is but a frost of cares,
My feast of joy is but a dish of pain,
My crop of corn is but a field of tares,
And all my good is but vain hope of gain;
The day is past, and yet I saw no sun,
And now I live, and now my life is done.

My tale was heard and yet it was not told,
My fruit is fallen, and yet my leaves are green,
My youth is spent and yet I am not old,
I saw the world and yet I was not seen;
My thread is cut and yet it is not spun,
And now I live, and now my life is done.

I sought my death and found it in my womb,
I looked for life and saw it was a shade,
I trod the earth and knew it was my tomb,
And now I die, and now I was but made;
My glass is full, and now my glass is run,
And now I live, and now my life is done.


This is the first printed version from Verses of Prayse and Joye (1586). The original text differs slightly: along with other minor differences, the first line of the second verse reads "The spring is past, and yet it hath not sprung," and the third line reads "My youth is gone, and yet I am but young."

To His Friend (assumed to be Anthony Babington)
Good sorrow cease, false hope be gone, misfortune once farewell;
Come, solemn muse, the sad discourse of our adventures tell.
A friend I had whose special part made mine affection his;
We ruled tides and streams ourselves, no want was in our bliss.
Six years we sailed, sea-room enough, by many happy lands,
Till at the length, a stream us took and cast us on the sands.
There lodged we were in a gulf of woe, despairing what to do,
Till at the length, from shore unknown, a Pilot to us drew,
Whose help did sound our grounded ship from out Caribda's mouth,
But unadvised, on Scylla drives; the wind which from the South
Did blustering blow the fatal blast of our unhappy fall,
Where driving, leaves my friend and I to fortune ever thrall;
Where we be worse beset with sands and rocks on every side,
Where we be quite bereft of aid, of men, of winds, of tide.
Where vain it is to hail for help so far from any shore,
So far from Pilot's course; despair shall we, therefore?
No! God from out his heap of helps on us will some bestow,
And send such mighty surge of seas, or else such blasts to blow
As shall remove our grounded ship far from this dangerous place,
And we shall joy each others' chance through God's almighty grace,
And keep ourselves on land secure, our sail on safer seas.
Sweet friend, till then content thy self, and pray for our release.


The Housedove
A silly housedove happed to fall
amongst a flock of crows,
Which fed and filled her harmless craw
amongst her fatal foes.
The crafty fowler drew his net -
all his that he could catch -
The crows lament their hellish chance,
the dove repents her match.
But too, too late! it was her chance
the fowler did her spy,
And so did take her for a crow -
which thing caused her to die.


The only known manuscript versions of To His Friend and The Housedove are from Edinburgh Library MS Laing, II, 69/24

However twenty eight different manuscript versions of the Elegy (or Lament) are known and there are many variations of the text.

Tichborne's authorship of the Elegy has been disputed, with attributions to others including Sir Walter Raleigh
Walter Raleigh
Sir Walter Raleigh was an English aristocrat, writer, poet, soldier, courtier, spy, and explorer. He is also well known for popularising tobacco in England....

. However it was printed soon after the Babington plot in a volume called Verses of Praise and Joy in 1586, published by John Wolfe of London
John Wolfe (printer)
John Wolfe was an English bookseller and printer. His considerable ambition and his disdain for the printing patent system of Elizabethan England drew the ire of his competitors and authorities in his early career...

 to celebrate the Queen's survival and to attack the plotters. Another poem in the volume is titled: Hendecasyllabon T. K. in Cygneam Cantionem Chideochi Tychborne and is an answer to Chidiock verses, most likely by the poet and dramatist Thomas Kyd
Thomas Kyd
Thomas Kyd was an English dramatist, the author of The Spanish Tragedy, and one of the most important figures in the development of Elizabethan drama....

, author of The Spanish Tragedy
The Spanish Tragedy
The Spanish Tragedy, or Hieronimo is Mad Again is an Elizabethan tragedy written by Thomas Kyd between 1582 and 1592. Highly popular and influential in its time, The Spanish Tragedy established a new genre in English theatre, the revenge play or revenge tragedy. Its plot contains several violent...

.
Hendecasyllabon T. K. (Thomas Kyd 1558-1595) in Cygneam Cantionem Chideochi Tychborne

Thy prime of youth is frozen with thy faults,
Thy feast of joy is finisht with thy fall;
Thy crop of corn is tares availing naughts,
Thy good God knows thy hope, thy hap and all.

Short were thy days, and shadowed was thy sun,
T'obscure thy light unluckily begun.
Time trieth truth, and truth hath treason tripped;
Thy faith bare fruit as thou hadst faithless been:

Thy ill spent youth thine after years hath nipt;
And God that saw thee hath preserved our Queen.
Her thread still holds, thine perished though unspun,
And she shall live when traitors lives are done.

Thou soughtst thy death, and found it in desert,
Thou look'dst for life, yet lewdly forc'd it fade:
Thou trodst the earth, and now on earth thou art,
As men may wish thou never hadst been made.
Thy glory, and thy glass are timeless run;
And this, O Tychborne, hath thy treason done.

Critical Appreciation

Tichborne's Elegy uses two favorite Renaissance figures of speech - antithesis
Antithesis
Antithesis is a counter-proposition and denotes a direct contrast to the original proposition...

 and paradox
Paradox
Similar to Circular reasoning, A paradox is a seemingly true statement or group of statements that lead to a contradiction or a situation which seems to defy logic or intuition...

 - to crystallize the tragedy of the poet's situation.

Antithesis
Antithesis
Antithesis is a counter-proposition and denotes a direct contrast to the original proposition...

 means setting opposites against each other: prime of youth / frost of cares (from the first line). This is typical of Renaissance poetry, as for example in Wyatt's "I find no peace, and all my war is done", with the lover freezing/burning. We also see it in the poem by Elizabeth I, "I grieve and dare not show my discontent", e.g., "I am and not, I freeze and yet am burned."

A paradox
Paradox
Similar to Circular reasoning, A paradox is a seemingly true statement or group of statements that lead to a contradiction or a situation which seems to defy logic or intuition...

 is a statement which seems self-contradictory, yet is true, e.g., "My tale is heard, and yet it was not told", or "My glass is full, and now my glass is run."

Often a Renaissance poem will begin with antithesis to establish circumstances and reveal its themes through paradox.

The Elegy is remarkable for being written almost entirely in monosyllables with the possible exception of the word "fallen". However in early editions it was written as "fall'n" which is monosyllabic.

The Housedove exploits a popular image from the period: Tichborne sees himself as an innocent dove caught among his fellow conspirators, (see Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet 1.5.48). The 'crafty fowler' is probably Sir Francis Walsingham
Francis Walsingham
Sir Francis Walsingham was Principal Secretary to Elizabeth I of England from 1573 until 1590, and is popularly remembered as her "spymaster". Walsingham is frequently cited as one of the earliest practitioners of modern intelligence methods both for espionage and for domestic security...

, the spymaster who manipulated the Babington plot.

The Elegy has inspired many homages and 'answers' including those by Jonathon Robin at allpoetry.com ; a rap version by David A More at www.marlovian.com ; After Reading Tichborne's Elegy by Dick Allen
Dick Allen (poet)
Dick Allen is an American poet, literary critic and academic born in Troy, New York who is serving a five-year term as poet laureate of the state of Connecticut from July 1, 2010 through June 30, 2015....

 (2003) and an affecting reworking by Nick Montfort
Nick Montfort
Nick Montfort is an associate professor of digital media at MIT in the Program in Writing and Humanistic Studies. He is also a poet, computer scientist, and author of interactive fiction. Montfort has collaborated on the blog Grand Text Auto, the sticker novel Implementation, and the contemporary...

 called Tichborne's Lexicon, which is an alphabetical list of the words in the Elegy (http://nickm.com/poems/#riddles).

The Elegy has also been set to music many times from the Elizabethan era to the present day by, among others, Michael East, Richard Alison (fl1580-1610, in An Hour's Recreation in musicke, 1606), John Mundy
John Mundy
John Mundy may refer to:* John Mundy , Lord Mayor of London in 1522 and landowner of Derby* John Mundy , English composer* John Mundy , Canadian diplomat...

 (1592) and Charles-François Gounod (1873) and more recently Norman Dello Joio (1949) and Jim Clark (see http://wn.com/Tichborne's_Elegy_Poem_animation).

External links

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