The Early History of Veterinary Literature and its British Development

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the absence of signs of active scab. In the winter, when the sheep carry more wool and are probably in poorer condition, the disease will increase rapidly, and dipping will then have to be carried out under the most unfavourable conditions, both as regards the health of the sheep, damage to the wool, and the eradication of the disease. The choice of a dip is a most important matter. A large number of dipping fluids-proprietary and otherwise-have been tested: the result of these tests will be reported at a later date. One item of considerable interest may, however, be mentioned here. I t has long been recognised that dipping fluids do not destroy the vitality of acari eggs, hence the necessity of giving a second dipping. In the observation all the fluids tested failed tu prevent the hatching of eggs, with the exception of the lime and sulphur dip. This fluid, prepared according to the instructions of the Division of Sheep, and also when a weaker solution containing only 20 lb. of sulphur to roo gallons of water was employed, destroyed the vitality of all eggs ina large nu m ber of tests, both on sheep and in 'vitro. The value of this property of the lime and sulphur dip cannot well be over-estimated, and it may partly account for the success attained in the eradication of scab from Australia; this dip was largely employed in effecting that happy result.

THE EARLY HISTORY OF VETERINARY LITERATURE AND ITS BRITISH DEVELOPMENT.

By Major-General F. SMITH, c.B., C.M.G., F.R.C.V.S., Hon. Assoc. R.C.V.S. (Continued from Vol. XXVII.

SEVENTEENTH

p.

299.)

CENTUR~

GERVASE MARKHAM 1568 (?)- 1637. That portion of Markham's literary life which occupied the last years of the sixteenth century has already been referred to and evidence brought forward to show the remarkable degree of activity he early exhibited. The history of Markham was intentionally deferred to the seventeenth century and must now be taken up. There were at least two families of this name living in N ottinghamshire at the time this notice opens in 1568. They were not on good terms and their delinquencies have been mixed up, especially as the Christian names were much alike in each group, even to the extent of there being a Gervase in each family. Gervase Markham was the third son of Robert Markham of Cotham. This Robert Markham was born in 15361 at Sireston, and succeeded his grandfather at Cotham. He was Knight of the Shire for Nottingham in 1571, High Sheriff in 157I and 1583, and was a man greatly trusted by Queen Elizabeth. By his first wife he had a large family, five being sons, i.e., Robert, Francis, Gervase, John, 1

Herald and Genealogist, Vol. VII., J. G. Nichols.

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and Godfrey. Robert Markham the elder was a man of considerable property, but his extravagance made considerable inroads on the estates. He died in 1606 and was succeeded by his eldest son Robert, born 1564. This Robert was also a spendthrift, and completed the destructio n of the estates of this ancient family, l one after the oth e r had to be disposed o f owing to d e bt until the whole property passed into other hands. The second son, Francis, born 156 5, at firs t led the life of a soldier and subsequently of a parasite. He wrote tw o works which will' be noted presently, and an autobiogra phy which incidentally illustrates the manners of the time. Th e third son, Gervase, or sometimes Jarvis or J ervais, was probably b o rn in 15682 though some have fixed the year 1566. He appears to have followed very closely the life led by Francis, not necessa rily for the reason that h e regard ed him as an example to follow, but it apparently suited the turn of mind possessed by these two p o rtionless son s. As a matte r of fact, of the life led by G e rvase we know nothing definitely, while we have a remarkably full a ccount of that led for fifty years by the far less interesting Francis, who, a s mentioned above, wrote his autobiog raphy.3 It is necessary t o g lance at this autobiography of Francis, not for the reason that he g ives us any information regarding hi s brother Gervase, but in order to illustrate the life of a poor gentleman of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and further for the reason that it is the nearest glimpse we can obtain into the life led by Gerva se. In his autobiography Francis tells us that he was brought up and educated by the Earl of Pembroke, by whom he was sent to Winchester, then placed under one Adrian de Saravia, and finally under Malin, a schoolmaster at "Paules." In 1582 Pembroke sent him to Trinity College, Cam bridge, and shortly afterwards, without obtaining the permission of his benefactor, he volunteered for the wars in the Low Countries, which cost him his Pembroke pension. For four years he remained in disgrace, when, having made peace with his father, he was accepted as a volunteer under ·Sir William Pelham and served in Flanders at the Siege of Sluys. In 1587 Pelham died and Francis, returning home, studied law at Staple and Grey's Inn, living on an allowance made him by his mother. This, in his opinion, being insufficient, he threw up law, and got the Earl of Shrewsbury to recommend him to Sir Robert Sydney, then Governor of Flushing, for a captaincy. In this he was disappointed, and joined the Prince of Anhalt in the war between Lorraine and Brandenburg respecting the Bishopric of Strassbul g. In 1593 Francis was studying civil law in Heidelberg ; he returned to England in 1594 and, being in a condition of impecuniosity, proposed marriage to two widows, by both of whom he was rejected. The Earl of Shrewsbury now made him an allowance of £20 a year for nine years, beginning 1594. He seems to have led a purely parasitic existence during this period, and sh ortly before the pension ended was anxious to propose to another widow. On the termination of the pension he joined the Earl of Essex in France, was promoted captain and proceeded with th e Earl to Ireland, where he was wounded. He then returned to England and hung about the Court in the hope of 1 "Antiquities of l\larkham F amily." o "Miscellanies of 2326, e. 6 (2) ). 3 " Genealogy aud h.b.b.4).

Nottin gham.hire." 1790. Robt. Thoroton , l\I.D. " A History of the 1854. R ev. D. F. lIIarkham. (B.M., 9917 d.d. 15). the Fuller 'iVorthies' Library." 1871. Rev. A. B. Grossart. (B.l\L, No. \ Petegre of the l\Iarkhams, etc.," by Francis l\iarkham. (Rl\L , No. 9905,

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something turning up; in this he was disappointed, so he withdrew and purchased a house in Fulwood Street, (he omits to say who advanced him the money) and again found his way to the Low Countries. Here he failed to agree with one of the military governors and was sent home. He then sold his house, and, Queen Elizabeth being dead, he tried to obtain a position at the Court of James 1. as "sergeant porter," but about this time he was arrested for debt and served fifteen weeks in prison. Four members of the nobility subsequently obtained his release and he then tried to marry Lady Thinne, but the latter's sister prevented the match. He again went to France and, becoming acquainted with Lord Roos, took over the management of his affairs at a stipend of £50 a year, which does not appear to have been paid. He next passed into the service of a Mr Manners, and on the death of the latter Lady St. John provided him with" his diet." While living in her house he met a widow whose daughter he married in 1608, the girl being only fifteen years of age. He does not appear to have made any money by this match, as in 1615 Lord Roos was furnishing him with an allowance until his finances improved. He subsequently became muster-master for Nottingham at £40 a year, and is believed to have died in 1627. Anything more deplorable than the wasted life led by Francis cannot well be imagined. The man was well educated and not without gifts. In 1622 he wrote the Five Decades of Epistles oJ Warre,1 and ill 1625 The Booke of Honor,2 but at heart he was a courtier and parasite, t,oo proud, and probably too idle/ to lead a humble hard - working life, such as his impoverished financial position demanded, but not too proud to beg and live on others. His moral sense appears also to have been low in other directions. 4 I t is most irritating to be in possession of the intimate history of one so closely related to Gervase and yet have to remain in ignorance of the only member of the family who distinguished himself. vVe possess an intimate acquaintance with some of the quarrels of this family, without there being the least light thrown on the man who alone made the name of Markham famous. If Robert Markham, the elder of Cotham, was unabl e to educate and bring up his second son, it is certain that his third, Gervase, must also have been left to the system of practical charity which appears to have been common at that day. I have, therefore, assumed that some charitable person took charge of the education of Gervase, and relieved the father both of this and his support, but where this education was carried out is quite unknown. That Gervase would prove an apt pupil is undoubted; he possessed an excellent memory and was a most observant man. He 'says this of himself in the preface to one of his treatises on agriculture, where he feels some apology and explanation is neceSSrtry for appearing as an instructor in a subject of which he had only a theoretical knowledge. He was a good linguist, and was intimately acquainted with Latin, Italian, French, Spanish, and, it is supposed, Dutch. A man so equipped at the present day, with a turn for literature, would occupy a very strong position as a scholar. In this he describes the duties of all ranks with an army, from corporal to general. A dissertation on th e various degrees and orders of knighthood, It is dedicated to Oharles 1., who, he declares, is next to and immediately under God! 3 In the "Epistles of War" he says an idle man is the devil's cushion. 4 On account of poverty he raffied a jewel worth £100 for £200. Ten ladies of the aristocracy took tickets, but Francis himself WOIl the lottery! 1 2

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In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries it placed him in possession of all that could be known of any scie nce or art then existing, and of thi s Gervase Markham throu gho ut his life t ook the fullest advantage, at the same time concealing his sources of inform a tion. In one of his prefaces he tell s us that he knows something of most sc iences. Added to the above equipment was a great capacity for work; hi s industry ha s heen described as prodigious. Year by year matter of all kinds rolled from his pen - poetry, the drama, roman ces, husbandry, hors emanship, diseases of animal s, domestic medicine, military instruction, hunting, hawking, fowling, fishing, and archery. Had all this work been original I would concur in the ex press ion "prodigious," but Markham has imposed on the world for 300 years, and of the man y works he published only a small fraction possessed any originality. The late Sir Clements Markham wrote the article on G ervase in the Dictionary of National Biog raphy, and it might be assumed that this represents a faithful portrai t of the man. As a matter of fact, th ere are certain corrections necessary and many additi ons to be made. We are told, for in stance, that Gervase was the owner of valuable horses , and was said to have imported the fir st Arab into England. It is singular that it did not strike Sir Clements that a man whose life was spent keeping body and soul to gether by means of his pen was hardly likely to be th e owner of a horse, let alone a valuable Arab. The statement also th a t he was supposed to have been the first to import the Arab int o England is easily refuted,l while th e common belief that Gervase sold an Arab horse to James I. is an error. The seller was John Markham, a merchant,2 and th e price paid was £ 154, and not £500 as generally believed. 3 Had Gervase owned an Arab he would have said so. He makes repeated references to the breed, and he was the last man in the world to omit anything which could bring him credit. In How to Chuse, etc., he refers to the Arab as a "peerless" stallion, and menti ons one "of which I have the riding." At this time (1597) he was brt"aking and training horses, and this animal was evidently in his hands for that purpose. I n connection with the A rab story there is a reference made by Sir John Harrin g ton 4 in his Rabelesian satire, The Metamorphosis of Ajax, 1596, which shows th at an Arab horse was in one of the branches of the Markham family: ". . . but send one for his nephew Robert that came of th e elder house and of the blood of Lancaster, he that Master Secretary Walsingham gave the Arabian horse." This reference indicates that Robert, the father of Gervase, had an Arab, but curiously enough Gervase never refers to the matter. Sir Clements tells us that Gervase was a practical student of agri1 An Ara.b horse wa.s imported for a king of Scotland as far baek as 1121, see footnote (p. 120) of t his history. BlundeviIl e's remarks on the Arab of his day are conclusive evidence t.hat t.hey were well known in Englan(j before the time of Markham. 2 The authority is the Duke of Newcastle, who saw the horse. See" A New Method and Extmordinary Invention ," ~tc., lfi67. :l "Quarterly Review," V ol. eLXI., 1885. p. 441. 4 H arrington married the daughter of John l\Iarkham 0f Ollerton. He died in 1612. In " Nugce Antiqure" (Rev. H. Harrington, 1792) his papers and lettel's will be found .

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culture, and that his services in thl's respect were long remembered. In this Sir Clements probably followed N. Drake,! who speaks highly of Markham's agricultural works. The actual facts are that during his early life Gervase could scarcely help observing agricultural operations and mayor may not have taken a special interest in them. During his years of study, both at home and abroad, it is doubtful whether he had any time to study practical agriculture. During the period he spent with the army, which has yet to be alluded to, he certainly did not study agriculture, and when later on it became necessary to adopt some calling as a means of livelihood, his life, so far as can be made out, was passed in London -no place, even ill those days, for the study of agricultural pursuits. Donaldson 2 does not consider that Markham's agricultural works led to any advance or improved method of practice; they did not advance agriculture beyond Fitzherbert. He adds that Markham knew the routine and nothing more. Hart 3 says that Markham borrowed from all, and had not the gratitude to acknowledge sources of information. Barnaby Googe, op. cit., gives us the names of fifteen writers on agriculture in the reign of Elizabeth; it is believed that most of them copied Fitzherbert. Plat's Jewel House of Art and Nature, r 594, may have been an exception, but I have not examined it. Googe, as we have seen, translated the celebrated work of Heresbach in r 577. From about 1600 great efforts were made to revive agriculture, especially in France by De Serres and Etienne and Liebault, whose works have already been referred to in this history, and with which Markham was intimately familiar. B. de Palissy, a poor French potter, also wrote a work on agriculture in 1564, entitled The Way to Become Rich. From the fact that Markham produced a work with a similar title there can be little doubt that he studied Palissy, who was an ardent advocate of manures. Sir Clements Markham, in claiming for Gervase special recognition in connection with agriculture, was doubtless influenced by the reference in W. Blith's Englislz Improver, 1649. But BIith does not say that the views put forward were original; on the contrary, he indicates that all Markham's work, though useful and worthy of honour, was old and "the spirits drained." When reading his English Husbandman or A Way to Wealth it is difficult to believe that the measures so confidentlv laid down were written in a London lodging with nothing but the ;ecollection of the country to infuse the necessary local colour. But Gervase Markham was never at a loss; he possessed the best works on agriculture to keep him straight and a magnificent assurance. Sir Clements Markham in his article above quoted claims that Gervase was the champion of improved methods of horse breeding in this country. The actual facts are that from the earliest times there had always been a desire to improve the breed of horses in England, and the Arab, with others, had been looked to for this purpose. As just pointed out, Arabs had been imported long before the days of Gervase, and there is nothing in his writi.ngs to show that Markham 1

2 3

"Sha,kespeare and His Times," 1817. "Agricultural Biography," 1854. J. Donaldson. "Essays on Husbandry." Rev. 'Valter Harte. 1770.

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influenced breeding in any way. For example, his first work in which the subject is dealt with was How to Clzuse, Ride, and Traine, etc.; it appeared in 1597, with a second edition in 1599, a third in 1606. In this he refers to his" young experi(mce yet in the midwife's arms, scarce ready for his first swathing clouts." Markham was twenty-nine years of age when this book was produced, and it underwent no material change in subsequent editions. As a matter of fact, what he has written on breeding is copied from Blundeville without acknowledgement: he knew nothing of the subject practically, and in this respect resembles most if not all subsequent writers. The men who might write on breeding never do, not only for the reason that writing is distasteful to the class to which they generally belong, but also because they cannot understand what is required to be said. The innate gift can neither be formulated nor expressed in words. Having endeavoured to refute some of the fallacies connected with the published accounts of the life of Markham, it only remains to collect the fragments of undoubted authenticity regarding his life and endeavour to set them in their place. Markham, presumably after he had completed his education, was employed, or employed his time, in equitation. ' He tells us in Cavelarice of his instructor Master Thomas Story of Greenwich, whose ability he held in the highest veneration. Story was probably connected with the Court, which at that time resided at Greenwich. It was here that Markham had an opportunity of seeing the Italian "riders"; bc certainly says he saw Prospero ride many times. The work in the riding school latcr brought him in contact with Sir Robert Alexander, a man famed for his horsemanship. Markham tells us that Alexander's equal in Europe could scarcely be found. At what period this occurred we have no knowledge, but it is fair to assume that his Discourse on Horses, published in 1593, was the outcome of his experience in the riding school. How long he practised equitation we have no idea, but he was riding in 1597. During this period in the stables he would acquire information of practical horse-mastership, including what is embraced in the present day by the term hygiene, and be able to form opinions of his own on these questions. He would also learn something of veterinary matters, which in spite of the existence of the farrier were still largely in the hands of teachers of equitation. It is fair to assume that Markham, like most young men of his day, was anxious to take part in the campaigns in Flanders and elsewhere. It was a fashionable pursuit, and young men set out for thp. wars with much finery.! Hc served in the Low Countries, but under whom or the year is unknown. In addressing Sir Richard Dormer, in the 1636 edition of the Masterpeece, he reminds him that he once served under him in a military capacity, but where he does not indicate. I n 1597 he accompanied Essex in the expedition to the Azores, serving under the Earl of Southampton, into whose favour he had ingratiated himself. The Earl was a man of great wealth, a patron of literature, and one of Shakespeare's best friends. In 1595 Markham inscribed 1 "The Gull's Horn Rook." Decker. 1609. Annotated by J. Nott, 1812. "The ·Wars in Spaiu and the Low Couutries filled the metropolis with a set of needy adventurers returning from these expeditions . . . ready for any venture of riot or debauchery." "History of English Poetry." Thos. ",Vartoll.

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to Southampton his poem on the fight of the Revenge under Sir Richard Grenville, which doubtless secured what he most desired, money and patronage. It was an extremely astute move, and the necessary blandishments· to the Earl readily found exit from Markham's pen. After reminding his patron of the inspiring force of his eyes, he went on to inform him that the sweetness of his lips (voice) delighted the ear of Almighty God! The poem of the Revenge occupies ninety pages and was written four years after the fight; it is regarded by experts as a laboured and dreary production with some good passages. In 1595 Markham under the title of TIle Gentleman's Academy issued Juliana Berner's Book of St. Albans (q.v .). In 1596 he published The Poem of P oems or Zion's 1l-1use 1 containing the divine song of Solomon . Bishop Hall in his Satires, 1597, ridiculed this class of spiritual poetry on the ground that Solomon is made to a ssume the character of a modern sonnetteer, and celebrates sacred matters with the levities and in the language of a lover singing the praises of his mistress. 2 In 1597 Markham accompanied the Earl of Southampton to the Azores and Spain in the unfortunate expedition under the command of the Earl of Essex. The Earl of Southampton, after a very chequered career, died in [624, whereupon Markham wrote H onor in His Perfection, in which the virtues of the Earls of Southampton, Oxford, Essex, and others were set forth. It is in this book that Markham refers to the Azores. He adds that for many years he daily saw the Earl, and he says he knew him before the wars, in the wars, and after the wars. From this it is easy to understand one source of Markham's income from 1595 to r624. The fulsome flattery poured out by Markham of the virtues of the deceased Earl of Southampton even appears to have staggered the writer, for Markham having exhausted his vocabulary, says" something pulls me at the elbow and commands me to stop," for" flattery is a deadly sin and will damn reputation!" I t may be added that Markham was equally a past-mas ter of the art of abuse, as may also be seen in the introduction to Honor, etc., where he describes the <, enemies of Britain" in terms unnecessary to reproduce. In I 597 he published a paraphrase from the French of Maulette's Devoreaux. 3 It is preceded by a sonnet written by E. Guilpin and addressed" to his deere friend Jervis Markham." The object of the sonnet is to show that the world's beauty and genius is not concentrated in Italy and it concludes : "To that proud brag, thou, Jervis, shall repJye Whose muse in this song gives them all the lye "

The flattery must have been most di s tasteful to Markham! In r598 Essex was in Ireland, where he was joined by Sir John Harington, a kinsman of the Markhams. From a letter written by 1 The poem is dedicated to "The sacred virgin divine Mistress Elizabeth Sydney, sole de,ughter a nd h eir of the ever admired Sir Phillip Sydney." MaI'kbam elsewhere t ell s u sbe detests flattery hut b e informs this lady that h e is "Bound to your eternal service, divinest of all virgin creatures . dear flower of dear vi rgillity . . . " 2 "Warton's History of English Po .. try." Edited by W. J , Hazlitt. 18il. ~ See "Restituta." Sir E. Brydges , ] 814.

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Harington in 1599 it is certain that three of the brothers Markham were there on service, including Gervase and Francis. Gef\'ase probably accompanied Southampton, who joined Essex in 1599. Markham is curiously silent on some subjects he was competent to deal with; nowhere throughout his numerous works does he do more than hint here and there at having led a military life. He could have told us much about his experience with horses in the field, but not a word escapes him on the subject. Even the two military works he wrote did not appear until late in life, 1625, 1626, and 1627, and admirable as they are they tell us nothing about horses under service conditions, a matter on which he was fully qualified to write. The military works, with a trifling exception, are modestly written and are standard works on the organisation of the army in his day. It would almost appear that on leaving the army he forgot that he had ever been a soldier, and curiously enough it was not until he was an old man that he seems to have remembered he once held a cOmmtSSlOn. In the Faithful Farrier of 1630 he trusts the work will be accepted as "Captain Gervase Markham's last and best labours" and refers to himself as the "old Captain." In 1631, in his translation of Heresbach's Husbandry, he is shown on the titlepage as Captain Gervase Markham, but in his military works of 1625, 1626, and 1627, the books only bear his initials. It is unlikely that a captain's commission was conferred on him in 1630 by Charles I., as Markham was then sixty-two years of age. It seems probable that as he became older he lived more in the past; nevertheless, he did not like the idea of being regarded as belonging to an earlier generation, for in 1634, in writing upon Archery, he says he does not wish to be thought a "King Harry Captain" or "a man of an old edition, out of date in these refined times." It seems unlikely that Markham was long in Ireland in the 1599 campaign, for in February 1601 Essex and Southampton organised a rising against the Crown, for which Essex was executed and Southampton condemned to imprisonment for life. He was liberated in 1603, when James I. came to the throne. In the meantime Markham was deprived of the Earl's patronage, and doubtless such financial aid as had previously been given him. Markham wrote nothing in 1598-99-both years he was on service; but in 1600, when, I assume, he returned from Ireland, he wrote The Tears of the Beloved, and in the following year Mar)) .iViagdalene's Lamentation, etc. Nothing came from his pen between 1602-06, excepting unimportant reprints of How to Ciluse. The spiritual poetry indulged in by Markham was not a success. It was popular, which doubtless explains why Markham persisted in his efforts in this direction. We have already seen what Bishop Hall had to say regarding The Poem of Poems of 1595, and Haselwood,l speaking of The Tears of tile Beloved, etc., of which Mary Magdalem, etc., was Part II., says that Markham's muse had not attained much celebrity, and the subject was one where few writers have succeeded. Even Grossart (op. cit.), an enthusiastic admirer of Markham, refers to his russet-clad muse. I

"British Bibliographer." Sir E. Brydges.

1810.

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The year 1607 saw published Rodomontlz's Infernal, a translated paraphrase from the French of Des Portes; also The English Arcadia, a very rare book, of which only two copies are known. In it Markham refers to Sir Philip Sidney-of whose work he says this is a continuation-as "the most excellent creature that first taught us the sound of most excellent writing" (Hazlett).1 In 1607 Markham also brought out his best work on horses, designated Ca vela riee. This latter will be closely examined in due course. It must have taken him some time to write, but we have seen that from a literary point he had enjoyed a few years of idleness. The title appears to have been taken from a French work; excepting as a conceit it is not very clear why he considered this necessary. In 1608 he published Ariostos Satyres, and a comedy in five acts known as The Dumbe Knigltt. The Satyres had been translated by one R. Toft; how the translation got into Markham's hands is unknown. Markham placed his name on the title-page, and in 1615 Toft published his Blazon 0.1 Jealousy, and stated that the translation of Tile Sa!.-lIres was his work, and without his consent or knowledge had been printed in another man's name. Markham never disputed Toft's claim. Tlte Dumbe Kniglzt was written in conjunction with one L. Machin; in a later edition (1633) Markham's name has disappeared from the title-page, though Machin continues to sign the address to the reader. What Markham's actual share in this comedy amounted to is unknown. In 1609 was issued a poem entitled The Noble Courtezan. Collier 2 describes its merits as not great. In 1610 appeared the worst and yet the most popular of Markham's writings, bearing the aggressive title Markham's Masterpeece. No work published in this country has done more damage to veterinary progress. It went through twenty-one editions, and was popular a hundred years after Markham's death. The analysis of the book, which will follow in due course, convicts Markham of gross plagiarism, but the harm which it did was entirely due to Markham, and caused by "the cures," frequently violent, and repeatedly disgusting, which disfigure every chapter of the work, and for which he alone was responsible. Markham's pen appears to have had a rest during 1611 and 1612, though Hazlitt says that in 1611 the first part of Country Contentments appeared. The earliest edition I have seen is that of 1615, but Markham at this time adopted the practice of issuing parts of a work and bringing them together later with a new general title, so that Book I. of Country Contentments, or a portion of it, may have been issued prior to 1615. In 1613 appeared TIle English Husbandman. Markham had sufficiently exploited matters connected with horses, and it is probable both the public and the printers were showing signs of a surfeit, as his works were largely repetitions. He now breaks fresh ground and takes up agriculture. Book I. of The English Husbandman is entirely confined to agricultural matters, frequently copied without acknowledgment from Estienne and Liebault, though Mark"Biographical Collections." "A Bibliographical and Critical Account of the Rarest Books in the English Language." .T. O. Collier. 1865. 1 2

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ham, as usual, says on the title-page that no author had previously written on the subject. Book II. was not issued until 1614. It deals with the kitchen and flower garden, pastures and meadows. He also includes a chapter on breeding and fattening of cattle, and finally how to cure all the diseases of horses and cattle by the employment of twelve medicines! He informs the agriculturist that the horse suffers from over 100 diseases, and that it is impossible for the "honest plain-dealing husbandman" to carry the treatment of all these in his memory. He then says that by a new process, never previously discovered by any author, and which will preserve Markham's name to all posterity, he has succeeded in simplifying the treatment of disease suited to the meanest understanding! It is difficult to believe that this nonsense succeeded in deceiving the public, but the depth of degradation to which Markham had by this time fallen is very evident. He was at a loss what to serve up as a second part of the Husbandman, hence the delay of a year, and finally the insane, bombastic production which will ever remain a disgrace to his pen and intelligence. The third part of Tlze EnglislzHusbandman is given a distinct title, and called Tlze Pleasures 0.1 Princes or Good-J1Zen's Recreation ,. it is not spoken of as a third book but as an addition. It deals with fishing and the breeding and training of the fighting cock. The latter is an admirable piece of work; Markham evidently wrote from intimate knowledge. Tize EngHslz Husbandman will be examined later. Its general structure has here been commented upon not on Iy in order to show the difficulties Markham was experiencing in finding material for his pen, and his contempt of truth, but al;;o to point out a pernicious system now introduced of mixing up different works, each with a distinct title-page, under one cover, and giving the whole a new name. It is practically impossible to unravel the tangled mass of material which, in the course of years, resulted from this system. Before leaving the year 16r 3 we may notice that the second part of Tize Englislz Arcadia and Hobson's Horse Load of Letters were published. In r614 he published another work with an agricultural title, Cizeape and Good Husbandry. As a matter of fact, it does not deal with agriculture but with the animals of the farm and their diseases. I n order to cause the book to sell, there is a notice by Markha m that he has found out an infallible way of curing all diseases of cattle! In the year 1636 he repudhtted this book, and said it was the invention of others! In r61 5 Markham published Country Contentments in two books; the first consisted of the threadbare subject of equitation, breeding,training, etc. of horses. It is merely a reproduction of his previous works on this subject, though he goes out of the way to assure the reader that it is quite new. The second part of this book receives a new title and is called Tize Englislz Huswlfe / it consists of domestic medicine and cookery. Simultaneously Tlze Englislz Huswife was being sold as a separate publication! In 1616 he claimed to have translated the Maison Rustique or the Country Farm of Estienne and Liebault. As a matter of fact, it is an exact copy of the translation made by Dr Surflet in 1606, with a few

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notes by Markham. In this year he also brought out Method or Ep z"to me. This was another work on" cures," dealing with all animals from horses to singing birds, and is a reproduction of his vicious treatise on this subject in The Englzsh Husbandman of 1613. Markham says of this book that it is so valuable that as long as men ride on horseback its truths will prevaiJ.1 He adds that he does not deal with deer, as under the providence of God they are their own physicians and need no help from man. It is unfortunate for the domestic animals of his day that this did not apply to all. There were ten editions of this vile work issued by 167 I. In 1618 he issued Conceyted Letters newly layde open, which deals with the art of writing and conversation. In 1620 Markham's Farewell to Husbattdry was published, a work which is purely agricultural, and deals with" the enriching of all sorts of barren and sterile soils." There is nothing in the book to indicate that it is a farewell, and as a matter of fact other agricultural works followed. In 1621 Hunger Preventz'on was published; it dealt with the art of fowling by land and sea. This book is well and clearly written. In 1622 The True tragedy 0./ Herod and Antz"pater was published in conjunction with W. Sampson; the plot of the play is taken from Josephus' Hz"story of the Jews. In 1624 appeared Honor z"n z"ts Peijectz"on, which has been noticed above. In 1625 a work with the attractive title A Way to Wealth was published. This was another of Markham's mixtures of previously published works; each retained its original title-page and year of issue, and the whole was brought together and given a fresh title-page and designation. A Way to Wealtlt is composed of Cheap and Good Husbandry, Country Contentments, Tlte Englzsh Housewije, lnrz'dmlent
Nevertheless he repudiated it in 1636 and said it was a forgery.

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years. In 1634 appeared The Art 0./ Archerie, in which he urges an increase in the number of men in the country capable of bearing arms, and says that military training would keep them out of " playhouses, ale-houses, and tobacco shops." In the dedication to the King (Charles 1.) he makes reference to the degeneraticm he meets with in the kingdom, based on observations "to which my place 1n several counties calls me." This, if true, would indicate that he moved about a good deal even as an old man. The work on archery is a paraphrase of a treatise on the subject by Roger Asham, who wrote in the reign of Henry VIII. I do not think this plagiarism has previously been detected Markham died in February 1637; in 1639 there appeared The Complete Farrier or Tile King's Highway. I t is the old story of horsemanship, no dedication but a preface in Markham's usual style_ I have felt inclined to doubt the genuineness of this book, but Arber's Transcripts show that in 1631, and again in 1637, A King's Highway was licensed. It is almost certain that it existed in MS. form and was found after his death. The name on the title-page is G. Markam. Markham was hardly likely to overlook such a misprint in a first edition. It is not improbable that Markham's literary efforts up to the end ·of the sixteenth century were the outcome of youthful zeal and conscious ability, but from 1600 onwards they represent as a definite object a source of livelihood. The members of this family were -distinguished for their habits of extravagance, and it is not unlikely that Markham's slender income frequently failed to meet his expenses. Reasoning from experience of the world, his character suggests that he gave nothing away without payment. The fre'CJ.uency with which his_ works repeat themselves show not only literary exhaustion but an urgent desire for money. Authors were not well paid in those days any more than at present, but it is fair to assume that a successful and aggressive man had a control of the market and could command his own price. As judged by the numerous editions of his works, his literary career must be regarded as successful. What his relations were with his publishers is difficult to understand. He appears to have gone from one to the other, for he rarely employed the same a second time, or perhaps -H may be that the publisher seldom desired a second experience of Markham. He seems to have played one off against the other, and did not hesiate to spite a publisher by deliberate adverse criticism of previous editions of his own works. When he brought out a book with a new title covering ground already i:raversed, he thought nothing of saying the previous work was full of errors, owing to the carelessness or grasping nature of the printer, as the publisher in those days was called. Much evidence ·of this will appear in dealing with individual works, and it is no cause for wonder that in 16I7 he signed an agreement, still extant in the Records of the Stationers' Company,! which runs as follows : "Memorandum, that I, Gervase Markham of London, gent, Do promise 'hereafter never to write any more book or books to be printed of the 1

Sec Pl'ofessor Arber's "Transcript of the Company of Stationers," Vol. III.

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Deseases or Cures of any Cattle, as Horse, Oxe, Cowe, Sheepe, Swine, Goates, &c. "In witness whereof I have hereunto sett my hand the 14th day of Julie 16 17.

GERVIS MARKHAM."

It would certainly appear that the Cornpany of Stationers took action on the representation of the London printers, who were, no doubt, being victirnised by Markharn's unscrupulous rnethods. The rnernorandum was not cornpletely observed, nevertheless no new (?) work on diseases was pu blished for rnany years. Markharn was grossly untruthful; throughout his literary life he practised deceit, and lied to the public in the rnost astounding rnanner. If we can trust his uncle's staternent, he also lied in private life. He was careful to rnake a judicious selection of literary patrons, a rnatter in those days of the utrnost irnportance. We have seen that he secured in 1595 the rnost influential literary patron of the day in the person of the Earl of Southarnpton, and at that tirne patrons paid handsornely for works with which their narnes were associated. In the art of writing dedications he had no superior, and probably few equals, even in that day of fulsorne flattery. One or two have already been referred to, and we rnay take leave to doubt Markharn's own staternent that he hated a flatterer. A collection of his dedications would make a book in thernselves. Though all were frarned in the cornrnon rnould, yet they never read alike. In Cavelariee there are seven books, and two dedications to each. One feels on reading thern that they are all frorn his heart, and in a spontaneous outburst of thanks for sorne favour not always apparent. They never lose their freshness nor audacity, nor their disgusting adulation when addressed to persons of note. Gervase rnust have spent sorne tirne in the production of these highly polished gems, apart frorn the fact that there is evidence it was a farnily gift, in which Francis ran hirn very closely. We have a right to be grateful for his nurnerous dedications and prefaces, as it enables us to see the rnan as he was. We learn frorn thern the true state of his rnind, of his disagreernents with his publishers, his unswerving loyalty to the Crown, his prostration before greatness and worldly gifts, his conternpt of the farrier class, with which he pretended to be identified, his overweening ambition and unparalled conceit, his rnock rnodesty and desire for obscurity. All these and rnore appear in these letters; while in the text his discursive style leads to personal references of infinite irnportance to the biographer, such as palrning off unsound horses on low horsedealers, the horses he rode in "the school," his instructor, and other touches, sornetirnes but a few words, but of infinite irnportance in seeing the rnan as he was. Whenever in these passages Markharn speaks of his horror at a rnan plagiarising the works of another, or of his resolution never to deal twice with a subject which has already appeared in a previous work of his own, or of his hatred of the "oyley tongue of ostentation," we need not take hirn seriously, as these pages are intended to testify. It was Harte who first designated Markharn a "hack" writer.

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33 I

He may have written works to order, but the impression he gives me is that the publishers were in his hands. The real explanation of the popularity of his writings does not lie in the merits of his work but his method of presenting it. When he liked he could write in the most charming manner, but there is ample evidence of careless, slipshod work, and of obscurely expressed views. The latter was frequently intentional; he admits it, and covers up the tracks by suggesting secrets he was at the time unwilling to part with. As a matter of fact, when he is obscure it is due to want of knowledge. \Vhere he knows his subject, no man could take more pains to explain every detail, even to prolixity; take, for example, the breeding and training of the fighting cock, the school training of horses, conditioning of animals for the chase,-subjects which lay at the tips of his fingers, and are so presented that it seems impossible for a point to have escaped attention. On the other hand, in dealing with veterinary matters he is bad. He has no views; though he says he was a practitioner for forty years there is not a particle of evidence to support it. He has to go elsewhere for all the information he gives; it is, of course, unacknowledged, but fortunately can be brought home. He endeavours on glanders and broken wind to introduce personal views, the only example of an effort to break away from previous writers, but the attempt is unsuccessful. He either tells us nothing new, or presents a case so hopelessly involved that nothing can be made of it. Nowhere in his veterinary works does he add a single fact to the sum of human knowledge as the outcome of his" practice" and observation. He found the theory of the veterinary art in the position left it by the conscientious, zealous Blundeville and the unscrupulous Mascall; he left it where they left it, in spite of his claim to have raised it to the height of perfection. But he did worse; he debased its practice to an unbelievable degree by his" rare and approved secrets," "sovereign remedies," disgusting, frequently cruel, and even atrocious "recommendations. He advertised that he could cure everything, that he had discovered certain infallible remedies for the diseases of all animals, and, finally, that he could cure all known diseases by means of twelve remedies, and that anyone else could do the same without previous experience, provided they were in possession of his book! The various editions of his veterinary works outsold alI others from his pen, and in consequence Markham's contributions to veterinary knowledge has been estimated by the number of editions disposed of. The actual facts connected with their origin appear to be as follows. In early life he took up the work of the riding school, taught men to ride, broke in horses and trained them to the saddle. With this knowledge in hand he wrote the Discourse on Horsemallship. His work in the school necessarily brought him into contact with stable management, so in his second book, in which he repeats the Discourse under a new title, he adds stable management. His work with horses had doubtless led to an acquaintance with external diseases, lameness, and injury, so that in his third workLavelarice- which is an elaboration of the first two, veterinary matters are introduced, though very feebly. He soon found that the public did not care for anything but "cures." Every man v

33 2

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made his own diagnosis but did not always know what to do in the way of treatment; Markham stepped into the breach and told him. With all the audacity for which he was remarkable he produced a work entirely veterinary in character, which he modestly described as his ,Wasterpeece. It was constructed in the study, and built up from Blundeville, whom he ravages from cover to cover; this will be evident when I analyse the Masterpeece. Markham's share of the work was providing the cures, which he extracted from various sources, and from farriers then in active practice, whom he mentions by name. The work evidently met a want, and went through edition after edition. Here at a glance the owner or groom could get ten or more" cures" tor every known disease, the cures being discribed as the "Mirror" or the "Emperor" of all medicines, and other fantastic and alluring titles. So favourable, indeed, was the reception accorded to the veterinary work, which dealt exclusively with horses, that Markham's gift of imagination led to further developments. Why not a book on cattle, sheep, and other animals of the farm, their management and diseases? Whereupon he unblushingly advertises in Cizeape and Good that he has discovered an infallible cure for all diseases of these animals. He knew nothing of the subject, and the work is built up from others, including a plagiarism of the plagiarist Mascall ! When it became evident that fresh blood must be introduced if the art of book production was to be maintained, Markham's imagination suggested agriculture as a near relation to the questions he had been writing upon with success. Poetry, romances, and the drama were very indifferent" pot boilers"; they seldom reached a second edition, while the horse, and especially veterinary works, commanded a large sale. Practically the whole of the work during the remaining portion of his life centres around animals in health and disease, agriculture and sport. A little more or less of horse management in one book, of animal diseases and management in another, of agriculture and rural sport in a third; these constitute the scale on which he plays, and enables a book with an old face to be produced with a new title. As he got older, he did not, as we have seen, even take the trouble to dilute, add, or subtract· in order to produce a fresh work, but boldly took a series of old productions, brought them together, and gave them a new name. The trouble this has proyed to the bibliographer will be again referred to. My own belief is that these numerous books were the outcome of a chronic condition of impecuniosity, to disguise which he offers some explanation or apology for every work he published. All his prefaces during the latter half of his life repeat the followinglegend : that on the urgent representation of certain powerful friends he has consented, after considerable hesitation, to agree to the publication of the work in question. Even this in course of time lost its charm, so he stepped lower and now offers, at the urgent request of his friends, his rare and beautiful secrets. Later on he takes the final drop; the secrets are now represented as the glory of his practice; we are told that he never anticipated that he would ever divulge what he is now about to publish, but he is not far from the grave, and there the secrets will be of no use to him! All his life he preyed on human credulity

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333

and offered secrets, more secrets, further secrets, and died leaving a MS. of still unpublished secrets! Had Markham possessed a practice and really studied disease he would have become the greatest authority of the century, for he possessed a trained mind, powers of observation, and could readily have discerned and filled in the gaps left by the conscientious and struggling Blundeville. As it was, all his veterinary work, like that of BlundeviIle's, lacks the real thing, the touch of practical experience without which the story is lifeless and uninforming. The Markhams were a quarrelsome family; long before Gervase appeared on the scene there were disputes both amongst themselves and with others. Gervase Markham, if we may judge by his relations with his publishers, was also of a quarrelsome nature, but the duel with Sir John Holies 1 is an error; his supposed quarrel with D'Arcy, whom he is said to have challenged with the consequence that he was heavily fined by the Star Chamber, is an error perpetuated by Hume. 2 A Gervase Markham was concerned in these matters, not the man under consideration but a member of another branch, also of Nottingham, who bore the name of Gervase. 3 By far the most interesting record to us of the quarrels of the Markham family is contained in a MS. in the Lambeth Library.4 This is a letter written under the following circumstances by our Gervase Markham to his uricle Thomas Markham. Robert Markham, father of Gervase, was on bad terms with his brother Thomas; the latter in a letter to Robert referred to his son Gervase" as a poetical lying knave," and he further blames Gervase for the bad blood ,existing between them. Gervase's father would appear to have sent him this letter to reply to. This will be found in the reference quoted, in which Markham admits his love for poetry, and adds his regret for the many hours misspent in "a feather-light study." He indignantly protests against the expression" lying knave" and says he is prepared to thrust it down the throat of his traducer or give 'his soul to God in the attempt. The letter is not dated ,but it was written early in 1600. In describing Gervase as a "lying knave" the uncle was evidently speaking from experienc~; the man was well known to his -contemporaries. Ben Jonson despised him, and said he was" not of the number of the faithful (i.e., poets), and but a base fellow."5 Jonson was a bitter man who made many enemies, including Shakespeare, but his judgment of Gervase Markham was fully justified. Markham was infected with the puritanical religion of his day. The working of "the cure," so confidently prescribed by him, lay in the hands of the Almighty. This conveniently relieved Markham of responsibility for failure. He tells us elsewhere to give God the -glory for Markham's mighty achievements, while he adds modestly that personally he will be satisfied with mere thanks. 1 "Biographia Britannia," Art., HolIes, Note C, 1747. "Historical Collections of Notable Families." A. Collins. 1752. 2 "History of England." The papers dealing with the D'Arcy case are in the Bodleian, Rawlinson Codices. 3 "Illustrations of British History." E. Lodge, 1838, p. 531, Talbot Papers Vol H. There are 7000 letters in the Talbot Collection belonging to the Earl of ShrewsbUl:y, who was distantly related to the Markhams. 4 Sec Catalogue, Vol. XVI, 709, 65. 5 B. Jonson's Conversations with 'William Drummond. 1619.

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It was apparently impossible for him to be frank with the public; book after book was issued from the press, translations, compilations or reproductions of his own writing, and we are gravely informed nothing similar had ever previously appeared in print! When he issued Tlte Englislt Housewife and presented a long article on domestic. or " kitchen" medicine 1 he knew he had extracted it bodily from Liebault and Stevens' Maison Rustique, yet he asks the public to believe that it was from the pen of a countess, a celebrated woman, who wished to remain anonymous! He had many traducers, according to his own account, and it is easy to imagine that, in a time when men spoke their mind of each other with a freedom not permissible in the present day, the charlatan Markham did not escape. Yet he appears generally to have scorned his public, and accepted without hesitation the risks of detection. He repeatedly anticipates the jealous pens of others, and the attacks to which he is exposed in his capacity of public benefactor and "notary"; he trusts, however, that his traducers may be poisoned with their own gall. My conception of the real Markham differs from the pictures presented by Grossart 2 and Aldis,3 but it agrees in almost every detail with that published over 100 years ago by J. Lawrence,± and which was not seen by me until this appreciation was written. Lawrence says:"But there is another writer of nearly the same period, if not of greater merit, at least of more good fortune, than those I have just mentioned. It is the redoubtable Gervase Markham, for more than a century the oracle of sapient grooms, the fiddle of old wives, and the glory of booksellers. After having painfully laboured through his works, it remains with me a doubt whether this famous writer ever possessed any real knowledge of the horse, or of the art veterinary, from his own practice and experience. He was, in my opinion, nothing better than a mere vulgar and illiterate compiler; and his works, some few things excepted, are stuffed with all the execrable trash that had ever been invented by any writer, or practised by any farrier, ancient or modern, on the subject of horses. It is necessary, however, that we do justice to the character of Gervase Markham; he certainly possessed a species of merit which has not descended to all his successors, the copyists and plagiaries: he very honestly gives the names of those authors from whom he derives his knowledge. "Markham's works were printed and reprinted to the twentieth, and for aught I know, to the fortieth edition. At least, the celebrated name of Gervase Markham was made use of by the booksellers to a vast number of compilations, not only upon the subject of horses, but of husbandry, gardening, and housewifery. "The mischiefs which have been occasioned by the extensive circulation of this man's books are incalculable. They brought almost as many evils and cruel inflictions upon poor helpless animals as the opening of Pandora's box did upon the human race: and notwithstanding the author lived till after the Restoration, and published an edition of his works, in which he boasts of fifty years' practice, we find no improvement resulting from his Including the treatment of gonorrhcea ! "Miscellanies of the Fuller Worthies' Library." 1871. The Rev. Alex. Grossart. No. 2326, e. 6 (1-3)). 3 "Cambridge History of English Literature," Vol. IV. 1909. 4 "Treatise on Horses," Vol. I., Third Edition, 1810, p. 10. 1

2

(B.M.,

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long experience, but that the work which received his last hand is but a mere repetition of the barbarous and unmeaning absurdities of former times. "From the works of Gervase Markham, and his famous receipts, all the old grooms 'and farriers, who, unfortunately for the animals committed to their care, and the proprietors of them, were able to write and read, obtained all their veterinary knowledge, their skill in operations, and their wonderful tricks; nor is the fame of this great writer altogether unknown to some of our elder sages of the stable, even at this day: and I must beg leave to advise every owner of horses, who regards their welfare and his own interest, as soon as he shall be apprised that his groom or farrier is in possession of Markham's works, or indeed any of that stamp, to purchase such dangerous commodities out of their hands, and to put them to more harmless and necessary purposes than to those which ignorant people would most probably apply them. "As these books are now happily become somewhat scarce, and few of my readers may perhaps have enjoyed an opportunity of perusing them, it may not be amiss to skim a little of their cream for the entertainment of the curious." Here Lawrence reproduces the brutal treatment of a tired horse, the operation for" fallen crest," and the formation of a "white star" on any part of the body. I picture Markham's life as a constant struggle tor existence. With a man of such undoubted ability and versatility the cause of this must have been personal. As early as 1607 he refers to the" shadow" over his fortune, and this appears to have lasted throughout his life. Of its nature there is no information, but I suspect he always spent more than his income. His intimate acquaintance with the turf and fighting cock suggests that gambling may have been a cause of poverty. His best work, Cave/ariee, was published at thirty-nine years of age, after mature experience. At forty-two he wrote the Masterpeeee, and promised that all who read it would be able to perform" invincible" cures. He was forty-five when The English Husbandman appeared, in which he gave instructions how to treat every disease of animals with twelve" cures." At forty-six he announced he had discovered an infallible method of curing all diseases of cattle. When forty-eight years of age he repeated his ability to cure all diseases by means of twelve remedies. At sixty-two he was evidently in financial distress, and in view of approaching dissolution he is selling secrets from the "cabinet of his heart" such as he never expected to part with. Seven years later he died, February 1637. It is evident that from the age of forty his moral sense shows constant deterioration. His last veterinary work with a new title was the Faithful Farrier in 1630 ; the last he revised was an edition of the hateful M asterpeeee in 1636. He was buried at St. Giles', Cripplegate, and lies in good company. H e was married, but there is no record of a family. ( To be continued.)