Notes and Queries, Number 66, February 1, 1851

Delve into a lively portrait of a seventeenth‑century figure who wore two very different hats: a celebrated poet and a distinguished lawyer. The essay untangles long‑standing myths about his family background, showing how careless reporting has muddied the record of a man whose father was a respectable attorney, not a tanner. It also traces his rise through the Middle Temple, his brief exile after a spirited altercation, and the patronage that eventually restored him to prominence.

Beyond the courtroom, the piece illuminates his literary vigor, from a whimsical poem on dancing to a reflective meditation on self‑knowledge that still resonates today. Interwoven anecdotes reveal his fierce temperament, his friendship‑turned‑rivalry with a fellow poet‑lawyer, and the scholarly impact of his early legal reports. Listeners will appreciate a thoughtful blend of biography, literary criticism, and a reminder that even celebrated lives can be reshaped by careful research.