Suckling, Sir John

Sir John (1609-1642), an English poet. He is one of a group of poets including Herrick, Lovelace, and Carew, who are sometimes called the Caroline poets, because of their adherence to Charles I,--Carolus, the Latin word for Charles, giving rise to the adjective Caroline. They were also called the Cavalier poets for a similar reason, the Royalist party being known as Cavaliers. Suckling was educated at Cambridge. He became a Royalist and man of fashion at the court of Charles I. He wrote a play presented with elaborate scenery, then a new thing except in masques. He is said to have invented the game of cribbage. He raised a troop of 100 horsemen to aid the king against the Scots, and was much laughed at for the gorgeous equipment with which he supplied them. The expedition cost him about $50,000, but was a total failure. Having joined in a scheme to release Strafford from the tower, Suckling was charged with treason and was obliged to flee from England. He is believed to have committed suicide in Paris. Suckling wrote several plays, interspersed with songs much better than the plays themselves. His Ballad Upon a Wedding is an exquisite lyric for which his name has been and will be remembered. It represents a rustic describing a fashionable wedding. It contains the well known lines: