{"id":4769,"date":"2018-05-22T15:57:11","date_gmt":"2018-05-22T14:57:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.richmondhistory.org.uk\/wordpress\/?page_id=4769"},"modified":"2018-05-24T15:37:29","modified_gmt":"2018-05-24T14:37:29","slug":"thresher-duck-on-richmond","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.richmondhistory.org.uk\/wordpress\/history-of-richmond\/thresher-duck-on-richmond\/","title":{"rendered":"“Thresher” Duck on Richmond"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>By Ron McEwen<\/strong><\/p>\n

2018 is the 300th anniversary of the arrival of Prince George and Princess Caroline in Richmond \u2013 the first step in a sequence of events that would lead to, among other things, the creation of Kew Gardens. The following is by way of commemoration of this event.<\/p>\n

Stephen \u201cThresher\u201d Duck<\/strong> (1705-56) was a self-educated Wiltshire ploughman who achieved fame in his day as a poet. He has recently received some attention from sociologists for his description of gruelling manual work in his poem \u201cThe thresher\u2019s labour\u201d. However, unlike that other 18th-century ploughman poet, Robert Burns (1759-96), who wrote mostly in the vernacular, Duck wrote mostly in the style of John Milton, his verse replete with classical allusions. In 1735 Queen Caroline, after receiving a character reference from Alexander Pope, housed Duck in Richmond and employed him as \u201clibrarian\u201d in her Merlin\u2019s Cave in Richmond Gardens. His collection of poems, Poems on several occasions<\/em>, was first published in 1736 and ran to several editions. This collection includes a poem concerning the two royal estates in Richmond \u2013 Richmond Park and the grounds of Richmond Lodge (Old Deer Park). The latter is here called by Duck \u201cRoyal Gardens\u201d and elsewhere \u201cRichmond Gardens\u201d<\/strong>. [N.B. the spelling in the text that follows has been modernised.]<\/p>\n

“On Richmond Park and Royal Gardens” (1736)<\/h1>\n

By Stephen Duck<\/strong>
\n
\nDuck begins his praise of the two Richmond estates with a reference to Alexander Pope\u2019s early poem, \u201cWindsor Forest\u201d (1713). \u201cCynthia\u201d is an epithet of the Greek nature goddess, Artemis, who is depicted with a quiver of arrows and a knotted belt. \u201cConsecrated floods\u201d: rivers in ancient times were consecrated to and named after deities.<\/em><\/p>\n

Of blissful groves I sing, and flowery plains:
\nYe Sylvan Nymphs, assist my rural strains.
\nShall Windsor Forest gain a deathless fame,
\nAnd grow immortal, as the Poet’s name;
\nWhile not a bard, of all the tuneful throng,
\nWith these delightful fields adorns his song?
\nThy Gardens, Richmond, boast an equal theme,
\nAnd only ask an equal Muse’s flame.
\nWhat, though no virgin Nymphs, of Cynthia’s train,
\nWith belt and quiver grace the verdant plain?
\nWhat, though no fabled consecrated floods
\nFlow o’er thy fields, or murmur through thy woods?
\nMy song thy real beauties shall pursue,
\nAnd paint the lovely scenes, and paint ’em true;
\nA pleasing task! Nor slight shall be the praise,
\nIf Royal Caroline accept the lays.<\/p>\n

The poet ascends Richmond Hill.<\/em><\/p>\n

Delighted, often thro’ the mazy groves,
\nThe Muse, in pensive contemplation, roves;
\nOr climbs the slow ascending hill, whose brow
\nHangs o’er the silver stream, which rolls below;
\nWhere all around me shining prospects rise,
\nAnd various scenes invite my gazing eyes;
\nAnd, while I view one object with delight,
\nNew pleasing wonders charm the feasted sight:
\nNow this allures, now that attracts it most;
\nAnd the first beauty’s in the second lost.
\nThus, in a grateful concert, may we hear
\nThe sounds at once surprise, and charm our ear;
\nThe trembling notes, in hasty fugues, arise;
\nAnd this advances, ere the former flies;
\nAll seem to be confused, yet all agree,
\nTo perfect the melodious harmony.
\n
\nThe Thames is compared to the Rivers Hermos (in modern Turkey) and Tagus (Iberia). Sir John Denham (1615-69) was an Irish poet, whose poem \u201cCooper\u2019s Hill\u201d describes the Thames Valley at his home in Egham. <\/em><\/p>\n

Beneath the mount, with what majestic pride
\nThe sire of rivers rolls his silver tide!
\nLet poets sing of Hermos’ golden shore,
\nHis amber foam, and sands of shining ore:
\nNor Tagus envy we, nor fruitful Nile,
\nWhose fattening floods enrich the thirsty soil:
\nHappy Britannia boasts as fair a stream,
\nAs great in bounties, and as great in fame;
\nSince Denham’s deathless Muse has sung his tide,
\nAnd India’s riches o’er his surface glide.<\/p>\n

\u201cObsequious\u201d at this time did not have a pejorative connotation. Here it could mean either \u201ckeen to please\u201d or \u201cwinding like a root\u201d (according to the Oxford English Dictionary<\/em>). \u201cInfidels\u201d here means \u201catheists\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n

Obsequious river, when my eyes survey
\nThy waves, or east, or west, pursue their way;
\nNow swiftly roll, to meet the briny main,
\nAt stated periods, now return again;
\nHow vain the schemes of infidels appear!
\nHow weak their reasonings, and the God how clear!
\nSay, atheists, since you own, by Nature’s laws,
\nThere’s no effect produced without a cause;
\nWhy should the restless stream run to and fro,
\nAnd, with alternate motion, ebb and flow;
\nDid not some being, of superior force,
\nRule the wild waves, and regulate their course?<\/p>\n

Windsor Castle is visible from Richmond Hill on a clear day. \u201cPompous\u201d was once also not derogatory. It meant \u201cgrandiose\u201d or \u201cmagnificent\u201d. John Milton\u2019s epic poem \u201cParadise Lost\u201d (1674) has a description of Eden before the Fall.<\/em><\/p>\n

Hence lofty Windsor to the sight appears;
\nAnd, high in air, her pompous turrets rears:
\nWide, round her domes, the spacious forest shines.
\nThough brighter much in Pope’s harmonious lines:
\nO! would his tuneful Muse my breast inspire,
\nWith equal warmth, with her sublimer fire;
\nThen Richmond Hill renowned in verse should grow,
\nAnd Thames re-echo to the song below;
\nA second Eden in my page should shine,
\nAnd Milton’s Paradise submit to mine.<\/p>\n

The poet enters Richmond Park. \u201cAurora\u201d is the Roman goddess of the dawn. \u201cPhilomela\u201d was a mythical Greek princess who was turned into a nightingale; hence a synonym for nightingale.<\/em><\/p>\n

Oft, lost in thought, forgetful of my way,
\nI, o’er the park, through wilds of beauty, stray;
\nWhere sportive Nature wantons at her will,
\nAnd lavishes her bloom, unchecked by skill.
\nOld venerable trees, majestic, rise,
\nSublime in air, and brave the vaulted skies;
\nWhich, free from cruel steel, or labourer’s hand,
\nIn peaceful age, and hoary honour, stand.
\nHere, when Aurora first begins to dawn,
\nThe wakeful larks spring mounting from the lawn;
\nPoised by their plumes, in lofty flights they play;
\nWith joyful warblings hail the approaching day:
\nBut, when the sun displays a purple scene,
\nAnd drinks the pearly dew, that decked the green;
\nA thousand tuneful birds in concert meet,
\nA thousand tuneful notes the groves repeat;
\nAnd, when their music ceases with the day,
\nSweet Philomela chants her pensive lay.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlbion\u2019s King\u201d is George II, King of Great Britain from 1727.<\/em><\/p>\n

But, hark! I hear a louder music sound;
\nFrom woods and vales the various notes rebound:
\n‘Tis Albion’s King pursues the royal chase;
\nThe nimble stag skims o’er the unbending grass:
\nThe way which fear directs, he trembling tries;
\nNor knows, where fear directs, or where he flies:
\nA hundred different sounds assail his ears;
\nA death, in every different sound, he fears:
\nAnd now he faintly moves a slower pace,
\nAnd closer now the hounds pursue the chase;
\nTill, in despair, back on his foes he turns;
\nMakes feeble efforts with his branchy horns;
\nShort is the combat, soon he yields his breath,
\nAnd gasping falls, and trembling pants in death.<\/p>\n

The scene now moves to the grounds of Richmond Lodge. \u201cTerrace\u201d refers to the riverside terrace that ran the length of this estate until it was demolished by\u00a0 Lancelot \u201cCapability” Brown. \u201cCeres and Flora\u201d are the Roman goddesses of agriculture and flowers respectively.<\/em><\/p>\n

Now to a softer theme descends my Muse;
\nThrough artful walks her pleasing path pursues;
\nWhere lofty elms, and conic lindens rise,
\nOr where the extensive terrace charms her eyes;
\nWhere elegance and noble grandeur meet,
\nAs the ideas of its mistress, great,
\nMagnificently fair, majestically sweet.
\nSee, on its margin, fields of waving corn;
\nThese bearded crops, and flowerets this, adorn;
\nCeres and Flora lovingly embrace,
\nAnd gay varieties the landscape grace.<\/p>\n

\u201cOval\u201d refers to the \u201cGreat Oval\u201d, a clearing in the pleasure grounds over 500 feet in diameter, created by Charles Bridgeman. The \u201csequestered cell\u201d refers to William Kent\u2019s Hermitage (1731) which contained busts of Robert Boyle and Isaac Newton<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Hence lead me, Muses, through yon arch\u00e8d grove,
\nAdorned with sand below, and leaves above;
\nOr let me o’er the spacious Oval trace,
\nWhere verdant carpets spread the lovely place;
\nWhere trees in regular confusion stand,
\nAnd sylvan beauties rise on every hand:
\nOr bear me, Nymphs, to the sequestered cell,
\nWhere Boyle and Newton, mighty sages!, dwell;
\nWhose fame shall live, although the grot decay,
\nLong as those sacred truths their works display.<\/p>\n

Phoebus is the Graeco-Roman epithet for Apollo as sun god.<\/em><\/p>\n

How sweetly pleasing is this cool retreat,When Phoebus blazes with meridian heat!
\nIn vain the fervid beams around it play;
\nThe rocky roof repels the scorching ray;
\nSecurely guarded with a sylvan scene,
\nIn Nature’s livery dressed, for ever green.
\nTo visit this, the curious stranger roves,
\nWith grateful travel, through a wild of groves;
\nAnd, though directed, oft mistakes his way,
\nUnknowing where the winding mazes stray;
\nYet still his feet the magic paths pursue,
\nCharmed, though bewildered, with the pleasing view.<\/p>\n

\u201cThorny brakes\u201d means briers. \u201cSymmetry from wild disorder sprung\u201d is probably a reference to Milton\u2019s \u201cLight shone and order from disorder sprung\u201d (\u201cParadise Lost\u201d).<\/em><\/p>\n

Not so attractive lately shone the plain,
\nA gloomy waste, not worth the Muses\u2019 strain;
\nWhere thorny brakes the traveller repelled,
\nAnd weeds and thistles overspread the field;
\nTill Royal George, and Heavenly Caroline,
\nBid Nature in harmonious lustre shine;
\nThe sacred fiat through the chaos rung,
\nAnd symmetry from wild disorder sprung.<\/p>\n

Duck draws a strained analogy between the landscaping of Bridgeman and Kent and the Roman Empire. Perhaps his subtext is that Britain has become the new Rome.<\/em><\/p>\n

So, once, confused, the barbarous nations stood;
\nUnpolished were their minds, their manners rude;
\nTill Rome her conquering eagles wide display,
\nAnd bid the world reform \u2013 the world obeyed.<\/p>\n

\u201cAugusta\u2019s pompous piles\u201d means Augusta\u2019s grandiose buildings. Augusta was the honorific name given to Roman empresses. In this case it likely refers to Livia, wife of Emperor Augustus, who is noted for commissioning a number of public buildings. This stanza contains a Judeo-Christian creation story with an admixture of classical allusions in the manner of \u201cParadise Lost\u201d. \u201cSolitude\u201d, \u201cpeaceful Nymph\u201d and\u201d celestial Dame\u201d are apparently references to Hekate, one of whose epithets, according to the first Orphic Hymn, is Philerimon (\u201cfond of solitude\u201d). She was the only Titan spared by the Olympian god Zeus. \u201cEternity\u201d is the Greek god Aeon. Michael is the archangel of that name.<\/em><\/p>\n

How blessed the man in these delightful fields!
\nNew pleasures each indulgent moment yields.
\nLet gayer minds in town pursue their joys,
\nExchanging quietness for crowds and noise;
\nConsume the night at masquerade or play;
\nOr waste, in busy idleness, the day:
\nI envy not Augusta’s pompous piles,
\nSince rural solitude more pleasing smiles.
\nO Solitude! the sage’s chief delight!
\nWhat numbers can thy lovely charms recite!
\nHail, peaceful Nymph! thou eldest thing on Earth!
\nNay, like Eternity, thou hadst no birth:
\nThe Heavens alone can thy commencement tell,
\nEre Michael fought, or peccant Angels fell;
\nBefore the skies with radiant light were clad,
\nIn awful gloom, and venerable shade,
\nThe Father thee his sole companion made.
\nWhen to creation first his thoughts inclined,
\nAnd future worlds were rising in his Mind;
\nHe sat with thee, and planned the mighty scheme;
\nWith thee adjusted the stupendous frame;
\nContrived how globes, self-balanced in the air,
\nWith restless rounds should rule the circling year;
\nHow orbs o’er orbs in mystic dance should roll,
\nWhat laws support, and regulate the whole:
\nNor art thou yet impaired, celestial Dame;
\nThy charms are still attractive, still the same;
\nWith thee the mind, abstracted from the crew,
\nMay study Nature, and her ends pursue;
\nWith thee I hear the feathered warblers sing;
\nWith thee survey the beauties of the spring,
\nWhen blossoms, leaves, and fruits the branches yield,
\nAnd Eden’s glory crowns the happy field.<\/p>\n

\u201cRoyal guardian\u201d refers to Queen Caroline. \u201cCondescending\u201d is not pejorative: it means something like \u201cgraciousness shown to someone of a lower social status\u201d. What follows is praise of George II\u2019s avoidance of war while the country is protected by the Royal Navy (\u201cfloating towers\u201d). This was before the War of Austrian Succession (1740-48).<\/em><\/p>\n

Here first the Muse (auspicious was the place!)
\nRejoiced to see her Royal guardian’s face:
\nHow mild, yet how majestic, was her look!
\nHow sweetly condescending all she spoke!
\nOn every pleasing accent wisdom hung,
\nAnd truth and virtue dwelt upon her tongue.
\nO! were I equal to the glorious theme,
\nThen should my lays immortalise her fame;
\nOr paint great George in peaceful laurels dressed,
\nWith Albion’s safety labouring in his breast;
\nWho (while contending nations round him jar,
\nAnd subjects\u2019 wealth supports their monarchs\u2019 war)
\nGuards happy Britain, with his floating towers,
\nFrom purple slaughter and invading powers;
\nNo plundering armies rob our fruitful plain;
\nBut, blessed with peace and plenty, smiles the swain.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, other European countries wage war and their armies ravage the countryside.<\/em><\/p>\n

Not so he smiles upon the foreign shores;
\nBut starving walks through Nature’s lavish stores;
\nPoor peasants with their rigid burdens groan,
\nAnd till the glebe for harvests not their own.
\nWhat, though their more propitious Phoebus shines
\nWith warmer rays, and chears the curling vines?
\nWhat, though rich olives grace the fertile soil,
\nAnd the hot climate teems with fattening oil?
\nThe hungry farmer views his crops in vain,
\nIn vain the vineyard tempts the thirsty swain;
\nWhile their stern tyrant’s arbitrary power
\nRifles the plains, and ravages their store:
\nThy sons, Britannia, from such evils free,
\nEnjoy the sweets of peace and liberty;
\nA gracious Sovereign smiles upon the throne,
\nAnd heaven confirms the happy realm his own.<\/p>\n

Postscript<\/h1>\n

Duck\u2019s description of the view from Richmond Hill was written after the more famous 1730 version of James Thomson (1700-48). The latter was also a local resident (Kew Foot Lane, now Kew Foot Road) but he was a prot\u00e9g\u00e9 of Frederick Prince of Wales, the son and neighbour of Queen Caroline. The poetry of the university-educated Thomson, it must be said, is the better. The two poets were acquainted. It is known that Duck sent Thomson a copy of his poems and that Thomson reciprocated. They spent some time together and, according to Duck, \u201cdrank plentifully to Miss Robbison\u2019s health\u201d (a local beauty perhaps?).<\/p>\n

After Queen Caroline\u2019s death in 1737, Duck took holy orders and was for a while a preacher at St Anne\u2019s church in Kew. He drowned at the age of 51 in the River Kennet at Reading, but whether he committed suicide is disputed.<\/p>\n

\u00a9 Ron McEwen 2018<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Ron McEwen 2018 is the 300th anniversary of the arrival of Prince George and Princess Caroline in Richmond \u2013 the first step in a sequence of events that would lead to, among other things, the creation of Kew Gardens. The following is by way of commemoration of this event. Stephen \u201cThresher\u201d Duck (1705-56) was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":1362,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-4769","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.richmondhistory.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4769","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.richmondhistory.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.richmondhistory.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.richmondhistory.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.richmondhistory.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4769"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.richmondhistory.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4769\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4798,"href":"https:\/\/www.richmondhistory.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4769\/revisions\/4798"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.richmondhistory.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1362"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.richmondhistory.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4769"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}