Francis Fawkes

Francis Fawkes (1720–1777) was an English poet and translator. He translated works by Anacreon, Sappho and other classical authors, modernised parts of the poems of Gavin Douglas, and was the author of the well-known song, The Brown Jug, and of two poems, Bramham Park and Partridge Shooting. His translation of the Argonautica in rhymed couplets appeared in 1780.

• Dear Tom, this brown jug that now foams with mild ale,
  (In which I will drink to sweet Nan of the Vale)
  Was once Toby Filpot, a thirsty old soul
  As e'er drank a bottle, or fathomed a bowl.
  • "The Brown Jug" (Imitated from the Latin of Hieronymus Amaltheus), st. 1; Original Poems and Translations (1761), p. 127
  • Cf. John O'Keeffe, The Poor Soldier (1783), act 2, sc. 2:
    • Dear sir, this brown jug, that now foams with mild ale,
      Out of which I now drink to sweet Kate of the vale,
      Was once Toby Filpot, a thirsty old soul,
      As e'er cracked a bottle, or fathomed a bowl.

• "I'll live tomorrow," 'tis not wise to say:
  'Twill be too late tomorrow—live today.
  • Translation of Martial's Epigram i.15, in Fawkes' Sappho, Bion, Moschus, Musaeus (2nd ed., 1789), footnote on p. 101

• The Argonautics of Apollonius Rhodius (tr. Francis Fawkes)

• Encyclopedic article on Francis Fawkes on Wikipedia