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_ALEXANDER ESSEBIE_.


This _Alexander_ was born in _Staffordshire_, say some; in
_Somersetshire_, say others; for which, each County might strive as
being a Jewel worth the owning, being reckoned among the chief of
_English_ Poets and Orators of that Age. He in imitation of _Ovid de
Fastis_, put our Christian Festivals into Verse, setting a Copy therein
to _Baptista Mantuan_. Then leaving _Ovid_, he aspired to _Virgil_, and
wrote the History of the Bible, (with the Lives of some Saints,) in an
Heroical Poem, which he performed even to admiration; and though he
fell short in part of _Virgil_'s lofty style, yet went he beyond
himself therein. He afterward became Prior of _Esseby-Abbey_, belonging
to the _Augustines_, and flourished under King _Henry_ the Third, _Anno
Dom._ 1220.

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_ROBERT BASTON_.


_Robert Baston_ was born not far from _Nottingham_, and bred a