BRETON

breton, britton or brittaine, nicholas (1545?-1626), english poet, belonged to an old family settled at layer-breton, essex. his father, william breton, who had made a considerable fortune by trade, died in 1559, and the widow (nee elizabeth bacon) married the poet george gascoigne before her sons had attained their majority. nicholas breton was probably born at the "capitall mansion house" in red cross street, in the parish of st giles without cripplegate, mentioned in his father's will. there is no official record of his residence at the university, but the diary of the rev. richard madox tells us that he was at antwerp in 1583 and was "once of oriel college." he married ann sutton in 1593, and had a family. he is supposed to have died shortly after the publication of his last work, _fantastickes_ (1626). breton found a patron in mary, countess of pembroke, and wrote much in her honour until 1601, when she seems to have withdrawn her favour. it is probably safe to supplement the meagre record of his life by accepting as autobiographical some of the letters signed n.b. in _a poste with a packet of mad letters_ (1603, enlarged 1637); the 19th letter of the second part contains a general complaint of many griefs, and proceeds as follows: "hath another been wounded in the warres, fared hard, lain in a cold bed many a bitter storme, and beene at many a hard banquet? all these have i; another imprisoned? so have i; another long been sicke? so have i; another plagued with an unquiet life? so have i; another indebted to his hearts griefe, and fame would pay and cannot? so am i." breton was a facile writer, popular with his contemporaries, and forgotten by the next generation. his work consists of religious and pastoral poems, satires, and a number of miscellaneous prose tracts. his religious poems are sometimes wearisome by their excess of fluency and sweetness, but they are evidently the expression of a devout and earnest mind. his praise of the virgin and his references to mary magdalene have suggested that he was a catholic, but his prose writings abundantly prove that he was an ardent protestant. breton had little gift for satire, and his best work is to be found in his pastoral poetry. his _passionate shepheard_ (1604) is full of sunshine and fresh air, and of unaffected gaiety. the third pastoral in this book--"who can live in heart so glad as the merrie country lad"--is well known; with some other of breton's daintiest poems, among them the lullaby, "come little babe, come silly soule,"[1]--it is incorporated in a.h. bullen's _lyrics from elizabethan romances_ (1890). his keen observation of country life appears also in his prose idyll, _wits trenchmour_, "a conference betwixt a scholler and an angler," and in his _fantastickes_, a series of short prose pictures of the months, the christian festivals and the hours, which throw much light on the customs of the times. most of breton's books are very rare and have great bibliographical value. his works, with the exception of some belonging to private owners, were collected by dr a.b. grosart in the [v.04 p.0502] _chertsey worthies library_ in 1879, with an elaborate introduction quoting the documents for the poet's history. breton's poetical works, the titles of which are here somewhat abbreviated, include _the workes of a young wit_ (1577); _a floorish upon fancie_ (1577); _the pilgrimage to paradise_ (1592); _the countess of penbrook's passion_ (ms.), first printed by j.o. halliwell phillipps in 1853; _pasquil's fooles cappe_, entered at stationers' hall in 1600; _pasquil's mistresse_ (1600); _pasquil's passe and passeth not_ (1600); _melancholike humours_ (1600); _marie magdalen's love: a solemne passion of the soules love_ (1595), the first part of which, a prose treatise, is probably by another hand; the second part, a poem in six-lined stanza, is certainly by breton; _a divine poem_, including "the ravisht soul" and "the blessed weeper" (1601); _an excellent poem, upon the longing of a blessed heart_ (1601); _the soules heavenly exercise_ (1601); _the soules harmony_ (1602); _olde madcappe newe gaily mawfrey_ (1602); _the mother's blessing_ (1602); _a true description of unthankfulnesse_ (1602); _the passionate shepheard_ (1604); _the soules immortall crowne_ (1605); _the honour of valour_ (1605); _an invective against treason; i would and i would not_ (1614); _bryton's bowre of delights_ (1591), edited by dr grosart in 1893, an unauthorized publication which contained some poems disclaimed by breton; _the arbor of amorous devises_ (entered at stationers' hall, 1594), only in part breton's; and contributions to _england's helicon_ and other miscellanies of verse. of his twenty-two prose tracts may be mentioned _wit's trenchmour_ (1597), _the wil of wit_ (1599), _a poste with a packet of mad letters_ (1603). _sir philip sidney's ourania by n.b._ (1606); _mary magdalen's lamentations_ (1604), and _the passion of a discontented mind_ (1601), are sometimes, but erroneously, ascribed to breton. [1] this poem, however, comes from _the arbor of amorous devises_, which is only in part breton's work. breton de los herreros, manuel (1796-1873), spanish dramatist, was born at quel (logrono) on the 19th of december 1796 and was educated at madrid. enlisting on the 24th of may 1812, he served against the french in valencia and catalonia, and retired with the rank of corporal on the 8th of march 1822. he obtained a minor post in the civil service under the liberal government, and on his discharge determined to earn his living by writing for the stage. his first piece, _a la vejez viruelas_, was produced on the 14th of october 1824, and proved the writer to be the legitimate successor of the younger moratin. his industry was astonishing: between october 1824 and november 1828, he composed thirty-nine plays, six of them original, the rest being translations or recasts of classic masterpieces. in 1831 he published a translation of tibullus, and acquired by it an unmerited reputation for scholarship which secured for him an appointment as sub-librarian at the national library. but the theatre claimed him for its own, and with the exception of _elena_ and a few other pieces in the fashionable romantic vein, his plays were a long series of successes. his only serious check occurred in 1840; the former liberal had grown conservative with age, and in _la ponchada_ he ridiculed the national guard. he was dismissed from the national library, and for a short time was so unpopular that he seriously thought of emigrating to america; but the storm blew over, and within two years breton de los herreros had regained his supremacy on the stage. he became secretary to the spanish academy, quarrelled with his fellow-members, and died at madrid on the 8th of november 1873. he is the author of some three hundred and sixty original plays, twenty-three of which are in prose. no spanish dramatist of the nineteenth century approaches him in comic power, in festive invention, and in the humorous presentation of character, while his metrical dexterity is unique. _marcela o a cual de los tres?_ (1831), _muerete; y veras!_ (1837) and _la escuela del matrimonio_ (1852) still hold the stage, and are likely to hold it so long as spanish is spoken. see marques de molins, _breton de los herreros, recuerdos de su vida y de sus obras_ (madrid, 1883); _obras de breton de herreros_ (5 vols., madrid, 1883); e. pineyro, _el romanticismo en espana_ (paris, 1904). (j. f.-k.)