Sir John Harington lived 1560-1612. His best known work is The Metamorphosis of Ajax, a description of the first flush toilet, on the strength of which he featured in an episode of South Park. In 1769 his descendant Henry Harington, M.A. edited some of his papers, and published them under the title Nugæ Antiquæ.("Ancient trifles".) This includes poems, letters and essays by Harington, as well as much by other authors (not included in this edition). The letters reveal his varying efforts to gain and retain favour, from James I as well as Elizabeth, as well as his financial troubles, his efforts to restore the abbey church of Bath which had been stripped and looted during the Reformation, and the consolation he received from his domestic happiness. Other highlights are: · His description of the campaigning in Essex's failed attempt to defeat Irish rebels in 1599 · A pageant presented by the ladies and gentleman of the court to James I and the King of Denmark, where both kings and the entire cast were helplessly drunk. · A supplie [i.e. supplement] or addition to Bishop Godwin's Catalogue of Bishops. This is not the dry-as-dust ecclesiastical history one would expect from the title, but a lively collection of scandalous and otherwise interesting anecdotes of mostly late 16th Century bishops, many of whom Harington knew personally. It greatly resembles Aubrey's "Brief Lives" in content and style.
27 parts