It was highly praised by Dryden and
Waller. The first ed. appeared in 1600, and was dedicated to Queen
Elizabeth. F. also wrote a treatise on _Demonology_, in which he was a
devout believer.
FALCONER, WILLIAM (1732-1769).--Poet, _s._ of a barber in Edin., where he
was _b._, became a sailor, and was thus thoroughly competent to describe
the management of the storm-tossed vessel, the career and fate of which
are described in his poem, _The Shipwreck_ (1762), a work of genuine,
though unequal, talent. The efforts which F. made to improve the poem in
the successive ed. which followed the first were not entirely
successful. The work gained for him the patronage of the Duke of York,
through whose influence he obtained the position of purser on various
warships. Strangely enough, his own death occurred by shipwreck. F. wrote
other poems, now forgotten, besides a useful _Nautical Dictionary_.
FANSHAWE, CATHERINE MARIA (1765-1834).--Poetess, _dau._ of a Surrey
squire, wrote clever occasional verse. Her best known production is the
famous _Riddle on the Letter H_, beginning "'Twas whispered in heaven,
'twas muttered in hell" often attributed to Lord Byron.
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