BIRCHINSHAW (BYRCHINSHA, BYCHEINSHA), WILLIAM (fl. 1584-1617), poet

A native of the countryside around Denbigh, he was possibly related to Maurice Birchinshaw who graduated B.Gramm. in 1511, and B.C.L. in 1515, from Magdalen College, Oxford, and became rector of Denbigh in 1543; he died 1564. In NLW MS 5272C , p. 185, is preserved a letter by William Myddelton to 'his cousin Wilm Birchinsha and Owen Meurig', wherein he advises them to be civil to their tutor. And as for Birchinshaw, says Myddelton, 'while he is capable of writing a good cywydd he will never learn one good habit.' Both of them, it seems, prefer making love to the fair sex, and tippling, and 'to procure gold they live as wandering minstrels.' On p. 182 of the same manuscript an englyn to Rhys Grythor (Rhys the Fiddler) by Birchinshaw is dated 30 November 1584, and in Chirk Castle Accounts 1605-66 (4) appears a reference to rents paid for land held by four men, of whom one, named Burchinshawe, may be the poet. Sometimes called 'Sir' W. Birchinshaw, he was, perhaps, trained for the priesthood. He was a contemporary of Morris Kyffin. Most of his poems have been preserved in NLW MS 567B , NLW MS 1553A , and NLW MS 5272C .

Author

• Dr David Jenkins, (1912 - 2002)

Sources

• William Martial Myddelton, Chirk Castle Accounts, A.D. 1605-1666 (St. Albans 1908)
• Foster, Alumni Oxonienses: the members of the University of Oxford, 1500-1714, 126

Further Reading

• Wikipedia Article: William Birchinshaw

Additional Links

• Wikidata: Q20732663

Published date: 1959

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