John Gilpin (18th century) was a real-life character whose exploits became legendary and featured in a well-known comic ballad by William Cowper of 1782, entitled, The Diverting History of John Gilpin. Cowper had heard the story from a friend.
John Gilpin was a wealthy draper from Cheapside in London, who owned land at Olney in Buckinghamshire, near where Cowper lived. The poem tells how Gilpin and his wife and children became separated during a journey to the Bell Inn, Edmonton after Gilpin loses control of his horse.
External link
The poem in full at Bartleby.com (http://www.bartleby.com/41/324.html)
JohnGilpin, at the age of about forty, either enlisted or was conscripted into the 22nd Virginia Cavalry on August 8, 1863 for a term of three years.
JohnGilpin was possibly 41 years old, and after all he had been through over the previous several months, may have been weaker and less healthy than a younger soldier.
JohnGilpin, William Stilwell and William L. Smith were then sent to Elmira, NY, a harsh prison camp of 40 acres near the Chemug River, which was to have a death rate of twice that of other northern prison camps.
JohnGilpin (18th century) was a real-life character whose exploits became legendary and featured in a well-known comic ballad by William Cowper of 1782, entitled, The Diverting History of JohnGilpin.
JohnGilpin was a wealthy draper from Cheapside in London, who owned land at Olney in Buckinghamshire, near where Cowper lived.
The poem tells how Gilpin and his wife and children became separated during a journey to the Bell Inn, Edmonton after Gilpin loses control of his horse, and is carried ten miles further to the town of Ware.
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