This article is about 18th century draper and subject of Cowper's comic ballad. For the 20th century dancer, see John Gilpin (dancer). For the 1852 clipper, see John Gilpin (clipper).

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Illustration by Randolph Caldecott for The Diverting History of John Gilpin

John Gilpin clipper ship card

John Gilpin (18th century) was featured as the subject in a well-known comic ballad of 1782 by William Cowper, entitled The Diverting History of John Gilpin. Cowper had heard the story from his friend Lady Austen.

Gilpin was said to be a wealthy draper from Cheapside in London, who owned land at Olney, Buckinghamshire, near where Cowper lived. It is likely that he was a Mr Beyer, a linen draper of the Cheapside corner of Paternoster Row.[1] 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 farther to the town of Ware.

Gilpin's Bell, a sculpture by Angela Godfrey in Fore Street, Edmonton

A number of sites commemorate the exploits of John Gilpin, most notably Gilpin's Gallop, a street in the village of Stanstead St Margarets. This was said to have been on the original route taken by the horse and his unfortunate rider.

John Gilpin's Ghost was a ballad (1795) by John Thelwall. The John Gilpin clipper of 1852 was also named after him. A sculpture by Angela Godfrey, which was inspired by Cowper's poem about Gilpin now sits in Fore Street, Edmonton, London.

## References[edit]

1. ^ The Poetical Works of William Cowper, P 212, London: Frederick Warne and Co, 1892

## External links[edit]

* Media related to John Gilpin (Cowper comic ballad) at Wikimedia Commons
* Bartleby.com – the poem in full
* Folkplay.info – the poem in full