William Browne of Tavistock

BROWNE. — William Browne [author of Britannia's Pastorals] was reputed a man not only the best versed in the works and beauties of the English poets, but also in the history of their lives and characters: wherefore he was pitched upon to draw out the line of his poetic ancestors, from Josephus Iscanius down to himself, which must have been a delectable and useful labour, from a man not only of his learning and taste, but who had the advantage of living so much nearer the times when our most renowned cultivators of English poetry adorned this isle.