"More Reason to the Rhyme"

Greetings from the wilds of Iowa.

I've been on an Elizabethan reading jag the last few weeks, which
is odd for me since I dislike all things Tudor, but I've found two
people who interest me---William Cecil, Lord Burghley and his son
Robert Cecil, First Earl of Salisbury--both served as Secretary of
State to Elizabeth I.
Been through two biographies on Robert and just started a third
one when I've found the following rhyme about Robert written after
his death in 1612:

"Here lies Robin Crookback, unjustly reckoned
A Richard the Third, he was Judas the Second . . .
Richard or Robert, which is the worse?
A Crookback great in State is England's curse."


Now, what I've read so far about Robert Cecil shows that he
isn't as black as most people have painted him in history and he was
afterall a product of his time and managed to stay alive while
working for two monarchs by knowing which way the political wind was
likely to blow.
Anyway, I rather like Robert Cecil---he proves that it isn't the
size of the dog in the fight but the size of the fight in the dog.

"Meek"


P.S. I made sure to have at least one white rose in the house on
August 22nd.

--- In , "L. Miller"
<pvtmeek@...> wrote:
>
>
>
> Greetings from the wilds of Iowa.
>
> I've been on an Elizabethan reading jag the last few weeks,
which
> is odd for me since I dislike all things Tudor, but I've found two
> people who interest me---William Cecil, Lord Burghley and his son
> Robert Cecil, First Earl of Salisbury--both served as Secretary of
> State to Elizabeth I.
> Been through two biographies on Robert and just started a third
> one when I've found the following rhyme about Robert written after
> his death in 1612:
>
> "Here lies Robin Crookback, unjustly reckoned
> A Richard the Third, he was Judas the Second . . .
> Richard or Robert, which is the worse?
> A Crookback great in State is England's curse."
>
>
> Now, what I've read so far about Robert Cecil shows that he
> isn't as black as most people have painted him in history and he
was
> afterall a product of his time and managed to stay alive while
> working for two monarchs by knowing which way the political wind
was
> likely to blow.
> Anyway, I rather like Robert Cecil---he proves that it isn't
the
> size of the dog in the fight but the size of the fight in the dog.
>
> "Meek"
>
>
> P.S. I made sure to have at least one white rose in the house on
> August 22nd.
>
I thoroughly agree. By 1558, or even earlier, there was little
prospect of a Bosworth replay and the Henrician persecution of
Yorkists was over. Indeed, they returned to positions of authority:
Reginald Pole as Archbishop and Cardinal, Henry of Huntingdon as Lord
President of the Council of the North (1572-95).
As I revealed last week, William Cecil (Lord Burghley) was the co-
ancestor, with Anne of Exeter, of three Prime Ministers from 1860 to
1905; his sons being given the Yorkist earldoms of Exeter and
Salisbury.
In conclusion, Robert Cecil served England far better than his
contemporary, the Earl of Essex, and survived to serve Scotland as
well. We all have our doubts as to Richard's "disability".