John Tatham

John Tatham (fl. 1632–1664) was an English dramatist of the mid-seventeenth century.

Little is known of him. He was a Cavalier who hated the Puritans — and the Scots; he invented a dialect which he claimed was their vernacular tongue. Fancy's Theatre, a collected of his poems, was published in 1640.

He produced eight pageants for the Lord Mayor's show in the years 1657–64 (seven of them titled London's Triumph), and several dramas. He wrote London's Glory, an entertainment to celebrate the return of King Charles II to London at the Restoration; it was presented on 5 July 1660.

Among his known plays are:

• Love Crowns the End (1632; printed 1646)
• The Distracted State (1641; printed 1651)
• The Scots Figgaries, or a Knot of Knaves (printed 1652)
• The Rump (printed 1660).

In 1682, Aphra Behn adapted The Rump into her The Roundheads.

References

• Tatham, John. The Dramatic Works of John Tatham. James Maidment and W. H. Logan, eds. London, H. Southeran, 1879.
•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Cousin, John William (1910). A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature. London: J. M. Dent & Sons. Wikisource 

External links

• Tatham, in The Cambridge History of English and American Literature.