His son celebrates his musical abilities in an admirable Latin poem, Ad Patrem, where, alluding to his father's musical science, he says that Apollo had divided his favours in the sister arts between them; giving Music to the father and Poetry to the son.
Nor blame, Oh much-lov'd sire! the sacred Nine,
Who thee have honour'd with such gifts divine;
Who taught thee how to charm the list'ning throng,
With all the sweetness of a siren's song;
Blending such tones as every breast inflame
And made thee heir to great Orion's fame.
By blood united, and by kindred arts,
On each Apollo his refulgence darts:
To thee points out the magic power of sound,
To me the mazes of poetic ground;
And fostered thus by his parental care,
We equal seem Divinity to share." (Translation).
The elder Milton was born in 1553, and is said to have been in the choir of Christ Church, Oxford. His father was a Roman Catholic, and it is said he disinherited his son for abjuring the Catholic faith. The son went to London, and became a member of the Scriveners Company (1599-1600). In 1632 he retired to Horton, in Buckinghamshire, having made a considerable fortune. In London he lived in Bread Street, where John Milton, the poet, was born. He contributed an admirable six-part Madrigal to The Triumphs of Oriana (1601), Motets to Leighton's Teares and Lamentations (1614), and Tunes to Ravenscroft's Psalter (1621). There are various Anthems and Fancies in five and six parts in MS. in various libraries.
Now here is a man who contributed to three or four important musical publications, and was included in a list of the best known English composers. Had he been a professional musician he could not have done more. But we know he was a scrivener. What was he before he became a scrivener? and whence did he get his musical knowledge? If we could prove that the suggestion is true which makes him a Chorister at Christ Church, Oxford, we should know where he probably got his musical knowledge and his proficiency in Latin. But this information seems to be impossible of proof. For the purpose of these Lectures I have devoted a good deal of time to this subject. Dr Strong, the Dean of Christ Church, now Bishop of Ripon, has been kind enough to look into the matter very carefully, and he writes me the following interesting letter:
Christ Church,
Oxford.
June 25, 1919.
My dear Bridge,
I am sorry to say that I cannot discover anything about Mr. John Milton, Senior. We have here a very important series of books called Disbursement books. These contain a sort of summary statement of the payments made under various heads. But what makes them of interest is that all the members of the Foundation, from the Dean down to the cook, received their payments through the Treasurer and signed a receipt for them in the book. So there is a whole list of signatures beginning about 1570 and going down (with the exception of the Civil War period) to about 1830, when new methods were adopted. It is always possible to discover by this who held each office, and whether they were in residence on a particular day. Unfortunately, they do not go back beyond 1570. I searched through a volume in hopes that Mr. Milton or the organist might be among the signatories. The singing-men and even the choristers are there. But apparently at that time there was no organist, and certainly there is no allusion to Milton or any names such as you want, I think. It is a great pity we have not got the books from the beginning: the first 23 years would have been very useful. Also, my matriculation book, which is in this house, is very inaccurate and incomplete for the earlier years. I am afraid, therefore, I cannot help you as regards Mr. Milton. You will understand how very interesting these signatures are when I say that in the volumes I looked at the other day I found a whole series of signatures of Richard Hakluyt the geographer, who was a student of the House.
Yours very sincerely,
THOMAS B. STRONG.
It is very unfortunate that the records in Christ Church do not exist before 1570. But it may be remarked, if Milton the elder was born in 1553, he would be seventeen in 1570, and would therefore certainly have left the choir of Christ Church, if he ever belonged to it; and this, of course, before the entries began. As to this matter, there are one or two facts brought out in Notes and Queries some years since which bear upon it.