GOSSON, STEPHEN (1554-1624). —Poet, actor, and satirist, b. in Kent, and ed. at Oxf., he went to London, and wrote plays, which are now lost, and pastorals; but, moved by a sermon preached at Paul's Cross in 1577 during a plague, he deserted the theatre, and became one of its severest critics in his prose satire, The School of Abrose (1579), directed against "poets, pipers, players, jesters, and such-like Caterpillars of a Commonwealth." Dedicated to Sir P. Sidney, it was not well received by him, and is believed to have evoked his Apologie for Poetrie (1595). G. entered the Church, and d. Rector of St. Botolph's, London.
GOUGH, RICHARD (1735-1809). —Antiquary, was b. in London, and studied at Camb. For many years he made journeys over England in pursuit of his antiquarian studies. He pub. about 20 works, among which are British Topography (1768), Sepulchral Monuments of Great Britain (1786-99), an ed. of Camden's Britannia, a translation of The Arabian Nights (1798), and various other treatises on archæology, topography, and numismatics.
GOWER, JOHN (1325?-1408). —Poet. Although few details of his life have come down to us, he appears to have been a man of wealth and importance, connected with Kent, well known at Court, and in possession of more than one estate. He was the friend of Chaucer, who gives him the title of "the moral Gower," which has clung to him ever since. His first principal work was Speculum Meditantis (the Mirror of one meditating) written in French on the subject of married life. It was long believed to have been lost. It was followed by Vox Clamantis (the Voice of one crying) written in Latin, giving an account of the peasants' revolt of 1381, and attacking the misgovernment and social evils which had led to it. His third, and only English poem, was Confessio Amantis (Lover's Confession), a work of 30,000 lines, consisting of tales and meditations on love, written at the request of Richard II. It is the earliest large collection of tales in the English tongue. In his old age G. became blind. He had, when about 70, retired to the Priory of St. Mary Overies, the chapel of which is now the Church of St. Saviour, Southwark, where he spent his last years, and to which he was a liberal benefactor. G. represented the serious and cultivated man of his time, in which he was reckoned the equal of Chaucer, but as a poet he is heavy and prolix.
GRAFTON, RICHARD (d. 1572). —Printer and chronicler, printed various ed. of the Bible and Prayer-book; also the Proclamation of the Accession of Lady Jane Grey, for which he was cast into prison, where he compiled an Abridgement of the Chronicles of England (1563). To this he added in 1568 A Chronicle at Large. Neither holds a high place as authorities.
GRAHAME, JAMES (1765-1811). —Poet, s. of a lawyer, was b. and ed. in Glasgow. After spending some time in a law office in Edin., he was called to the Scottish Bar. His health being delicate, and his circumstances easy, he early retired from practice, and taking orders in the Church of England in 1809, was appointed curate successively of Shipton, Gloucestershire, and Sedgefield, Durham. He wrote several pleasing poems, of which the best is The Sabbath (1804). He d. on a visit to Glasgow in his 47th year. His poems are full of quiet observation of country sights expressed in graceful verse.