Collins.—Mr. John Collins, an exceedingly popular man in his day, and quite a local author, made his first appearance here Jan. 16, 1793, at "The Gentlemen's Private Theatre," in Livery Street, with an entertainment called "Collins' New Embellished Evening Brush, for Rubbing off the Rust of care." This became a great favourite, and we find Collins for years after, giving similar performances, many of them being for the purpose of paying for "soup for the poor" in the distressful winters of 1799, 1800, and 1801. Not so much, however, on account of his charity, or his unique entertainment, must Mr. Collins be ranked among local worthies, as for "A Poetical History of Birmingham" written (or rather partly written) by him, which was published in Swinney's Chronicle. Six chapters in verse appeared (Feb. 25 to April 7, 17[**]6), when unfortunately the poet's muse seems to have failed him. As a sample of the fun contained in the seven or eight dozen verses, we quote the first—
"Of Birmingham's name, tho' a deal has been said,
Yet a little, we doubt, to the purpose,
As when "hocus pocus" was jargon'd instead
Of the Catholic text "hoc est corpus."
For it, doubtless, for ages was Bromwicham called,
But historians, their readers to bam,
Have Brom, Wich, and Ham so corrupted and maul'd,
That their strictures have all proved a sham.
That Brom implies Broom none will dare to deny,
And that Wich means a Village or Farm;
Or a Slope, or a Saltwork, the last may imply,
And to read Ham for Town is no harm.
But when jumbled together, like stones in a bag,
To make it a Broom-sloping town,
Credulity's pace at such juggling must flag,
And the critic indignant will frown.
Tis so much like the Gazetteer's riddle-my-ree,
Who, untwisting Antiquity's cable,
Makes Barnstaple's town with its name to agree,
Take its rise from a Barn and a Stable."
Collins' own comical notion gives the name as "Brimmingham," from the brimming goblets so freely quaffed by our local sons of Vulcan. Digbeth he makes out to be a "dug bath," or horsepond for the farriers; Deritend, from der (water).
"Took its name from the swamp where the hamlet was seated,
And imply'd 'twas the water-wet-end of the town."
Cox, David—On the 29th of April, 1783, this great painter—the man whose works have made Birmingham famous in art—was born in a humble dwelling in Heath Mill Lane, Deritend, where his father carried on the trade of a smith. Some memorials of him we have—in the noble gift of a number of his pictures in oil, presented to the town by the late Mr. Joseph Nettlefold; in the portrait by Mr. J. Watson Gordon, and the bust by Mr. Peter Hollins; in the two biographies of him—both of them Birmingham works—the earlier by Mr. Neal Solly, and the more recent one by the late Mr. William Hall; besides the memorial window put up by loving friends in the Parish Church of Harborne, where the latter part of the artist's life was passed, and in the churchyard of which his remains were laid. He bade his pictures and the world good-bye on the 9th of June, 1859. A sale of some of "dear old David's" works, in London, May, 1873, realised for the owners over £25,000, but what the artist himself originally had for them may be gathered from the instance of his "Lancaster Castle," otherwise known as "Peace and War," a harvest-field scene, with troops marching by, only 24in. by 18in. in size. This picture he gave to a friend at first, but bought it back for £20, at a time when his friend wanted cash; he sold it for the same amount, and it afterwards got into the possession of Joseph Gillot, the pen maker, at the sale of whose collection "Lancaster Castle" was knocked down for £3,601 10s. The highest price Cox ever received for a picture, and that on one single occasion only, was £100; in another case he had £95; his average prices for large pictures were rather under than over £50 a piece in his best days. "The Sea Shore at Rhyl," for which he received £100, has been since sold for £2,300; "The Vale of Clwyd," for which he accepted £95, brought £2,500. Two pictures for which he received £40 each in 1847, were sold in 1872 for £1,575 and £1,550 respectively. Two others at £40 each have sold since for £2,300 and £2,315 5s. respectively. His church at "Bettws-y-Coed" one of the finest of his paintings, fetched £2,500 at a sale in London, in March, 1884. In the hall of the Royal Oak Inn, Bettws-y-Coed (David's favourite place), there is fixed a famous signboard which Cox painted for the house in 1847, and which gave rise to considerable litigation as to its ownership being vested in the tenant or the owner, the decision being in the latter's favour.