LOVELL, FRANCIS LOVELL, Viscount (1454-1487), supporter of Richard III., was son of John, 8th Baron Lovell. As a young man he served under Richard of Gloucester in the expedition to Scotland in 1480. After the death of Edward IV. he became one of his patron’s strongest supporters. He had been created a viscount on the 4th of January 1483, and whilst still Protector Richard made him Chief Butler. As soon as Richard became king, Lovell was promoted to be Lord Chamberlain. Lovell helped in the suppression of Buckingham’s rebellion, and as one of Richard’s most trusted ministers was gibbeted in Collingbourne’s couplet with Catesby and Ratcliffe:—
| “The catte, the ratte and Lovell our dogge Rulyth all England under a hogge.” |
He had command of the fleet which was to have stopped Henry Tudor’s landing in 1485, but fought for Richard at Bosworth and after the battle fled to sanctuary at Colchester. Thence he escaped next year to organize a dangerous revolt in Yorkshire. When that failed he fled to Margaret of Burgundy in Flanders. As a chief leader of the Yorkist party he had a foremost part in Lambert Simnel’s enterprise. With John de la Pole, earl of Lincoln, he accompanied the pretender to Ireland and fought for him at Stoke on the 16th of June 1487. He was seen escaping from the battle, but was never afterwards heard of; Bacon relates that according to one report he lived long after in a cave or vault (Henry VII., p. 37, ed. Lumby). More than 200 years later, in 1708, the skeleton of a man was found in a secret chamber in the family mansion at Minster Lovell in Oxfordshire. It is supposed that Francis Lovell had hidden himself there and died of starvation.
Collingbourne’s couplet is preserved by Fabyan, Chronicle, p. 672. For the discovery at Minster Lovell see Notes and Queries, 2nd ser. i. and 5th ser. x.
(C. L. K.)
LOVER, SAMUEL (1797-1868), Irish novelist, artist, songwriter and musician, was born in Dublin on the 24th of February 1797. His father was a stockbroker. Lover began life as an artist, and was elected in 1828 a member of the Royal Hibernian Academy—a body of which two years afterwards he became secretary. He acquired repute as a miniature painter, and a number of the local aristocracy sat to him for their portraits. His love for music showed itself at an early age. At a dinner given to the poet Tom Moore in 1818 Lover sang one of his own songs, which elicited special praise from Moore. One of his best-known portraits was that of Paganini, which was exhibited at the Royal Academy. He attracted attention as an author by his Legends and Stories of Ireland (1832), and was one of the first writers for the Dublin University Magazine. He went to London about 1835, where, among others, he painted Lord Brougham in his robes as lord chancellor. His gifts rendered him popular in society; and he appeared often at Lady Blessington’s evening receptions. There he sang several of his songs, which were so well received that he published them (Songs and Ballads, 1839). Some of them illustrated Irish superstitions, among these being “Rory O’More,” “The Angel’s Whisper,” “The May Dew” and “The Four-leaved Shamrock.” In 1837 appeared Rory O’More, a National Romance, which at once made him a reputation as a novelist; he afterwards dramatized it for the Adelphi Theatre, London. In 1842 was published his best-known work, Handy Andy, an Irish Tale. Meanwhile his pursuits had affected his health; and in 1844 he gave up writing for some time, substituting instead public entertainments, called by him “Irish Evenings,” illustrative of his own works. These were successful both in Great Britain and in America. In addition to publishing numerous songs of his own, Lover edited a collection entitled The Lyrics of Ireland, which appeared in 1858. He died on the 6th of July 1868. Besides the novels already mentioned he wrote Treasure Trove (1844), and Metrical Tales and Other Poems (1860).
His Life was written in 1874 by Bayle Bernard.
LOVERE, a town of Lombardy, Italy, in the province of Bergamo, at the north-west end of the Lago d’Iseo, 522 ft. above sea-level. Pop. (1901) 3306. It is a picturesque town, the houses having the overhanging wooden roofs of Switzerland united with the heavy stone arcades of Italy, while the situation is beautiful, with the lake in front and the semicircle of bold mountains behind. The church of Santa Maria in Valvendra, built in 1473, has frescoes by Floriano Ferramola of Brescia (d. 1528). The Palazzo Tadini contains a gallery of old pictures, some sculptures by Benzoni and Canova, and a zoological collection. Lovere possesses a silk-spinning factory, and the Stablimento Metallurgico Gregorini, a large iron-work and cannon foundry, employs 1600 workmen. Lovere is reached by steamer from Sarnico at the south end of the lake, and there is a steam tramway through the Val Camonica, which is highly cultivated, and contains iron- and silk-works. From Cividate, the terminus, the road goes on to Edolo (2290 ft.), whence passes lead into Tirol and the Valtellina.