Hic jacet Lydgate tumulætus Urna:
Qui fuit quondam celebris Britannæ
Fama Poesis.
Dead in this World, living above the Sky,
Intomb'd within this Urn doth Lydgate lie;
In former time fam'd for his Poetry,
All over England.
JOHN HARDING.
John Harding, our Famous English Chronologer, was born (saith Bale) in the Northern parts, and most likely in Yorkshire, being an Esquire of an eminent Parentage. He was a man equally addicted to Arms and Arts, spending his Youth in the one, and his Age in the other: His first Military Employment was under Robert Umfreuil, Governor of Roxborough-Castle, where he did good Service against the Scots. Afterwards he followed the Standard of King Edward the Fourth, to whom he valiantly and faithfully adhered, not only in the Sun-shine of his Prosperity, but also in his deepest Distress.