Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1908-06-05
LORD BYRON.
A Brief Account of His Prodaal
Life,

IL lnere is any lIulH III lIiV oiu
adage Like father like son" there is
more than enough to account for the
eccentric character of the poet Byron.
A near ancestor was known as the
wicked lord" his father as Mad
Jack" while his mother, a wildly hys-
terical woman, treated him with alter
nate eXcesses of violence and affec-
ton. 1t was on Jan. %, 1888, in a
small house in Holes street, that the
poet Byron first saw the light of day.
1t was a sad birth, for the child was
malformed, an affliction which lasted
all his life, and was even aggravated
by improper treatment. At the age OF
his father, who, owing to debt, had
to leave the country, died in France,
leaving his widow and child with an
income of less than 900 a year. Such
Strengthened circumstances were not
calculated to improve Mrs. Byron's
temper. She abused and scolded the
child numerically, even going so far
as to revile him on account of his
lameness. But the infant had nurse
to whom he was devoted; it was to
her that the poet owed his bringing
up. and very grateful was he always
for her tender care. At the age of b,
or thereabout, he began his studies
He learned something of the Bible
from his old nurse; the son of the VIII
him
Latin. Armed with this knowledge he
was sent to the grammar school at
Aberdeen, where he was looked upon
by his masters as a thoroughly idle,
pugnacious youth. In addition to
this, at the age of s, he fell violently
i'm love with his cousin, passion
which lasted until he was 16, and. fl
nally threw him into convulsions
when he heard Of her marriage.
When he was II years old his moth
er brought him to London and put
him to school at Dulwich from
whence two years later he was sent
to Harrow, and became a pupil of the
Rev. Joseph Drury. At first Byron
hated his school life and all connected
with it. He was very unpopular, very
idle and always in mischief or at
play. He learned nothing, though at
times he would devour books for days
together. Despite his deformity, he
longed more than anything to be
good at sports. He certainly succeed
ed, for toward the end Of his school
days he played in the cricket eleven
against Eton. In 1905 he went to
Trinity college, Cambridge, he had
succeeded to the family title by that
time and a certain income, which he
set to work to run through as quickly
as possible. No under graduate ever
went the pace" more than Byron. He
rode, shot and boxed, being instructed
in the latter by the famous pugilist
Jackson, of whom he made a bosom
friend. He swan three-mile match
in the Thames from Blackfriars
Bridge, went in for cards and was very
soon the poorer by some E1O,O 900. AT
times he would start off on a driving
tour through the country with pair
of horses, a groom, valet and sever
al dogs. On some Of his wild escap-
ades he was accompanied by girl in
bows clothes, whom he introduced as
his younger brother. One can we'll i'm
agine that the dons stood aghast at
such behavior. Thus almost the
whole of his college life was given up
to pleasure, though at odd moments
he had written a small volume OF
poems called Fugitive Pieces" On
leaving Cambridge he settled down at
the family seat, Newstead Abbey. But
the country was not exactly an ideal
spot in his then youthful frame OF
mind; he longed to travel, and, like
all young men of his day, started
about making preparations to do the
grand tour" In 1909 all was pre-
pared, and he left England with a ret
inue Of servants, all his pet dogs and
every luxury that money could buy.
Having ridden through Spain, he
took ship for Malta, and so on to
Greece. But wherever he stayed he
always found some one to fall vio-
lently in love with. 1t was so while
he was at Malta, though by the time
he reached Athens some one else had
captured his heart.
But travelling as Byron did was an
expensive amusement, particularly as
he often gave large sums of money as
presents. Thus he returned to Eng
land after two years in the greatest
financial difficulties; indeed, he had to
borrow money to pay for his journey to
London. But so long as Byron had
money he was not likely to do anything
more than amuse himself. Thus the
more his fortunes declined the great
er became his determination to win
the admiration Of the world. 1t was
about this time that he wrote "Childe
Harold" For the copyright Murray,
the publisher, gave him $500, the
whole of which sum Byron gave
away, declaring that nothing would
induce him to write for money. But
this frame of mind did not last long;
later on he took, and that readily, all
that he could get. But "Childe Har-
old" was his first success, and he
n,,a ,,onrpipp tO find himself