Samuel Boyse


Samuel Boyse was an Irish poet and writer who worked for Sir Robert Walpole and whose religious verses in particular were prized and reprinted in his time.

Life

Born in Dublin, Boyse was the son of Joseph Boyse, a Presbyterian minister. He studied in Dublin, then Glasgow University; he had no profession other than writer, a career which took him to Edinburgh and London. He married at the age of 20.
Boyse "had many brilliant opportunities for advancement, all of which he wasted by almost inexplicable recklessness", according to William Lloyd Phelps. "Debts at length drove him from Edinburgh. He often had to beg for the smallest coins, and wrote verses in bed to obtain money for clothes and food.".
Boyse became a regular contributor to Gentleman's Magazine, where he wrote under the pen names "Alcaeus" and "Y". Boyse was patronised by Sir Robert Walpole, but later fell into poverty during the latter part of his life. He was sometimes regarded as dissolute, sometimes as insane.
His religious verse was valued, and his poetry was collected and reprinted. He died of consumption, although the circumstances of his death have been disputed.