Thomas Edward Brown


Thomas Edward Brown, commonly referred to as T. E. Brown, was a late-Victorian scholar, schoolmaster, poet, and theologian from the Isle of Man.
Having achieved a double first at Christ Church, Oxford, and election as a fellow of Oriel in April 1854, Brown served first as headmaster of the Crypt School, Gloucester, then as a young master at the fledgling Clifton College, near Bristol. Writing throughout his teaching career, Brown developed a poetry corpus—with Fo'c's'le Yarns, The Doctor, The Manx Witch, and Old John —of narrative poetry in Anglo-Manx, the historic dialect of English spoken on the Isle of Man that incorporates elements of Manx Gaelic. It was Brown's role in creating the verse, with scholarly use of language shaping a distinct regional poetic form—featuring a fervour of patriotism and audacious and naturally pious philosophy of life unique to the islands, and interspersing pauses and irregularity of rhythm, an emotive admixture of mirth and sorrow, and a tenderness described by Quiller-Couch as rugged—that earned him the appellation of "Manx national poet." Retiring in 1892 to focus on writing, Brown died in 1897, while again at the rostrum during a return visit to Clifton.

Life

Brown was born on 5 May 1830 at Douglas, Isle of Man. His older brother was the Baptist preacher, pastor and reformer Hugh Stowell Brown.
As Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch notes, T.E. Brown's father, the Rev. Robert Brown, had decided to collaborate:
Brown left the Isle soon afterward, ca. 1857, to accept the position of headmaster of The Crypt School, in Gloucester, where a commission had, through the hiring and other efforts, been attempting to revive the school. Brown was viewed as brilliant and academically distinguished; while his tenure at the school was relatively brief —he reportedly found the burden of administration at the school intolerable—Brown made a profound impact in this period, including on William Ernest Henley with whom he overlapped from 1861 to 1863. Years later, after becoming a successful published poet, Henley would recall Headmaster Brown as a "revelation" and "a man of genius... the first I'd ever seen," and would eulogize his passing as one "singularly kind… at a moment… I needed kindness even more than I needed encouragement."
Quiller-Couch continues:
Hence, Brown created a distinct regional poetic form close to its native language, with scholarly use of the language, unique pacing and irregularity of rhythm, and a ruggedly tender admixture of mirth and sorrow that exhibited a fervent island patriotism and an audacious, naturally pious philosophy of life, a combination of man and art that earned T.E. Brown the appellation of "Manx national poet."

Works

Poetry