Biography

DIBDIN, CHARLES (1745-1814). —Dramatist and song writer, b. at Southampton, began his literary career at 16 with a drama, The Shepherd's Artifice. His fame, however, rests on his sea songs, which are unrivalled, and include Tom Bowling, Poor Jack, and Blow High Blow Low. He is said to have written over 1200 of these, besides many dramatic pieces and two novels, Hannah Hewitt (1792), and The Younger Brother (1793), and a History of the Stage (1795).