Note 1. Thomas Sackville, Lord Buckhurst, born in 1536, was elevated to the earldom of Dorset with the accession of James I., but is generally referred to by his earlier title to avoid confusion with Charles Sackville, sixth Earl of Dorset (1638–1706). He was the author of Gorboduc, the first English tragedy, first acted 1562, and greatly admired by Sir Philip Sidney, who describes it in his Defense of Poetry as “Full of stately speeches and well-sounding phrases, climbing to the height of Seneca his style, and as full of notable morality, which it doth most delightfully teach, and thereby obtain the very end of poetry.” [back]
