E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
MacFleck’noe
in Dryden’s famous satire, is Thomas Shadwell, poet-laureate, whose immortality rests on the not very complimentary line, “Shadwell never deviates into sense.” (1640–1692.)
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N.B. Flecknoe was an Irish Roman Catholic priest, doggerel sonneteer, and playwright. Shadwell, according to Dryden, was his double.
