Gay, John 1685-1732
English poet

Born in Barnstaple, Devon, he was educated at Barnstaple Grammar School, and apprenticed to a silk mercer in London, but soon returned home to write. In 1708 he published his first poem, Wine, and in 1711 a pamphlet on the Present State of Wit. Appointed secretary to the Duchess of Monmouth (1712), in 1713 he dedicated to Pope the georgic Rural Sports. In 1714 he published The Fan and The Shepherd's Week, and accompanied Lord Clarendon, envoy to Hanover, as secretary. With Pope and John Arbuthnot, he wrote the play Three Hours after Marriage (1717), and in 1727 he produced the first series of his popular Fables. His greatest success was The Beggar's Opera (1728), set to music by Johann Pepusch, the outcome of a suggestion made by Jonathan Swift in 1716. Running for 62 performances, it attained unprecedented popularity. He wrote another opera, Achilles (produced posthumously in 1733). He was buried in Westminster Abbey, London.

Bibliography: P M Sparks, John Gay (1965)