Taylor John

Taylor, JOHN, the "Water Poet" (1580-1654), was born at Gloucester. He took part in the expedition to Cadiz under Essex (1596), and on his return became a waterman on the Thames. When the Civil War broke out, Taylor, who was an ardent royalist, set up a public-house at Oxford. He afterwards transferred his business to London. His boisterous but vulgar wit is more conspicuous in his prose writings than in his verse.