John Cutts, Baron Cutts (1661-1707). Portrait by Willem Wissing (1656-1687). Courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
| John Cutts, Baron Cutts | |
|---|---|
| 1661 – 25 January 1707 | |
| Allegiance | Template:Country data Kingdom of Great Britain |
| Service/branch | British Army |
| Rank | Lieutenant-General |
| Commands held | Ireland |
| Battles/wars |
Williamite War in Ireland Nine Years' War War of the Spanish Succession |
Lieutenant-General John Cutts, 1st Baron Cutts of Gowran (1661 - 25 January 1707) was an English poet and British soldier.
Life[]
Cutts was the 2nd son of Richard Cutte or Cuttes of Woodhall, Arkesden, an Essex squire of an old family owning property at Arkesden and Matching in that county, by his wife Joan, daughter of Sir Richard Everard (baronet, of Much Waltham, Essex).[1]
After a short university career at Catharine Hall, Cambridge,[2] he inherited the family estates, but showed a distinct preference for the life of court and camp. The double ambition for military and literary fame inspired his earliest published work, which appeared in 1685 under the name La Muse de cavalier; or, An Apology for such Gentlemen as make Poetry their Diversion not their Business.[3]
The next year saw Cutts serving as a volunteer under the Duke of Lorraine in Hungary, and it is said that he was the 1st to plant the imperial standard on the walls at the storming of Buda (July 1686). In 1687 he published a book of Poetical Exercises, and the following year he was serving as lieutenant-colonel in Holland.[3]
General Hugh Mackay described Cutts about this time as "pretty tall, lusty and well shaped, an agreeable companion with abundance of wit, affable and familiar, but too much seized with vanity and self-conceit."[3]
Lt-Col. Cutts was a companion of William III in the English Glorious Revolution of 1688,[3] and in 1690 he went in command of a regiment of foot in Ireland. He served with distinction at the Battle of the Boyne, and at the siege of Limerick (1690) (where he was wounded), and King William created him Baron Cutts of Gowran, in the Peerage of Ireland, on 12 December 1690. In 1691 he succeeded to the command of the brigade of the prince of Hesse (wounded at Aughrim), and on the surrender of Limerick was appointed commandant of the town.[4]
On 18 December 1690, Cutts married Elizabeth, daughter of George Clark, merchant, of London, a widow who had been twice married before. He afterwards went as brigadier-general to Flanders, and fought at the battle of Steinkirk, where his regiment was among those cut to pieces in Mackay's division, and he was badly wounded in the foot. He returned to England on crutches, and soon after his recovery lost his wife, who died 19 Feb. 1693.[5]
For some time after this, Lord Cutts was lieutenant-governor of the Isle of Wight, but he returned to active service in 1694, holding a command in the disastrous Brest expedition. He was one of Carmarthen's companions in the daring reconnaissance of Camaret Bay, and was soon afterwards again wounded. He succeeded Thomas Tollemache, the commander of the expedition (who died of his wounds), as colonel of the Coldstream Guards.[4]
In 1695, after serving as a commissioner for settling the bank of Antwerp, he distinguished himself once more at the famous Siege of Namur, winning for himself the name of "Salamander" by his indifference to the heaviest fire. He was shot in the head while leading an attack against the citadel, but recovered to lead his men to the capture of the works.[4]
In 1696, Cutts was appointed captain of the body guard, and in January 1697 he married his 2nd wife, Elizabeth, the only daughter of Sir Henry Pickering, baronet, of Whaddon, Cambridgeshire. In the summer of 1697 he was engaged in the negotiations which led to the treaty of Ryswick, during which he was despatched on a mission to Vienna. He brought home the welcome tidings of peace, but a few weeks later had the misfortune to lose his young wife, who died on 23 November 1697, after giving birth to a dead child. She was only 18.[6]
On the occasion of the great fire in Whitehall (1698) Cutts, at the head of the Coldstreams, earned afresh the honorable nickname of "the Salamander." A little later we find Captain Richard Steele acting as his private secretary.[4] Steele, who was indebted to him for his company in Lord Lucas's fusiliers, dedicated to Cutts his "Christian Hero."[6]
In 1702, now a major-general, Cutts was serving under the Duke of Marlborough in the opening campaign of the War of the Spanish Succession, and at the siege of Venlo, conspicuous as usual for romantic bravery, he led the stormers at Fort Saint Michael. His enemies, and even the survivors of the assault, were amazed at the success of a seemingly hare-brained enterprise. Probably, however, Cutts, who was now a veteran of great and varied experience, measured the factors of success and failure better than his critics. It was on this occasion that Swift lampooned the lieutenant-general in his Ode to a Salamander.[4]
Cutts made the campaign of 1703 in Flanders, and in 1704, after a visit to England, he rejoined Marlborough on the banks of the Danube. At the Battle of Blenheim he was 3rd in command, and it was his division that bore the brunt of the desperate fighting at the village which gave its name to the battle. Blenheim was Cutts's last battle.[4] On 23 March 1705 he was appointed Commander-in-Chief, Ireland, his last appointment.[7]
His remaining years were spent at home, and, at the time of his death, he was the holder of 8 distinct political and military offices. He sat in 5 parliaments for the county of Cambridge (1693-1701), and in Queen Anne's 1st Parliament he was returned for Newport in the Isle of Wight, for which he sat until the time of his death.[4]
He died in Dublin, rather suddenly, on 26 January 1707, and, his detractors said, left not enough money to bury him. He was interred in Christ Church Cathedral, but no trace can be found of any monument having ever been erected to him.[8] [9]
Writing[]
Cutts, who had scholarly tastes and wrote flowing and not ungraceful verses, made his earliest appearance in print in England on 10 November 1685, in La Muse de Cavalier; or, An apology for such gentlemen as make poetry their diversion not their business; in a letter by a scholar of Mars to one of Apollo. The letter, which is in rhyme, alludes to some anonymous critic, who had objected to soldiers wielding the pen, and accused Cutts of "railing against the stage and court,’ and to whom there is an indecent rejoinder appended.[1]
In March 1687 he published in London his Poetical Exercises, written on several occasions, with a dedication to Mary, princess of Orange. Some extracts from this little book are given by Horace Walpole in Royal and Noble Authors, v. 220–222. It also contains a piece dedicated to the Duchess of Monmouth, who had asked Cutts's opinion of Boileau's poems, and a few songs "set by His Majesty's Servants, Mr. Abel and Mr. King."[1]
On the death of Queen Mary in December 1694, Cutts, who appears to have indulged his poetic tastes amidst all the distractions of court and camp, wrote a monody, a rather stilted effusion, which appears in State Poems (p. 199).[5]
Richard Steele subsequently published in the 5th volume of the Tatler some of Cutts's verses, as the productions of "Honest Cynthio."[6]
Recognition[]
On 6 December 1690, King William "was pleased to confer a mark of favour on Colonel John Cutts" by creating him Baron Cutts of Gowran in the kingdom of Ireland.[5]
Also in December 1690 the University of Cambridge conferred on him the honorary degree of LL.D..[5]
George Montague, the friend of Horace Walpole and a grandson of the 1st Lady Cutts by a former husband,[10] appears to have intended to erect a monument to Lord Cutts somewhere, for which Walpole wrote an epitaph, but there is no proof that the design was ever carried further.[9]
His "Song (Only tell her that I love)" was included in the Oxford Book of English Verse, 1250-1900.[11]
Cutts' old Cambridge college organised a dinner to commemorate the tercentenary of his death, held in January 2007.
A small portrait of Cutts, taken by the court painter Wissing, is in the National Portrait Gallery.[1]
Publications[]
Poetry[]
- La Muse de Cavalier; or, An apology for such gentlemen as make poetry their diversion, not their business; in a letter from a scholar of Mars to one of Apollo. London: Tho. Fox, 1685.
- Poetical Exercises, written upon several occasions. London: R. Bentley / S. Magnes, 1687. .
Letters[]
- Letters of John, Lord Cutts to Colonel Joseph Dudley. Cambridge, MA: John Wilson & Son, 1886.
Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.[12]
See also[]
References[]
Chichester, Henry Manners (1888) "Cutts, John" in Stephen, Leslie Dictionary of National Biography 13 London: Smith, Elder, pp. 367-370. Wikisource, Web, Mar. 20, 2020.- Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). "Cutts of Gowran, John Cutts, Baron". Encyclopædia Britannica. 7 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 675-676.. Wikisource, Web, Mar. 20, 2020.
Notes[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Chichester, 367.
- ↑ Cutts, John in Venn, J. & J. A., Alumni Cantabrigienses, Cambridge University Press, 10 vols, 1922–1958.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Britannica 7, 675.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 Britannica 7, 676.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Chichester, 368.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Chichester, 369.
- ↑ John Cutts at Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
- ↑ Notes and Queries 5th ser. x., 498.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Chichester, 370.
- ↑ Hist. MSS. Comm. 8th Rep. (2), 112–113.
- ↑ "Song", Oxford Book of English Verse, 1250-1900 (edited by Arthur Quiller-Couch). Oxford: Clarendon, 1919). Bartleby.com, Web, May 4, 2012.
- ↑ Search results = au:John Cutts, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Mar. 20, 2020.
External links[]
- Poems
- Books
- John Cutts at Amazon.com
- About
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, the Dictionary of National Biography (edited by Leslie Stephen). London: Smith, Elder, 1885-1900. Original article is at: Cutts, John
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, the 1911 Edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica. Original article is at Cutts Of Gowran, John Cutts, Baron
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