Ritson

JOSEPH RITSON (1752 - 1803)

Ritson was born in the High street, Stockton, and spent most of his youth in a house in Silver Street. He went to London in 1775 and practised as a conveyancer, but devoted most of his time to antiquarian studies, publishing 36 volumes during the last twenty years of his life (ten more came out after his death).

Given to furious, though usually justified, attacks on fellow scholars such as Warton, Thomas Percy (q.v.) and Doctor Johnson, he seems to have retained the friendship of Robert Surtees and Sir Walter Scott, who consulted him while working on his Border Minstrelsy. William Godwin was an intimate in London, and Ritson assisted him with historical background for his great novel Caleb Williams. Robert Burns once said that it was a collection of old ballads edited by Ritson that he read every day as he tramped to his work behind the plough.

At the theatre in Green-Dragon yard in Stockton, Ritson had encountered Thomas Holcroft, the novelist and radical, one of the most remarkable men of his time, then making a living as a strolling player. Holcroft too became an intimate friend of Godwin and Ritson. Another of that circle was William Shield, the Swalwell-born violinist and composer.

An encounter with Hutchinson the poet, prompted Ritson to attempt verse himself:

Where Tease in sweet meanders slowly glides,
And, gently murm'ring rolls his easy tides,
There stands a town, with ease and plenty crown'd;
Far-famed for dames, wise, charitable, chaste,
And first in beauty's annals ever plac'd.
In every age has STOCKTON been rever'd,
Her sons have always been belov'd and fear'd.

Ritson's Robin Hood collection of 1795, illustrated by Thomas Bewick (q.v.) provided source material for Walter Scott's Ivanhoe (1819) as well as Thomas Love Peacock's popular novel Maid Marian (1818). He also published several collections of songs, fairy tales and verses for children. 'Taffy was a Welshman' and 'Ride a Cock-Horse' are only two among those included in the booklet printed by R. Christopher, the Stockton publisher. Ritson is probably best known for his Bishopric Garland (1784) based on County Durham, and the Northumberland Garland of 1793.

Ritson's irascible temperament was made worse by ill-health. His diet, originally inspired by reading Mandeville's Fable of the Bees, became increasingly vegetarian. He lived on vegetables, biscuits, tea and lemonade, and eventually had to sell half his library to survive. He finally went insane in September 1803 and barricaded himself in, and made a bonfire of his manuscripts. He died later that month. Sir Walter Scott, writing to Robert Surtees, gave a generous tribute:

I loved poor Ritson. With all his singularities, he was always kind and indulgent to me. He had an honesty of principle about him, which if it went to ridiculous extremes, was still respectable from the soundness of its foundation. I don't believe the world could have made Ritson say the thing he did not think. I wish we had his like at present.

Myers Literary Guide:	The North-East
JOSEPH RITSON (1752 - 1803) Ritson was born in the High street, Stockton, and spent most of his youth in a house in Silver Street. He went to London in 1775 and practised as a conveyancer, but devoted most of his time to antiquarian studies, publishing 36 volumes during the last twenty years of his life (ten more came out after his death). Given to furious, though usually justified, attacks on fellow scholars such as Warton, Thomas Percy (q.v.) and Doctor Johnson, he seems to have retained the friendship of Robert Surtees and Sir Walter Scott, who consulted him while working on his Border Minstrelsy. William Godwin was an intimate in London, and Ritson assisted him with historical background for his great novel Caleb Williams. Robert Burns once said that it was a collection of old ballads edited by Ritson that he read every day as he tramped to his work behind the plough. At the theatre in Green-Dragon yard in Stockton, Ritson had encountered Thomas Holcroft, the novelist and radical, one of the most remarkable men of his time, then making a living as a strolling player. Holcroft too became an intimate friend of Godwin and Ritson. Another of that circle was William Shield, the Swalwell-born violinist and composer. An encounter with Hutchinson the poet, prompted Ritson to attempt verse himself: Where Tease in sweet meanders slowly glides, And, gently murm'ring rolls his easy tides, There stands a town, with ease and plenty crown'd; Far-famed for dames, wise, charitable, chaste, And first in beauty's annals ever plac'd. In every age has STOCKTON been rever'd, Her sons have always been belov'd and fear'd. Ritson's Robin Hood collection of 1795, illustrated by Thomas Bewick (q.v.) provided source material for Walter Scott's Ivanhoe (1819) as well as Thomas Love Peacock's popular novel Maid Marian (1818). He also published several collections of songs, fairy tales and verses for children. 'Taffy was a Welshman' and 'Ride a Cock-Horse' are only two among those included in the booklet printed by R. Christopher, the Stockton publisher. Ritson is probably best known for his Bishopric Garland (1784) based on County Durham, and the Northumberland Garland of 1793. Ritson's irascible temperament was made worse by ill-health. His diet, originally inspired by reading Mandeville's Fable of the Bees, became increasingly vegetarian. He lived on vegetables, biscuits, tea and lemonade, and eventually had to sell half his library to survive. He finally went insane in September 1803 and barricaded himself in, and made a bonfire of his manuscripts. He died later that month. Sir Walter Scott, writing to Robert Surtees, gave a generous tribute: I loved poor Ritson. With all his singularities, he was always kind and indulgent to me. He had an honesty of principle about him, which if it went to ridiculous extremes, was still respectable from the soundness of its foundation. I don't believe the world could have made Ritson say the thing he did not think. I wish we had his like at present.
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