Some Celebrated Dwarfs

Evening Post, Volume CXVI, Issue 79, 30 September 1933, Page 23

Some Celebrated Dwarfs

Dwarfs, as well as men of great stature, formerly constituted a part of the equipage of a court. The dwarf, the fool, or jester, aud the giant, were persons of distinction attendant on the great. Geoffrey Hudson was a favourite at the Court of James I; The son of a labourer, he was horn at Oakham, in Buckinghamshire, in the year 1619. At seven years of age he entered the service of the Duke of Buckingham. He was then only 18 inches high. On the Queen being entertained at Burleigh House, the seat of the duke, little Geoffrey was carried on to the table in a cold pie. When the crust was broken, he was taken out and presented by the duchess to her Majesty, Queen of Charles I, who took him into her service. In a masque at Court, the King's gigantic porter drew Hudson out of his pocket, as if he intended to eat him, to the great surprise and amusement of all the spectators. In his passage to' France, Hudson was taken by a pirate and carried to Dunkirk. His captivity and engagement with a turkey cock in that port were celebrated by Mr. William Davenant, in his poem entitled "Geoffreidos." It-is ssdi that after he was 30 years of age Hudson again commenced growing, and that he reached the height of 3ft 9in. His diminutive size did not prevent him "acting in a military, character. ' During "the Civil War he served as a captain of cavalry.1 He followed his fortunes in France in 1644, and unluckily engaged in a' quar. rel with Mr. Crofts, who, when a duelWas arranged, arrived on the field armed only with a syringe. A second meeting was appointed on horseback,

and Hudson killed his antagonist at the first shot. : For that he was expelled the Court, which induced him to go to sea, where he was again taken by a Turkish corsair, darned to Barbary, and sold as a slave. He found means to obtain his release, and on his return was made a captain in the Royal Navy. ,Oa the final retreat of Queen Henrietta he attended her to France, and remained there till the Restoration. Da 1682 he was committed on suspicion of; being concerned in the Popish plot, and in confinement he died at the age of 63. In the reign of Charles I a dwarf named Richard Gibson, who was a page of the back-stairs, and a favourite at Court, married Miss Ann Shepherd, another dwarf. The King honoured the singular wedding with his presence, and "gave away" the bride. Waller, the poet, composed the following verses:— Design or chance makes others wire, But Nature did this match contrive. Thrice happy is that humble pair, Beneath the level of all care, Over whose head those arrows fly Of and distrust and jealousy:' Secured in as high esteem As if the world had none but them. | To Tiim the fairest nymphs do show Like moving mountains topp'd with snow; I And every man a Polpheme Does to his Galatea seem: Ah, Chorlle, that kind Nature thus ' From all the world had sever'd us; j Creating for ourselves us two,' As. love made me for only you. The bride and bridegroom measured j each 3ft lOin in height. Gibson taught Queen Anne drawing, and was sent to j Holland to. instruct her sister, the Princess of Orange. He lived to the j advanced age of 75. His wife survived] him and died in 1709, at the age of 89.