Born: 8 September 1647, London, England
Died: 24 February 1721, London, England
Nationality: English
John Sheffield, 1st Duke of Buckingham and Normanby, was an English poet, politician, and courtier. He was associated with Dryden and Pope and wrote works including An Essay Upon Poetry.
John Sheffield, Duke of Buckingham
The Works of John Sheffield Earl of Mulgrave, Marquis of Normanby, and Duke of Buckingham
2 vols. 1726.
After I have dined (either agreeably with friends, or at worst with better company than your country-neighbours) I drive away to a place* of air and exercise; which some constitutions are in absolute need of: agitation of the body, and diversion of the mind, being a composition for health above all the skill of Hippocrates. The small distance of this place from London, is just enough for recovering my weariness, and recruiting my spirits, so as to make me fitter than before I set out, for either business or pleasure.
*Marybone
This testimonial to the restorative effects of Marylebone Park appears in A Letter to the D--- of Sh--- [Duke of Shrewsbury], who had asked the author why he remained in London after resigning his position as Privy Seal in 1705. Sheffield's claims to be visiting the park for the good of his health were mocked by contemporaries such as Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, who alluded to his favourite form of 'exercise' in one of her Town Eclogues (1715):
At the Groom-Porter's, batter'd bullies play,
Some dukes at Marybone bowl time away.
Thomas Pennant, in Some Account of London (1805), commented that Sheffield 'has omitted his constant visits to the noted gaming-house [the Rose Tavern] at Marybone, the place of assemblage of all the infamous sharpers of the time. His grace always gave them a dinner at the conclusion of the season, and his parting toast was, "May as many of us as remain unhanged next spring, meet here again."'.