John Suckling (poet)

Sir John Suckling
Sir John Suckling as painted by VanDyck.
Born	(1609-02-10)10 February 1609 Whitton, London
Died	1 May 1641(1641-05-01) (aged 32)
Nationality	English
Genre	Poetry

Sir John Suckling (10 February 1609 – after May 1641) was an English poet and a prominent figure among those renowned for careless gaiety and wit, the accomplishments of a Cavalier poet. He was also the inventor of the card game cribbage. He is best known for his poem "Ballad Upon a Wedding".

He was born at Whitton, in the parish of Twickenham, Middlesex, and baptized there on 10 February 1609. His father, Sir John Suckling, was Secretary of State under James I and Comptroller of the Household of Charles I, and his mother was Elizabeth Cranfield, sister of Sir Lionel Cranfield, 1st Earl of Middlesex. The poet inherited his father's estate at the age of eighteen. He went to Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1623, and was enrolled at Gray's Inn in 1627. He was intimate with Ben Jonson, Thomas Carew, Richard Lovelace, Thomas Nabbes and especially with John Hales and Sir William Davenant, who later furnished John Aubrey with information about his friend.

In 1628, he left London to travel in France and Italy, returning before the autumn of 1630, when he was knighted. In 1631 he volunteered for the force raised by the Marquess of Hamilton to serve under Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. He was back at Whitehall in May 1632; but during his short service he had been present at the Battle of Breitenfeld and in many sieges. His poetic talent was only one of many accomplishments, but it commended him especially to Charles I and his queen, Henrietta Maria. He says of himself ("A Sessions of the Poets") that he "prized black eyes or a lucky hit at bowls above all the trophies of wit." Aubrey says that he invented the game of cribbage, and relates that his sisters came weeping to the bowling green at Piccadilly to dissuade him from play, fearing that he would lose their portions. Suckling was so passionately devoted to cards, that he would frequently spend the whole morning in bed with a pack before him, studying the subtleties of his favourite games. He was considered not only the most skilful card-player, but also the best bowler in England. Suckling is said to have sent numerous packs of marked playing cards to the aristocratic houses of England. He then travelled the country playing cribbage with the gentry, and managed to win around £20,000, an amount equivalent to about £4 million in today’s money.