William Cockin
English schoolmaster and versatile author
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
William Cockin (baptised 1736 – 1801) was an English schoolmaster and versatile author.[1]
William Cockin | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1736 |
| Died | 30 May 1801 (aged 65) |
| Occupations | Schoolteacher, writer, accountant |
Life
The son of Marmaduke Cockin (1712–1754), he was born at Burton-in-Kendal, Westmorland. His father was a schoolmaster.[1][2]
After time spent as a teacher in schools in London, Cockin was in 1764 appointed writing-master and accountant to Lancaster Grammar School, a post he held for twenty years. He was then for eight years at John Blanchard's Nottingham Academy.[2]
Cockin retired to Kendal. He was a friend of George Romney the painter, and he died at Romney's house in Kendal, on 30 May 1801, aged 65. He was buried at Burton-in-Kendal.[2]
Associations
Among Cockin's friends was the Rev. Thomas Wilson of Clitheroe, and Peter Romney, brother of George, was a correspondent in the later 1760s.[2][3] Other associates were John Dawson, and Rev. John James D.D., of Arthuret.[1]
Works
Cockin's works included:[2]
- A Rational and Practical Treatise of Arithmetic, 1766.
- Occasional Attempts in Verse, privately printed at Kendal.
- Ode to the Genius of the Lakes, 1780.
- The Theory of the Syphon, 1781.
- The Fall of Scepticism and Infidelity predicted, 1788, in the form of a letter to James Beattie.[1]
- The Freedom of Human Action explained, 1791
- The Rural Sabbath, a poem, 1805. This posthumous volume includes a reprint of the Ode to the Lakes, with biographical notes.
Cockin contributed to the Philosophical Transactions a paper An Account of an Extraordinary Appearance in a Mist near Lancaster.[4]
Elocutionist
In 1775 Cockin published The Art of Delivering Written Language; or, An Essay on Reading, dedicated to David Garrick, a work on elocution.[1] In this book Cockin is representative of the 18th-century elocutionary movement, and within elocutionist he is assigned to the "natural school".[5][6] His comment on the prescriptive approach of Thomas Sheridan, a leader of the movement, was that works of elocution might be as much about perceptions of ways of talking as speaking.[7]
Cockin noted in particular the connection between modulation in speech and silent reading.[8] He pointed out that in both speech and singing, pauses are used to frame and for emphasis.[9] He took comical mimicry to be a low form, in terms of artistic prestige. His exposition on the topic is now a standard authority for this attitude to imitation and mimesis.[10]
Guide books
Thomas West's Guide to the Lakes, on the English Lake District, first appeared in 1778, and Cockin assisted in its compilation.[2] He edited, anonymously, the second edition in 1780, West having died in 1779, including a preface that discussed the sources used: John Brown's Letter on Keswick, Thomas Gray, Thomas Pennant and Arthur Young.[11] This expanded work and a later edition influenced William Wordsworth's 1810 guide.[1] They contained the Letter on Keswick and Gray's Journal of the Lakes as appendices.[12] Other additions included an engraving of Grasmere, after John Feary;[13] Cockin was also responsible for footnotes, and tables of heights of the mountains.[14]
