Note 215 — RAGLAN CASTLE, Monmouthshire.
Reading edition
Charles Sackville was the direct descendant of the great Thomas Lord Buckhurst. Of his youth it is disgraceful enough to say, that he was the companion of Rochester and Sedley; but his mature life, like that of Sedley, was illustrated by public spirit, and his fortune enabled him to be a beneficent friend to men of genius. He attended the Duke of York as a volunteer in the Dutch war, and finished his well-known song, “To all you ladies now at land,” on the day before the sea-fight in which Opdam, the Dutch admiral, was blown up with all his crew:—
“To all you ladies now at land, We men at sea indite; But first would have you understand, How hard it is to write; The Muses now, and Neptune too, We must implore to write to you. With a fa, la, la, la, la. “Should foggy Opdam chance to know Our sad and dismal story; The Dutch would scorn so weak a foe, And quit their fort at Goree; For what resistance can they find From men who’ve left their hearts behind! With a fa, la, la, la, la.” —Campbell’s British Poets, p. 316.