Brown, Thomas (1663–1704)

English satirical writer. He is said to have escaped expulsion from Christ Church College, Oxford, by spontaneously adapting Martial's epigram ‘Non amo te, Sabidi’ as ‘I do not love thee, Doctor Fell’ when asked for a translation by the dean.

Brown was born in Shifnal, Shropshire. He was for a time a schoolteacher near London, and afterwards lived there, becoming a writer. His numerous miscellaneous works, though witty, are coarse and frequently vulgarly abusive.