Cotton, Charles (1630–1687)

English poet and translator. His Scarronides, or the First Book of Virgil Travestied was published anonymously 1664, and was revised in later editions, becoming more gross on each occasion. He is now chiefly remembered for his contribution, the dialogue between ‘Piscator’ and ‘Viator’, to the fifth edition of Izaak Walton's Compleat Angler (1676). He also published a notable translation of Montaigne's Essaies (1685).

Born at Beresford Hall, Staffordshire, Cotton travelled in Europe as a boy, and seems to have been continually embarrassed by money matters. His ‘Ode to Winter’ was eulogized by William Wordsworth and Charles Lamb. He also wrote The Compleat Gamester (1674) and Wonders of the Peake (1681).