Tate, Nahum (1652–1715)

Irish poet. Tate was born in Dublin, and educated there at Trinity College before moving to London. He wrote an adaptation of Shakespeare's King Lear with a happy ending, entitled The History of King Lear (1681). He wrote the libretto for Purcell's Dido and Aeneas; he also produced A New Version of the Psalms (1696); his hymn ‘While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks by Night’ appeared in the Supplement (1703). He became British poet laureate in 1692.