Richard Beeard
English hymn writer
Richard Beeard, also Berde or Beard, (fl. 1552–1578) was a Tudor clergyman, poet, and hymn writer.
Ballads and Psalms
Master Harry Whoball's Mon to Master Camell Greets
Beeard's origins are obscure. There is no record of his existence until 1552, when he took part in the sequence of mainly humorous poems which followed in the wake of the contention between Thomas Churchyard and Thomas Camell. None of the items in this literary quarrel is dated, but all of them are now thought to have been composed in 1552. Beeard first wrote a short poem called: Master Harry Whoball's Mon to Master Camell Greets. (The word mon is the form of man used in the Mummerzet of this poem.) It was printed by Richard Lant, and is a reply by Beeard, posing as the servant of the clown Harry Whoball, to Camell’s To Goodman Chappell's Supplication. (Geoffrey Chappell is the name of a probably fictitious contributor to the set of poems, and Churchyard is no doubt the real writer.) Beeard’s name is not given, but an acrostic reveals the author as: Ar.I.S.A.A.Ar.D.B.Y.A.Ar.D. Whoball's servant berates Chappell for not recognising the dignity of his wealthy and substantial master, and accuses him of writing whilst drunk.
Alphabetum primum Beeardi
The second poem is called: Alphabetum primum Beeardi (Latin: Beeard’s first alphabet). It was printed by William Copland, and is signed ‘Finis.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Richard Beeard” is english hymn writer. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Richard, Beeard and English, not as a finished interpretation.
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Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 22, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7324064. VIAF identifies the subject as 22484489. The Library of Congress control number is nr93001088. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1552 and 1578.
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This entry incorporates text from “Richard Beeard” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.