George Gascoigne, an English poet, born about 1537, died in Stamford, Oct. 7, 1577. He was educated at Cambridge and began to study law; but having fallen into irregular habits, he was deprived by his father of as much of his inheritance as possible, and took service in Holland under the prince of Orange, where he remained two years and distinguished himself for his courage. He made a free translation of / Suppositi of Ariosto, which was performed by the gentlemen of Gray's Inn in 1566 under the name of The Supposes." Use was made of it by Shakespeare in "The Taming of the Shrew," and it is the earliest extant prose play in the English language. In 1575 Gascoigne joined the court of Queen Elizabeth, and wrote an account of the pageantries exhibited' at Kenilworth, entitled "The Princelye Pleasures of Kenelworth Castle." His satire in blank verse,The Steele Glasse," first printed in 1576, and his other poems, were collected and published with the title "The Whole Workes of George Gascoigne, Esquyre" (4to, black letter, London, 1587).