29/09/2018 A seventeenth-century English cannabis activist: John Taylor, the Water Poet Part I.

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by David Cannafacts on 20/11/2015 | Cultural Opinion

A seventeenth-century English
cannabis activist: John Taylor, the
Water Poet Part I.
Hemp Poetry
The poem The Praise of Hemp-seed was published in 1620 by John
Taylor, the Water Poet. Surprisingly enough, he praises the many
benefits that the hemp seed has to offer mankind. His passion, some
four hundred years ago, rivals that of modern cannabis activists. Learn
more about this poet and his song of praise for the hemp seed.

In the early seventeenth century, John Taylor, the Elizabethan ‘Water Poet’
penned an impressive poem, The Praise of Hemp-seed. It is striking that this
poem not only praises and describes the many benefits for mankind of hemp
itself, but of hemp seeds too. The passion with which the poet does so rivals
the passion of any cannabis activist of today. Some four hundred years ago,
John Taylor was already very much on the case.
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29/09/2018 A seventeenth-century English cannabis activist: John Taylor, the Water Poet Part I.
The Profits arising by Hemp-seed are}
} Cloathing, Food, Fishing, Shipping,
} Pleasure, Profit, Iustice, Whipping.

<https://sensiseeds.com/en/blog/files/2015/11/foto-1-The-Praise-of-
Hempseed.6961361077_02bd89d67f_o-2.jpg>

The poem The Praise of Hemp-seed praises the many benefits and applications of
hemp seeds (CC. fluffymuppet)

This excerpt is taken from the first page of the poem The Praise of Hemp-seed,
just under the title, before the foreword. From the offset, the writer is very
clear what the poem is about, just in case it wasn’t already obvious from the
title. This surprising poem, penned in 1620 by John Taylor
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Taylor_(poet)> , better known as the Water Poet,
praises and describes the many benefits and applications for mankind not
only of hemp <https://sensiseeds.com/en/blog/whats-difference-cannabis-marijuana-hemp/ >

itself, but of hemp seeds <https://sensiseeds.com/en/hemp> too. The passion with

which the poet does so rivals the passion of any cannabis activist of today.
Modern cannabis and hemp activists, as well as those of times gone by, share
the same passion when it comes to defending the qualities of this ancient
plant <https://sensiseeds.com/en/blog/cf/strain-focus-en/> . Some four hundred years ago,
John Taylor was already very much on the case.

During the course of the poem, the Water Poet discusses the many
possibilities and applications of hemp and the many advantages that
growing the seeds <https://sensiseeds.com/en/blog/category/cultivation/> had for society
in his time. When hemp was processed in seventeenth-century England, all
parts were used: the fibres <https://sensiseeds.com/en/blog/use-european-hemp-fibres-

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29/09/2018 A seventeenth-century English cannabis activist: John Taylor, the Water Poet Part I.
automotive-applications/> , stalk <https://sensiseeds.com/en/blog/cbd-products-according-sensi-

seeds/> , leaves <https://sensiseeds.com/en/blog/everything-you-ever-needed-to-know-about-

cannabis-leaves/> , everything.

Hemp <http://hashmuseum.com/en/collection/history-of-hemp> was used in Taylor’s time

as a raw material in the preparation of food <https://sensiseeds.com/en/hemp-food>

and production of textiles <https://sensiseeds.com/en/blog/hemp-textiles-produced/> and

medicines, just as it had been thousands of years before that. On the first
page of his poem, Taylor refers to the food and clothing, as well as the health
benefits of hemp. In Elizabethan times, hemp was cultivated in Great Britain
and mainland Europe to supply the British Navy’s huge demand for hemp for
producing ropes, nets, sails, fishing tackle and other nautical equipment.

John Taylor also refers to the administration of law. Unfortunately, the strong
hemp ropes of the time were also used to hang and whip criminals, which
was common practice in England during the reign of Elizabeth I
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabethan_era> . Another use the poet refers to in the
title is more uplifting: recreational <https://sensiseeds.com/en/blog/four-ways-to-regulate-
recreational-cannabis-and-comply-with-international-law/> cannabis. Cannabis was also
used for relaxation and enjoyment.

In short, the poet clearly refers to the use of cannabis for medicinal
<https://sensiseeds.com/en/info/company/about-sensi-seeds/sensi-seeds-and-medicinal-

cannabis/what-is-medicinal-cannabis/> , recreational <https://sensiseeds.com/en/blog/10-

milestones-history-cannabis/> and industrial purposes <http://hashmuseum.com/en/the-

plant/industrial-hemp> . Some four hundred years ago, John Taylor was already very
much familiar with these uses.

Who was John Taylor?

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29/09/2018 A seventeenth-century English cannabis activist: John Taylor, the Water Poet Part I.

<https://sensiseeds.com/en/blog/files/2015/11/foto-2-River-Thames-17th-
Century.-7433900986_0acfa8c88a_k.jpg>

In the 17th century, watermen transported passengers across the River Thames, as
London Bridge was the only other connection between the banks (CC. DncnH)

While relatively unknown among modern readers, John Taylor was a prolific
author. In his lifetime, he published more than 150 works and was one of the
first ‘celebrities’. He became known throughout the country and was one of
the most popular poets and personalities in Elizabethan and Jacobean
London (during the reign of James I).

He was known as the ‘Water Poet <http://britishlibrary.typepad.co.uk/english-and-

drama/2012/06/the-water-poet-pageants-and-the-thames.html> ’ because his main source of

income was from his work as a waterman. He transported passengers across
the Thames in the time that the London Bridge was the only connection
between the two shores.

While his works and poems were far from refined, he was a sharp observer of
the social and cultural climate of the time, as a result of which his work is
often studied by social historians. Despite all the criticism, he remained true
to his own style of poetry and irregular metre. He discussed his adventurous
life and published numerous pamphlets, poems and essays about the period
in which he lived. Through his texts, we are given insight into the world of a
London waterman in the forty years of the reign of James I to the aftermath
of the English Civil War.

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29/09/2018 A seventeenth-century English cannabis activist: John Taylor, the Water Poet Part I.
Taylor published his ever-critical thoughts on a wide range of subjects,
ranging from politics to sewing, from poetry to shipping, from religion to
society, as well as provocative jokes. He had a complex and contradictory
personality and was symbolic of many contrasts in a world that was soon to
literally be at war with itself.

John Taylor, the Water Poet

<https://sensiseeds.com/en/blog/files/2015/11/foto-3-Portrait-John_Taylor_poet.jpg>

Portrait of John Taylor, in many ways a pioneer in his time, (gravure produced by
Thomas Cockson for Taylor’s volume of poetry published in 1630)

John Taylor was born in Gloucester, England, on 24 August 1578 and died in
1653. During his teenage years, he was a waterman apprentice on the River
Thames. Before the South Bank of the Thames, where the theatres were, was
closed, he had already come into contact with actors, the bourgeoisie, and the
well-educated elite.

He was nonetheless put under pressure to serve in the Royal Navy. In 1596
he served on the Essex Fleet, was present at Flores in 1597, and fought the
Spanish at sea. He was, however, always a poet at heart. After various voyages,
Taylor returned to London where he continued working as a waterman until
1622, despite the success of his first published work, The Sculler, Rowing from
Tiber to Thames (1612).

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29/09/2018 A seventeenth-century English cannabis activist: John Taylor, the Water Poet Part I.
Thanks to Taylor’s connections with the theatre (the watermen transported
theatregoers from north London to the theatres on the South Bank of the
Thames) and his interest in poetry, he must have known Shakespeare. Taylor
was in fact one of the first to refer to Shakespeare’s death and he did so in
the poem that is the subject of this article: The Praise of Hemp-seed,
published in 1620. The poem includes a list of poets whose work and names
remained famous due to the fact that their poems were published. Taylor set
great store by making a name for himself for posterity and in order to achieve
his immortality, he used the power of the printing press.

Despite his lack of classic education, Taylor very definitely contributed to the
literature of the time. He succeeded in securing fame and maintaining it.
Later critics of his work claimed, however, that while Taylor was self-
important enough to call himself the Water Poet and the Royal Waterman, he
could at best be described as a literary waterman. Despite all criticism, Taylor
always continued to view his own style differently.

John Taylor, the pioneer

Taylor was a pioneer in many ways. He was one of the first to make travel
literature popular. He used the money of his subscribers to finance the
publications of his own work, and he was also one of the first to write a
palindrome <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palindrome> , that was truly recognised as
such. In 1614 he wrote: ”Lewd did I live, & evil I did dwel.”

He became famous for a series of rather eccentric journeys he allegedly made

which he later wrote about in his works, such as the voyage in his clearly
cannabis-related poem THE PRAISE OF HEMP-SEED. The Voyage of Mr. Roger
Bird and the Writer hereof, in a Boat of browne-Paper, from London to
Quinborough in Kent. The poet writes about his voyage from London to
Queenborough, Kent, in a paper boat, with two stock fish tied to canes for
oars. While Taylor claimed to have completed the voyage despite all the
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29/09/2018 A seventeenth-century English cannabis activist: John Taylor, the Water Poet Part I.
adventure involved, it seems fairly clear that this was an impressive publicity
stunt that brought him a lot of attention and an increase in sales of the
poem.

As mentioned earlier, Taylor was also a pioneer in the world of publishing. He

used contributions from his subscribers to finance the publication of many of
his works. That way he did not need a patron. It is comparable to the
crowdfunding used to finance projects today. Taylor launched an idea for a
book, asked his subscribers for funds, then started writing once he had
enough subscriptions to cover the publishing costs. At one point he had
more than sixteen hundred subscribers. Before he left on his travels, he
announced his plans and those interested paid in advance to ensure that they
would receive a copy of his travel writing on his return. There is no doubt
about it, Taylor was an energetic and determined visionary.

John Taylor, the cannabis activist

<https://sensiseeds.com/en/blog/files/2015/11/foto-4-hemp-ropes-
2110574590_13a831f029_o.jpg>

In Elizabethan England, hemp was used to produce hangman’s ropes, as well as

whips for punishment (CC. aliceskr)

Activism is a relatively recent phenomenon in the history of the world. Today,

it is largely associated with political, environmental, social and cultural
protest. Activists share common goals and see the necessity in directly and
immediately bringing about change to the status quo. They are motivated by
their passion for certain matters, such as John Taylor’s passion for the hemp
seed, a passion developed throughout his lifetime and informed by his
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29/09/2018 A seventeenth-century English cannabis activist: John Taylor, the Water Poet Part I.
experiences. There are many forms of cannabis activism
<https://sensiseeds.com/en/blog/sensi-seeds-and-cannabis-activism/> , such as writing a long
poem in praise of this wonderful seed, to name but one example.

It does not seem out of place to regard John Taylor as a fully fledged
cannabis activist. Although it would take centuries before the absurd ban on
cannabis would be introduced in the United States – a country that had not
even been founded in Taylor’s time – Taylor certainly has a lot in common
with the activists of today. After all, he was hugely driven when it came to
spreading knowledge of the healing powers of the plant and the industrial,
spiritual and recreational benefits of this plant in England at the end of
sixteenth, and the beginning of the seventeenth, centuries.

Jack Herer <https://sensiseeds.com/en/blog/jack-herer-cannabis-strain/> , Ben Dronkers

<https://sensiseeds.com/en/info/company/about-sensi-seeds/sensi-seeds-family-company/ben-

dronkers/> , Howard Marks <https://sensiseeds.com/en/blog/howard-marks-dies-no-regrets/> ,

Marc Emery <https://sensiseeds.com/en/blog/marc-emery-released-u-s-prison/> and Tommy
Chong <https://sensiseeds.com/en/blog/cannabis-celebrity-profile-tommy-chong/> are just
some examples of the many famous cannabis activists who actively defended
in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. They know like no other the
consequences of the ban on cannabis and the current war on drugs
<https://sensiseeds.com/en/blog/war-certain-drugs-part/> .

The Praise of Hemp-seed: introduction,

contents, and foreword

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29/09/2018 A seventeenth-century English cannabis activist: John Taylor, the Water Poet Part I.

<https://sensiseeds.com/en/blog/files/2015/11/foto-5-hemp-
paper.-3649163241_994bc9a4b5_b.jpg>

Taylor described how many people earned their living from hemp, by producing
paper for example (CC. Smallest Forest)

This poem from 1962, The Praise of Hemp-seed, is very interesting and
illustrative from beginning to end. It gives us great insight into the
importance of cannabis and hemp in daily life in the society in John Taylor’s
day. Read the full text of The Praise of Hemp-seed
<http://www.luminarium.org/renascence-editions/taylor1.html> .

It is not actually necessary to read the poem to discover what it is about and
what the poet wants to tell us. All of this is laid out in the poem’s
introduction, table of contents and foreword.

Just before the foreword, Taylor addresses his readers with the words Noble
Sirs, and presents to them his vision, which is then repeated in the poem
itself: the hemp seed is a small seed, a tiny grain that offers the world great,
wonderful and uncountable benefits. He then cites the abovementioned
benefits and adds a couple that are slightly more characteristic of his time.

“I haue here of a graine of Hempseed made a mountaine greater then the

Apennines or Caucasus, and not much lesser then the whole world. Here is
Labour, Profit, Cloathing, Pleasure, Food, Nauigation: Diuinitie, Poetry, the liberall
Arts, Armes, Vertues defence, Vices offence, a true mans protection, a Thiefes
execution, Here is mirth and matter all beaten out of this small Seed.”
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29/09/2018 A seventeenth-century English cannabis activist: John Taylor, the Water Poet Part I.
In Taylor’s view, this tiny grain of hemp is of great importance to the world,
due to its countless extraordinary properties and applications with regard to
work, income, clothing, food and shipping. Taylor doesn’t forget the
recreational and spiritual aspects of the plant either, referring to pleasure
and the divine. Throughout the centuries, hemp has been used for many
purposes, such as increasing creativity for poetry and the liberal arts. In
Elizabethan England, hemp was used for producing ropes and hangman’s
ropes, as well as whips for punishment; or in other words, weapons to protect
virtuous people and to punish crimes and criminals – true protection of the
people, and execution of a thief.

The table of contents contains a list of all parts of this poem in praise of
hemp seed.

3 The profit and pleasure all Countries haue by Hemp-seed.

4 How it propagates the Gospell.
5 Nauigation, with the Commodities it brings and carries.
6 How many Trades and Functions liue by it.
7 How when it is worne to ragges, it is made into Paper.
8 How many liue by it being Paper.

The titles of the various parts give a good overview of the contents of the
poem, the facts about hemp seed and, of course, the cannabis plant
<https://sensiseeds.com/en/cannabis-seeds> . At that time, all countries benefitted from
the many advantages and enjoyment that hemp offered. On the one hand,
cannabis was used throughout history for religious and spiritual purposes. On
the other hand, it was crucial to shipping all kinds of products (the materials
needed to build ships came from hemp), from basic and raw materials to
luxury products. Taylor was privy to this information thanks to his experience
as a waterman and crew member on various sea voyages. Furthermore, many
people earned their living from hemp, by producing paper, for example.

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29/09/2018 A seventeenth-century English cannabis activist: John Taylor, the Water Poet Part I.
In the second part of this article, we will look more closely at the foreword
and the poem itself. John Taylor wrote this work as a song of praise for the
many benefits that hemp and hemp seed have to offer mankind. Written some
four hundred years ago, it shares the passion of the cannabis activists of
today.
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29/09/2018 A seventeenth-century English cannabis activist: John Taylor, the Water Poet Part I.

<https://sensiseeds.com/en/blog/a-
seventeenth-century-english-cannabis-
ti i t j h t l th t t t

A seventeenth-century English cannabis

activist, John Taylor, the Water Poet Part
II. <https://sensiseeds.com/en/blog/a-seventeenth-century-english-cannabis-activist-john-taylor-the-

water-poet-part-ii/>

eventeenth-century-english-cannabis-activist-john-

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29/09/2018 A seventeenth-century English cannabis activist: John Taylor, the Water Poet Part I.

<https://sensiseeds.com/en/blog/cannabis
celebrity-profile-michka-seeliger-
chatelain/>

Cannabis celebrity profile: Michka

Seeliger-Chatelain <https://sensiseeds.com/en/blog/cannabis-celebrity-

profile-michka-seeliger-chatelain/>

nnabis-celebrity-profile-michka-seeliger-chatelain/>

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29/09/2018 A seventeenth-century English cannabis activist: John Taylor, the Water Poet Part I.

<https://sensiseeds.com/en/blog/hemp-
songs-poems-history/>

Hemp Songs & Poems of History

<https://sensiseeds.com/en/blog/hemp-songs-poems-history/>

/en/blog/hemp-songs-poems-history/>

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