Thomas d'Urfey

Thomas D'Urfey (Tom Durfey) (1653 - 1723) was an English wit. He composed plays, songs, poetry, and jokes. His family was Huguenot French. In person, he was so affable and amusing that he could count nearly everyone among his friends, from Charles II of England and James II on down. He wrote the plays The Fond Husband in 1676, Madame Fickle in 1677 and The Virtuous Wife in 1680. In 1698, he wrote a play entitled The Campaigners as a reply and satire of Jeremy Collier's anti-theatrical scourges. His Wit and Mirth, or Pills to Purge Melancholy , written between 1719 and 1720, is a collection of songs and ballads. Durfey (the apostrophe was commonly dropped by Durfey himself) wrote a widely in a witty, satirical vein, usually from a courtly point of view, and his works are a compendium of comedic ideas.