In 1860 the illness of his wife and pecuniary losses, due to the partial failure of his publications, led him to relax his efforts. He died at Clapham, 20 Dec. 1875. His widow and his brother Thomas survived him. A portrait is prefixed to the memoir of 1876.
His works, apart from elementary manuals for the use of schools, were:
- ‘A Pictorial, Geographical, Chronological, and Historical Chart, delineating the Rise and Progress of the Evangelical or Christian Dispensation to the Ascension of our Lord,’ London, 1832 (with a key,8vo).
- ‘A Harmony of the Four Gospels in the English Authorised Version, arranged according to Greswell's “Harmonia Evangelica,” in Greek …’ intended principally as an accompaniment to No. 1, London, 1833, 8vo.
- ‘Gospel Recreations for Sabbath Evenings,’ London, 1836, 8vo (with a set of card-pictures); 2nd edit. 1839, revised and much enlarged, under the title of ‘Conversations for Sabbath Evenings on our Lord's Life and Ministry.’
- ‘The Acts of the Apostles and Epistles historically and geographically delineated according to Greswell's arrangement,’ Lond. 1837, 8vo (with a chart).
- ‘The Treasury Harmony of the Four Evangelists, in the words of the Authorised Version, according to Greswell's “Harmonia Evangelica," &c.,’ 2vols. London, 1849-51, 12mo; republished as the ‘Gospel Treasury,’ new edit., London, 1884, 4to.
- A Full Development of Mimpriss's System of Graduated Simultaneous nstruction,’ London [1855], 8vo.
- ‘The Mimpriss System. The Amalgamated Manual for Superintendents,’ London [1855], 8vo.
[Robert Mimpriss: a Memoir of his Life and Work, London [1876], 8vo; Record and Rock for December 1875; the author's works; private information.]
MINIFIE, SUSANNAH (1740?–1800), novelist. [See Gunning.]
MINNAN, Saint. [See Monan.]
MINNES, Sir JOHN (1599–1671), admiral. [See Mennes.]
MINNS or MINGH, CHRISTOPHER (1625–1666), admiral. [See Myngs.]
MINOT, LAURENCE (1300?–1352?), lyric poet, was probably born and bred in the north-east midlands of England. The evidence of this, however, is solely the character of his dialect, coupled with the frequency of his allusions to Yorkshire personages (cf. Hall, p. x). Of his life nothing is known on external authority. Even his name is attested only by his own mention of it in two passages of his poems (v. 1, and vii. 20: ‘Now Laurence Minot will bigin’). The family of Minot (Miniot, Minyot, Mynyot) was, however, widely dispersed in the fourteenth century, especially in Yorkshire and Norfolk (cf. Hall, Introd. pp. x-xii). It included knights, wealthy London merchants, and, in particular, a Thomas Mynot, the king's notary, who is known to have been officially employed in Flanders at the date of the capture of Guisnes (1352), which Minot in his last poem describes with an air of exceptional knowledge. Minot's status and occupation cannot be certainly determined. The view that he was a monk (Ritson) or a priest (Bierbaum) may be dismissed as baseless. The religious allusions are, indeed, not rare, but they are such as formed the common stock of middle-English romance, and their piety is that of the soldier, not of the cleric. A contemptuous allusion to being ‘polled like a frere’ (vii. 131) is also significant. Far more probable is the view that Minot was a soldierly minstrel, who wrote and sang mainly for the army, but was also favoured by the court. His songs appear, by their varying use of homelier and more cultivated metres, to be designed for audiences of varying rank. The alliterative long-line was in particular characteristic of the camp-song, as in the lines sung before Bannockburn (Brandl, Thomas of Erceldoune, p. 16). He expresses throughout a personal devotion to Edward III, whom he celebrates (vi. vii. xi.), according to the current interpretation of Merlin's prophecy, as the boar of Windsor, and may have moved in his circle; it is clear, however, that he was not always present on Edward's campaigns, since he describes (iii. 86 foll.) the king as taking part in the fight off Southampton, which the other evidence shows that he did not. Even his testimony to Edward's personal valour at Sluys (v. 78), which none of the English chroniclers mention, but which is attested by Le Bel, does not imply his presence at the fight. It is probable, however, that his songs are not founded solely upon hearsay. Though he has no set descriptions, he occasionally lets fall a detail which suggests the eye-witness. There are many signs that he wrote while the events were still fresh, in some cases while their final issue was still pending. The triumphant poem (vi.) on the siege of Tournay (which opened 23 July 1340) was evidently written originally between that date and 25 Sept. following, when Edward unexpectedly raised the siege. Slight changes have, however, been made in some of the poems (esp. in vi.) at a later date, doubtless by Minot himself. No inference can be drawn
