SAVAGE, RICHARD (1697?-1743).—­Poet, was probably of humble birth, but claimed to be the illegitimate s. of the Countess of Macclesfield.  He was the friend of Johnson in the early and miserable days of the latter in London; and in The Lives of the Poets J. has given his story as set forth by himself, which is, if true, a singular record of maternal cruelty.  There are strong reasons, however, for doubting whether it was anything but a tissue of falsehoods mingled with gross exaggerations of fact.  He led a wildly irregular life, killed a gentleman in a tavern brawl, for which he was sentenced to death, but pardoned; and by his waywardness alienated nearly all who wished to befriend him.  For a time he had a pension of L50 from Queen Caroline on condition of his writing an ode yearly on her birthday.  He wrote Love in a Veil (1718) (comedy) and Sir Thomas Overbury (1723) (tragedy), and two poems, The Bastard (1728) and The Wanderer (1729).  He d. in prison at Bristol.

SAVILE, SIR HENRY (1549-1622).—­Scholar, ed. at Oxf., where he lectured on mathematics.  He was afterwards Warden of Merton Coll. and Provost of Eton, and made a translation from Tacitus entitled, The Ende of Nero and Beginning of Galba, etc. (1581), and in the same year pub. Rerum Anglicarum Scriptores post Bedam Praecipui, a collection of some of the chronicles subsequent to Bede, William of Malmesbury, Roger of Hoveden, etc.  He founded the Savilian Professorship of Astronomy and Geometry at Oxf.

SAXBY, EDWARD (d. 1658).—­B. in Suffolk, and was in Cromwell’s Horse.  His extreme republican views, however, led him into the bitterest antagonism when C. assumed the Protectorship.  This received expression in his extraordinary pamphlet, Killing no Murder, in which the assassination of C. is advocated, and which displays in a remarkable degree perverted ingenuity of argument combined with considerable literary power.  S. d. demented in the Tower in 1658.

SCOTT, ALEXANDER (1525?-1584?).—­Scottish poet.  Almost nothing is known of his life, but he is believed to have spent most of his time in or near Edin.  Thirty-six short poems are attributed to him, including Ane New Yeir Gift to Quene Mary, The Rondel of Love, and a satire, Justing at the Drum.  He has great variety of metre, and is graceful and musical, but his satirical pieces are often extremely coarse.

SCOTT, HUGH STOWELL (1863?-1903).—­Novelist (under the name of Henry Seton Merriman).  He was an underwriter in Lloyd’s, but having a strong literary bent, latterly devoted himself to writing novels, many of which had great popularity.  They include The Slave of the Lamp (1892), The Sowers (generally considered his best) (1896), In Kedar’s Tents (1897), Roden’s Corner (1898), Isle of Unrest (1900), The Velvet Glove (1901), The Vultures (1902), and Barlasch of the Guard (1903).  He worked with great care, and his best books hold a high place in modern fiction.  He was unusually modest and retiring in character.