John Gilpin

John Gilpin (18th century) was a real-life character whose exploits became legendary and featured in a well-known ballad by William Cowper of 1782, entitled, The Diverting History of John Gilpin. Cowper had heard the story from a friend.

John Gilpin was a wealthy draper from Cheapside in London, who owned land at Olney in Buckinghamshire, near where Cowper lived. The poem tells how Gilpin and his wife and children became separated during a journey to the Bell Inn, after Gilpin loses control of his horse.