The Rodiad
The Rodiad is a pornographic poem on the subject of flagellation published by John Camden Hotten in 1871, although falsely dated to 1810. It has been ascribed, apparently falsely, to George Colman the Younger. A candidate for its authorship is Richard Monckton Milnes. Henderson places it in The Library Illustrative of Social Progress published around 1872 (falsely dated 1777) but it is not in the list of Henry Spencer Ashbee.
- Delightful Sport! whose never failing charm
- Makes young blood tingle, and keeps old blood warm.
- - From The Rodiad
The Betuliad, a manuscript in the British Library from Ashbee's bequest, is identical to The Rodiad. It was known under this title to Sir Richard Burton who wrote to Milne on 22 January 1860 praising it.
The Canadian author John Glassco repeated the false attribution to Colman and augmented it with an equally fictitious attribution of his own poem Squire Hardman printed in 1967'
The Rodiad is a long Victorian poem on the joys of birching schoolboys (M/m). It has been ascribed, apparently falsely, to George Colman the Younger. Its true author seems to be Richard Monckton Milnes, 1st Baron Houghton. Milnes owned one of the finest collections of erotica in Victorian Britain and had close connections with the shadowy world of English clandestine publishing.
Publishing history
The Rodiad was published by John Camden Hotten in 1871. According to the original title page, The Rodiad is said to have been previously published by “Cadell & Murray" in 1810, but this attribution is false. The Rodiad apparently also appeared in Hotten's series Library Illustrative of Social Progress (1872). A reprint was issued in 1898, possibly by Charles Carrington, with the publication date changed to 1820. The Rodiad also appeared in the reprint of Flagellation and the Flagellants ("A History of the Rod") published by William Reeves c. 1908.
See also
- Squire Hardman by John Glassco (inspired by The Rodiad)
- Charlie Collingwood's Flogging by Algernon Charles Swinburne
- More information is available at [ Wikipedia:The_Rodiad ]
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