Kendal Caught Me...Christ did Save Me

A small brass plate on the sanctuary steps of Kendal Parish Church carries a memorial to a former minister, Ralph Tyrer (1592-1627):

HEREVNDER LYETH YE BODY OF MR. RAVLTH

TIRER LATE VICAR OF KENDALL BATCHLER

OF DIVINITY, WHO DYED THE 4TH DAY

OF IVNE, AVNE.: 1627.

London bredd me, Westminster fedd me,

Cambridge sped me, my Sister wed me,

Study taught me, living sought me,

Learning brought me, Kendall caught me,

London pressed me, sicknes distressed me,

Death oppressed me, & grave possessed me,

God first gave me, Christ did save me,

Earth did crave me, & heaven would have me

I suspect that the second part of that second line refers more to his sister’s arranging his marriage, or his wife being his sister in Christ, rather than some belated confession of incest. Tyrer himself remains passive throughout this charming little piece of autobiographical poetry. A Londoner schooled at Westminster and Cambridge, he was duly married and lived a scholar’s life until Kendal ‘caught him’. Was the town an attractive place to minister, he falling in love with its Lakeland setting? Or was he trapped there by want of alternative? Was the ‘pressing of London’ a reference to the royal government’s meddling in ecclesiastical matters? Whatever the lines mean, the last two are the most profound:

God first gave him life, but Christ Jesus saved Him; the world would keep him and the earth absorb his flesh and blood, but heaven is the destination to all who trust the gospel.