FLECKNOE, RICHARD, an English poet and dramatic writer in the reign of Charles II. who has been more indebted for the preservation of his name to Dryden's satire of Mac-Flecknoe, than to the merit of his own productions, is said to have been originally a Jesuit, and connected with some persons of distinction belonging to the Roman Catholic persuasion. The origin of Dryden's antipathy to this man has not been ascertained. It was confirmed, however, when the office of poet-laureate, of which Dryden had been deprived on account of his religion, was conferred upon Flecknoe; and resentment of this wrong appears to have produced the celebrated satire above mentioned, which, besides being equally spirited and amusing in itself, served in some degree as the model of the Dunciad.
Flecknoe wrote some plays, but not more than one of them was ever acted. His comedy called Damoiselles à la Mode was printed in 1667, and addressed to the Duke and Duchess of Newcastle; but the players refused to perform it. His other dramatic pieces were Ermina, or the Chaste Lady; Love's Dominion, printed in 1654; and The Marriage of Oceanus and Britannia. His other works consist of, 1. Epigrams and Enigmatical Characters, 1670, in 8vo; 2. Miscellanea, or Poems of all sorts, with divers other pieces, 1653, in 12mo; 3. Diarium, or the Journal, divided into twelve Journadas, in burlesque verse, London, 1656, in 12mo. Flecknoe died in 1678. Mr Southey, in his Omniana, has generally endeavoured to vindicate him from some of the ridicule thrown upon him as a writer, and from certain grave reproaches made against his character as a man. (A.)