BROME, Richard, a dramatic writer in the reign of Charles I. and a contemporary of Dekker, Ford, Shirley, and others. He was originally a servant of Ben Jonson; but he soon acquired a high literary reputation, and was addressed in some lines by his quondam master on account of his
comedy entitled The Northern Lass. Brome's genius lay entirely in comedy. His plots are original, and far from being ill conducted; and his characters, which for the most part are strongly marked, were the offspring of his own experience, and close attention to the foibles of the human heart. He has left fifteen comedies.