London, 1747, edited by his widow. It was reissued in the second edition of Arbuthnot's ‘Tables of Ancient Coins,’ &c., 4to, 1754.
[Nichols's Illustr. of Lit. i. 298; Watt's Bibl. Brit.]
LANIER, Sir JOHN (d. 1692), military commander, distinguished himself in the troop of English auxiliaries which served some time in France under the Duke of Monmouth, and he lost an eye while engaged in that service. He succeeded Sir Thomas Morgan as governor of Jersey, and was knighted. His rule is said to have been despotic. At the accession of James II he was recalled, and put in command of a regiment of horse; he was colonel of the queen's regiment of horse, now the 1st dragoon guards, in 1687 (Harl. MS. 4847, f. 5), and he became lieutenant-general in 1688. He declared for William III, and was despatched to Scotland to take Edinburgh Castle, which surrendered to him on 12 June 1689 (Luttrell, Brief Historical Relation, i. 479, 533, 547). He subsequently did excellent service in the reduction of Ireland, but he had much trouble with the majority of his regiment, who inclined to James II, and frequently disagreed with his brother officers (ib. i. 597, 613, ii. 170). On the evening of 15 Feb. 1689–90 he marched from Newry towards Dundalk, then strongly garrisoned by the Irish, with a thousand troops. The next morning, deeming it useless to make an attack on the town, he burnt a great part of the suburbs on the west side. At the same time a party of Leviston's dragoons, under his direction, took Bedloe Castle, and a prize of about fifteen hundred cows and horses (Harris, Life of William III, p. 249). At the battle of the Boyne, on 1 July 1690, Lanier was at the head of his regiment. He was also present at the siege of Limerick in the following August (ib. ii. 210), at Lanesborough Pass in December 1690 with Kirke (Story, Impartial History, p. 48), and at the battle of Aughrim on 12 July 1691 (Boyer, ii. 264). Lanier was to have had a command under the Duke of Leinster; but on 26 Dec. William offered him a pension of 1,500l. a year on condition that he resigned his commission (Luttrell, ii. 190, 239, 323). Lanier refused to retire, and in April 1692 the king appointed him one of his generals of horse in Flanders, though his health was fast failing. He was badly wounded at the battle of Steenkirk on 3 Aug. 1692, and died a few days afterwards. He was a bachelor.
[Falle's Jersey (Durell), pp. 133, 398; Boyer's Life of William III, ii. 178, 181; Macaulay's Hist. ch. xvi. xix.; will reg. in P. C. C. 187, Fane.]
LANIER (LANIERE), NICHOLAS (1588–1666), musician and amateur of art, born in London in 1588, is no doubt identical with 'Nicholas, son of John Lannyer, Musician to her Matie,' who was baptised on 10 Sept. 1588 in the church of Holy Minories, London. John Lanier (or Lannyer), the father, married on 12 Oct. 1585, at the same church, Frances, daughter of Mark Anthony Galliardello, who had served as musician to Henry VIII and his three successors. The family of Lanier was of French origin, and served as musicians of the royal household in England for several generations. One John Lanier, probably Nicholas's grandfather, who died in 1572, was described in 1577 as a Frenchman and musician, a native of Rouen in France, and owner of property in Crutched Friars in the parish of St. Olave, Hart Street, London (see Exch. Spec. Comm. No. 1365, 19 Eliz., 1577).
Another Nicholas Lanier, possibly Nicholas's uncle, was musician to Queen Elizabeth in 1581, and owned considerable property in East Greenwich, Blackheath, and the neighbourhood. He died in 1612, leaving four daughters and six sons, John (d. 1650), Alphonso (d. 1613), Innocent (d. 1625), Jerome (d. 1657), Clement (d. 1661), Andrea (d. 1659), who were all musicians in the service of the crown, while some of their children succeeded them in their posts.
Nicholas Lanier, like other members of his family, became a musician in the royal household, and in 1604 received payment for his livery as musician of the flutes. He was attached to the household of Henry, prince of Wales, and on the death of the prince in 1612 he wrote to Sir Dudley Carleton [q. v.] that 'he knows not which is the more dangerous attempt, to turn courtier or cloune.' He held subsequently a prominent position among the royal musicians, both as composer and performer. Herrick alludes to his skill in singing in a poem addressed to Henry Lawes. In 1613 Lanier, Giovanni Coperario [q. v.], and others composed the music for the masque by Thomas Campion, given on St. Stephen's night on the occasion of the marriage of Robert Carr, earl of Somerset, and Lady Frances Howard. Lanier composed the music for the masque of 'Lovers Made Men' composed by Ben Jonson [q. v.], and given at Lord Hay's house on 22 Feb. 1617; on this occasion Lanier is said to have introduced for the first time into England the new Italian mode, or 'stylo recitativo.' Lanier also sang himself in this masque and painted the scenery for it. He composed the music for Ben Jonson's masque 'The Vision of Delight,' performed at court
