John Ayloffe was an English satirist, executed in London.

Ayloffe was a Whig republican implicated in the Rye House plot

Rye House Plot

The Rye House Plot of 1683 was a plan to assassinate King Charles II of England and his brother James, Duke of York. Historians vary in their assessment of the degree to which details of the conspiracy were finalized....

 to assassinate the monarch Charles II. He was a member of the Green Ribbon Club

Green Ribbon Club

The Green Ribbon Club was one of the earliest of the loosely combined associations which met from time to time in London taverns or coffee-houses for political purposes in the 17th century....

, and said to have fled to Scotland with the armed rebels led by Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of Argyll

Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of Argyll

Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of Argyll was a Scottish peer.He was born in 1629 in Dalkeith, Scotland, the son of Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquess of Argyll....

. He was executed at Inner Temple

Inner Temple

The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court in London. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wales, an individual must belong to one of these Inns...

 in London, when it was discovered he was a member of that association.

Despite his historical importance, biographers gave him scant regard. The recorded details of his life include: a satiric homage to Marvell

Andrew Marvell

Andrew Marvell was an English metaphysical poet, Parliamentarian, and the son of a Church of England clergyman . As a metaphysical poet, he is associated with John Donne and George Herbert...

; his conviction of treason; his associates; the date and place of execution; and an attempted suicide were given in the few and short notices—if any is given at all. One page of Macaulay's History of England detailed his career, and critical revisions to the brief entry of the first edition Dictionary of National Biography

Dictionary of National Biography

The Dictionary of National Biography is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published from 1885...

,

AYLOFFE, JOHN (d. 1685), satirist, wrote one of the most drastic and powerful satires against the Stuarts, entitled 'Marvell's Ghost.' It was furtively circulated as a broadside, but was included in Nichols's 'Select Collection of Poems '(iii. 186). The editor calls him 'Captain John Ayloffe,' and says he was educated in Trinity College, Cambridge. This is all he knew. It seems certain that he was the John Ayloffe, Esq., who was executed before the gate of the Inner Temple on 30 Oct. 1685 for his participation in the Rye House plot. He went with the Earl of Argyle into Scotland, where he was taken, and made an attempt to destroy himself by inflicting a terrible wound in his belly. At his execution it came out that he was of the Temple: had been a 'clubber at the King's Head Tavern,' and 'a green-ribbon man

Green Ribbon Club

The Green Ribbon Club was one of the earliest of the loosely combined associations which met from time to time in London taverns or coffee-houses for political purposes in the 17th century....

.' 'Marvell's Ghost' is as burning and passionate in its invective as any of Marvell's own. He appears to have left a relative behind him in a William Ayloffe, author of a poem on the death of Charles II and accession of James II.


[Brit. Museum Broadsides; Hunter MSS. 24, 490; Dryden Miscell.]—Grosart, A. B.

Alexander Balloch Grosart

Alexander Balloch Grosart was a Scottish clergyman and literary editor. He is chiefly remembered for reprinting much rare Elizabethan literature, a work which he undertook because of his interest in Puritan theology.-Life:...

 DNB, 1900

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