Thomas Clerke was a Sunderland singer/songwriter and poet from the seventeenth and/or eighteenth century.
Thomas Clerke was said to be a “Gentleman of powerful convivial talents and the author of several spirited, and Anacreontic¹ songs” many of which are now attributed to others.
His works include:
Sons of the Wear
Musical Club
Ode to Silver Street
Spottee – appears in The Bishoprick Garland by (Sir) Cuthbert Sharp and also A Beuk o’ Newcassell Sangs by Joseph Crawhall.
’Tis all that I desire (actual title unknown) – an extract of which appears in The Bishoprick Garland.
¹ Anacreontic = in the manner of the Greek lyric poet Anacreon (?572–?488 BC), noted for his short songs celebrating love and wine - or (of verse) in praise of love or wine; amatory or convivial