ABSTRACT
Carrington starte d lif e a s a n erran d boy , vanbo y an d the n lavator y attendant . A t sixteen [i.e . 1883-1884 ] he was keeping a book barrow i n the Farringdon Market . B y reading hi s ware s h e graduate d int o th e compan y o f me n lik e Dowson , Beardsle y and Wild e [thi s probabl y relate s to hi s post-1895 Parisian years] . I n the Pari s of the early twentie s h e was a pathetic figure not withou t a little of the dignity o f tragedy . Blind a s the resul t of syphilis , he was n o matc h fo r hi s predatory mistres s an d wa s helpless befor e th e follie s o f hi s fiv e [Pthree ] children . The y an d thei r hangers-o n swarmed ove r hi s house an d stol e hi s books. A shop wa s even opene d speciall y t o dispose o f th e thefts . H e endure d fiv e year s o f thi s miser y befor e perishin g i n a lunatic asylum a t th e ag e o f sixty-fiv e [actuall y fifty-five] . Hi s mistres s provide d a magnificent funera l an d hi s torture d bod y wa s consigne d t o eart h b y th e Catholi c Church.
