Brain Snacks: Tasty Tidbits of Knowledge
A.E. Housman could be really moody, especially when talking about other scholars, as you can see: "Knowledge is good, method is good, but one thing beyond all others is necessary; and that is to have a head, not a pumpkin, on your shoulders, and brains, not pudding, in your head." (Source.)
Well lookee here, there were definitely some famous people that came out of Shropshire, including the man, the myth, the legend, old Charles Darwin. (Source.)
Funny, Housman wrote a whole book of poems that deal with Shropshire, and yet he wasn't even from there, and hardly spent any time there. He once commented: "I was born in Worcestershire, not Shropshire, where I have never spent much time." (Source.)
It doesn't seem like Housman was a very happy man. He was apparently convinced that he would never find love, and was very reclusive in his later years. (Source.)