Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 13.djvu/690

 SCOTLAND

624

SCOTLAND

ized form, a stimulant of national feeling through the ages.

The desire to celebrate the historj' of the na- tion is also sho^-n in the "OrygjTiale Cronykil" com- posed about 1420 by Andrew of Wyntoun, canon regu- lar of St. Andrew's and prior (1395) of St. Serf's Inch in Loch Leven. The "Cronykil", which is in rhym- ing octosyllabic couplets, is the story of the world from its creation, in nine books, the last four of which deal specifically with EngUsh and Scottish affairs. John Fordun (d. 1385?), canon of Aberdeen cathedral, WTOte in Latin the annals of Scotland, his "Scoti- chronicon" coming down to the death of David I in 1153. It was continued, also in Latin, down to the death of James I in 1437 by Walter Bower, or Bow- maker (d. 1449), abbot of the monastery of Austin Canons on Inchcolm in the Firth of Forth.

The influence of Chaucer on Scottish poetry in the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries was very great. It is evident in the "Kingis Quair" — the King's Quire or Book— of James I (1394-1437). During his long years of imprisonment in England (1406-24) James made a study of Chaucer, and in his noble poem, writ- ten to celebrate his rapturous love, he plainly shows his indebtedness to his master. The "Kingis Quair" is in the seven-line stanza which, though previously wTitten by Chaucer and others, has ever since James's time been called rime royal. To James are also as- signed "A Ballad of Good Counsel" and, with con- siderable dissent on the part of some scholars, the "Song on Absence", "Pebhs to the Play", and "Chrystis Kirk of the Grene", the last two uproari- ous descriptions of popular amusements. Another Scottish Chaucerian is Robert Henryson (1430?- 1506?J, notary public and preceptor in the Benedictine convent at Dunfermhne. His principal works are "The Morall Fabillis of Esope", thirteen in number, with two Prologues; "Orpheus and Eurydice"; "The Testament of Cresseide", a sequel to Chaucer's "Troi- lus and Cressida " ; the"Garmond of Gude Ladies"; and " Robene and Makyne", the first specimen of pas- toral in the Scottish vernacular. Henryson had a real poetic gift and great mastery of style, and he holds a high position among the Scottish poets. The great- est of the Scottish Chaucerians was WiUiam Dunbar (c. 1460-1513?). At one time a Franciscan and after- wards a secular priest, he appears to have been more of a courtier than a churchman. His output of poetry was very large. He has been called with good show of reason the most considerable poet of Britain be- tween Chaucer and Spenser. Seven of his poems, printed in 1508 at Edinburgh, are among the earliest specimens of Scottish typography. His principal works are "The ThrLssill and the Rois", a political allegory composed in honour of the marriage (1503) of James IV of Scotland and Margaret Tudor, daugh- ter of Henry VII of England; "The Golden Targe", another allegory; "The ^Ierle and the Nightingale", a didaftic allegory; the "Lament for the Makaris", a moralizing poem; the "Dance of the Sevin Deidlie Synnis", remarkable for its character-painting and its stinging satire; and the "TuaMariit Wemen and the Wedo". Dunbar had poetic verve and an exuberant imagination; he had also a humour which was of the cynical order and frequently degenerates into mere ribaldry; and his mastery over satire has been seldom 6urpas.sed. He had a flyling, or poetical scolding- match, with Walter Kennedy, in which each poet sefimed to reach the depths of scurrility. Apart from this, Kennedy's other pr)em8 are mostly moral and edi- fying. They are "The Praise of Aige"; "Ane Agit Man's Invective"; "Ane Ballat in Praise of our Lady"; and a fragmentary poem "On the Passioun of Christ".

Gavin Douglas (c. 1475-1622), third son of Archi- bald, Earl of Angiis ("Bell the Cat"), was succes- aively Provost of St. Giles's in Edinburgh, Abbot of

Arbroath, and Bishop of Dunkeld. He is famous for his complete translation of the "^Eneid" (1513) into Scottish vernacular verse. It is the first translation of a great Latin poet into any British tongue. The metre employed is the heroic couplet. The transla- tion is not accurate, but the poet shows a keen sensi- tiveness to the beauties of Virgil. Douglas's original poems are his Prologues to the several books of the "^neid"; "The PaHce of Honour" (1501), an alle- gory meant to show the triumph of virtue over diffi- culty; "King Hart", an allegory on the temptations that beset man; and "Conscience", a short moral poem. Sir David Lyndsay (c. 1490-1555), Lyon King of Arms, was probably the most popular of the Scottish poets before Burns. He was a severe satirist of corruption in Church and State, and spares neither pope nor clergy, neither nobles nor king. His first poem, "The Dreme" (1528), has a beautiful Pro- logue. "The Dreme" itself is a .somewhat weari- some description of what was to be seen in hell, in heaven, in purgatory, and on earth, and abounds in criticism of the condition of Scotland. In much the same vein are "The Complaynt to the King" (1529) and "The Testament and Complaynt of our Soverane Lordis Papyngo [Parrot]" (1530). Of his numerous other works the most important are "The Historie and Testament of Squyer William Meldrum" (1550); " Monarchic " (1553); and "Ane Pleasant Satyre of the Thrie Estaitis". The last mentioned is a rude drama combining the old morality, the interlude, and the modern play, and was meant to satirize the clergy, the nobles, and the merchants. It is interesting in lit- erary history as the only surviving specimen of the old Scottish vernacular plays, many of which, we know, must have been written.

Minor poets, contemporaries of Dunbar, were: Sir John Rowll, who wrote "The Cursing against the Steilaris of his Foulis"; Quintyne Shaw, "Advice to a Courtier"; Patrick Johnestoun, "The Three Deid Powis"; John Merscir, "Perrell in Paramours"; and James Afflek, "The Quair of Jelousy". Anonymous pieces of this period are: "Elegy on the Princess Mar- garet", daughter of James I of Scotland and wife of the Dauphin, afterwards Louis XI of France; "Cock- elbie's Sow", which combines burlesque and fable, prowess and true love, in an extraordinary medley; "The Wowing of Jok and Jynny", a coarse tale of love-making; "Gyre-Carling", dealing with the per- formances of the Mother Witch; "King Bcrdok" — a fragment — a burlesque of romance; "The Wife of Auchtermuchty", a version of a folk-tale of domestic rivalry; "Sym and his Brudir", a pointed satire on palmers; "The Thrie Priestis of Peblis", didactic tales told by the device of bringing three priests to- gether in an inn at Peebles; and "Grey Steill" and "Clariodus", both romances.

The old Scottish Border ballads and others, which are to be found in such collections as those made by Percy, Scott, Furnivall, and Child, present a study of absorbing interest. Nothing more can be done here, however, than to indicate their directness of narration, their rhythm and lilt, their appeal to the primal feelings of human nature, their occasional

Patriotic spirit, and their still rarer flashes of humour, lany of the best of them belong to the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Such txanii)les as "The Battle of Otterburn", "Kimmont Willie", "Mary Hamil- ton", "Sir Patrick Spens", "The Young Tamlane", and "Jamie Telfer of the Fair Dodhead" — to name only a few — have been a source of perennial delight to successive generat ions of readers.

Scottish prose litfirature in th(! fifteenth century is not of much account. The prin(ipal remains are: "Ane Schort Memoriale of the Scottis Croniklis", which belongs to about the year 1460; "The Craft of Dying" and other religious works; and Sir fiilbert Hay 8 translations of the "Bukc of Battailis" and the