Public-domain ebook
Scottish Poetry of the Sixteenth Century
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Subjects
In: Poetry
Public-domain ebook sourced from Project Gutenberg #49790.
About this book
This volume gathers the surviving verse of Scotland’s sixteenth‑century poets, presenting each work in its original spelling while smoothing the typographic obstacles that have long hampered readers. The editor explains that earlier editions often retain archaic straight s’s, Anglo‑Saxon symbols, and cumbersome footnotes; here a marginal glossary supplies translations of obsolete words without breaking the flow of the poem. The collection opens with a scholarly overview of the period’s historical turmoil, from the defeat at Flodden to the Reformation’s cultural upheaval, and then moves into the texts themselves, beginning with Sir David Lyndsay’s “The Dreme” and proceeding through a varied roster that includes the royal verses of James V, the satirical pieces of Sir Richard Maitland, and the lyrical “Cherrie and the Slae” of Alexander Montgomerie. Notably, the four poems attributed to King James V appear in full for the first time since 1786.
The anthology reflects the vigorous, often bawdy voice of a nation in transition, blending medieval chivalric tradition with the emerging Renaissance sensibility. Its language is unmistakably Scots, marked by the occasional intrusion of early modern English forms, and its style ranges from courtly satire to devotional lyric. Readers with an interest in early modern British literature, historians of the Scottish Reformation, or anyone drawn to poetry that captures a society on the brink of profound change will find this compilation both rewarding and illuminating.
Who appears in Scottish Poetry of the Sixteenth Century
- Sir David LyndsayMiddle‑aged Scottish nobleman, dark hair, trimmed beard, wearing black doublet and fur-lined cloak
- James VYoung king in regal crimson velvet robe, gold chain, jeweled crown, short hair
- Alexander MontgomerieElegant poet, slender, reddish hair, fine linen shirt, leather doublet, modest ruff
The opening · free to read
Glasgow: William Hodge & Co 1892
NOTE.
Many of the best editions of the Scottish poets, even of recent date, increase the difficulties of archaic language by such unnecessary stumbling-blocks as the use of the old straight s, and of Anglo-Saxon symbols for certain letters. Some even appear in the added obscurity of Old English type. And when these hindrances are not present, an irritating punctuation too often remains a barrier to all enjoyment. To these obstacles, as much, perhaps, as to the actual scarcity and costliness of the works, is to be attributed the popular neglect of a noble heritage in recent years. In the present volume, as in the previous volumes of this series, an effort has been made, while preserving the text intact in its original form, to improve in these respects upon the readableness of previous editions. A running glossary has, for the same object, been furnished in the margin of each page. For practical perusal of the text, as poetry, it is believed that this arrangement, translating obsolete words, as it does, without a break in the reading, is better than footnotes, or a glossary at the end of the volume. Few now-a-days, it is to be feared, save the most ardent students, can afford the time necessary for the elucidation by means of a dictionary even of so short a poem as “Chrystis Kirk on the Grene.”
While avoiding a burden of distracting comment, all necessary information, it is hoped, has been included in the separate introductions.
All the poems not otherwise indicated are here printed entire; and in particular it may be pointed out that the four pieces attributed to King James the Fifth are now reproduced complete and together for the first time since 1786.
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