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Poetry of Scotland
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Poetry of Scotland
Poetry of Scotland includes all forms of verse written in Brythonic, Latin, Scottish Gaelic, Scots, French, English and Esperanto and any language in which poetry has been written within the boundaries of modern Scotland, or by Scottish people.
Much of the earliest Welsh literature was composed in or near Scotland, but only written down in Wales much later. These include The Gododdin, considered the earliest surviving verse from Scotland. Very few works of Gaelic poetry survive from this period and most of these in Irish manuscripts. The Dream of the Rood, from which lines are found on the Ruthwell Cross, is the only surviving fragment of Northumbrian Old English from early Medieval Scotland. In Latin early works include a "Prayer for Protection" attributed to St Mugint, and Altus Prosator ("The High Creator") attributed to St Columba. There were probably filidh who acted as poets, musicians and historians. After the "de-gallicisation" of the Scottish court from the twelfth century, bards continued to act in a similar role in the Highlands and Islands. What survives of their work was only recorded from the sixteenth century. This includes poems composed by women, including Aithbhreac Nighean Coirceadail. The first surviving major text in Scots literature is John Barbour's Brus (1375). In the early fifteenth century Scots historical works included Andrew of Wyntoun's verse Orygynale Cronykil of Scotland and Blind Harry's The Wallace. They were probably influenced by Scots versions of popular French romances that were produced in the period. Much Middle Scots literature was produced by makars, poets with links to the royal court, which included James I, who wrote the extended poem The Kingis Quair.
Makars at the court of James IV included Robert Henryson, William Dunbar and Gavin Douglas. Douglas's Eneados (1513) was the first complete translation of a major classical text in an Anglian language. James V supported William Stewart and John Bellenden. David Lyndsay wrote elegiac narratives, romances and satires. George Buchanan founded a tradition of neo-Latin poetry that would continue into the seventeenth century. From the 1550s cultural pursuits were limited by the lack of a royal court, political turmoil and discouragement from the Kirk. Poets from this period included Richard Maitland of Lethington, John Rolland), Alexander Hume and Alexander Scott. James VI promoted the literature in Scots and became patron and member of a loose circle of court poets and musicians, later called the Castalian Band, which included William Fowler, John Stewart of Baldynneis, and Alexander Montgomerie. After his accession to the English throne in 1603 James VI increasingly favoured the language of southern England and the loss of the court as a centre of patronage was a major blow to Scottish literature. A new tradition of vernacular Gaelic poetry began to emerge, including work by women such as Mary MacLeod of Harris. The tradition of neo-Latin poetry reached its fruition with the publication of the anthology of the Deliciae Poetarum Scotorum (1637). This period was marked by the work of female Scottish poets including Elizabeth Melville, whose Ane Godlie Dream (1603) was the first book published by a woman in Scotland. The ballad became a recognised literary form by aristocratic authors including Robert Sempill, Lady Elizabeth Wardlaw and Lady Grizel Baillie.
After the Union in 1707 Scottish literature developed a distinct national identity. Allan Ramsay led a "vernacular revival", the trend for pastoral poetry and developed the Habbie stanza. He was part of a community of poets working in Scots and English who included William Hamilton of Gilbertfield, Robert Crawford, Alexander Ross, William Hamilton of Bangour, Alison Rutherford Cockburn, and James Thomson. The eighteenth century was also a period of innovation in Gaelic vernacular poetry. Major figures included Rob Donn Mackay, Donnchadh Bàn Mac an t-Saoir, Uilleam Ross and Alasdair mac Mhaighstir Alasdair, who helped inspire a new form of nature poetry. James Macpherson was the first Scottish poet to gain an international reputation, claiming to have found poetry written by Ossian. Robert Burns is widely regarded as the national poet. The most important figure in Scottish Romanticism, Walter Scott, began his literary career as a poet and also collected and published Scottish ballads. Scottish poetry is often seen as entering a period of decline in the nineteenth century, with Scots poetry criticised for its use of parochial dialect, and for its lack of Scottishness in the English tongue. Successful poets included William Thom, Lady Margaret Maclean Clephane Compton Northampton and Thomas Campbell. Among the most influential poets of the later nineteenth were James Thomson and John Davidson. The Highland Clearances and widespread emigration weakened Gaelic language and culture and had a profound impact on the nature of Gaelic poetry. Particularly significant was the work of Uilleam Mac Dhun Lèibhe, Seonaidh Phàdraig Iarsiadair and Màiri Mhòr nan Óran.
In the early twentieth century there was a new surge of activity in Scottish literature, influenced by modernism and resurgent nationalism, known as the Scottish Renaissance. The leading figure, Hugh MacDiarmid, attempted to revive the Scots language as a medium for serious literature in poetic works including "A Drunk Man Looks at the Thistle" (1936) which developed a form of Synthetic Scots. Other writers connected with the movement included Edwin Muir and William Soutar. Writers that emerged after the Second World War who wrote in Scots included Robert Garioch and Sydney Goodsir Smith. Those working in English included Norman MacCaig, George Bruce and Maurice Lindsay and George Mackay Brown. The parallel revitalisation of Gaelic poetry, known as the Scottish Gaelic Renaissance was largely due to the work of Sorley Maclean. The generation of poets that grew up in the postwar period included Douglas Dunn, Tom Leonard, and Liz Lochhead. The 1980s and 1990s saw the emergence of a new generation of Scottish poets who became leading figures on the UK stage including Don Paterson, Robert Crawford, Carol Ann Duffy, Kathleen Jamie and Jackie Kay.
Much of the earliest Welsh literature was actually composed in or near the country now called Scotland, in the Brythonic speech, from which Welsh would be derived. These works were only written down in Wales much later. These include The Gododdin, considered the earliest surviving verse from Scotland, which is attributed to the bard Aneirin, said to have been resident in Bythonic kingdom of Gododdin in the sixth century. It is a series of elegies to the men of the Gododdin killed fighting at the Battle of Catraeth around 600 AD. Similarly, the Battle of Gwen Ystrad is attributed to Taliesin, traditionally thought to be a bard at the court of Rheged in roughly the same period. Very few works of Gaelic poetry survive from the early medieval period, and most of these are in Irish manuscripts. These include poems in praise of Pictish kings contained within Irish annals.
In Old English there is The Dream of the Rood, from which lines are found on the Ruthwell Cross, making it the only surviving fragment of Northumbrian Old English from early Medieval Scotland. It has also been suggested on the basis of ornithological references that the poem The Seafarer was composed somewhere near the Bass Rock in East Lothian. In Latin early works include a "Prayer for Protection" attributed to St Mugint, thought to be from the mid-sixth century and Altus Prosator ("The High Creator") attributed to St Columba (c. 597). The most important piece of Scottish hagiography after Adomnán's Vita Columbae, is the verse Life of St. Ninian, written in Latin in Whithorn, perhaps as early as the eighth century.
The Kingdom of Alba was overwhelmingly an oral society dominated by Gaelic culture. Our fuller sources for Ireland of the same period suggest that there would have been filidh, who acted as poets, musicians and historians, often attached to the court of a lord or king, and passed on their knowledge and culture in Gaelic to the next generation. At least from the accession of David I (r. 1124–53), as part of a Davidian Revolution that introduced French culture and political systems, Gaelic ceased to be the main language of the royal court and was probably replaced by French. After this "de-gallicisation" of the Scottish court, a less highly regarded order of bards took over the functions of the filidh and they would continue to act in a similar role in the Highlands and Islands into the eighteenth century. They often trained in bardic schools, of which a few, like the one run by the MacMhuirich dynasty, who were bards to the Lord of the Isles, existed in Scotland and a larger number in Ireland, until they were suppressed from the seventeenth century. Members of bardic schools were trained in the complex rules and forms of Gaelic poetry. Much of their work was never written down and what survives was only recorded from the sixteenth century.
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Poetry of Scotland
Poetry of Scotland includes all forms of verse written in Brythonic, Latin, Scottish Gaelic, Scots, French, English and Esperanto and any language in which poetry has been written within the boundaries of modern Scotland, or by Scottish people.
Much of the earliest Welsh literature was composed in or near Scotland, but only written down in Wales much later. These include The Gododdin, considered the earliest surviving verse from Scotland. Very few works of Gaelic poetry survive from this period and most of these in Irish manuscripts. The Dream of the Rood, from which lines are found on the Ruthwell Cross, is the only surviving fragment of Northumbrian Old English from early Medieval Scotland. In Latin early works include a "Prayer for Protection" attributed to St Mugint, and Altus Prosator ("The High Creator") attributed to St Columba. There were probably filidh who acted as poets, musicians and historians. After the "de-gallicisation" of the Scottish court from the twelfth century, bards continued to act in a similar role in the Highlands and Islands. What survives of their work was only recorded from the sixteenth century. This includes poems composed by women, including Aithbhreac Nighean Coirceadail. The first surviving major text in Scots literature is John Barbour's Brus (1375). In the early fifteenth century Scots historical works included Andrew of Wyntoun's verse Orygynale Cronykil of Scotland and Blind Harry's The Wallace. They were probably influenced by Scots versions of popular French romances that were produced in the period. Much Middle Scots literature was produced by makars, poets with links to the royal court, which included James I, who wrote the extended poem The Kingis Quair.
Makars at the court of James IV included Robert Henryson, William Dunbar and Gavin Douglas. Douglas's Eneados (1513) was the first complete translation of a major classical text in an Anglian language. James V supported William Stewart and John Bellenden. David Lyndsay wrote elegiac narratives, romances and satires. George Buchanan founded a tradition of neo-Latin poetry that would continue into the seventeenth century. From the 1550s cultural pursuits were limited by the lack of a royal court, political turmoil and discouragement from the Kirk. Poets from this period included Richard Maitland of Lethington, John Rolland), Alexander Hume and Alexander Scott. James VI promoted the literature in Scots and became patron and member of a loose circle of court poets and musicians, later called the Castalian Band, which included William Fowler, John Stewart of Baldynneis, and Alexander Montgomerie. After his accession to the English throne in 1603 James VI increasingly favoured the language of southern England and the loss of the court as a centre of patronage was a major blow to Scottish literature. A new tradition of vernacular Gaelic poetry began to emerge, including work by women such as Mary MacLeod of Harris. The tradition of neo-Latin poetry reached its fruition with the publication of the anthology of the Deliciae Poetarum Scotorum (1637). This period was marked by the work of female Scottish poets including Elizabeth Melville, whose Ane Godlie Dream (1603) was the first book published by a woman in Scotland. The ballad became a recognised literary form by aristocratic authors including Robert Sempill, Lady Elizabeth Wardlaw and Lady Grizel Baillie.
After the Union in 1707 Scottish literature developed a distinct national identity. Allan Ramsay led a "vernacular revival", the trend for pastoral poetry and developed the Habbie stanza. He was part of a community of poets working in Scots and English who included William Hamilton of Gilbertfield, Robert Crawford, Alexander Ross, William Hamilton of Bangour, Alison Rutherford Cockburn, and James Thomson. The eighteenth century was also a period of innovation in Gaelic vernacular poetry. Major figures included Rob Donn Mackay, Donnchadh Bàn Mac an t-Saoir, Uilleam Ross and Alasdair mac Mhaighstir Alasdair, who helped inspire a new form of nature poetry. James Macpherson was the first Scottish poet to gain an international reputation, claiming to have found poetry written by Ossian. Robert Burns is widely regarded as the national poet. The most important figure in Scottish Romanticism, Walter Scott, began his literary career as a poet and also collected and published Scottish ballads. Scottish poetry is often seen as entering a period of decline in the nineteenth century, with Scots poetry criticised for its use of parochial dialect, and for its lack of Scottishness in the English tongue. Successful poets included William Thom, Lady Margaret Maclean Clephane Compton Northampton and Thomas Campbell. Among the most influential poets of the later nineteenth were James Thomson and John Davidson. The Highland Clearances and widespread emigration weakened Gaelic language and culture and had a profound impact on the nature of Gaelic poetry. Particularly significant was the work of Uilleam Mac Dhun Lèibhe, Seonaidh Phàdraig Iarsiadair and Màiri Mhòr nan Óran.
In the early twentieth century there was a new surge of activity in Scottish literature, influenced by modernism and resurgent nationalism, known as the Scottish Renaissance. The leading figure, Hugh MacDiarmid, attempted to revive the Scots language as a medium for serious literature in poetic works including "A Drunk Man Looks at the Thistle" (1936) which developed a form of Synthetic Scots. Other writers connected with the movement included Edwin Muir and William Soutar. Writers that emerged after the Second World War who wrote in Scots included Robert Garioch and Sydney Goodsir Smith. Those working in English included Norman MacCaig, George Bruce and Maurice Lindsay and George Mackay Brown. The parallel revitalisation of Gaelic poetry, known as the Scottish Gaelic Renaissance was largely due to the work of Sorley Maclean. The generation of poets that grew up in the postwar period included Douglas Dunn, Tom Leonard, and Liz Lochhead. The 1980s and 1990s saw the emergence of a new generation of Scottish poets who became leading figures on the UK stage including Don Paterson, Robert Crawford, Carol Ann Duffy, Kathleen Jamie and Jackie Kay.
Much of the earliest Welsh literature was actually composed in or near the country now called Scotland, in the Brythonic speech, from which Welsh would be derived. These works were only written down in Wales much later. These include The Gododdin, considered the earliest surviving verse from Scotland, which is attributed to the bard Aneirin, said to have been resident in Bythonic kingdom of Gododdin in the sixth century. It is a series of elegies to the men of the Gododdin killed fighting at the Battle of Catraeth around 600 AD. Similarly, the Battle of Gwen Ystrad is attributed to Taliesin, traditionally thought to be a bard at the court of Rheged in roughly the same period. Very few works of Gaelic poetry survive from the early medieval period, and most of these are in Irish manuscripts. These include poems in praise of Pictish kings contained within Irish annals.
In Old English there is The Dream of the Rood, from which lines are found on the Ruthwell Cross, making it the only surviving fragment of Northumbrian Old English from early Medieval Scotland. It has also been suggested on the basis of ornithological references that the poem The Seafarer was composed somewhere near the Bass Rock in East Lothian. In Latin early works include a "Prayer for Protection" attributed to St Mugint, thought to be from the mid-sixth century and Altus Prosator ("The High Creator") attributed to St Columba (c. 597). The most important piece of Scottish hagiography after Adomnán's Vita Columbae, is the verse Life of St. Ninian, written in Latin in Whithorn, perhaps as early as the eighth century.
The Kingdom of Alba was overwhelmingly an oral society dominated by Gaelic culture. Our fuller sources for Ireland of the same period suggest that there would have been filidh, who acted as poets, musicians and historians, often attached to the court of a lord or king, and passed on their knowledge and culture in Gaelic to the next generation. At least from the accession of David I (r. 1124–53), as part of a Davidian Revolution that introduced French culture and political systems, Gaelic ceased to be the main language of the royal court and was probably replaced by French. After this "de-gallicisation" of the Scottish court, a less highly regarded order of bards took over the functions of the filidh and they would continue to act in a similar role in the Highlands and Islands into the eighteenth century. They often trained in bardic schools, of which a few, like the one run by the MacMhuirich dynasty, who were bards to the Lord of the Isles, existed in Scotland and a larger number in Ireland, until they were suppressed from the seventeenth century. Members of bardic schools were trained in the complex rules and forms of Gaelic poetry. Much of their work was never written down and what survives was only recorded from the sixteenth century.
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