And took my leave for to wend. And tarry thou in my court no more; And greet well Chaucer, when ye meet, Above all other I am most hold."7 JOHN BARBOUR. THE period (1306-14) comprising the close of Edward I.'s reign and the first seven years of that of Edward II. must always be accounted one of the most eventful and romantic in Scottish history. Those were the years of the "War of Independence," during which Robert Bruce, grandson of one of the original claimants of the Scottish crown in 1290, carried on with wonderful ability and heroism the struggle with the English, which resulted, in 1314, in the Battle of Bannockburn, and in 1328, in the final recognition by England of the independence of the Scottish nation and of Robert Bruce as the Scottish king. The poet Barbour-born, it is believed, in the year 1316—grew up in the midst of these events. He was Archdeacon of Aberdeen during the reigns of David II., Robert II., and Robert III.; and in the year 1375, when the last of these Roberts had been king for five years, he was occupied in writing a metrical history of Robert I. This poem, called The Bruce, embodies in a continuous narrative the popular legends and traditions which had accumulated during half a century round the memories of Bruce and his heroic companions. It is written in the Northern English of the period, and in the octosyllabic rhymed couplet of the old romances. The characters and scenery of his story are necessarily Scottish and local, and its incidents consist almost entirely of rough battle and adventure. But in the poem itself, apart from what we know otherwise, there is ample evidence that the Scottish Barbour was a man of culture. No man living in this island, except Chaucer, knew so well as this venerable Archdeacon how to describe a true "gentleman"; and perhaps even Chaucer himself has not excelled the portrait which Barbour has handed down to us of the young James of Douglas. Barbour is notable also among his contemporaries for a certain pure and ingenuous habit of mind. He had an almost boyish reverence for the physical qualities of courage of manly and warlike feats. But it is when he is moved by the presence in his heroes of the higher moral qualities, such as loyalty, forbearance, and the love of freedom, that Barbour attains to his highest standard, and deserves unmistakably the name of "poet." The Bruce exists in a valuable MS. of the date 1489.1 An earlier poem of Barbour, called The Brute, a history of the Scottish kings from Brutus downwards, is lost; but some Lives of Northern Saints in verse, known to be his, have been lately discovered in MS.2 FROM THE BRUCE. SCOTLAND IN THRALDOM. When Sir Edward the michty king Sae haill that baith castell and toun Sheriffs and bailies made he then, Ah! what they dempt12 them felonly! 1 Dr. Jamieson's edition, reprinted in 1869, is published from this MS., which is in the Library of the Faculty of Advocates, Edinburgh. It is by the hand of a monk of Perth named Ramsay, who also, in 1488, transcribed the Wallace of Blind Henry. Text Society. 2 By Mr. Bradshaw of Cambridge. They are to be published by the E. E. 3 Ruined. 4 Haste. 5 So wholly. 6 In. 7 Mull of Galloway. 8 All kinds of. 9 Grew. JOHN BARBOUR. THE period (1306-14) comprising the close of Edward I.'s reign and the first seven years of that of Edward II. must always be accounted one of the most eventful and romantic in Scottish history. Those were the years of the "War of Independence," during which Robert Bruce, grandson of one of the original claimants of the Scottish crown in 1290, carried on with wonderful ability and heroism the struggle with the English, which resulted, in 1314, in the Battle of Bannockburn, and in 1328, in the final recognition by England of the independence of the Scottish nation and of Robert Bruce as the Scottish king. The poet Barbour-born, it is believed, in the year 1316-grew up in the midst of these events. He was Archdeacon of Aberdeen during the reigns of David II., Robert II., and Robert III.; and in the year 1375, when the last of these Roberts had been king for five years, he was occupied in writing a metrical history of Robert I. This poem, called The Bruce, embodies in a continuous narrative the popular legends and traditions which had accumulated during half a century round the memories of Bruce and his heroic companions. It is written in the Northern English of the period, and in the octosyllabic rhymed couplet of the old romances. The characters and scenery of his story are necessarily Scottish and local, and its incidents consist almost entirely of rough battle and adventure. But in the poem itself, apart from what we know otherwise, there is ample evidence that the Scottish Barbour was a man of culture. No man living in this island, except Chaucer, knew so well as this venerable Archdeacon how to describe a true "gentleman"; and perhaps even Chaucer himself has not excelled the portrait which Barbour has handed down to us of the young James of Douglas. Barbour is notable also among his contemporaries for a certain pure and ingenuous habit of mind. He had an almost boyish reverence for the physical qualities of courage of manly and warlike feats. But it is when he is moved by the presence in his heroes of the higher moral qualities, such as loyalty, forbearance, and the love of freedom, that Barbour attains to his highest standard, and deserves unmistakably the name of "poet." The Bruce exists in a valuable MS. of the date 1489.1 An earlier poem of Barbour, called The Brute, a history of the Scottish kings from Brutus downwards, is lost; but some Lives of Northern Saints in verse, known to be his, have been lately discovered in MS.2 And sae hautane11 and dispitous, That Scottish men micht do naething Ah! what they dempt12 them felonly! 1 Dr. Jamieson's edition, reprinted in 1869, is published from this MS., which is in the Library of the Faculty of Advocates, Edinburgh. It is by the hand of a monk of Perth named Ramsay, who also, in 1488, transcribed the Wallace of Blind Henry. 2 By Mr. Bradshaw of Cambridge. They are to be published by the E. E. 3 Ruined. 4 Haste. 5 So wholly. 6 In. 9 Grew. Text Society. 7 Mull of Galloway. 8 All kinds of. |