Literature in early modern Scotland

James VIin 1580, aged 14. A major patron of poetry as well as a poet and commentator, his accession to the English throne in 1603 had profound effects on the patronage of Scottish literature and the Scots language

Literature in early modern Scotlandisliteraturewritten in Scotland or byScottish writersbetween theRenaissancein the early sixteenth century and the beginnings of theEnlightenmentandIndustrial Revolutionin mid-eighteenth century. By the beginning of this eraGaelichad been in geographical decline for three centuries and had begun to be a second class language, confined to theHighlands and Islands,but the tradition of Classic Gaelic Poetry survived.Middle Scotsbecame the language of both the nobility and the majority population. The establishment of a printing press in 1507 made it easier to disseminate Scottish literature and was probably aimed at bolstering Scottish national identity.

James IV's creation of aRenaissancecourt included the patronage of poets, ormakars,who were mainly clerics. These includedGavin Douglas,whoseEneados(1513) was the first complete translation of a major classical text in anAnglianlanguage.James Vwas also a major patron of poets.George Buchananfounded a tradition of neo-Latin poetry. In the reign ofMary, Queen of Scotsand theminorityof her sonJames VI,cultural pursuits were limited by the lack of a royal court and by political turmoil.The Kirkdiscouraged poetry that was not devotional in nature but secular poetry survived. In the 1580s and 1590s James VI promoted literature in Scots. He became patron and member of a loose circle of Scottish court poets and musicians, later called theCastalian Band.David Lyndsay'sThe Thrie Estaitis(1540) is the only complete play to survive from before the Reformation. Buchanan was major influence on Continental theatre, but his impact in Scotland was limited by his choice of Latin as a medium. There were isolated Scottish plays, but the system of professional companies of players and theatres that developed in England in this period was absent in Scotland.

The accession of James VI to the English throne in 1603 meant a loss of the court as a centre of patronage and he increasingly favoured the language of southern England. A number of Scottish poets accompanied the king to London, where they began toanglicisetheir written language. As the tradition of classical Gaelic poetry declined, a new tradition of vernacular Gaelic poetry began to emerge, often undertaken by women. The tradition of neo-Latin poetry reached its fruition with the publication of the anthology of theDeliciae Poetarum Scotorum(1637). This period was marked by the work of the first named female Scottish poets, such asElizabeth Melville,whoseAne Godlie Dream(1603) was the first book published by a woman in Scotland. This was the period when theballademerged as a significant written form in Scotland. From the seventeenth century they were used as a literary form by aristocratic authors.

After the Union in 1707, the use of Scots was discouraged by many in authority and education.Allan Ramsayled a "vernacular revival" that laid the foundations of a reawakening of interest in older Scottish literature. He also led the trend forpastoralpoetry and his pastoral operaThe Gentle Shepherdwas one of the most influential works of the era. Ramsay was part of a community of poets working in Scots and English.Tobias Smollettwas a poet, essayist, satirist and playwright, but is best known for hispicaresque novels,for which he is often seen as Scotland's first novelist. The early eighteenth century was also a period of innovation in Gaelic vernacular poetry that mixed traditional forms with influences from the Lowlands. Drama was pursued by Scottish playwrights in London. In Scotland drama was supplied by visiting English players and actors, but there were clashes with the Kirk. Ramsay was instrumental in establishing a small theatre in Edinburgh, but it closed soon after the passing of the1737 Licensing Act.A new theatre was opened at Cannongate in 1747 and operated without a licence into the 1760s.

Sixteenth century

Background

The device of the printerAndrew MyllarfromThe Porteous of Nobleness

By the early modern eraGaelichad been in geographical decline for three centuries and had begun to be a second class language, confined to theHighlands and Islands.The tradition of classic Gaelic poetry survived longer in Scotland than in Ireland, with the last fully competent member of theMacMhuirich dynasty,who were hereditary poets to theLords of the Islesand then theDonalds of Clanranald,still working in the early eighteenth century. Nevertheless, interest in the sponsorship ofpanegyricGaelic poetry was declining among the clan leaders.Gaelic was gradually being overtaken byMiddle Scots,which became the language of both the nobility and the majority population. Middle Scots was derived substantially fromOld English,with Gaelic and French influences. It was usually calledInglysheand was very close to the language spoken in northern England,but by the sixteenth century it had establishedorthographicand literary norms largely independent of those developing in England.From the mid sixteenth century, written Scots was increasingly influenced by the developingStandard Englishof Southern England due to developments in royal and political interactions with England.With the increasing influence and availability of books printed in England, most writing in Scotland came to be done in the English fashion.

The establishment of a printing press under royal patent in 1507 would begin to make it easier to disseminate Scottish literature and was probably aimed at bolstering Scottish national identity.The first Scottish press was established inSouthgaitin Edinburgh by the merchantWalter Chepman(c. 1473–c. 1528) and the booksellerAndrew Myllar(fl. 1505–08). Although the first press was relatively short lived, beside law codes and religious works, the press also produced editions of the work of Scottishmakarsbefore its demise, probably about 1510. The next recorded press was that ofThomas Davidson(f. 1532–42), the first in a long line of "king's printers", who also produced editions of works of the makars.

Makars

Main article:Makar

James IV's (r. 1488–1513) creation of aRenaissancecourt included the patronage of poets. These court poets, or makars, who were mainly clerics includedRobert Henryson(c. 1450-c. 1505), who re-worked Medieval and Classical sources, such asChaucerandAesopin works such as hisTestament of CresseidandThe Morall Fabillis.William Dunbar(1460–1513) produced satires, lyrics, invectives and dream visions that established the vernacular as a flexible medium for poetry of any kind.Gavin Douglas(1475–1522), who becameBishop of Dunkeld,injectedRenaissance humanismandClassicsinto his poetry.The landmark work in the reign of James IV was Douglas's version ofVirgil'sAeneid,theEneados.It was the first complete translation of a major classical text in an Anglian language, finished in 1513, but overshadowed by the disaster atFloddenthat brought the reign to an end.

The seal ofGavin DouglasasBishop of Dunkeld

As a patron of poets and authorsJames V(r. 1513–42) supported William Stewart andJohn Bellenden,who translated the LatinHistory of Scotlandcompiled in 1527 byHector Boece,into verse and prose.David Lyndsay(c. 1486–1555), diplomat and the head of theLyon Court,was a prolific poet. He wrote elegiac narratives, romances and satires.George Buchanan(1506–82) had a major influence as a Latin poet, founding a tradition of neo-Latin poetry that would continue in to the seventeenth century.Contributors to this tradition included royal secretaryJohn Maitland(1537–95), reformerAndrew Melville(1545–1622),John Johnston(1570?–1611) andDavid Hume of Godscroft(1558–1629).

From the 1550s, in the reign ofMary, Queen of Scots(r. 1542–67) and theminorityof her sonJames VI(r. 1567–1625), cultural pursuits were limited by the lack of a royal court and by political turmoil. TheKirk,heavily influenced byCalvinism,also discouraged poetry that was not devotional in nature. Nevertheless, poets from this period includedRichard Maitlandof Lethington (1496–1586), who produced meditative and satirical verses in the style of Dunbar;John Rolland(fl. 1530–75), who wrote allegorical satires in the tradition of Douglas and courtier and ministerAlexander Hume(c. 1556–1609), whose corpus of work includes nature poetry andepistolary verse.Alexander Scott's (?1520–82/3) use of short verse designed to be sung to music, opened the way for the Castalian poets of James VI's adult reign.

Unlike many of his predecessors, James VI actively despised Gaelic culture.However, in the 1580s and 1590s he strongly promoted the literature of the country of his birth in Scots. His treatise,Some Rules and Cautions to be Observed and Eschewed in Scottish Prosody,published in 1584 when he was aged 18, was both a poetic manual and a description of the poetic tradition in his mother tongue, to which he applied Renaissance principles.He became patron and member of a loose circle of ScottishJacobeancourt poets and musicians, later called theCastalian Band,which includedWilliam Fowler(c. 1560–1612),John Stewart of Baldynneis(c. 1545–c. 1605), andAlexander Montgomerie(c. 1550–98).They translated key Renaissance texts and produced poems using French forms, includingsonnetsand short sonnets, for narrative, nature description, satire and meditations on love. Later poets that followed in this vein includedWilliam Alexander(c. 1567–1640), Alexander Craig (c. 1567–1627) andRobert Ayton(1570–1627).By the late 1590s the king's championing of his native Scottish tradition was to some extent diffused by the prospect of inheriting of the English throne.

Dramatists

Main article:Theatre of Scotland

George Buchanan,playwright, poet and political theorist, byArnold Bronckorst

Lyndsay produced an interlude atLinlithgow Palacefor the king and queen thought to be a version of his playThe Thrie Estaitisin 1540, which satirised the corruption of church and state, and which is the only complete play to survive from before the Reformation.Buchanan was major influence on Continental theatre with plays such asJephethsandBaptistes,which influencedPierre CorneilleandJean Racineand through them the neo-classical tradition in French drama, but his impact in Scotland was limited by his choice of Latin as a medium.The anonymousThe Maner of the Cyring of ane Play(before 1568)andPhilotus(published in London in 1603), are isolated examples of surviving plays. The latter is a vernacular Scots comedy of errors, probably designed for court performance for Mary, Queen of Scots or James VI.

James VI and his wifeAnne of Denmarkpersonally dressed in costume and took part inmasques,performances at weddings that typically involved music, dance, and disguise.The system of professional companies of players and theatres that developed in England in this period was absent in Scotland, but James VI signalled his interest in drama by arranging for a company of English players to erect a playhouse and perform in 1599.

Seventeenth century

Poetry

Having extolled the virtues of Scots "poesie", after his accession to the English throne, James VI increasingly favoured the language of southern England. In 1611 the Kirk adopted the EnglishAuthorised King James Versionof the Bible. In 1617 interpreters were declared no longer necessary in the port of London because Scots and Englishmen were now "not so far different bot ane understandeth ane uther".Jenny Wormalddescribed James as creating a "three-tier system, with Gaelic at the bottom and English at the top".The loss of the court as a centre of patronage in 1603 was a major blow to Scottish literature. A number of Scottish poets, including William Alexander, John Murray and Robert Aytoun, accompanied the king to London, where they continued to write,but they soon began toanglicisetheir written language.James's characteristic role as active literary participant and patron in the English court made him a defining figure for English Renaissance poetry and drama, which would reach a pinnacle of achievement in his reign,but his patronage for thehigh stylein his own Scottish tradition largely became sidelined.The only significant court poet to continue to work in Scotland after the king's departure wasWilliam Drummond of Hawthornden(1585–1649).

William Alexander,statesman and author

As the tradition of classical Gaelic poetry declined, a new tradition of vernacular Gaelic poetry began to emerge. While Classical poetry used a language largely fixed in the twelfth century, the vernacular continued to develop. In contrast to the Classical tradition, which usedsyllabic metre,vernacular poets tended to usestressed metre.However, they shared with the Classic poets a set of complex metaphors and role, as the verse was still often panegyric. A number of these vernacular poets were women,such as Mary MacLeod of Harris (c. 1615–1707).

The tradition of neo-Latin poetry reached its fruition with the publication of the anthology of theDeliciae Poetarum Scotorum(1637), published in Amsterdam byArthur Johnston(c.1579–1641) andSir John Scott of Scotstarvet(1585–1670) and containing work by the major Scottish practitioners since Buchanan.This period was marked by the work of the first named female Scottish poets.Elizabeth Melville's (f. 1585–1630)Ane Godlie Dream(1603) was a popular religious allegory and the first book published by a woman in Scotland.Anna Hume,daughter of David Hume of Godscroft, adaptedPetrarch'sTriumphsasTriumphs of Love: Chastitie: Death(1644).

This was the period when theballademerged as a significant written form in Scotland. Some ballads may date back to the late medieval era and deal with events and people that can be traced back as far as the thirteenth century, including "Sir Patrick Spens"and"Thomas the Rhymer",but which are not known to have existed until the eighteenth century.They were probably composed and transmitted orally and only began to be written down and printed, often asbroadsidesand as part ofchapbooks,later being recorded and noted in books by collectors includingRobert BurnsandWalter Scott.From the seventeenth century they were used as a literary form by aristocratic authors includingRobert Sempill(c. 1595-c. 1665),Lady Elizabeth Wardlaw(1627–1727) andLady Grizel Baillie(1645–1746).

Theatre

Main article:Theatre of Scotland

The first page ofThe Assemblyby Archibald Pitcairne from the 1766 edition

The loss of a royal court also meant there was no force to counter the Kirk's dislike of theatre, which struggled to survive in Scotland.However, it was not entirely extinguished. The Kirk used theatre for its own purposes in schools and was slow to suppress popularfolk dramas.Surviving plays for the period include William Alexander'sMonarchicke Tragedies,written just before his departure with the king for England in 1603. They werecloset dramas,designed to be read rather than performed, and already indicate Alexander's preference for southern English over the Scots language.There were some attempts to revive Scottish drama. In 1663 Edinburgh lawyer William Clerke wroteMarciano or the Discovery,a play about the restoration of a legitimate dynasty in Florence after many years of civil war. It was performed at the Tennis-Court Theatre atHolyrood Palacebefore the parliamentary high commissionerJohn Leslie, Earl of Rothes.Thomas Sydsurf'sTarugo's Wiles or the Coffee House,was first performed in London in 1667 and then in Edinburgh the year after and drew onSpanish comedy.A relative of Sydsurf, physicianArchibald Pitcairne(1652–1713) wroteThe Assembly or Scotch Reformation(1692), a ribald satire on the morals of the Presbyterian Kirk, circulating in manuscript, but not published until 1722, helping to secure the association betweenJacobitismand professional drama that discouraged the creation of professional theatre.

Early eighteenth century

Vernacular revival

Main article:Allan Ramsay (poet)

After theUnion in 1707and the shift of political power to England, the use of Scots was discouraged by many in authority and education.Nevertheless, Scots remained the vernacular of many rural communities and the growing number of urban working-class Scots.Literature developed a distinct national identity and began to enjoy an international reputation.Allan Ramsay(1686–1758) was considered the most important literary figure of the era, often described as leading a "vernacular revival". He laid the foundations of a reawakening of interest in older Scottish literature, publishingThe Ever Green(1724), a collection that included many major poetic works of the Stewart period.He led the trend forpastoralpoetry, helping to develop theHabbie stanza,which would be later be used by Robert Burns as apoetic form.HisTea-Table Miscellany(1724–37) contained poems old Scots folk material, his own poems in the folk style and "gentilizings" of Scots poems in the English neo-classical style.His pastoral operaThe Gentle Shepherdwas one of the most influential works of the era.He would also play a leading role in supporting drama in Scotland and the attempt to found a permanent theatre in the capital.

Verse and prose

Ramsay was part of a community of poets working in Scots and English. These includedWilliam Hamilton of Gilbertfield(c. 1665–1751), Robert Crawford (1695–1733),Alexander Ross(1699–1784), the JacobiteWilliam Hamiltonof Bangour (1704–54), socialiteAlison Rutherford Cockburn(1712–94), and poet and playwrightJames Thomson's (1700–48), most famous for the nature poetry of hisSeasons.Tobias Smollett(1721–71) was a poet, essayist, satirist and playwright, but is best known for hispicaresque novels,such asThe Adventures of Roderick Random(1748) andThe Adventures of Peregrine Pickle(1751) for which he is often seen as Scotland's first novelist.His work would be a major influence on later novelists such asThackerayandDickens.

Alan Ramsay,the most influential literary figure in early eighteenth-century Scotland

The early eighteenth century was also a period of innovation in Gaelic vernacular poetry. Major figures includedRob Donn Mackay(1714–78) andDonnchadh Bàn Mac an t-Saoir(Duncan Ban MacIntyre) (1724–1812). The most significant figure in the tradition wasAlasdair mac Mhaighstir Alasdair(Alasdair MacDonald) (c. 1698–1770). His interest in traditional forms can be seen in his most significant poemClanranald's Gallery.He also mixed these traditions with influences from the Lowlands, including Thompson'sSeasons,which helped inspire a new form of nature poetry in Gaelic, which was not focused on their relations to human concerns.

Drama

Main article:Theatre of Scotland

Drama was pursued by Scottish playwrights in London such asCatherine Trotter(1679–1749), born in London to Scottish parents and later moving to Aberdeen. Her plays and included the verse-tragedyFatal Friendship(1698), the comedyLove at a Loss(1700) and the historyThe Revolution in Sweden(1706). David Crawford's (1665–1726) plays included theRestoration comediesCourtship A-la-Mode(1700) andLove at First Sight(1704). These developed the character of the stage Scot, often a clown, but cunning and loyal.Newburgh Hamilton(1691–1761), born in Ireland of Scottish descent, produced the comediesThe Petticoat-Ploter(1712) andThe Doating LoversorThe Libertine(1715). He later wrote the libretto for Handel'sSamson(1743), closely based onJohn Milton'sSamson Agonistes.James Thomson's plays often dealt with the contest between public duty and private feelings, includedSophonisba(1730),Agamemnon(1738) andTancrid and Sigismuda(1745), the last of which was an international success.David Mallet's (c. 1705–65)Eurydice(1731) was accused of being a coded Jacobite play and his later work indicates opposition to theWalpoleadministration. The operaMasque of Alfred(1740) was a collaboration between Thompson, Mallet and composerThomas Arne,with Thompson supplying the lyrics for his most famous work, the patriotic songRule, Britannia!

In Scotland a troop of English players came to Edinburgh in 1715 where they performedMacbethand a series of Restoration comedies, but they soon left, perhaps because of objections from local kirk presbyteries. By 1725 English actorAnthony Aston,a friend of Ramsay, was performing in Edinburgh, but seems to have fallen foul of the ScottishMaster of the Revels,who licensed plays, companies and playhouses, and soon left. In 1727 the Kirk attacked theatres as immoral in theAdmonition and Exhortation.The Edinburgh Company of Players were able to perform in Dundee, Montrose, Aberdeen and regular performances at the Taylor's Hall in Edinburgh under the protection of a Royal Patent.Ramsay was instrumental in establishing them in a small theatre in Carruber's Close in Edinburgh,but the passing of the1737 Licensing Actmade their activities illegal and the theatre soon closed.A new theatre was opened at Cannongate in 1747 and operated without a licence into the 1760s.

References

Bibliography

• Bawcutt, P. J., and Williams, J. H., A Companion to Medieval Scottish Poetry (Woodbridge: Brewer, 2006),ISBN1-84384-096-0.
• Beasley, J. C.,Tobias Smollett: Novelist(University of Georgia Press, 1998),ISBN0-8203-1971-6.
• Bell, B., "The national drama, Joanna Baille and the national theatre", in I. Brown,The Edinburgh History of Scottish Literature: Enlightenment, Britain and Empire, 1707–1918(Edinburgh University Press, 2007),ISBN0-7486-2481-3.
• Brown, I., "Introduction: a lively tradition and collective amnesia", in I. Brown, ed.,The Edinburgh Companion to Scottish Drama(Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2011),ISBN0-7486-4107-6.
• Brown, I., "Public and private performance: 1650–1800", in I. Brown, ed.,The Edinburgh Companion to Scottish Drama(Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2011),ISBN0-7486-4107-6.
• Brown, I., Owen Clancy, T., Pittock, M., Manning, S., eds,The Edinburgh History of Scottish Literature: From Columba to the Union, until 1707(Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2007),ISBN0-7486-1615-2.
• Brown, K. M., "Scottish identity", in B. Bradshaw and P. Roberts, eds,British Consciousness and Identity: The Making of Britain, 1533–1707(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003),ISBN0-521-89361-5.
• Buchan, J.,Crowded with Genius(London: HarperCollins, 2003),ISBN0-06-055888-1.
• Carpenter, S., "Scottish drama until 1650", in I. Brown, ed.,The Edinburgh Companion to Scottish Drama(Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2011),ISBN0-7486-4107-6.
• Chedgzoy, K.,Women's Writing in the British Atlantic World(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012),ISBN1-139-46714-X.
• Corbett, J., McClure, D., and Stuart-Smith, J., "A Brief History of Scots" in J. Corbett, D. McClure and J. Stuart-Smith, eds,The Edinburgh Companion to Scots(Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press, 2003),ISBN0-7486-1596-2.
• Crawford, R.,Scotland's Books: a History of Scottish Literature(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009),ISBN0-19-538623-X.
• D. Dachies, "Poetry in Scots: Brus to Burns" in C. R. Woodring and J. S. Shapiro, eds,The Columbia History of British Poetry(Columbia University Press, 1994),ISBN0-585-04155-5.
• Garlick, G., "Theatre outside London, 1660–1775", in J. Milling, P. Thomson and J. Donohue, eds,The Cambridge History of British Theatre, Volume 2(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004),ISBN0-521-65068-2.
• Hogg, R. M.,The Cambridge History of the English Language(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994),ISBN0-521-26478-2.
• Jack, R. D. S., "Poetry under King James VI", in C. Cairns, ed.,The History of Scottish Literature(Aberdeen University Press, 1988), vol. 1,ISBN0-08-037728-9.
• Jack, R. D. S.,Alexander Montgomerie(Edinburgh: Scottish Academic Press, 1985),ISBN0-7073-0367-2.
• Jackson, C.,Restoration Scotland, 1660–1690: Royalist Politics, Religion and Ideas(Boydell Press, 2003),ISBN0-85115-930-3.
• Jones, C.,A Language Suppressed: The Pronunciation of the Scots Language in the 18th Century(Edinburgh: John Donald, 1976, 1993),ISBN0-85976-427-3.
• Lyle, E., Scottish Ballads (Edinburgh: Canongate Books, 2001),ISBN0-86241-477-6.
• MacDonald, J., "Gaelic literature" in M. Lynch, ed.,The Oxford Companion to Scottish History(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001),ISBN0-19-211696-7.
• Maclachlan, C., Before Burns (Canongate Books, 2010),ISBN1-84767-466-6.
• MacQuarrie, A., "Printing and publishing", in M. Lynch, ed.,The Oxford Companion to Scottish History(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001),ISBN0-19-211696-7.
• Mason, R., "Culture: 4 Renaissance and Reformation (1460–1660): general", in M. Lynch, ed.,The Oxford Companion to Scottish History(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001),ISBN0-19-211696-7.
• Mortimer, I.,The Time Traveller's Guide to Elizabethan England(Random House, 2012),ISBN1-84792-114-0.
• Rhodes, N., "Wrapped in the Strong Arm of the Union: Shakespeare and King James" in W. Maley and A. Murphy, eds,Shakespeare and Scotland(Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2004),ISBN0-7190-6636-0.
• Spiller, M., "Poetry after the Union 1603–1660" in C. Cairns, ed.,The History of Scottish Literature(Aberdeen University Press, 1988), vol. 1,ISBN0-08-037728-9.
• Tobin, ed., T., The Assembly (Purdue University Press, 1972),ISBN0-911198-30-X.
• van Heijnsbergen, T., "Culture: 7 Renaissance and Reformation (1460–1660): literature", in M. Lynch, ed.,The Oxford Companion to Scottish History(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001),ISBN0-19-211696-7.
• van Heijnsbergen, T., "Culture: 9 Renaissance and Reformation: poetry to 1603", in M. Lynch, ed.,The Oxford Companion to Scottish History(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001),ISBN0-19-211696-7.
• Wormald, J.,Court, Kirk, and Community: Scotland, 1470–1625(Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1991),ISBN0-7486-0276-3.