The Poets and Poetry of Scotland from the Earliest

The Poets and Poetry of Scotland from the Earliest

18 EGBERT HENRYSON. wox as meek as any mulis, The town sowtar in grief was bowilin, They That were with mailis: His wife hang in his waist: mangit For faintness thir forfochin fulis His body was with blood all browdin, Fell down, like flauchtir failis; He granit like any gaist; in and haild the dulis was full Fresh men came His glittering hair, that gowden, And them down in dailis, So hard in love him laist; dang Bedene, That for her sake he was not zowdin, Christ's Kirk on the that day. Seven mile while he was chaist, At green, And more, When all was done, Dick, with an aix, At Christ's Kirk on the green, that day. Came forth, to fell a futher; Where are smaiks, The miller was of manly mak, Quod he, yon hangit wald slain bruther ? To meet him was no mowis; Right now my bad him Their durst not ten come him to tak, His wife go home, good glaiks, so did his So nowit he their nowis; And Meg mother; and them both their The buschment haill about him brak, He turn'd, gave paiks; he durst none And bikkerit him with bowis, For ding other, For feir, Syne traifcourly behind his back, At Christ's Kirk on the that day. They hewed him on the howis, green, Behind, At Christ's Kirk on the green, that day. Two that were heidsmen of the herd, DIVINE TRUST. 1 Ran upon uderis like rammis; Sen throw vertew incressis Than followit feymen, right unaffeir'd, dignitie, vertew is flour and rute of nobles Bet on with barrow trammis; And ay, Of wit or estait thou be But where their gobbis were ungeird, ony quhat His steppis follow, and dreid for none effray; They got upon the gammis; Eject vice, and follow truth alway; While bloody barkit was their beird; Lufe maist thy God that first thy lufe began, As they had werreit lammis And for ilk inche He will thS quyte ane span. Most like, At Christ's Kirk on the green, that day. not ouir in Be proude thy prosperitie, For as it cummis, sa will it pas away; The wives kest an hideous up yell, The tyme to compt is schort, thow may weill se, When all the yokkit; yunkeris For of grene grass sone cximmis wallowit hay. as As fierce any fyr-flaught fell, Labour in truth quhilk suith is of thy fay; flokkit: Friekes to the field they Traist maist in God, for He best gyde the* can, other The carlis with clubbis could quell, And for ilk inche He will the* quyte ane span. While blood at briestis out bokkit; is and thocht is So rudely rang the commoun bell, Sen word thrall, only fre, dant that hes and While all the steeple rokkit, Thou thy toung power may fra warldis For reird, Thou steik thy ene vanitie, Refraine lust and harkin I say: At Christ's Kirk on the green, that day. thy quhat the hie Graip or tho slyde, and keip furth way, God and When they had beirit, like baited bullis, Thou hald the" fast upon thy man, ane And branewod, brynt in bailis, And for ilk inche He will the' quyte span. ROBERT HENRYSON BORN 1430 DIED 1506. Lord Hailes ROBERT HENRYSON, or HENDERSON, a poet schoolmaster of Dunfermline. to the and fabulist of the fifteenth century, was chief conjectures that he acted as preceptor in 1570. i Of the king's hymns or sacred poems only one speci- called The Gude and Godlie Ballat.es, published Trust." ED. men has been preserved at the close of the collection It has been en titled by Dr. Rogers "Divine EOBEET HENEYSON. 19 Benedictine convent of that town. It is sup- genuine strokes of poetical delineation." His " posed that he was born about the year 1430, poetical tale entitled The Traitie of Orpheus and it is known that he died at an advanced Kyng, and how he came to yeid to hewyn and age, as Sir Francis Kinaston tells us "that to hel to seik his Quene," was first published being very old, he died of a diarrhoe or fluxe." in 1508. Portions of both of these poems have It is also known that he passed away early in been highly commended by Sir Walter Scott, the sixteenth century, as his name appears Warton, and other competent judges: but it among the latest of the poets lamented by is in his fables that Henryson's poetical powers Dunbar in his poem on the "Deth of the appear to greatest advantage. The best of his " Makkaris," printed in the year 1508: Fabils," thirteen in number, is the common of the "Town Mouse and the " story City Mouse," In Durnfermling he hes tane Broun, which he treats with much humour and char- With gude Mr. Robert Henrysouii." acteristic description, and concludes with a On the poet's own testimony he appears to beautifully expressed moral. He gives it the " have lived to a good old age, and happily not Scotch title of The Borrowstoun Mous and to have been without the comforts so necessary the Landwart Mous." This collection, in in advanced years. In the opening stanzas manuscript, is still preserved in the Harleian of the "Testament of Faire Creseide," the Library, and is dated 1571. longest of his productions, he says: The "Fables" of Henryson were reprinted in 1832 for the from the edition " Bannatyne Club, I made the fire, and beked me aboute. of Andrew Hart, printed in Edinburgh, 1621, Then toke I drink, my spirits to comforte, And armed me well fro the cold thereoute. of which the only known copy is in the To cutte the winter night, and make it shorte, Advocates' Library with a memoir prefixed I took a and lefte all other quere, sporte, by Dr. Irving, the editor. "Nearly the Writen by worthy Chaucer glorious, whole of Henryson's poems," says a critic, Of faire Creseide and lusty Troilus." "bear evidence of having been composed in " Of this poem a critic says, Wittily observ- the decline of life. In this he resembled his ing that Chaucer, in his fifth book, had related model Chaucer, whose Canterbury Tales, the the death of Troilus, but made no mention best of all his works, were written when on what became of Creseide, he learnedly takes the verge of threescore years and ten. Henry- upon him, in a fine poetical way, to express son had not, however, like Chaucer, cause to the punishment and end due to a false incon- blame a vagrant muse in his dying hours, for stant, which commonly ends in extreme anything in his writings which might pollute misery." The poem was first printed by to future ages the stream of future morals. Henry Charteris in 1593, and has been ap- His sentiments are uniformly worthy of his pended to various editions of Chaucer's Troilus years pure, chastened, and instructive; and and Creseide. The "Testament of Creseide" whatever share of the poetical art he displays " and Henryson's pastoral poem of Robeneand it is solely employed in giving to the lessons of Makyne," the earliest of bucolics in the Scot- virtue some heightening charm, or rendering tish language, was printed (sixty-five copies) the ways of vice more odious." Until recently for the Bannatyne Club in 1824 by George it was a subject of regret that only specimens Chalmers. Of the latter poem a writer in of Henryson's poems were to be met with in Blackie's Dictionary of Eminent Scotsmen re- the collections of Hailes, Pinkerton, Ramsay, " marks, I consider it superior in many respects Sibbald, Irving, and Ellis. The desideratum to the similar attempts of Spenser and Broune; was at length supplied by David Laing, who it is free from the glaring improprieties which first collected his poetical writings and pre- sometimes appear in the pastorals of those pared a memoir of his life, issued at Edinburgh more recent writers, and it exhibits many in 1865. 20 EGBERT HENEYSON. THE TWO MICE. 1 Esope, myne autour, makis mentioun Than said, sister, is this your daily fude? Of twa myiss; and they war sisters deir; Quhy not, quod scho, think ye this mess not gude? Off quhom the elder dwelt in borrowstown; be me think it but a The yonger wend up-on-land, weil neir Na, my saul, skorn; Ma sche, be the mair to Rycht solitair; quhyle under busk and breir, dame, quod ye blame; moder after that we wer Quhyle in the corn, in uther menys schacht, My said, born, That and I baith within her As outlawis dois that levis on ylin wacht. ye lay wame; I kep the rycht auld custom of my dame, The rurall mouss into the winter tyde And of my syre, lyvand in povertie, Had hungar, cauld, and tholit grit distress; For landis haif we nane of propertie. The tothir mouss that in the burgh can byde Was gilt brother, and made ane free burgess. My fair sister, quod scho, haif me excusit; Tol-free alswa, but custom, mair or less, This rude dyet and I can not accord; And freedom had to ga quhair eir sche list With tender meit my stomach ay is usit; Amang the cheiss and meill, in ark and kist. For quhy, I fair as weill as ony lord: Thir widderit peiss and nuttis, or thai be bord, Ane scho was and on fute tyme quhen full, fure, Will brek my teith, and mak my mouth full tuk in her sister Scho mynd up-on-land, sklender, her And langit for her cheir, and welfair, Quhilk usit wer befor to meit mair tender.

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