Henrisone's Fabeln (a reprint of the
Harleian
MS text), in
Anglia, ix, 342-390, 453-492.
Anglia, ix, 342-390, 453-492.
Cambridge History of English Literature - 1908 - v02
Sibbald, J. , in his Chronicle of Scottish Poetry, 1802, printed 160 of the 197
stanzas (1, pp. 14-54).
## p. 472 (#490) ############################################
472
Bibliography
Skeat, W. W. The Kingis Quair, together with A Ballad of Good Counsel.
By King James I of Scotland. Scottish Text Society, Edinburgh, 1884.
This edition supersedes all the others. Skeat had published previously, in
1871, in the first edition of his Specimens of English Literature from 1394
to 1579, stanzas 152–173 of the poem.
Thomson, Ebenezer. The King's Quair, a poem, by James, K. of Scots.
(? First edition. Ayr, 1815). Second edition. Ayr, 1824.
[It is, perhaps, scarcely necessary to remind the reader of D. G. Rossetti's
The King's Tragedy. )
Critical (including the question of James I's authorship).
Brown, J. T. T. The Authorship of the Kingis Quair. A New Criticism.
Glasgow, 1896. An attempt to disprove James I's authorship.
Irving, D. History of Scotish Poetry, 1861, pp. 123–160.
Jusserand, J. J. Jacques 1er d’Écosse fut-il poète ? Étude sur Panthenticité
du Cahier du Roi. Paris, 1897. A reprint of an article in La Revue
historique, 1897, vol. lxiv-a complete answer to Brown's criticism.
The Romance of a King's Life. 1896. An English version of an article
in La Revue de Paris, Feb. 1894, pp. 172–199.
Neilson, W. A. The Origins and Sources of the Court of Love (Harvard
Studies), 1899, pp. 152 et seq. , 233 et seq.
Ross, John M. Scottish History and Literature, 1884, pp. 132–159.
Skeat, W. W. Chancerian and other Pieces, 1897, p. lxxv. (Oxford Chaucer,
vol. VII. )
Introduction to text, u. s.
Wischmann, Walther. Untersuchungen über das Kingis Quair Jakobs I
von Schottland. Wismar, 1887.
NOTE. The confusion of quhair (where) with quair (quire, book) in
references to the title of James I's poem is unfortunately too common.
Cf. Morison's edition, u. s. and Ross's account of the poem, u. s. The
frequency of quh- in Middle Scots sometimes caused error even in con-
temporary texts: e. g. quhod for quod, which occurs once in Lyndsay's
Dreme (St Andrews, 1554).
Reference has been made (p. 92, note 1) to the stronger southern character
of the texts of the Early Transition period. Consideration of this fact
may have suggested the ingenious speculation that the Kingis Quair was
written by James I in the southern dialect and that the text which we have
is a copy by a northern scribe. James's authorship is not disputed, but there
would seem to be some question of the historical value of the conclusions
regarding the mixed character of the language. The theory assumes that
James, having been captured at an early age, and having spent many years
in England, must have forgotten his native speech. Against this we place
Bower's statement respecting the king's companions in exile (see also Jusse-
rand, Jacques Ier etc. , u. s. , pp. 16 et seq. ) and the assumption-not less reason-
able than the other-that in circumstances such as James's the once familiar
speech would not be entirely forgotten, and that it would act as a disturbing
factor in his efforts to reproduce literary English. Further, it is hard to
believe that a Scottish scribe, bent on transforming the text, would, or could
make any changes in word or rime except in accordance with Scots usage.
(Note the evidence of 'lakketh,' st. 27; "stynten,' st. 117; 'regne'-'benigne,'
st. 37; and the northern rimes generally. )
## p. 473 (#491) ############################################
Chapter X
473
Other Poems by, or ascribed to, James I.
(ii) 'Sen trew Vertew encressis dignytee,' sometimes entitled Good Counsel.
MS. In Cambridge University Library (Kk. 1. 5, fol. 5).
Editions. In the 1578, 1600, and 1621 issues (not in that of 1567) of Ane
Compendious Buik of Godly and Spirituall Songis (known as The Gude
and Godlie Ballatis].
Laing, D. Reprint of the 1578 edition of the above. Edinburgh, 1868.
Lumby, J. R. Ratis Raving and other Moral and Religious Pieces in Prose
and Verse, E. E. T. S. 1870, pp. vi, 10, 118-119.
Mitchell, A. F. A Compendious Book of Godly and Spiritual Songs. Scottish
Text Society, Edinburgh, 1897, pp. Ixxxi, 238.
Skeat, W. W. Kingis Quair, etc. , U. s. , pp. 51-54, 94-96.
(iii) Peblis to the Play, and (iv) Christis Kirk on the Grene. For discussion
of the authorship of these pieces see Irving, u. s. , pp. 142–153; Skeat,
K. Q. , U. s. , pp. xvii-xxiii; Brown, J. T. T. , U. S. , pp. 16-20. See also
chapter XI of this volume.
(v) Fragment B of the Romannt of the Rose (11. 1706-5810) printed in the
Oxford Chaucer, I, pp. 164-229. For Skeat's reasons for suggesting
the ascription of this section to James I see the introduction, pp. 3-6;
also his Chaucer Canon, Oxford, 1900, pp. 75-89. Of. also Athenaeum,
22 July 1899.
ROBERT HENRYSON.
(i) The Morall Fabillis of Esope.
MSS. Harleian MS 3865, Brit. Mus. , with title-page bearing the date
1571. (This MS, containing the general prologue and thirteen Fables,
is the most complete. ) Bannatyne MS (1568), Advocates' Library,
Edinburgh (MS 1. 1. 6), containing the general prologue and ten
Fables. Makculloch MS (c. 1500) in the Library of the University
of Edinburgh (Laing MSS, No. 149), containing the general prologue
and the Fable of the Cock and the Jewel. Asloan MS (early sixteenth
century), containing the Fable of the Two Mice.
Editions. The Morall Fabillis of Esope the Phrygi- | an, Compylit in
Eloquent, and Ornate Scottis / Meter, be Maister Robert Henrisone, I
Scholemaister of Dun- | fermeling. I . . . . . Newlie Im
atit | at Edin.
burgh, be Robert Lekprenik, at the Ex- | pensis of Henrie Charteris :
and ar to be / sauld in his Buith, on the North syde | of the gait, abone
the Throne. ' Anno. Do. M. D. LXX. A unique copy of this edition is
preserved in the library at Britwell Court, Bucks.
The Fabulous tales of Esope the Phrygian, Compiled moste eloquently in
Scottishe | Metre by Master Robert | Henrison, and now lately | Englished |
. . . . London. | Richard Smith | Anno. 1577. The only known copy of
this edition was in the library of Sion College (E. B. IX, 40); but it is
now missing (see S. T. S. edition, infra, II, pp. xi-xvi).
The next extant edition is that ("Neulie reuised and corrected') of Andro
Hart, Edinburgh, 1621, reprinted by the Maitland Club, Edinburgh, 1832,
with an unsigned preface by David Irving.
Laing, D. The Poems and Fables of Robert Henryson, now first collected.
With Notes, and a Memoir of his Life. Edinburgh, 1865. The Fables
are printed on pp. 101-217.
Diebler, A. R.
Henrisone's Fabeln (a reprint of the Harleian MS text), in
Anglia, ix, 342-390, 453-492.
## p. 474 (#492) ############################################
474
Bibliography
Smith, G. Gregory. The Poems of Robert Henryson. Vol. 11. Scottish Text
Society, Edinburgh, 1906. This edition prints all the texts of the Fables
in extenso, and gives a complete bibliography. See also Specimens of
Middle Scots, 1902, pp. 1-7 and 267-9.
(ii) Orpheus and Eurydice.
MSS. Asloan MS, U. S. Bannatyne, MS u. s.
Editions. Among the fragments of the Chepman and Myllar prints (the
earliest specimens of Scottish printing) preserved in the unique volume
in the Advocates' Library, Edinburgh (19. 1. 16). The text is incomplete.
A reprint (now rare) was issued by Laing in 1827,
Laing, D. Poems, u. 8. , pp. 49-71.
(üi) The Testament of Cresseid.
MS. It appears in the Table of the Asloan MS, U. s. , but the leaves on which
it was written have been lost.
Editions. In William Thynne's edition of Chancer. 1532.
The Testament of Cresseid, | Compylit be M. Robert | Henrysone, Sculemai-1
ster in Dunfer- | meling. || Imprentit at Edin- | burgh be Henrie Charteris. /
M. D. XCIII. This is the earliest known separate edition, and the first
printed in Scotland. A unique copy is preserved in the British Museum.
Chalmers, G. Reprint of the foregoing for the Bannatyne Club. 1825.
Laing, D. Poems, U. s. , pp. 75–99.
Skeat, W. W. Chaucerian and other Pieces (Oxford Chaucer, vol. vni),
1897, pp. 327–346. This text is based on Chalmers's reprint, No. 3,
supra.
For observations on early seventeenth century Scottish editions, of which
no copies are extant, see Laing, U. S. , p. 259. In 1635 Sir Francis Kynaston
made a Latin rimed version of Chaucer's Troilus and Henryson's Cresseid-
Amorum Troili et Cressidae Libri duo priores, Anglico-Latini, Oxoniae,
excudebat Iohannes Lichfield, anno domini 1635. F. G. Waldron printed a
specimen of the MS in 1796. The MS was formerly in the possession of
8. W. Singer. See Laing, U. S. , p. 260.
(iv) Shorter Poems (thirteen in number).
MSS. Twelve of the poems are preserved in the Bannatyne MS, U. 8. , and
five are in duplicate, in the first draft, bound up with the MS. Four are
in the Maitland Folio MS (Pepysian Library, Magd. Coll. , Cambridge).
One, and a fragment of another, are in the Makculloch MS, U. S. ; one is
in the Gray MS, Advocates' Library, Edinburgh, and one is in the later
Riddell MS (1636), preserved in the library of Mr Chalmers of Auldbar.
Editions. Two poems (Prais of Aige and Want of Wyse Men) were printed
by Chepman and Myllar, Us. Several of the poems have been reprinted
at various times (by Ramsay, Hailes, Sibbald, Pinkerton, Chalmers and
others); but the first collected text appeared in Laing, Poems, u. s. , 1865.
Robene and Makyne has been reprinted most often, the latest version
(following the Bannatyne text) appearing in Specimens of Middle Scots,
Edin. 1902, pp. 21-25.
Collected Editions.
The only collected editions of Henryson's poems are (1) Laing, u. s. , 1865 and
(2) Smith, G. Gregory, Scottish Text Society, in three volumes, in course of
publication. Vol. II (vol. 1 of the texts), containing the Fables, was published
in Nov. 1906. Vol. III will contain all the texts of Nos. II, III and iv.
## p. 475 (#493) ############################################
Chapter X X
475
Critical (general).
Diebler, A. R. Henrisone's Fabeldichtungen. Halle, 1885.
Henley, W. E. , in Ward's English Poets, 1887, 1, pp. 137–139.
Irving, D. , U. s. , 1861, pp. 208–224.
Laing, D. , Poems, u. s. , 1865, introduction.
Morley, H. English Writers, 1890, vi, pp. 250-257.
Neilson, W. A. The Origins and Sources of the Court of Love (Harvard
Studies), 1899, pp. 2, 93, 159-163.
Ross, J. M. , U. S. , 1884, pp. 159-169.
Saintsbury, G. History of English Prosody, 1906, 1, pp. 271 et seq.
Sibbald, J. , U. S. , 1802, 1. pp. 87-90.
WILLIAM DUNBAR.
MSS. There is no single MS collection of Dunbar's poems. They have been
gathered together from the following (1) The Bannatyne MS, u. s. (60
poems); (2) The Maitland Folio MS, U. S. (60 poems and one fragment);
(3) The Asloan MS, u. s. (5 poems and 2 fragments); (4) The Makculloch
MS, u. s. (2 poems); (5), (6), (7) MSS in the British Museum, viz.
Cotton. Vitellius A. XVI, fol. 200 (1 poem), Arundel, No. 285, fol. 161
(3 poems) and App. to Royal MSS, No. 58, fol. 15 b (1 poem); (8) The
Aberdeen Register of Sasines (1 poem); (9) The Reidpath MS, Univ. Lib.
Cambridge, MS Moore, Ll. 5. 10, 1620 (44 poems and 3 fragments).
The distribution of the poems among these MSS is shown in tabular form
in the Scottish Text Society's edition (infra), 1, pp. cxcvi-cxcviii. See also
introduction to Schipper's edition (infra), pp. 5-14. The former edition
ascribes 101 poems to Dunbar; the latter 103. Many of the poems occur
in more than one MS. Thus of the 47 poems represented in the Reidpath MS
only nine (eight, Schipper) are not found in any of the other MSS. The
lists include the poems which have been attributed to Dunbar.
Editions. (a) Chief reprints of the poems before the publication of the
first collected edition by Laing (infra).
Chepman and Myllar's prints, u. s. (7 poems. )
Hailes, Lord. Ancient Scottish Poems. Edin. 1770. (32 poems from the
Bannatyne MS. )
Pinkerton, John. Ancient Scotish Poems. 2 vols. 1786. (23 poems. )
Ramsay, Allan. The Ever Green. Edin. 1724. (24 poems, freely rendered. )
Select Poems of Will. Dunbar. Pt.