'fksrriMA £ "' 7 ' V ' * \ V » * , \ - ■; vJU* ',x ;\ \ sc^ POETICAL REMAINS / O F JAMES THE FIRST, KING OF SCOTLAND. I Decus, I noftrum, melioribus utere fatis, Virgil. ■ t ■-Sine pondere terrain, Spirantefque crocos, et in urna perpetuum ver. Juv. EDINBURGH: PRINTED FOR J. AND E. BALFOUR, M,DCC,LXXXJJJ. i CONTENTS. Page DiJJertation on the Life and Writings of King James I. . . t — Of the Poem , Chrift’s Kirk of the Green . . . “ Of the Poem called The King’s Quair 43' 'The King s d>uair , <2 poem m fix canto s 55 Canto I. — The Defign . ^ Canto II. —The King's intended Voyage to France , and Capture at Sea . 63 Canto III. Vifion and Tranfportation to the Sphere of Love . * 99 Canto IV. —Is conduced to the Palace of Mi¬ nerva . . I2S Canto V. —His Journey in Fpuefl of Fortune 139 Canto VI. —Cohclufwn and Epilogue 151 ChrifP s Kirk of the Green DiJJertation on Scottifh Mufc *65 *95 4 I , l •* -1 ■ i‘ ' n r o'; ' . y ■ .V ••••.iv: '• ■ ■■• . "jj > » 4 V . ' , • ■ . . > • ;• .• tv.? V' ■ v - • • „ ■ ..j * / E R RAT In the firft DiiTertation, page 6. line 16. for cantor* read faltare. In p. 43. 1. 19. read half a century. In p. 17. 1 . 5. for fate read fall In p. 83. lalt line in the notes, read orfevrerie. In p. 140. in the notes, 1 . 4. for poets read poet. In p. 142. 1 . 6 . hortis probably is an error of the tranlcriher, in place of fportis, which is more applicable to the grey¬ hound, for fport. In p. 143 in the notes, for lefy "read lefts, an old French word for nimble, or afiive, which is an epithet very iuitable to the nature of the beaver. . 1 I' •% t .n \ v A HISTORICAL AND CRITICAL DISSERTATION ON THE LIFE AND WRITINGS O F JAMES I. KING OF SCOTLAND, A HISTORICAL and CRITICAL DISSERTATION, &c. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXWXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX I N this age of curiofity, when whatever feems to throw light upon the hiftory, literature, or manners of our country in ancient times, is anxi- oufly fought after, the publication of the follow¬ ing Poems, the works of James I. King of Scot¬ land, one of the molt illuftrious perfons of the beginning of the fifteenth century, may be no un¬ acceptable prefent to the Public. The poem of Chrift s Kirk of the Green has been publilhed before this time, commonly as the produ&ion of King James V. though falfely, and without foundation, as I fhall endeavour to prove. A The 2 A DISSERTATION ON The other poem, called the King’s £>uair, was never before publilhed. Of the illuftrious author, it may be agreeable to the reader to give a (ketch of the life and character, fo far as to be explana¬ tory of the two following poems. Men of active and fuperior parts have often foared to thrones; but how few of the fceptered rank have diftinguilhed themfelves as men of ge¬ nius ! and rarer Hill, how few to rank and genius have joined the qualities of the heart, virtue and public fpirit ! So rare a phaenomenon, however, was James I. King of Scotland. This Prince was the fourth in defcent, from the great Robert Bruce , the reftorer of the Scottifh monarchv. J His father, Robert III. of a mild difpofition, affected eafe and retirement. Near the clofe of his reign, on the death of his beloved Queen Ana- bella, broken with age and infirmities, he de¬ volved the cares of government upon his brother the Duke of Albany, a man of ability and parts, and of great ambition. James was the younger of King Robert’s two fons. The elder, David Duke of Rothfay, a high fpirited Prince, at an a S e THE LIFE OF JAMES I. 3 age rifing to manhood, ungovernable often in his paff ons and pleafures, had given occafion for many complaints againft him, which being no way pal¬ liated by his ambitious uncle, procured an order from the weak King for confining the young 9 Prince to the caltle of Falkland. There, under the cuftody of Albany, to whom that caltle then belonged, he died within a few months, flarved to death, according to all the Scottilh hiltorians. The Duke of Albany, accufed as the author of the Prince’s death, flood a trial, and was acquitted. As he had then the power of adminiftration in his hands, no other iffue was to be expected. The old infirm King was fenfible too late of the effects of his weaknefs ; and, from the death of the Duke of Rothfay, dreading that of his only remaining fon James, the foie bar between his ambitious uncle Albany and the throne, to prevent tlie iike fate, and confiding in the ancient alliance between the Scots and French, which had iubfifted from the time of Charlemagne, he determined to fend the young Prince, then about twelve years of age, to his ally the King of France. t The King trufled to a treaty which was then in force between him and King Henry IV. of Eng¬ land. Without regard, however, to the law of nations. 4 A DISSERTATION ON nations, the (hip on board of which was Prince James, with the Earl of Orkney and others, his attendants, was taken by an Englifh vefiel upon that coaft, and carried to London. Confidering the fufpiciou? conduct of the Duke of Albany in the imprifonment and death of the Duke of Roth- fay, it is no improbable conjedture that the capture of the Prince of Scotland, the only perfon be*- tween Albany and the throne, after the King, might have been owing to intelligence given by Albany to the Englifh Monarch, of the Prince’s voyage. In the time of peace between the two nations, it is Scarcely to be prefumed, that, with¬ out pofitive orders, fuch a breach of treaty would have been attempted by any private perfon. Be that, however, as it may, the fhock of this new difafter, Suddenly brought to his father’s ears, fo affe&ed him, that he died in a few days (of pure grief) at his caftle of Rothfay, in the ifle of Bute *. The young Prince was carried to the Tower of London, where, after two years confinement, he was fent to the caftle of Nottingham, and after that to Windfor caftle f, which feems, from that * 1404. f Windfor caftle was built by Edward III, and the place where he and his fucceffors generally kept their court, THE LIFE OF JAMES I. 5 that time, to have been the chief place of his re- fidence while he was captive in England. There, under the care of Sir John Pelham, appointed his governour, an accomplifhed gentleman of worth and literature, to compenfate, in fome degree, the confinement of his perfori, his mind was enriched with a moil liberal and princely education. James was naturally endowed with great parts, and, un¬ der able mailers, attained, as is faid by the wri¬ ters of that age, to a great degree of perfection in almoft every branch of the learning of thofe times, and in every accompliihment of a gentle¬ man. In all athletic exeTcifes, particularly in the ufe of the fword and fpear, he was eminently ex¬ pert *. To fiis knowledge of the Greek and Ro¬ man languages, the laft of which he wrote with eafe, he joined the philofophy of that age f, po¬ etry, and mufic. In the fcientific, as well as in the practical parts of mufic, he greatly excel¬ led. * * Enfe cum altero dimicare, et hafta ad unguem certare fie callebat, ut fix lu&antem vidifTes, athletam dixifles ; Boe- tius, hijl. lib. 13. f Jam vero humaniores artes, grammaticam, oratoriam, poeticamque ut turn temporis eximie noverat.—In lingua vernacula, ornata faciebat carmina. Theologiam, et jus, fic babebat, ut aulli cederet; Bost . 6 A DISSERTATION ON led *. He is juftly reckoned the firft reformer, if not the inventor of the Scottijh fongs , or vocal mufic f. There was nothing, fays Hauthornden, within the circle of the liberal arts, that he had not applied his mind unto, feeming rather born to letters than intruded. The remark of Buchanan, upon King James’s excellency in mufic, is unbecoming a fon of Apol¬ lo, himfelf one of the train of the mules ! 4 In mu - ‘ ficis curiofius , quam regem , vel decent , vel expe- ‘ diat ,’ is the illiberal cenfure of the four re¬ former, the declaimer againlt monarchy ! The ob- fervation of Sallull, from whom the phrafe is co¬ pied, when applied to the vicious Sempronia, c Pfallere et cant are , elegant i as quam ncceffe cjl 4 probaej is juft and proper, but is here mifap- plied by the Scottilh hilforian. i In the age of James I. and long afterwards, mu¬ fic, not only in the practical, but in the theoretic parts, was efteemed a very important branch of princely education. Henry VIII. was fo much mailer I r * Muficam exafte tenebat, ac quicquid illi arti affineba- tur peritiflime ; Boot. ibid. f See differtation on Scottilk mufic. THE LIFE OF JAMES I. 7 matter of the fcience of muttc, as to have com- pofed feveral pieces of church-mufic, fome of which are Hill remaining *. In King James, his fkill in muttc was no abufe of time. A genius as he was, taught, or rather infpired, by Nature, arrives at perfection without labour. Bettdes, James had improved his mind with every branch of the learn¬ ing of the age; and, whoever conttders his long- captivity of eighteen years, during many of which he was under ftrict confinement, will not blame him for relaxing from the feverer ttudies of lite¬ rature and philofophy, and fweetening his hours of folitude and confinement by fuch refined and ra¬ tional amufement f. James * Erafmus, his contemporary, vouches this fadt.—In a late collcdtion of anthems, publilhed by Dr Boyce from the books of the Royal Chapel, there is an anthem for four A r oices, compofed by King Henry, ‘ 0 Lord , the maker ‘ of all things ,’ which is allowed to be good ; and Sir John Hawkins, in his hiftory of mufic, vol. 2d, has publifhed another anthem of King Henry’s, for three voices, fuper- fcribed thus, ‘ Idenricus Oft anus and at the end of the cantus, or upper part, are thefe words,. ‘ ®uod Henricus * Oftavus.’ •f The King, in the following plaintive verfes, tells us how he palled part of his folitary hours in prifon. Whereas 8 A DISSERTATION ON James did not remain a reclufe during all the time of his captivity ; that martial Prince Henry V. having revived the claim of Edward III. to the crown of France, invaded that kingdom in Augufl 1405, and gained the famous vi&ory over the French at Azincourt. From the beginning of this war, King Henry faw the importance of having the Quhare as in ward, full oft I wold bewaille My deadly lyfe, full of peyne and penance ; Saing oft thus, quhat have I gilt to faille My fredome in this warld, and my plefance ? The long dayis and the nightis eke I wold bewaille my fortune in this wife, For quhich agains dillreffe, comfort to feik My cuftum was, on mornis for to ryfe, Airly as day, O happy exercife ! It fell me to mynd, of many diverfe thing Of this and that, can I not fay quharefore Bot flepe, for craft, in erth might I no more For quhich as tho’ coude I no better wyle, Bot toke a boke, to rede upon a while, Of quhich the name is clepit properly Boece- Happy Prince, who could difpel the gloom of a prifon by the manly and elegant exercifes of philofophy, poetry, and mufic J THE LIFE OF JAMES I. 9 the Scottilh Prince in his hands, as a pledge, for preventing his countrymen either from making in- curfions on the border, while he was in France, or fending troops to the aftiftance of their French allies. \ As Henry, foon after the battle of Azincourt, was obliged to return to England, the Scots re¬ mained quiet. Henry having recruited his forces, landed his army a fecond time in Normandy *, and being joined by the forces of the weak King Charles VI. and the Duke of Burgundy, carried all before him. The valorous a&ions of that heroic Prince are well known. The unfortunate Dauphin Charles, by the infanity of his father, the refent- ment of his vitious mother, and the valour of the Englifh Monarch, muff have been driven from the throne of his anceftors, but for the affiflance he . » got at that critical time from his ancient allies the Scots, under the banners of their brave leaders the Scottilh nobility. The political fyftem of the Scots in thofe days was extremely fimple. Their firffc * principle was independence ; in maintaining of which they ever were lavifh of their blood. Jea¬ lous of their powerful fouthern neighbours, who frequently had attempted their conqueft, the Scots B naturally * 1418. IO A DISSERTATION ON naturally turned their eyes to France, the rival of England, who, at all times, was ready to affill them, and to cultivate the ancient alliance which had fubfifled between the two kingdoms from the time of Charlemagne. During King Henry’s firft expedition to France, the Scots had remained quiet, and given little or no aid to their allies. The ra¬ pid fuccefs, however, of the Englifli Monarch in his fecond expedition, (which at length, by the fa¬ mous treaty of Troye, fettled the crown of France upon King Henry and his ilfue with Catherine of France), awakened at once the Scots to the im¬ pending ruin which threatened the independence of their country, by the weight of fuch an accef- fion to the King of England. A choice body of 7000 Scots, commanded by John Stuart, Earl of Buchan, fon to the Regent of Scotland, landed at Rochelle, to the affiltance of the Dauphin, accom¬ panied by many of the Scottifh nobility. The French war was now the path to glory and great- nefs. Never did the Scots make a more confpicu- ous figure than at that period, nor any fet of war¬ riors ever acquire more diftinguifhed honours and fame. The Earl of Buchan, the leader of the Scots, arofe, by his valour, to the dignity of Conjiable of France, and led the van of the French army ; Douglas, Earl of Wigton, was created Marifchal of France; THE LIFE OF JAMES I. 11 France; the Earl of Douglas was created Duke, and inverted in the Dukedom of Touraine ; and Stuart, fon to the Earl of Lennox, was created ✓ Vifcount d’Aubigne. The firft check given to King Henry’s career, was the fignal victory obtained by the Scots at Bauge # , under the Earl of Buchan, in which the Duke of Clarence, King Henry’s brother, was kil¬ led, and his kinfmen, the Earls of Somerfet -j- and Dorfet, were taken prifoners. This event made King Henry fenfible, that his detaining the young King of Scots a prifoner, pre¬ vented not his fubjefts from fighting for their al¬ lies. He changed his plan ; James was carried to France, in order to detach the Scots from the Dauphin’s army. An offer is faid, by the Scottifh hiftorians, to have been made by King Henry to his prifoner, of reftoring him to his liberty, on condition of drawing off his fubjects, by fummon- ing them, upon their allegiance, to attend his rtandard. In James’s fituation, the offer was try¬ ing and alluring. The young King’s anfwer was remarkable : 4 As a prifoner,’ replied he, 4 and 4 in * 1420. f Grandfon to John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancafter, and brother to the Lady Jane, afterwards James’s Queen. 12 A DISSERTATION ON c in your hands, I have no power over my fub- 6 jects; nor are they under any allegiance to obey ‘ my command *, y King Henry, though nowife pleafed with the an- fwer, is faid, upon the King of Scots retiring, to have exclaimed, c Happy {hall be the fubje&s of * a King, who, in fuch tender years, {hews himfelf e to be endowed with fo much wifdom !’ ' \ This prevented not James from giving his per- fonal affiftance, and fignalizing himfelf under the banner of that heroic and martial Prince, particu¬ larly at the liege of Dreux, where the King of Scots commanded, and whofe furrender was chief¬ ly owing to his valour and conduct f. James be¬ ing of a firm and vigorous conflitution, expert in athletic and warlike exercifes, diftinguifhed him¬ felf in Several military exploits under that vigorous Prince, fighting at the head of a faithful and noble band of his countrymen, who voluntarily attend¬ ed their fovereign, as a guard to his perfon J. During * Boet. lib. 16. Hauthornden, See. ■f Hauthornden. f The moft eminent of this loyal band of knights, were Seton Lord Gordon, with 40 launces and 100 horfemen; the THE LIFE OF JAMES I. During the regency of Robert Duke of Albany, the King’s uncle, that artful Prince’s plan of keep, ing hold of the government of Scotland coinciding with King Henry’s meafure for detaining the King of Scots in his hands, every treaty fet on foot for his liberty, and his return to his own kingdom, was evaded and difappointed while Robert lived. Upon his death, his fon Murdoch fucceeded him in the regency *. Although the plan of the new regent was the fame with that of his predecelTor, yet his ability, mean in companion of his father’s, and other circumllances concurring, made him, in a few years, fenfible of his being unequal to hold the reins of government of a bold and martial people. His weaknefs and bad adminiRration had introduced univerfal licentioufnefs and diforder j anarchy prevailed over the whole kingdom. Above all, the vices and intolerable infoience of the re¬ gent’s own fons, which he found himfelf unable to curb, drove him at length ferioufiy to concur with the Rates of the kingdom to fet on foot a treaty for the the Lord Forbes, with the fame number; John and Fergus Kennedies, anceftors of the Earls of Caflillis, and John Sin¬ clair, each of thefe with 30 launces, and 6 horfemen ; Ry~ ffier’s foedsra, tom. 10. p. 127. * 1420. 14 . A DISSERTATION ON the King’s liberty. To this the Englifh regency, Henry V. being now dead, and his fon an infant, * was not averfe. At laft the treaty for King James’s liberty was finally fettled ; and, as a bond of union between the kingdoms, James efpoufed a Princefs of the blood-royal of England, Jane, daughter to the Earl of Somerfet, grandfon to John of Gaunt, and granduncle to King Henry. Thus, after 18 years captivity # , King James fet out with his young Queen for his own kingdom, and, to the univerfal joy of his fubjects, they were crowned at ■ \ Scone. This Princefs, who is the fubjed of one of the following poems, is celebrated by all the Scottifh writers, not only as eminent for her beauty, but as a pattern of virtue and of conjugal affection. James had an arduous talk to perform upon his entry to government. The feudal fyftem, early in¬ troduced into Scotland, made it no eafy matter for the King to contend with a fet of powerful nobles, poffeffed of great eftates, extenfive vaffallages, and hereditary jurifdidions annexed to them. Thefe vaffals, ready to run to the flandard of thfeir chief in time of war, obeyed alfo his call in time cf peace; * 1424. THE LIFE OF JAMES I. *5 peace ; and, as his whole revenue was fpent a- mong them, according to the ancient hofpitality of the times, his caftle was always open to num¬ bers of thefe retainers. They looked upon the chief as protedor of the clan, and the vindicator • N of their feuds and quarrels ; and, as the principles of right and wrong were not always the diredors of their adions, their quarrels often produced the 1 / mod open violation of juftice, equity, and law, in the attacks which they frequently made upon the perfons and property of whoever they con¬ ceived had injured them. The chief, upon his part, particularly under the late weak government, as often interpofed his power in proteding his guilty vaffal from the punifhment he had incurred. Thus, without having recourfe to law and juftice, the fword was the foie judge and decider of right and wrong. A pradice likewife, very expreffive of the weak- nefs of the regent’s government, was then fre¬ quent among the great barons in Scotland; this was, the forming of leagues * and bonds of affoci? ation with each other, in defiance of government, to defend themfelves from being brought to ju¬ ftice. Such was the ftate of his kingdom, at James’s taking * Ad 30. pari. 1. 16 A DISSERTATION ON taking the reins of government into his hands; and, to add to the difficulties he had to encounter, he found the property of the crown almofl wholly alienated and given away by the late regents. The condudt of James, in this fituation, ffiowed great refolution, as well as eminent political abili¬ ties. He convened the Hates of his kingdom in parliament, and, with their concurrence, he re- fumed the patrimony of the crown *. He pledged himfelf to maintain their jult rights, and to have juftice enforced, and a ftrift obedience to the laws of his kingdom preferved ; and he obliged them to renounce and abjure all unlawful leagues and affociations f. r James has been cenfured for his feverity, in bringing to trial his uncle, Murdoch Duke of Al¬ bany, and his two fons. It is certain, that, on the King’s return to Scotland, his government had been frequently difturbed by infurre&ions, headed by the regent’s fons, and their partizans, who had been pardoned, in hopes to bring them to their duty. Upon what fpecies of treafon Duke Murdoch and his fons were tried and condemned, is * Act. 9. of pari. i. f Act 30. pari. 2. THE LIFE OF JAMES I. x 7 is not known; there is no record of their trial *. Their death, however, feems to have been grate¬ ful to the nation : They muft have been extreme¬ ly unpopular, when the people appeared to be pleafed with their fate. Poflibly the remembrance of the death of Prince David, and of James’s long captivity, brought about by the fame means, might have operated in their downfal. It is not my defign to enter into a detail or hi- liory of King James’s reign ; for this I muft refer my reader to the hiftorians and writers of his life. It is fufficient here to fay, that, in his fhort reign of thirteen years, he reformed the diforders which the late regent’s bad government had produced ; and, by his wife laws, and fteady refolution and authority in putting them in execution, he refto- red peace, order, and fecurity over the whole of t his kingdom. « By promoting literature, he, by his own ex¬ ample, civilized his people ; and in that rude age gave a new turn to the genius of Scotland. He rebuilt and reftored the cathedral church, and liberally endowed the Univerfity of St An? C drews, * Hauthornden. 18 A DISSERTATION ON drevvs, and eftablifhed fchools in different parts of the kingdom. According to his elegant bio¬ grapher *, by his invitation, many learned men, from the moft illuftrious univerfities in Europe, came to Scotland, as to the Santtuary of the Mufes , where the King often graced in perfon their lef- fons, and was umpire in their learned difputes. Senfible that religion is the furefl foundation of good government, and the great curb to the paf- fions and diforders of men, he bent his care to promote piety and learning in the church, by ad¬ vancing men of that character only, to the dignified ecclefiaflical offices. He eftablifhed a fixed rule, that none fhould hold the office of a canon in the church, but regular bachelors of divinity. Senfible, likewife, that the externals of religion, in the order, decency, and folemnity of its rites, have their effect upon the mind, he, from his fkill in poetry and mufic, eftablifhed regular choirs in the churches. He was the firft who introduced organs into the cathedrals and abbeys in Scotland. He was no lefs ftudious to poliffi the rough man¬ ners of his people, by alluring his nobles to fre¬ quent his court, where polite entertainments, feafts, mafks, 'Jf Hauthorndqn I 9 THE LIFE OF JAMES I. mafks, and, of courfe, fplendid apparel came to be introduced, and a degree of refinement promo¬ ted, to which the Scots, in the preceding ages* had been entirely Grangers. The mod important aeras in the hidory of any nation, are thofe which mark the introdu&ion of learning and the polite arts, and the confequent civilization of manners amongft a rude people. The mod didinguifhed of fuch epochs in the hi- dory of Scotland, are thofe of the reigns of Mal¬ colm III. commonly called Caenmorc , and of King “James I. *. In the age of Malcolm III. the Scots were, no doubt, a rude people. They had little intercourfe with the nations on the Continent, not even with their neighbours of England, unlefs in their fre¬ quent hodilities with each other. On the murder of King Duncan by Macbeth f, his elded fon Malcolm took refuge in England, in the * King Malcolm III. began his reign Anno 1057. King James returned from England Anno 1424. f 1040. 20 A DISSERTATION ON the court of King Edward the ConfefTor, by whofe allillance, under Siward Earl of Northumberland, the grandfather of Malcolm, by his mother, the daughter of Earl Siward, he defeated the ufurper, and eftablifhed himfelf upon the throne of his an- ceftors *. It is remarkable, that Scotland hath owed its civilization to two of its greateft and moll patriotic Princes, who both of them received their education at the Englilh court. n' i Before the time of King Malcolm Caenmore, the univerfal language over Scotland, to the north of the river Forth, was the Gctelic . Malcolm, while he refided at the court of King Edward, had made himfelf mailer of the Saxon, or Englilh language. On his return to Scotland, he introduce 1 that lan¬ guage into his kingdom. He was the firft of the Scottilh Princes who fixed his refidence in the low country of Scotland. The more ancient Scottilh Kings ufually held their refidences at their callles, in the northern and weltern parts of Scotland ; at Kildrimmie in Marr ; the cqfile of Invernefs , in that county ; Dunjlaffnage , on the wellern coall of Ar- gylelhire ; the cajlle of Glammis , in Angus ; and at Stirling and St JohnJlon , now Perth , the two laffc fituated in the entries of the Crrampian Mountains. That * 1057. THE LIFE OF JAMES I. 21 That noble edifice, the Abbey and royal palace of Dunfermline , on the north of the river Forth, built by King Malcolm, was his chief refidence A remarkable occurrence, foon after his reite¬ ration, greatly contributed to the cultivation of the Englifh language in Scotland. Edgar Atheling, the heir of the Saxon line to the Englifh crown, together with his mother and fifter, and many illuftrious perfons, the followers of their fortunes, having, upon the conqueft of England by William the Norman, left that king¬ dom, were driven by a florm into the mouth of the river Forth. There they found an hofpitable reception from the Scottifh Prince. Malcolm efpou- fed the Princefs Margaret, and endowed with ho¬ nours and lands their illuftrious friends. From thefe laft, are derived many of the prefent noble families in Scotland. By this intercourfe, the Saxon, or Englifh language, was eftablifhed, and, in time, became the general language over the low country * The cathedral church of St Cuthberts at Durham was alfo built by King Malcolm. The counties of Northum¬ berland, Cumberland, and Weftmoreland, then belonged to the crown of Scotland, as feus holden of the Kings of England. , 22 A DISSERTATION ON country of Scotland. With the language, it is not to be doubted that the more advanced and ci¬ vilized manners, together with the arts and fei- ences then in England and on the Continent, came into Scotland, and were cherifhed and cul¬ tivated under the patronage and prote&ion of King Malcolm, and his Queen Margaret, w r ho, ac¬ cording to the Scottilh hiftorians, were two of the moil illuilrious characters that flouriihed in that age. To return to King James. « The luxury faid to have been introduced into Scotland in his reign, was the natural attendant on the civilization of manners then eitablifhed by him. A change in the mode of living among a rude people, from fome degree of barbarity to 4 fimple convenience, will be dignified with the ap¬ pellation of Luxury. Boetius , and other hiftorians of thefe times, expatiate upon the luxury which was then introduced into Scotland, and, according to them, occafioned the enabling of fumptuary laws, particularly reftraining the expence of the table, prohibiting baked meat, and fuch like dain¬ ties, to be ufed, except at the tables of the nobles, and there only upon holidays. Some modern critics treat this with great ridicule , and are very fevere upon Boece, Hauthornden, &c. for pretend- - ing THE LIFE OF JAMES I. 23 ing abfurdly and falfely , as they alledge, to repre- fent the Scots, at that early period, as opulent, and addicted to luxurious entertainments. True it is, indeed, that, amongft the printed acts of parliament of that reign, the fumptuary aft alluded to by Boece is not to be found. The faft may, ne^ verthelefs, be true. To confute our old hiftorians, the following record from Rymer’s foedera * is quoted with great triumph. In it we fmd a licenfe granted by King Henry VI. for tranfporting by fea to Scotland the following articles, for the ufe of King James I. viz. 4 Uno cloath fack ; duodecim 4 ulnis dc fccirlatto ; viginti ulnis de 'ivorjlcd, rubri 4 color is ; oclo duodenis v a Jorum dc p cuter ; mille ct 4 ducentis ciphis ligneis ; tribus duodenis dc Cover - ? His* &c. With fubmiffion to our modern critics, I can¬ not think even this commiffion, plain and homely as it may feem at this day, fufficient to diferedit the authority of Boetius, as to the introduction of what might be reckoned, at that time, luxury of the table and drefs, into Scotland, A fack or bale of Englifh broad cloth, 12 ells of fcarlet, for the King’s own ufe, and 20 butts of wine, which is alfo in the grant, was no fuch contemp¬ tible * Tom. io. p. 470. 24 A DISSERTATION ON tible cominifiion ; nor was even eight dozen of pewter veffels, for the ufe of his table. Pewter was then a novelty even in England, and ufed in the houfes of the great only, where plate likewife was ufed. By the houfehold-book of the Duke of Northumberland, it appears, that, in King Henry VII.’s time, more than ioo years after the above aera, pewter was ufed in that family, then the moll opulent in England ; but, what is re¬ markable, it alfo appears that it was lent out to them for hire *, It may feem ridiculous, that, in that rude age, when the arts of induftry were very little under- ftood or pradifed, when not only mod of the ar¬ ticles of drefs, but of houfehold-furniture, ufed by the great, muff have been imported from foreign parts, a more pernicious fpecies of luxury than that of the table fhould then have been introduced into Scotland. How abfurd, (may a modern fay), to imagine, that our rude anceftors, in the begin¬ ning of the fifteenth century, not only ate baked /~ meat at Chrifimas , and other holidays, but to go a drain higher, wore filk clothes , pearls , and em¬ broidery ! The fad, however, is certainly fo. The 118th ad of James I. enads, 6 That na man fall c wear '* Hume’s hift. vol. 3, note at the end, 8vo edit. 2 5 THE LIFE OF JAMES I. 4 wear claiths of /ilk , nor fur rings, bot only knights 4 and lords of L. 200, at the leak, of yearly rent, 4 and their eldeft fons, and their heirs, but fpeciai 4 leave of the King aikit and obteinitand na 4 uther wear broderie , pearle , or bulzion ; bot ar- c ray them at their awin lift, in all uther honeft 4 arraiements, as ferpes, belts, broches, and chein- 4 zies.’—-—After all, it is obvious, from the cir- cumftances and hiftory of the times, which later writers feem not to have attended to, that civili¬ zation of manners, a remarkable change in the mode of living, and a degree of luxury and of ex¬ pence, both in the oeconomy of the table and in drefs, amongft the nobility and gentry of Scot¬ land, beyond what was ever known before, muft neceiTarily have taken place in the reign of James I. It is faid above, that, at this aera, France was the theatre of glory, on which the Scots had eminent¬ ly figured, where, for their gallant behaviour, they had been rewarded with diftinguiihed honours and eftates. Upon their return to Scotland, muft not, of courfe, part of the French manners, the refine¬ ments of living, and expence of drefs, have come in their train ? Scotland, at that aera, we may readily allow, was far behind her neighbours of England and France in thefe refpe&s; but can it be doubted that King James, educated, and reft- D ding c6 A DISSERTATION ON ding fo many years in the two moft polilhed courts in Europe ; that the Earl of Buchan , conflable of F) 'ance ; the Earl of Douglas , Duke of Touraine , and his fan Lord Wigtown, both marifchals of France , and numbers of the Scottifh nobility and gen¬ try, endowed with ample revenues in France, and poiTefled of extended territorial eftates at home, on returning to their own country, would import part of the French luxury, both in drefs, and in the entertainment of* the table ? The (lately re¬ mains of the old cajlles and venerable abbeys , thofe augult monuments of ancient grandeur, {fill extant; Borthwick Caflle , Craigmiller , Roflin , the abbeys of Holyrood , Abcrbrothock , Dunfermline , &c. imprefs the mind, at this day, wdth a juft idea of the fplendour and hofpitality of the nobles and dignified churchmen in ancient times, who held their refidence in thofe (lately edifices. Honed KeClor Boece, indeed, feldom fails to drefs his countrymen in their holiday clothes : Our modern critics, on the other extreme, in their overftrained zeal for truth, feem, with reluctance, to yield to their anceftors thofe bleffings which be¬ nignant Nature had bellowed upon them. To fpeak of Scotland as wealthy and opulent, according to the common phrafe, would be abfurd. The wealth of THE LIFE OF JAMES I. 27 of Scotland confided in her population , the cer¬ tain criterion of plenty. She has been productive, at all times, of a hardy, vigorous, and brave race of men*, fupplied at home with every neceflary ar¬ ticle of life, drenuous adertors of their liberty and independence againd every foreign invader : Their mountains covered with fheep and beeves, their vallies fertile in grain, and their feas and rivers teeming with fifh. Such was the opulence of Scot¬ land, in ages of the earlied antiquity. At the a- bove remarkable aera, the age of James I. from, the virtue, fpirit, and genius of that Frince, with the concurring circumdances of the time, it is be¬ yond a doubt, that a remarkable change and re- , formation, in the manners, and mode of living of the Scots, mud, of courfe, have taken place. To return to our fubjed. Thus, while this worthy and patriot King was, by every exertion, promoting the good and happi- nefs of his people, he was, on the 13th of Febru¬ ary 1436-7, bafely murdered at the monadery of the Dominicans at Perth, by his detedable uncle « the Earl of Athol; an event univerfally and deep¬ ly regreted ; for James was beloved and honoured ' by * Witnefs the numbers drawn from the mountains of Scotland, in the late and prefent war, to fight the battles of Britain! 28 A DISSERTATION ON by his people; and his memory is dill revered, as that of one of the belt of Princes that ever reigned in Scotland.' s To fuch worthies as have been eminent for fi- milar virtues, the Mantuan poet, in thofe nobl$ drains, has alotted the chief feats in Elyfium. As % a poet, patriot , and lawgiver, and the civilizer of the manners of his people, no Prince in hiftory deferves more to be revered by his country than James I. King of Scotland. Hie manus ob patriam pugnando vulnera pajji Quiquc pii vates , et Phoebo digna locuti, Inventas aut qui vitam excoluere per artes. It remains now to take notice of the works of King James I. joannes Major mentions fome of his compod- tions, particularly a poem upon Jane, afterwards his Queen ; and he gives the names of fome of his mufical pieces or Scottilh fongs ( Cantilenae Sco- ticae) compofed by him, which Major fays were much efteemed in his time. Dempjier mentions fome other pieces of James I. Scripft, fays this author, Rythmos Latinos , et de mufica . Of THE LIFE OF JAMES I. 29 Of all his works, thofe which now only remain,or at lead can with certainty be diltinguilhed as his, are the two following pieces, ChrijV s Kirk of the Green, and the poem on Queen Jane, called the King’s Puair. Of his mufical compofitions, I have treated by themfelves, in a differtation on the Ancient Scotdfh Songs, Of Christ’s Kirk of the Green, THIS ancient poem has, by men of tafle, al¬ ways been efteemed a valuable relique of the old Scottilh poetry. For the poetical language of the time, the ludicrous defcriptions, and the free vein, of genuine wit and humour which runs through it, it is, even at this day, read with pleafure. It mull be valuable, were its only merit that of be¬ ing defcriptive of the humour and manners of the country 350 years ago, / I am aware, that the generality of late writers have attributed this poem to that gallant Prince fames V. who was alfo a poet. I fhall examine this point; and I hope I fhall be able, notwith- flanding many great authorities to the contrary, to make 30 A DISSERTATION ON make it evident, that James I. was the author of / Cbrijl *s Kirk of the Green. I fhall begin, by dating the authorities which give this poem to King James V. The oldeft of thefe, fo far as I have been able to difcover, is that of Bifhop Edmund Gibfon , who. Anno 1691, publifhed an edition at Oxford of the poem of Chrift’s Kirk of the Green, with learned notes. The title which the Bifhop gives his book, is 4 Christ’s Kirk on the Green, * compofed , as is fuppofed , by King James V.’ — And, in an elegant Latin preface to this poem, he thus writes, 4 Gratulor tibi ledior, et Mufis , regem in 4 Parnaffo , non infeliciter fomniantem; de facobi, ejus c nominis apud Scotos Quinti, familia , eruditions , 4 fcientia militariy confulendi funt hijioricorum anna- 4 les ; principem autem hunc poefin deperiiffe, nil mi - c rumy commune id illi , cum augujlijjimis aliis viris t 4 qui baud pauci carmen in deliciis habuered » The next authority is the editor of the lad edi¬ tion of Gavin Douglas’s tranflation of Virgil’s iEneis, publifhed at Edinburgh Anno 1710, who, in his preface, thus mentions this poem; 4 with 4 notes publifhed at Oxford fome years ago, by a 4 celebrated THE LIFE OF JAMES I. 31 * celebrated writer on the famous poem of King ‘ James V. entitled, Chrijl 's Kirk on the Green? On the fame fide is Tanner, Bifhop of St Afaph, who, in his Bibliotheca Britannico-Hibernica , fub voce Jacobi £>uinti, Regis Scofiae , mentions the poem of Chrift’s Kirk of the Green as written by that Prince, and adds, 6 Edidit , notifque illujlravii 6 cl. Edmond Gibfon , Oxon. 169id Tanner’s Bi¬ bliotheca was publifhed fo late as the year 1748. Thefe are the only ancient and pofitive autho¬ rities that I have feen, which attribute this poem to King James V. I {hall fum up the whole ar¬ guments on that fide of the queftion from an au¬ thor of {fill greater weight than any of the above, that is, the learned Sir David Dalrymple, Lord Hailes, whofe opinion, although he candidly does not decide, is on the fame fide with the above authors *. Lord Hailes argues thus, Firjl, Major, in his life of King James I. men¬ tions feveral pieces written by that Prince, but fays nothing of Chrift’s Kirk of the Green. Secondly , * Notes oa the ftatutes of King James I. A& 12- 32 A DISSERTATION ON Secondly , The poem mentions 4 Peebles at thS c Play: which Lord Hailes is of opinion relates to a more modern aera than the age of King James I.; And, i • Lajlly , Bifhop Gibfon and Bifhop Tanner, and the editor of Gavin Douglas’s Virgil, all agree in attributing the poem of Chrift’s Kirk of the Green to King James V. I fhall attempt to anfwer thefe arguments in their order j and to the firft. That Major, who mentions two or three pieces, faid to be compofed by King James I. does not mention the poem of Chrifl’s Kirk, is an argument entirely negative, and can infer no diredt conclufion that King James I. might not have been the author of that poem, as well as of feveral other pieces not mentioned by Major, of which, for certain, he was the author, viz. Rythmi Latini , et de Mufica , mentioned by Denrpfter *, and fome other poems mentioned by other authors f. Major does not pre¬ tend * Dempjler Hijl. Ecc. cap. 713. See diflertation on Scot- tifli fongs. f Godly and fpiritual fongs, pubiifhed by Andro Hart j fome of which, though not diftinguifhed in the book, are mentioned as written by King James I. THE LIFE OF JAMES I. 33 tend to give a full enumeration of the works of James, but, after mentioning two or three of his pieces, adds, Et plurimi codices , adhuc apud Scotos. To the fecond , as to the aera of the plays of Peebles : The anniverfary games or plays at Peebles are of fo high antiquity, that, at this day, it is only from tradition, joined to a few remains of an¬ tiquity, that we can form any conjecture refpeCting the age of their inftitution, or even trace the ve- ftiges of what thefe games were. Any argument, therefore, deduced from the aera of the inftitution of the plays at Peebles, inclines to the oppofite fide from Lord Hailes. That this town, fituated on the banks of the Tweed , in a paftoral country, abound¬ ing with game, was much reforted to by our an¬ cient Scottifh Princes, is certain. King Alexan¬ der III. is faid to have had a hunting feat here ; the place where it ftood is ftill pointed out. We are told by Boetius, that the monaftery of Crofs Church , now in ruins, was built by that Prince *; and anciently our Princes occafionally took up their refidence in the religious houfes. Contiguous to it is a piece of ground, of old furrounded with walls, and ftill called the King's Orchard; and on the oppofite fide of the river is the King’s E Green. * Anno 1257. 34 A DISSERTATION ON Green*. The plays were probably the golf, a game peculiar to the Scots, foot-ball, and Ihoot- ing for prizes with bow and arrow. The fhooting butts ftill remain. Archery, within the memory of man, was kept up at Peebles ; and an ancient filver prize arrow, with feveral old medal¬ lions appended to it, as I am informed, is ftill preferved in the town-houfe of Peebles. And to the lafi argument, to wit, the authori¬ ties of Bifhops Gibfon and Tanner, and the editor of Gavin Douglas’s Virgil, all of whom attribute the above poem to King James V. All thefe wri¬ ters are fo modern, and fo remote from the age of James I. or even of James V. that they can prove nothing. The oldeft of thefe writers, Bilhop Gib¬ fon, did not publilh his book till the year 1691, that is, 149 years after the death of King James V. and 250 years after the death of King James I. Befides Gibfon, upon whofe bare aftertion the other two later writers profeftedly rely, fpeaks but dubi- oufly; his words, as on the title page of the poem, are, ‘ Compofed, as it is fuppofed , by King 4 James V.’ Having thus fliown the infufficiency of the ar¬ guments and authorities which attribute this poem to * Pratum regium. THE LIFE OF JAMES L 35 - to King James V. I now proceed to prove that it was undoubtedly the work of King James I. The moll ancient teflimony for this opinion, is that of Mr George Banantyne , to whofe tafle and induflry we owe a MS. collection of many fine old Scottifh poems prior to the year 1568, which is the date of his manufcript. In Banantyne’s book, the firfl poem in point of antiquity, is Chriji’s Kirk of the Green , which at the end of it, as was the fafhion of the time, bears this fignature, s Seuod King Jatnes 1 / Banantyne’s manufcript was finhhed in 1568, within 26 years of the death of James V, * Banan¬ tyne may then be reckoned to have been contem¬ porary with that Prince. His teflimony, therefore, not only proves negatively that King James V. was not the author, but likewife, that univerfal tradi¬ tion and report, in this laft Prince’s time, attri¬ buted this poem to his royal anceftor King James I. 1 Further, although it may not be eafy to ascer¬ tain the age of any writing from its language, yet I apprehend there arifes ftrong internal evidence from t *' * 1542. 3 5 A DISSERTATION ON from the poem itfelf, that it belongs to an age more ancient than that of King James V. King James I. was carried to England in the year 1404, and remained at the courts of King Henry IV. V. and VI. until the year 1423, when he returned to his own kingdom ; fome years after which, we may conjecture this poem to have been written. If it is compared with any of the poems of the age of King James V. that is, a century later, we fhall find the language of the firft much more antiquated and difficult to be underflood than that of the latter. Let us make the comparifon. In the mifcellany of ancient poems, called the Ever Green , collected chiefly from Banantyne’s manufcript, the firft in the book is, ChriJV s Kirk of the Green , and next to it are two poems, the 7 hijlle and the Rofe , and Virtue and Vice. The firft made by Dunbar, upon the marriage of King James IV. and Margaret his Queen, on her coming to Scotland, and before James V. was born. The other poem is written by Bellenden, Dean of Mur¬ ray, and addrefled to King James V, then a youth. Let thefe two poems be compared with Chrifl’s Kirk of the Green, and I apprehend that no per¬ son who is verfant in the Scottifh language will have THE LIFE OF JAMES I. 5/ have any difficulty in pronouncing Chrid’s Kirk to be the mod ancient of the three poems. To any Scotfman, who is tolerably acquainted with the orthography of the Scottiffi language about 200 years ago, there can be no difficulty in underdand- ing every phrafe, nay almod every word ufed in the two poems of Dunbar and Bellenden, written in King James IV. and V.’s time, while in the more ancient poem of Chrid’s Kirk, he mud, in almod every danza, meet with fome phrafe or word, the true meaning of which he mud be at a Zofs to explain. I am willing, at the fame time, to allow, that, in a ludicrous poem, defcribing the humour of the country, feveral words ufed by the vulgar may af- fedtedly have been introduced; yet, after all, this will not reconcile or make up for the apparent an¬ tiquity of phrafe, as well as of words, which runs through the whole of the poem of Chrid’s Kirk of the Green *. I * A late argument I have heard urged, that James I. from his long captivity in England, could not be fo well ac¬ quainted either with the language or manners of his coun¬ try, as defcribed in this poem. In anfwer to this, it mule be confidered, that James was twelve years of age when he was carried to England ; that, while there, during his cap¬ tivity, 3 3 A DISSERTATION ON I fhall conclude with another argument that a- rifes from the poem itfelf, which, in my apprehen- fion, is decifive of the point in queftion. Whoever reads the poem of Chrift’s Kirk, limp¬ ly as a piece of wit and humour, comes very far Ihort, I imagine, of the patriotic defign and inten¬ tion of its author. I fhall endeavour to illuftrate this. In the time of James I. archery , as a military art, was pradtifed over all Europe. The Englifh archers were remarkably expert in the ufe of the bow and arrow : They were commonly ftationed in the van of the army, and began the fight by a flight of arrows ; and, when the enemy was thrown into diforder, they rufhed in upon them with their battle axes. The celebrated vidtory gained by King Henry V. at Azincourt, was decided by the Eng-, lifh archers. King James, on his return to his own king¬ dom, tivity, he was conftantly attended and furrounded with his countrymen, and, from the 1423, when he returned to Scotland, to the 1436, when he died, (13 years) in that, or half that fpace, he had time to have been well acquainted with both the language and manners of his people. THE LIFE OF JAMES I. 39 dom *, among many other abufes of the late weak government, under his uncles the Dukes of Al¬ bany, while he was a prifoner in England, found, that the pradtice of archery had been greatly ne¬ glected among his fubjedts. As this appeared to be an objedt of much importance to the ftate, James, in his very firft parliament f, paffes an adt, ordaining c Every perfon after 12 years of age c to bu/k (/. c. equip) himfelf as an archer : That e bow marks be maid near every paroch kirk, e wharin, on holydays, men may cum and fchutte c at leak thrice about, and have ufage of archerie ; ‘ and wha fa ufes not the faid archerie, the laird ‘ of the land, or the fherriff, fall raife of him a £ wedder.’ We find another ftatute in the third parliament of the fame Monarch, appointing ivai- pon-fchawing four times in the year, with bow and arrow. James did not allow the matter to reft here ; he knew that ridicule often has a ftronger effect in ex- pofing ignorance and corredting abufes, than pe¬ nalties enjoined by law His * 1423. f Pari. 1. a« 5 t 18. t Ridiculum acri Fortius et melius magnas plerumque fecat res. Hor. 4 o A DISSERTATION ON His poem of Chrift’s Kirk, is almoft one conti¬ nued ironical fatire upon the aukward management of the bow , and the negleft into which archery had then fallen in Scotland. To make his fubjefts fen- fible of the difgrace they incurred by their Ihame- ful ignorance of the ufe of their arms, and to re- eftablilh the difcipline of the bow amongft them, was an object worthy the care of this wife and war¬ like Monarch. The continuator of Fordun’s Scoti- Chronicon remarks, that, notwithftanding his at¬ tention to this, that, after his death, archery de¬ clined : 6 Pojl cujus mortem (Jacobi Primi) lugu - 6 broil, omnes quafi indifferenter arcus et arcilia re - c jecerunt , et cum lanceis equitare fe dederunt: Ita quod nunc in curia magnatis , ubt funt centum bond- c nes, et ocloginta lanceas, et vix fex rep cries arcite - 6 nentes.* A remarkable difcovery, made a little before this time, haftened the downfal of archery, I mean the invention of gun-powder , and the ufe of ar - * The fiift liege of importance in which cannon feems to have been employed, was the famous fiege of Orleans by the Englilh, in which the Earl of Salilbury, the Englilh general, was killed by a cannon- THE LIFE OF JAMES I. 4i cannon-ball *. Artillery, in a few years after, was introduced into Scotland. Of this we have a me¬ lancholy proof in the death of King James II. and of the want of {kill at that time in the management of artillery ; that Prince being killed f, at the fiege of Roxburgh-callle, by the burfting of an over¬ loaded cannon. The ufe of cannon preceded that of mulkctry for many years, while archery in England, and on the Continent, flill continued to make a confiderable figure in the military art. At length, the introduc¬ tion of hand fire-arms , the hagbutt , arqucbufis , and match-lock , put an end to archery, and to the ufe of the bow in war, about the end of the 15th century. The 94th aft of King James V. mentions, that the fichott of guns , hagbutts , and other fimall artail- larie , were comounlie ufed in war in all countries. That ftatute, therefore, enadls, That every landed man of L. 100 fhall have a bagbutt , with calmes for cafiing bullets , and with powder convenient for ufe. * 1428. F From f 1460, 42 A DISSERTATION ON From this it appears obvious, that the ufe of the bow in war was, in the reign of James V. quite laid afide. The fine irony then, fo proper for ridi¬ culing the fhameful want of (kill in archery, which runs through the poem of Chrift’s Kirk, is loft, if applied to any other aera than that of James I.; more particularly fo, if applied to that of James V. when fire-arms were introduced and encouraged by the public laws of the kingdom. From the whole of this evidence, I think there can remain no difficulty in agreeing to the pofitive teftimony of Bananiyne , the contemporary of King James V. that his anceftor King James I. was the author of Chrift's Kirk of the Green . In the fubfequent edition of this poem, I have followed Banantyne’s MS. Whether or no, when he made his manufeript collection in 1568, there was any printed edition of this, or any of the other poems in his colleclion, I have not been able to learn. -In the following edition I have adhered ferupu- loufly even to the orthography of Banantyne ; and I have confulted, as to the meaning of obfeure and obfolete words, of which many occur, feveral glof- faries of the Scottifli language, more particularly that 1 THE LIFE OF JAMES I. 43 that prefixed to the laft folio edition of Gavin Dou¬ glas’s tranflation of the iEneis of Virgil, which is faid to be the work of the late learned Mr Thomas Ruddiman, though his modefty reftrained him from putting his name to the moll learned, copi¬ ous, and belt gloffary of the Scottifh language. Bifhop Edmond Gibfon, as before obferved, publilhed, anno 1691, his edition of this poem, in the black or Saxon letter, printed at Oxford. Be¬ fore this time, there were iureiy iome Scottifh edi¬ tions of it printed. It appears, however, that the Bifhop has followed none of them, but has taken his edition from fome very incorreft copy printed in England, as it is materially different from the Scottifh, not only in the orthography, but in the phrafe and meaning of many paffages, which it is obvious the editor has not underffood. We have already remarked, that the Englifh and Scottifh languages were derived from the fame pa¬ rent, the ancient Saxon. In the progrefs of time, however, frequent variations mufl of courfe have arifen in the fame language, as fpoken in the two feparate kingdoms, fo as to keep them diflindt and feparate, though radically the fame language. Ob- folete words from the ancient language revived j new 44 A DISSERTATION ON new words ftarted up; and different dialedts pre* vailed in each kingdom. Bifhop Gibfon, by his Latin preface, appears to be an elegant writer in that language; and his learned notes on this poem fhew that he was likewife flailed in the ancient Saxon and northern languages ; yet he feems to have known little of the Scottifh language, either in its phrafeology or dialect, at the above aera. From a want of knowledge of the manners of that country, he palpably gives a wrong fenfe to many Scottifh words. Many deviations from the original Scottifh poem, as in Banantyne’s MS. occur in his e- dition : Many words, even verfes, are altered ; and one whole ftanza, the 8th in the original, is alto¬ gether omitted. There are three additional ftan- zas in the Bifhop’s edition which are not m Ba¬ nantyne’s MS. One of thefe, being the 12th of this edition, as it naturally connects with the pre¬ ceding ftanzas, I have taken into the text, as it feems to contain the fame humour of the poem, although I hefitate to pronounce it genuine. The other two, following the 21ft of the prcfent,! take to be clear¬ ly fpurious. Of THE LIFE OF JAMES I. 45 Of the POEM made by King James I. on Jane, afterwards his Queen , while he was a prifoner in England . T FI I S ancient poem,- though mentioned by feveral writers of the life of Tames I. and well known in his time, yet has lain hid for thefe three centuries, and probably would have lhared the fame fate with moll of his other compofitions, now loft, but for the prefervation of one fmgle manufcript copy of it, which is now in the Bodleian Library at Oxford. The title which this manufcript bears is c The Quair, maid be King James of Scotland 6 the Firfb , callit The King’* Quair. Maid qn. 6 his Ma. was in England By what accident this poem came into the edi¬ tor’s hands, it may be proper to give fome account. Although all the Scottilh writers mention King James I. as the author of many poetical pieces, yet, as in the age of James, and for a century after, printing was not introduced into Britain, it is not to be wondered that moft of his pieces Thould now be loft. Joannes Major , in his Hiftory of Scotland, men¬ tions this poem of King James I. thus: c Artificio- e fum 46 A DISSERTATION ON c fum libellum de Regina dum captivus erat compofuit, 4 antequam earn in conjugem duxeratl N. Dempjier alfo, in his Hiftoria Ecclefiaftica, men¬ tions, amongft the works of James, this poem, Su¬ per Uxore futura. A later writer, Tanner Bilhop of St Afaph, in his Bibliotheca Britannico-Hiber- nica, mentions it ftill more particularly, under the article Jacobus Stuartus Primus Rex Scotiae, thus: c Lamentatio fada dum in Anglia fuit Rex A It ap¬ pears that Bilhop Tanner had both feen and read this poem, as he recites the firlt line of it, 4 Heigh in the Hevynis figure circular el* M. S. Bib. Bod. Selden. Archiv. B. 24. and ‘ In fi 7 ie poematis (fays Tanner) Gowerum et Chauc.e- 4 rum mirifce laudat*-— Rex. The above authorities concurring in mentioning this poem, and the particular reference to its being amongft the Seldenian manuferipts in the Bodleian Library, excited the editor’s curiofity to fearch for it. After feveral fruitlefs attempts, on his apply¬ ing to an ingenious young gentleman, a ftudent of Oxford, he undertook the talk, and found the MS. accordingly. From a very accurate copy made by him, the prefent publication is given. From THE LIFE OF JAMES I. 47 From the title of the poem, it may be prefumed that, in the age in which it was compofed, it was held in eftimation by the public. The word Quair, in the old Englilh language, fignifies a book; hence, by way of eminence, this poem was diftin- guifhed by the title of the King’s book; and, in that age, it muff have been confidered as a great work. As to its merit, the Public, after due confedera¬ tion of the age in which it was written, juft begin¬ ning to emerge from that darknefs that had long obfcured the weftern hemifphere, will judge. Thus far may, I think, be faid, that, for the invention and fancy, the genuine fimplicity of fentiment, and the defcriptive poetry which runs through it, it is a remarkable work. The defign, or theme, is the Royal poet's love for his beautiful miftrefs Jane, with whom he be¬ came enamoured while a prifoner at the caftle of Windfor. The recollection of the misfortunes of his youth, his early and long captivity, the incident which gave rife to his love, its purity, conftancy,-* and happy ifiue, are all fet forth by way of allego¬ rical vifion, according to the reigning tafte of the age of King James I. as we find from the poems of Chaucer, Gower, and Lydgate, his contemporaries. The 4 S A DISSERTATION ON The tafte for poetical allegory and vifion was derived from the Proven9al writers, which proba¬ bly was introduced into England by Richard I. who ranks among the mod eminent of the Trouba¬ dours. It was highly in fafhion in the age of Lyd¬ gate, Gower, and Chaucer, and continued to be fo down to the age of Spencer, and the end of Queen Elizabeth’s reign. Every dory had its mo¬ ral, and was told in the way of allegory and vifion. The machinery of thefe poems were fiery dragons, giants, and fairies ; the fcenery enchanted foreds, cadles, and lakes. The virtues, vices, and paf- fions were perfonified, and the mythology was a mixture of the Greek, Roman, Arabian, and Chri- dian. The advancement of learning has long ba- nifhed this falfe tade ; and it cannot be denied, that perhaps the meaned modern compofition, even the flimfy flowers of a monthly mifcellany, will better dand the ted of criticifm ; yet how fleetly do thefe lhort-lived embryos vanifh, never to appear again, at the approach of the great vifionary figures, call¬ ed up by our old bards! How is the imagination carried away, in their lofty flights into the regions of fancy, adorned with the glow of genuine poetry ! In purfuing the feveral parts of the allegorical vifion in King James’s poem, perhaps it may ap¬ pear THE LIFE OF JAMES I. 49 pear prolix, a fault which attends almoft every al¬ legorical poem. It might be imputed to prejudice, were I to rank our Royal poet with Chaucer, his contemporary, whofe genius, like the morning- (tar, broke out after a long obfcure night! / V Chaucer, the father of Englifh poetry, as he may be (tiled the firft, fo he is the bed poet of his time. His univerfal genius has comprehended, in his Can¬ terbury Tales, the various manners and humours of every rank of men in his age and country, from his accomplifhed knight, who had ferved in the holy wars, down to the reeve, ploughman, and miller : And he has (hewn the extent of his genius and learning, in almoft every fpecies of poetry, from his heroic poem of Palamon and Arcite to his ballads.-—Having faid this in preference of Chaucer, I may, however, be allowed to compare the epi- fode of the Court of Venus , in the following poem of James, with the Court of Love of Chaucer; in which view, if I am able to judge, our poet will lofe nothing by the comparifon, particularly in the pourtraiture of the miftrefs of each poet. The jane %• of King James is painted with as much beauty, and G with 5 ° A DISSERTATION ON with more tender delicacy, than the buxom Rofial of Chaucer. * . ' ... i The Seldenian manufcript , from which the pre- fent copy is taken, appears to be of an old date ; in many places it was not eafy to find out the proper fenfe of the paffage, and in many paffages it was obvioufly erroneous. The writer of the old MS. feems to have been but little acquainted with claf* fical learning; hence it appears, that he has often erroneoufly iubftituted one name in place of ano¬ ther, of which many grofs inftances occur. Many other apparent inaccuracies run through it, which, however, ought not always to be placed to the ac-> count of the tranfcriber : The poet himfelf is an- fwerable for many liberties which he takes in his poem, which the cuftom of that age gave a fanc- tion to. Great freedom is ufed in the orthography or fpelling, which is often various in the fame word. Not unfrequently words are omitted or underflood, which the reader is left to fupply, fo as to make out the fenfe of the paffage. To fuch as are not verfant in the old poets, Chaucer, Gower, &c. the numbers of the verfes ' will THE LIFE OF JAMES I. will often appear to be unequal, as the apoftrophe’s, figns of contra&ion, elifions, and marks for the divifion of the fyllables for the fake of the vcrfe, which were ufed by the old poets, are now lofh For underftanding of thefe, I cannot do better than recommend to the reader the excellent general rules prefixed to the learned gloffary in Gavin Douglas’s Virgil. For the eafe of the reader, I have divided the poem into canto’s, according to the various epi- fodes contained in it; and, throughout the whole, I have, by explanatory notes, endeavoured to ren¬ der the fenfe, frequently obfcure, as eafy as was in my power. In many places I am afraid I have not been fo fuccefsful as I could have wifhed. It muff be confeffed, that many of the beauties of this ancient poem muff efcape us, from the mu¬ tability of the language in the fpace of near 400 years; an imperfection attendant on every living language. What Waller fays, in his elegant ver- fes on Chaucer, in the laft century, may, with e~ qual force, be applied to the poetical remains 0 King James I. of Scotland : Poets, 1 5 2 A DISSERTATION ON, &c. Poets, that lading marble feek, Mud carve in Latin, or in Greek : We write in fand ; our language grows ; And, like the tide, our work o’erflows. Chaucer his fenfe can only boad, The glory of his numbers lod! Years have defac’d his matchlefs drain, And yet he did not write in vain. Upon the whole: If the prefent publication, which has been the amufement of leifure hours, and a relief from more ferious occupations, fhall entertain the few who have a relifh or efteem for the genuine poetical productions of their anceftors, it will fufficiently reward my pains, in the fatisfac- tion I fhall have of having refcued from oblivion this genuine remain of the works of a genius, one of the belt and wifeft of Kings! one of the mofl il- luftrious characters of his age! THE §xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>§t THE KING’S Q^UAIR. MAID BE > KING JAMES OF SCOTLAND, THE FIRST, £>n. his Ma. was in England. $xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx§ THE KING’S Q^U A I EL CANTO I. I. H EIGH in the hevynis figure circulare The rody fterres twynkling as the fyre: And in Aquary * Citherea the clere, Kynfid hir treffis like the goldin wyre, That late tofore, in faire and frefche atyre. Thro’ Capricorn heved hir hornis bright, North northward approchit the myd nyght. II. Quhen as I lay in bed allone waking. New partit out of flepe a lyte tofore. Fell * Citherea.~\ This mtift be an error of the tranfcriber of the Seldenian MS. The Royal Poet muft have wrote Cin- thia , which agrees with the defcriptive words in the 6th line, * Heved hir hornis bright / but could not be applicable to Ci¬ therea, the planet Venus in that age. Galileo , about the year t6o8, near 200 years after James I. was the firft who, by the new invention of the telefcope, a little before that time, dif- covered that the planet Venus had phafes as the moon. The defcription of the feafon in this ftanza is extremely poetical. $6 THE KING’S QJJ A I R. Fell me to mynd of many diverfe thing Of this and that, can I not fay quharefore, Bot llepe for craft in erth myt I no more ; For quhich as tho* coude 1 no better wyle, Bot toke a boke to rede upon a quhile : III. OIF quhich the name is clepit properly * j Boece, efter him that was the compiloure, Schewing '* Boece .J Anicius Severinus Boethius , a fenator, and of confular dignity, fiourifhed at Rome in the reign of Theodoric King of the Odrogoths, after Augujhilus , the lad of the Ro¬ man emperors, had refigned the empire. He was accufed and banifhed to Ticinum, now Pavia, by Theodoric, for having defigns of redoring the liberty of his country, and, three years after, was beheaded. His life and manners were tliofe of a philofopher, through a long feries of misfortunes, which he bore with remarkable patience and fortitude. While he was in banifhment, he wrote his book De Confola- tione Philofophiae. His tomb is dill preferved in the church of St Augudine at Pavia, on which is infcribed the follow¬ ing epitaph: Maeonia et Latia lingua clariffimus , et qui Conful erarn hie perii mijjus in ex ilium, Et quod mors rapuit. Probit as me vexit ad auras , Et nunc fama viget , maxima viget opus. Boethius’s CANTO I. 57 Sehewing counfele of philofophye, Compilit by that nobil fenatoure Off Rome quhilome yt was the warldis floure, And from eflate by fortune a quhile a Foringit was, to povert in exile, IV. And there to here this worthy lord and cleric. His metir fuete full of moralitee; His flourit pen fo fair he fet a werk, Difcryving firft of his profperitee. And out of that his infelicitee; H And Boethius’s book de Cmfolatione Phtlcfophiae , has been e(teem¬ ed in every age. In the early dawn of literature in Britain, it was trandated into the Saxon language by K. Alfred, feve- ral centuries after that by Chaucer, and in the laft century by Lcrd Prefon. The philofophy is excellent, conveyed, in a pleafant manner, as a vifion, and in the form of dialogue between the goddefs of philofophy, and the author, under banifhment, and on the fad reverfe of his fortune. Every dialogue is introduced by a Ihort Lyric Ode, which, for Lati- nity and elegance, correfponds more with the genius and tafte of the Auguftan age, than with the barbarous times gf Theodoric, and the beginning of the fixth century. a Foringit.'] Eftranged from honours and eflate, and re¬ duced to poverty. 'i 58 THE KING’S QJJ A I R, And than how he in his ^ (poetly report, In philofophy c can him to confort. V. For quhich tho 1 I in purpofe at my boke, To borowe a flepe at thilk time began. Or ever I d Rent my belt was more to loke Upon the writing of this nobil man, * That in himfelf the full recover e wan Of his infortune, poverti, and diftreife. And in tham fet his verrav/feckerneffe. VI. And fo the vertew of his zouth before Was in his age the ground of his delytis 1 Fortune the bak him turnyt, and therefore He makith joye and confort yt he quitis Of theire unfekir warldis appetitis. And b poetly report.] This is exactly copied from the MS. As Foethius introduces every chapter of his book with a lyric ode, our author means by the above, his poetical report, or theme. Such licenfes of making new words, for the fake of the verfe, are not unfrequent with our poet, and others of that age. c Can him to confort. ] Was able to comfort himfelf* d Stent.'] Stopt or paufed. e Wan.] Won, gained. ' f Seckernejje .] Security, firmnefs, certainty. CANTO I. 59 And fo g aworth he takith his penance, And of his vertew maid it fuffifance. VII. With mony a nobil refon as him likit Enditing in his fair latyne tong. So full of fruyte, and rethorikly pykit, CVuhich to declare my i fcole is over zong ; Therefore I lat him pas, and in my tong Procede I will agayn to my ^ fentence Of my mater, and leve all incidence. VIII. The long nyt beholding, as I faide, Myn eyne gan to fmert for ftudying ; My boke I fchet, and at my hede it laide, And doun I lay, bot ony tarying. This mater new in my mynd rolling. This is to feyne how yt eche eftate. As Fortune lykith, thame will tranllate. IX. g Avjortk .] Worthily. h Rethoricklypykit.'] Rethorically chofen. * •*» »f 4 , t M . , . . • » . , f - . i My fcole.’] My learning. k Sentence.] I will proceed with my theme, or fuhje Irkie 3 Irefum j from the Gaelic Earadby fear. q Recure.] Recourfe, relief CANTO r. Of my diftrefie, and all my r aventure I gan ourhayle, yt langer flepe ne reft Ne myt I nat, fa were my wittis s wreft. XL 1 For-wakit and « for-wallouit thus mufing, * Wery for-lyin, I leflnyt fodaynlye, And fone I herd the bell to matins ryng. And up I rafe na langer wald I lye; Bot now y how trowe ze fuich a fantafye Fell me to my mynd, yt ay me tho 1 the bell -Said to me, z Tell on man, quhat the befell. XII. i * r r Aventure.'] All the incidents of mv life I began to re¬ coiled. . j IVreft.] Wrefted, or tortured. t For-wakit.] Kept awake; or wakerife , according to the Scottilh phrafe. u For-wallouit.] Wearied; tired ; in ill plight, G. D. p. 201. 1. 5. x Wery For-lyin.] Weary of lying in bed, G. D. p. 330. I.5. S y How trowe ye.] How think ye ? z Tell on, man.] Proceed to rehearfe. 62 THE KING'S QJJAIR. XII. a Thot I tho’ to myfelf, quhat may this be ? This is my awin ymaginacion. This is no b lyf yt fpekis unto me, It is a bell or that impreffion Of my thot caufith this illufion, That dooth me think fo nycely in this wife. And fo befell as I fchall zou c devife. XIII. Determyt furth therewt in myn entent, d Sen I thus have ymagynit of this foun. And in my tyme more ink and paper fpent f To lyte effect, I tuke conclufion Sum new thing to write ; I fet me doun. And furth w l all my pen in hand I tuke, / And maid a -}- and thus begouth my buke. XIV. a Theft /. Abbreviation for Thought I. h It is no lyf.'] It is no living perfon—This figure is of¬ ten ufed by our poet. d &7Z.3 Since. e Lyte.] Little.—/ tuke conclufion , I concluded ; deter- mined. f And maid a +.] Made the fign of the Holy Crofs.— James CANTO I. 63 l XIV. Though zouth of nature indegefl, Unrypit fruyte wt windis variable, Like to the bird yt fed is on the neft, And can not flee, of wit wayke and unflable, To fortune both and to infortune g hable, \ b Wifi thou thy payne to cum and thy travaille, For forow and drede wele my 1 thou wepeand waile. XV. James was a religious prince, and, as was the cuftora of the time, thought it becoming in him thus to call for the Divine aid, or a benediction upon his work. g To infortune hable.'] Liable to misfortune. h Wijl thou thy payne to cum.] Knewelt thou thy pain to come—Well might’ll thou weep and wail—Thus thy comfort hands in thy uncertainty or ignorance of the future. The reader will not be difpleafed to lee this principle illuftrated in the richeh glow of poetry. Heaven from all creatures hides the book of fate, All but the page prefcribcd, their prefent hate, From brutes what men, from men what fpirits know. Or who would fuffer being here below ? The lamb thy riot dooms to bleed to-day ; Had he thy reafon, would he Ikip and play ? Pleas’d to the lah he crops the flowery food. And licks the hand juh raifed to fhed his blood. Oh blindnefs ! to the future kindly given, That each may fill the circle mark’d by heaven. Tjfay on Man. 64 THE KING’S QJJAIR. XV. Thus ftant thy confort in * unfekerneife. And wantis it, y l fuld the reule and gve, Ryt as the fchip that failith * fterelefs. Upon the rok molt to barmes hye, For lak of it y c fuld bene her fupplye; So ftandis thou here in this warldis rage. And wantis yt fuld gyde all thy viage. XVI. I mene this of myfelf, as in partye, 1 Though nature gave me fuffifance in zouth. The rypenefs of refon lak I To governe with my will, fo lyte I couth, Quhen fterelefs to travaille I begouth, Amang the wav is of this world to drive. And how the cafe anon I will defqrive. XVII. With doubtfull hert, amang the rokkis blake. My feble bote full fall to ftere and rowe, Helplefs -I' 4 »aj- ■ i • V I » >/i ..I 1 i Unfekernejfe Uncertainty. k That faileth fterelefs -3 Without a fteerfman at the helm. / Though nature gave me fuffifance, or fufficient reafon for my years, yet lack I the rypenefs of reafon or experience to govern my wifi. CANTO r. *5 Helplefs alone the wynter ny 1 1 wake, To wayte the wynd y r furthward m fuld me throwe. O empti fade! quhare is the wynd fuld blowe Me to the port quhare gyneth all my n game ? 0 Help, Calyope, and wynd, in Marye name ! XVIII. P The rokkis clepe I, the prolixitee Of doubtfulneffe y l doith my wittis pall. The lak of wynd is the difficultee. In enditing of this lytill trety fmall: The bote I clepe, the mater hole of all. My wit unto the faile y l now I wynd, ? To feke conyng, tho I bot lytill fynd. I XIX, t m Suld me throwe."] The favourable gale that fiiould attend me through my voyage. The poet here paints his fituation, with-great propriety, under the poetical allufion of a fkiff in the middle of the ocean. n Where gyneth all my game.] May not the poet have written, Where bcginneth all my gain P, although this doth not quite agree with the metre, in which he generally is very cxa&. o Help Caliope , and Marye.] This ftrange mixture of hea¬ then and Chriftian mythology is very common with the an¬ cient bards. p The explication of the foregoing allufion. q To feke conyng.] Invention ; wit. 1 66 THE KING’S QJJ AIK* . XIX. At my begyning firft I clepe and call r To zou Clio and to zou Polyme, With s Thefiphone goddis and fiftris all. In nowmer IX. as bokis fpecifye, In this procefle my wilfum wittis * gye. And with zour bry c lanternis weje convoye -A .• ‘ • T , ' My pen to write my turment and my joye. * ' ^ THE r Polyme.'] For Polymnia, the Mufe of Harmony.—Our poet, with the old bards, ufe great freedom with proper i ' * names, for the fake of verfe. s Thejiphone.] The tranfcriber has here made a very grofs blunder, in fubftituting Thefiphone, one of the Furies, in place of Terpfichore, one of the nine Mufes, which our poet exprefsly here invokes. i Gye .3 Guide- THE KING’S Q^U-A I R. CANTO II. His intended Voyage to France. I. t IN vere y l f&ll of vertu is and glide', A Quhen nature firft begyneth hir « enprife, That quhilum' was be cruel froft and flude. And fchouris' fcharp oppreft in mony wife, And * Synthius gyneth to aryfe ♦ Heigh in the eft, a morrowe foft and fuete. Upward his courfe to drive in Ariete. II. Pafiit bot myd-day foure greis eviri Of lenth and brede his aftgel wingis bry 1 , He t In vere. 3 In the fpring, u Enprife .] When nature begins to exert her powers. x And Synthius , &c.] When the fun enters into the fign Aries, or the middle of March.—The defcription of the fea» fon, in thefe two ftanzas, is very poetical. 63 THE KING’S QJJAIR, He fpred upon the ground doun fro the hevin, That for gladnefle and confort of the fight. And with the tiklyng of his hete and light, The tender flouris opynit thame and fprad. And in thair nature thankit him for glad. III. y Not far paflit the flate of innocence Bot nere about the nowmer of zeiris thre. Were it caufit throu hevinly influence Of Goddis will, or other cafualtee, Can I not fay, bot out of my contree. By thair avife y x had of me the cure Be fee to pas, tuke I my aventure. IV. y Pa fit the fate of innocence three years. fl Tins is a vague manner of exprefling his age. Bellenden, arch-dean of Mur¬ ray, the tranflator of Boethius, by defxre of King James V. fays James I. was nine years old when he was taken prifoner in March 1404-5. This does not agree with our other hifto- rians, who fay he was forty-four years old when he was kill¬ ed Anno 1436. Suppofmg, by our Poet’s own account, that he was three years pall nine, or the age of innocence, he was at this time twelve years of age, which nearly agrees with the generality of the hiltorians, none of whom, how¬ ever, that I have feen, mention the year in which K. James was born. * CANTO II. 6 9 z Purvait of all y c was us necelfarye, With wynd at will, up airely by the morowe, Streight unto fchip no longere wold we tarye. The way we tuke the tyme I tald to forowe. With mony fare wele, and a Sand Johne to borowe N Of falowe and frende, and thus wt one aifent. We pullit up faile and furth our way is went. V. Upon the wevis weltring to and fro. So infortunate was we that b frernyt day. That maugre plainly quethir we wold or no, W c ftrong hand by forfe fchortly to fay. Of inymyis taken and led away. We weren all, and bro 1 in thaire contree, c Fortune it fchupe non othir wayis to be. VI. z Purvait.'] Provided. a Sand John to lor owe.] Saint John be your protestor, or cautioner. Borowe fignifies a pledge.—It appears to have been an ordinary benediction. b Frernyt day.] Strange, adverfe day. c Fortune it fchupe.] Fortune fliaped, or cut out. 7 ° THE KING’S QTJ AIK, VI. d Quhare as in ftrayte ward, and in ftrong prifon. So fere forth of my lyf the hevy lyne, Wtout d Our author here may be thought to ufe his poetical li- cenfe, in exaggerating the ftridtnefs of his confinement du¬ ring his captivity in England. The following mandates of Henry IV. and V. concerning James's confinement , fufficient- ly vindicate the King of Scots’ complaint on that head : Hollinglhed fays, that, on James’s being captured on the coafl: of England, he and his attendants (the Earl of Orkney and others) were fent prifoners to the Tower of London. After this we have the following orders, concerning his confinement, from Rymer's Foedera : “ De filio Regis Scotiae cujlodiendo. «* Rex Conftabulario Turris fuae Londoniae. Salutem. “ Mandamus vobis quod filium Regis Scotiae, et Grijfinum ap Glendordy , in Turri praedidta fub coftodia ve- ftra exiftentes, dile&o et fideli noftro, Ricardo Domino de Grey deliberetis, ufque cafirum Ncttingamiae ducendos , ibidem quoufque aliud pro ipforum deliberatione duxerimus deman- dandum cullodiendos. “ Telle Rege apud Wellmonafterium decimo die Junii 1407. ct Per ipfum Regem.” Rymer , tom. 8. p. 484. On the accefiion of K. Henry V, to the throne, we havd the following order; . 2. « Henricus Rex, cuftodi Turris noftrae Londoniae. Salu¬ tem. “ Mandamus vobis, quod Regem Scotiae y et Magillrum de Fitz de Scotia, in Turri praedifta, fub cuftodia veftra, de mandato noftro detentos, Conftabulario caftri noftri de JVyn - /. defore y ibidem fine dilatione, liberetis, in caftro praedi&o fal - vb et fecurey quoufque pro eorum deliberatione aliter duxeri- mus, ordinandum cuftodiendos. “ Tefte Rege apud Weftmonafterium tertio die Augu- fti 1414.”— Rymer , tom. 9. p. 44. King Henry, from his acceftion to the throne, had medi¬ tated his invafion of France, which he accordingly put in ex¬ ecution in Auguft 1415. while King James was prifoner at Windfor. Henry faw the advantage of having James in his hands, as a pledge for preventing the Scottilh Regent from making incurfions on the border while he was in France. In this view, the confinement of the Scottilh Prince would no doubt be the clofer, during Henry’s abfence in his firft expe¬ dition to France; and, probably, it was at this period, that, on viewing the beautiful Jane, in the garden under the caftle of 72 THE KING’S QJJ AIR. Wtout confort in forowe, abandoune The e fecund fiftere, lukit hath to tuyne, Nere, by the fpace of zeris twice nyne, Till Jupiter his merci lift advert, And fend confort in relefche of my fmert. VII. Quhare as in ward full oft I wold bewaille My dedely lyf, full of peyne and penance, Saing ry 1 thus,/quhat have I gilt to faille. My fredome in this warld and my plefance ? Sen every wight has thereof fuffifance. That I behold, and I a creature Put from all this, hard is myn aventure ? VIII. The bird, the befte, the fifch eke in the fee, They Iyve in fredome everich in his kynd; And of Windfor, he firft became enamoured with her. We may thus fix the aera of the commencement of this poem, which it is probable was written at different times, and often inter¬ rupted, as no doubt his amour and courtfhip was, by his be¬ ing carried to France by King Henry, in his fecond and third expeditions to that kingdom. e The fecund ff.er.~\ Lachejis , one of the Parcae or Defti- nies, whofe office it was to twine the thread of human life. f What have I Been guilty of, to merit the for¬ feiture of my freedom in the moft pleafant time of my life. CANTO ir. 73 And I a man, and lakith libertee Quhat fall I feyne, quhat refon may I fynd, That fortune fuld do fo ? thus in my mynd. My folk I wold argewe, bot all for no 1 . Was none that my 1 yt on my peynes rought. IX. \ ■ _ 4 -• fr- \ r y ■ **f Than wold I fay, Giff God me had deviftt To lyve my lyf in thraldom thus and pyne, Quhat was the caufe y 1 he more me k compriiit. Than othir folk to lyve in fuch ruyne ? I fuffere alone amang the * figuris nyne, Ane wofull wrache yt to no wight may fpede, And zit of every lyvis help has nede. X. The long dayes and the nyghtis eke, I wold bewaille my fortune in this wife, For quhich again diflrelfe confort to feke. My cultum was on mornis for to rife Airly as day, O happy exercife ! K By g My folk .] I would argue with my attendants, the Earl of Orkney and others of his train. h Me comprift.~\ That he fentenced or adjudged me. i Of all the nine numbers, mine is the moll unlucky or wretched. I f4 THE KING’S QJJAIR, , By the come I to joye out of turment* Bot now to purpofe of my firft entent XI. Bewailling in my chamber thus allone, Defpeired of all joye and remedye, For-tirit of my thot and wo-begone. And to the wyndow gan I walk in hy&, To fee the warld and folk yt went forbye. As for the tyme though I of mirthis fude, My t have no more, to luke it did me gude, XII. Now was there maid faff by the Tour is wall A gardyn faire, and in the corneris fet, / Ane herbere grene, with wandis long and fmall, Railit about, and fo wt treis fet Was k. A fine apoftrophe in praife of early morning exercife ! / Herbere.'] From Herbarium —a garden-plot fet with plants and flowers—a grove with an arbour, railed with trellis- ymrk, and clofe fet about with trees. We have here a fketch of the mode or tafte in gardening in the remote age of Hen? ry V. in England. The royal garden, under the caftle walls pf Windfor, was laid out in flower-plots and alleys, or walks. with arbours of lattice or trellis-work at the ends or corners \ • ' pf the walks ; the whole furrounded with hawthorn hedges jnterfperfed with juniper. 7 § CANTO Ih Was all the place, and hawthorn hegis knet, That lyf was non walkyng there forbye, That my 1 wtin fcarce any wight afpye. XIII. « So thick the beuis and the leves grene Befchadit all the allyes yt there were. And myddis every herbere my 1 be fene The fcharp grene fuete jenepere, Growing fo fair w r branchis here and there. That, as it femyt to a lyf w^ut, ( _ _ The bewis fpred the herbere all about. XIV. And on the fmall grene twiftis fat The lytil fuete nyghtingale, and fong So loud and clere, the m yinpnis confecrat Of luvis ufe, now foft now lowd among, That all the gardynis and the wallis rong Ry l of thaire fong, n and on the copill next Of thaire fuete armony, and lo the text. XV. m Ympnis.~\ Hymns confecrated to Love.—Cb. G. D. n And on they copill next.] This feems to be obfcure.—May it not be, “ Anon they copill or pair together, and join in i( fweet harmony, and lo the text or burden of their fong { 76 THE KING’S QV A I R. \ Cantus XV. Worfchippe ze yt loveris bene this May, For of zour blifs the 0 kalendis are begonne. And fmg w r us, away winter away, Come fomer come, the fuete fefon and fonne. Awake, for fchame ! yt have p zour hevynis wonne^ And amourouily lift up zour hedis all, Thank lufe yt lift zou to his merci calk XVI. Quhen thai this fong had fong a q 1'ittil thfawe, Thai ftent a quhile, and therewt unafraid. As I beheld, and keft myn eyen r a lawe, From beugh to beugh, thay hippit and thai plaid y And frefchly in thair birdis kynd araid, Thaire fatheris new, and * fret fhame in the fonne, And thankit lufe, yt had thair * makis wonne. * - xvir. o Kalends.] The beginning of your blifs, May, the month of love. p 7, our hevynis Evonne. ] Ye that have attained your high- eft blifs, by winning your mates.-—See the laft line of the X / next ftanza. q A lytill thraove .] A fhort fpace. ;• Kefl myn eyen a lawe.] Call mine eyes befow. s Fret thame.~\ Raifed or fpread them in the fun. Thu? fret work,- or raifed work. t Thair makis.'] Their mates.- CANTO II. 77 XVII. This was the plane ditie of thaire note, And therew: all unto myfelf I thot, u Quhat lufe is this, that makis birdis dote ? Quhat may this be, how cummyth it of ought ? Quhat nedith it to be fo dere ybought ? It is nothing, trow r e I, bot * feynit chere, y And that one lift to counterfeten chere. XVIII. Eft wold I think, O Lord, quhat may this be ? That lufe is of fo noble myt and kynde, Lufing his folk, and fuich profperitee Is it of him, as we in bukis fynd. May he oure hertis fetten and unbynd : Hath he upon our hertis fuich maiftrye ? Or all this is bot feynit fantafye ? XIX. u What lufe is this .] What love can this be ? x Feynit chere.~\ Feigned mirth or chearfulnefs. y And that one /i/?.] The fenfe here is obfcure. I fufpe£t there may be an error in the word one lift , in place of me lijl y which lift me, or inclines me to think it may be only counter¬ feited chere, or tnirth. The King’s confinement, one would think, mull have been very ftri