David Lyndsay
Encyclopedia
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
.
Biography
He was the son of David Lyndsay, second of the Mount (FifeFife
Fife is a council area and former county of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries to Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire...
), and of Garmylton
Garleton Hills
The Garleton Hills, in East Lothian, Scotland, are a range of igneous hills, to the north of Haddington, formed largely from Carboniferous tuffs and trachytic lavas. Although the highest point is only , the hills are conspicuous throughout the county...
, (Haddingtonshire) (d.circa. 1503). His place of birth and education are unknown, but it is thought that he attended the University of St Andrews
University of St Andrews
The University of St Andrews, informally referred to as "St Andrews", is the oldest university in Scotland and the third oldest in the English-speaking world after Oxford and Cambridge. The university is situated in the town of St Andrews, Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. It was founded between...
, on the books of which appears an entry "Da Lindesay" for the session 1508-1509. He was engaged at court, first as an equerry, then as an "usher" to the future King James V of Scotland
James V of Scotland
James V was King of Scots from 9 September 1513 until his death, which followed the Scottish defeat at the Battle of Solway Moss...
. In 1522 he married Janet Douglas, a court seamstress. His first heraldic appointment was as Snowdon Herald
Snowdoun Herald
Snawdoun Herald of Arms in Ordinary is a current Scottish herald of arms in Ordinary of the Court of the Lord Lyon.The office was first mentioned in 1443 and the title is derived from a part of Stirling Castle which bore the same name...
and in 1529 he was appointed Lord Lyon King of Arms
Lord Lyon King of Arms
The Lord Lyon King of Arms, the head of Lyon Court, is the most junior of the Great Officers of State in Scotland and is the Scottish official with responsibility for regulating heraldry in that country, issuing new grants of arms, and serving as the judge of the Court of the Lord Lyon, the oldest...
, and knighted. He was engaged in diplomatic business (twice on embassies abroad—to the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
and France), and was, in virtue of his heraldic office, a general master of ceremonies. After the death of James V, in 1542, Lyndsay continued to sit in Parliament of Scotland
Parliament of Scotland
The Parliament of Scotland, officially the Estates of Parliament, was the legislature of the Kingdom of Scotland. The unicameral parliament of Scotland is first found on record during the early 13th century, with the first meeting for which a primary source survives at...
as commissioner for Cupar, Fife; and in 1548 he was member of a mission to Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
which obtained certain privileges for Scottish merchants. There is reason to believe that he died in or about 1555.
Literary works
Most of Lyndsay's literary work, by which he secured great reputation in his own day and by which he still lives, was written during the period of prosperity at court. In this respect he is different from Gavin DouglasGavin Douglas
Gavin Douglas was a Scottish bishop, makar and translator. Although he had an important political career, it is for his poetry that he is now chiefly remembered. His principal pioneering achievement was the Eneados, a full and faithful vernacular translation of the Aeneid of Virgil and the first...
, who abandoned literature to become a politician. The difference is due partly to the fact that Lyndsay's muse was more occasional and satirical, and that the time was suitable to the exercise of his special gifts. It is more difficult to explain how he enjoyed such unparalleled freedom of speech. He chastised all classes, from his royal master to the most simple. There is no evidence that he abjured Catholicism; yet his leading purpose was the exposure of its errors and abuses. His aid was readily accepted by the reforming party, and by their use of his work he shared with their leaders throughout many generations a reputation which is almost exclusively political and ecclesiastical.
Lyndsay's longer poems represent, with reasonable completeness, the range of Lyndsay's literary talent. No single poem can give him a chief place, though here and there, especially in the last, he gives hints of the highest competence. Yet the corporate effect of these pieces is to secure for him the allowance of more than mere intellectual vigour and common sense. There is in his craftsmanship, in his readiness to apply the traditional methods to contemporary requirements, something of that accomplishment which makes even the second-rate man of letters interesting.
Lyndsay, the Makar, is not behind his fellow-poets in acknowledgment to Geoffrey Chaucer
Geoffrey Chaucer
Geoffrey Chaucer , known as the Father of English literature, is widely considered the greatest English poet of the Middle Ages and was the first poet to have been buried in Poet's Corner of Westminster Abbey...
. As piously as they, he reproduces the master's forms; but in him the sentiment and outlook have suffered change. His nearest approach to Chaucer is in The Historie and Testament of Squyer Meldrum, which recalls the sketch of the "young squire"; but the reminiscence is verbal rather than spiritual. Elsewhere his memory serves him less happily, as when he describes the array of the lamented Queen Magdalene in the words which Chaucer had applied to the eyes of his wanton Friar. So too, in the Dreme, the allegorical tradition survives only in the form. "Remembrance" conducts the poet over the old-world itinerary, but only to lead him to speculation on Scotland's woes and to an "Exhortatioun to the Kingis Grace" to bring relief. The tenor is well expressed in the motto from the Vulgate
Vulgate
The Vulgate is a late 4th-century Latin translation of the Bible. It was largely the work of St. Jerome, who was commissioned by Pope Damasus I in 382 to make a revision of the old Latin translations...
--"Prophetias nolite spernere. Omnia autem probate: quod bonum est tenete."
This didactic habit is freely exercised in the long poem Ane Dialog betwixt Experience and ane Courteor (sometimes called the Monarchie), a universal history
Universal history
Universal history is basic to the Western tradition of historiography, especially the Abrahamic wellspring of that tradition. Simply stated, universal history is the presentation of the history of humankind as a whole, as a coherent unit.-Ancient authors:...
of the medieval type, in which the falls of princes by corruption supply an object lesson to the unreformed church of his day. Ane Pleasant Satyre of the Thrie Estaitis
Ane Pleasant Satyre of the Thrie Estaitis
A Satire of the Three Estates is a satirical morality play in Middle Scots, written by makar Sir David Lyndsay. The play was first performed outside in the playing field in June 1552 during the Midsummer holiday in Cupar, Fifeshire where the action took place under Castle Hill...
is more direct in its attack on ecclesiastical abuse; and its dramatic form permits more lively treatment. This piece is of great historical interest, being the only extant example of a complete Scottish morality. It is in respect of literary quality Lyndsay's best work, and in dramatic construction and delineation of character it holds a high place in this genre. The farcical interludes (in places too coarse for modern taste) supply many touches of genuine comedy; and throughout the play there are passages, as in the speeches of Veritie in the First Part and of Dame Chastitie in the "Interlude of the Sowtar and the Taylor," in which word and line are happily conceived.
The Testament of the Papyngo (parrot
Parrot
Parrots, also known as psittacines , are birds of the roughly 372 species in 86 genera that make up the order Psittaciformes, found in most tropical and subtropical regions. The order is subdivided into three families: the Psittacidae , the Cacatuidae and the Strigopidae...
), drawn in the familiar medieval manner, is another tract for the time, full of admonition to court and clergy. Of his shorter pieces, The Complaynt and Publict Confessions of the Kingis Auld Hound, callit Bagsche, directit to Bawtie, the Kingis best belovit Dog, and his companyconis, and the Answer to the Kingis Flyting have a like pulpit resonance. The former is interesting as a forerunnel of Burns
Robert Burns
Robert Burns was a Scottish poet and a lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland, and is celebrated worldwide...
's device in the "Twa Dogs." The Deploratioun of the Death of Queen Magdalene is in the extravagant style of commemoration illustrated in Dunbar
William Dunbar
William Dunbar was a Scottish poet. He was probably a native of East Lothian, as assumed from a satirical reference in the Flyting of Dunbar and Kennedie , where, too, it is hinted that he was a member of the noble house of Dunbar....
's Elegy on the Lord Aubigny. The Justing betwix James Watsoun and Jhone Barbour is a contribution to the popular taste for boisterous fun, in spirit, if not in form, akin to the Christis Kirk on the Grene series; and indirectly, with Dunbar's Turnarnent and Of ane Blak-Moir, a burlesque of the courtly tourney. Lyndsay approaches Dunbar in his satire
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
The Supplicatioun in contemptioun of syde taillis ("wide" trains of the ladies), which recalls the older poet's realistic lines on the filthy condition of the city streets. In Lyndsay's Descriptioun of Pedder Coffeis (pedlars) we have an early example of the studies in vulgar life which are so plentiful in later Scottish literature
Scottish literature
Scottish literature is literature written in Scotland or by Scottish writers. It includes literature written in English, Scottish Gaelic, Scots, Brythonic, French, Latin and any other language in which a piece of literature was ever written within the boundaries of modern Scotland.The earliest...
. In Kitteis Confessioun he returns, but in more sprightly mood, to his attack on the church.
In Lyndsay we have the first literary expression in Scotland of the Renaissance. His interest lies on the theological side of the revival; he is in no sense a humanist, and he is indifferent to the artistic claims of the movement. Still he appeals to the principle which is fundamental to all. He demands first-hand impression. He feels that men must get their lesson direct, not from intermediaries who understand the originals no more "than they do the ravyng of the rukis." Hence his persistent plea for the vernacular
Vernacular
A vernacular is the native language or native dialect of a specific population, as opposed to a language of wider communication that is not native to the population, such as a national language or lingua franca.- Etymology :The term is not a recent one...
, nowhere more directly put than in the Dialog, in the "Exclamatioun to the Redar, toucheyng the wrytting of the vulgare and maternall language." Though he is concerned only in the theological and ecclesiastical application of this, he undoubtedly stimulated the use of the vernacular in a Scotland which in all literary matters beyond the concern of the irresponsible poet still used the lingua franca of Europe.
Critical literature
A complete edition of Lyndsay's poetical works was published by David LaingDavid Laing (Scottish antiquary)
David Laing was a Scottish antiquary.The son of William Laing, a bookseller in Edinburgh, where he was born, he was educated at the Canongate Grammar School. At fourteen he was apprenticed to his father. Shortly after the death of the latter in 1837, Laing was elected to the librarianship of the...
in 3 vols. in 1879. The E.E.T.S. issued the first part of a complete edition in 1865 (ed. F. Hall). Five parts have appeared, four edited by F. Hall, the fifth by J.A.H. Murray. For the bibliography see Laing's 3 vol. edition, u.s. iii. pp. 222 et seq., and the E.E.T.S. edition passim. The Association for Scottish Literary Studies issued Janet Hadley Williams, David Lyndsay, Selected Poems, (2000) freshly establishing texts with detailed notes. See also the editions by Pinkerton (1792), Sibbald (1803), and George Chalmers
George Chalmers
George Chalmers was a Scottish antiquarian and political writer.-Biography:Chalmers was born at Fochabers, Moray, in 1742. His father, James Chalmers, was a grandson of George Chalmers of Pittensear, a small estate in the parish of Lhanbryde, now St Andrews-Lhanbryde, in Moray, owned by the family...
(1806); and the critical accounts in Henderson's Scottish Vernacular Literature (1898), Gregory Smith's Transition Period (1900), and J.H. Millar's Literary History of Scotland (1903). A professional work prepared by Lyndsay in the Lyon Office
Court of the Lord Lyon
The Court of the Lord Lyon, also known as the Lyon Court, is a standing court of law which regulates heraldry in Scotland. Like the College of Arms in England it maintains the register of grants of arms, known as the Public Register of All Arms and Bearings in Scotland, as well as records of...
, entitled the Register of Scottish Arms (now preserved in manuscript in the Advocates' Library
Advocates' Library
The Advocates' Library is a law library belonging to the Faculty of Advocates in Edinburgh, founded in 1682. Until 1925 it was the deposit library for Scotland, after which the role was taken on by the National Library of Scotland....
), was printed in 1821 and reprinted in 1878. It remains the most authoritative document on Scottish heraldry
Heraldry
Heraldry is the profession, study, or art of creating, granting, and blazoning arms and ruling on questions of rank or protocol, as exercised by an officer of arms. Heraldry comes from Anglo-Norman herald, from the Germanic compound harja-waldaz, "army commander"...
.
Mission of June 1531
As Snowdon Herald, Lindsay was sent to the Emperor Charles VCharles V, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles V was ruler of the Holy Roman Empire from 1519 and, as Charles I, of the Spanish Empire from 1516 until his voluntary retirement and abdication in favor of his younger brother Ferdinand I and his son Philip II in 1556.As...
at the end of June 1531. He was to conclude their Treaty of Perpetual Peace for a duration of 100 years. This would succeed a treaty made 100 years previously. Other business included the long standing issue of Robert Barton of Over Barnton
Robert Barton of Over Barnton
Robert Barton of Over Barnton was a Scottish sailor and Lord High Treasurer to James V of Scotland.-Sailor and shipowner:Robert Barton was a son of John Barton the sailor. He took Perkin Warbeck away from Scotland in the Cuckoo in July 1497...
's ship the Black Bark, seized by Spanish pirates off England in 1519. In his Latin letters to Charles V, James V refers to Lindsay as "chief herald" or "first of our order." Lindsay stayed 7 weeks at court with the Emperor and Queen of Hungary at Brussels.
Mission of March 1532
David Lindsay was set to go to France as a herald accompanying Thomas Erskine of Haltoun and the Bishop of RossJames Hay (bishop)
James Hay O. Cist. was a Cistercian abbot and bishop important in the early 16th century Kingdom of Scotland. At some stage in his life he achieved a doctorate in decrees , enabling him to be styled D...
in January 1532. This Scottish embassy was delayed till March 1532. The ambassadors were to contract with Francis I of France
Francis I of France
Francis I was King of France from 1515 until his death. During his reign, huge cultural changes took place in France and he has been called France's original Renaissance monarch...
the marriage of James V to Madeleine of Valois.
England 1535
Lindsay as Lion King of Arms accompanied Lord ErskineJohn Erskine, 5th Lord Erskine
John Erskine, 5th Lord Erskine was a Scottish nobleman who was de jure but not de facto Earl of Mar.He succeeded to the title of 16th Earl of Mar de jure, [S., c. 1115], on 9 September 1513. On 3 August 1522, Mar was appointed keeper of the ten year old King James V of Scotland and Stirling Castle...
with Robert Hart, Rothesay Herald
Rothesay Herald
Rothesay Herald of Arms in Ordinary is a current Scottish herald of arms in Ordinary of the Court of the Lord Lyon.The office was created after 1398 when the dukedom of Rothesay was conferred on David, eldest son of King Robert III, on 28 April 1398...
, to Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle is a medieval castle and royal residence in Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, notable for its long association with the British royal family and its architecture. The original castle was built after the Norman invasion by William the Conqueror. Since the time of Henry I it...
, where they acted as proxy for the installation of James V as a Knight of the Order of the Garter
Order of the Garter
The Most Noble Order of the Garter, founded in 1348, is the highest order of chivalry, or knighthood, existing in England. The order is dedicated to the image and arms of St...
. After travelling to meet Henry VIII at Thornbury Castle
Thornbury Castle
Thornbury Castle is a castle in Thornbury, South Gloucestershire, England. It was begun in 1511 as a home for Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham. It is not a true castle , but rather an early example of a Tudor country house, with minimal defensive attributes. It is now a grade I listed...
, they returned to London, where a servant of Thomas Cromwell gave Lindsay £20.
Edinburgh 1540
David Lindsay conducted the visit of the English ambassador Ralph SadlerRalph Sadler
Sir Ralph Sadler, PC, Knight banneret was an English statesman of the 16th century, and served as a Secretary of State for King Henry VIII.-Background:...
at Holyroodhouse in February 1540 with his assistant Rothesay Herald. They met Sadler, and brought him to James V at the Chapel Royal in the Palace then returned him to his lodgings and dined with him. Later, Lindsay arranged Sadler's meeting with Margaret Tudor
Margaret Tudor
Margaret Tudor was the elder of the two surviving daughters of Henry VII of England and Elizabeth of York, and the elder sister of Henry VIII. In 1503, she married James IV, King of Scots. James died in 1513, and their son became King James V. She married secondly Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of...
, and brought him to meet her again in Chapel on the following Sunday.
England 1543
After the death of James V, David Lindsay was sent by Regent Arran to England to return the late King's collar, garter, and statutes of the Order of the GarterOrder of the Garter
The Most Noble Order of the Garter, founded in 1348, is the highest order of chivalry, or knighthood, existing in England. The order is dedicated to the image and arms of St...
to Stephen Gardiner
Stephen Gardiner
Stephen Gardiner was an English Roman Catholic bishop and politician during the English Reformation period who served as Lord Chancellor during the reign of Queen Mary I of England.-Early life:...
Bishop of Winchester
Bishop of Winchester
The Bishop of Winchester is the head of the Church of England diocese of Winchester, with his cathedra at Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire.The bishop is one of five Church of England bishops to be among the Lords Spiritual regardless of their length of service. His diocese is one of the oldest and...
the prelate of the Order. Henry VIII wrote to Arran that Lindsay had fulfilled his office "right discreetly.".
Longer poems
- The Dreme (1134 lines)
- The Testament and Complaynt of the Papyngo (1190 lines)
- The Historie and Testament of Squyer Meldrum (1848 lines)
- Ane Dialog betwix Experience and ane Courteour of the Miserabyll Estait of the World (6333 lines)
- Ane Pleasant Satyre of the Thrie EstaitisAne Pleasant Satyre of the Thrie EstaitisA Satire of the Three Estates is a satirical morality play in Middle Scots, written by makar Sir David Lyndsay. The play was first performed outside in the playing field in June 1552 during the Midsummer holiday in Cupar, Fifeshire where the action took place under Castle Hill...
(over 4000 lines).
Other literature
David Lindsay of the Mount appears as the sympathetic major character in Nigel TranterNigel Tranter
Nigel Tranter OBE was a Scottish historian and author.-Early life:Nigel Tranter was born in Glasgow and educated at George Heriot's School in Edinburgh. He trained as an accountant and worked in Scottish National Insurance Company, founded by his uncle. In 1933 he married May Jean Campbell Grieve...
's well-researched James V trilogy: The Riven Realm (1984), James V, By the Grace of God (1985), and Rough Wooing (1987).
Lindsay's description of the Tower of Babel
Tower of Babel
The Tower of Babel , according to the Book of Genesis, was an enormous tower built in the plain of Shinar .According to the biblical account, a united humanity of the generations following the Great Flood, speaking a single language and migrating from the east, came to the land of Shinar, where...
in his Dialog ("The shadow of that hyddeous strength [the Tower of Babel] sax myle and more it is of length") is used as the motto of the novel "That Hideous Strength
That Hideous Strength
That Hideous Strength is a 1945 novel by C. S. Lewis, the final book in Lewis's theological science fiction Space Trilogy. The events of this novel follow those of Out of the Silent Planet and Perelandra and once again feature the philologist Elwin Ransom...
" by C. S. Lewis
C. S. Lewis
Clive Staples Lewis , commonly referred to as C. S. Lewis and known to his friends and family as "Jack", was a novelist, academic, medievalist, literary critic, essayist, lay theologian and Christian apologist from Belfast, Ireland...
, and the book's name is also derived from it.
Sir David appears as a character in Sir Walter Scott's epic poem Marmion.