Huchoun
Encyclopedia
Huchoun or Huchown "of the Awle Ryale" (fl.
14th century) is a poet conjectured to have been writing sometime in the 14th century. Some academics, following the Scottish
antiquarian George Neilson
(1858–1923), have identified him with a Scottish knight
, Hugh of Eglington, and advanced his authorship of several significant pieces of alliterative verse
. Current opinion is that there is little evidence to support this.
, which mentions:
Interest in the otherwise unknown figure of "Huchoun" - a diminutive form of "Hugh", i.e. "little Hugh" - was spurred largely by the work of George Neilson, a lawyer and antiquarian, who gave a series of lectures at Glasgow University in 1902 centred on the subject, and published a book the same year.
Of the works Andrew of Wyntoun mentions, the easiest to identify was Þe Pistil als of Suet Susane. This has been fairly firmly associated with The Pistel of Swete Susan, an alliterative poem surviving in 5 manuscripts.
The Gest of Arthure, also called Gest Historyalle and described by Wyntoun, has been more tentatively identified as the well-known Alliterative Morte Arthure
(found in the Thornton manuscript of Lincoln Cathedral
).
The Awntyr of Gawane (literally the "Adventure of Gawain") is less certain. Neilson advanced that it represented the great alliterative work Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
and Huchoun was therefore also credited with Patience
, Pearl
, and Cleanness
. The fact that a later hand had written "Hugo de" at the head of the manuscript of these works was also taken as supporting evidence. The output of the Pearl Poet
, however, is linguistically very distinct from what seems to be the oldest versions of the works more solidly attributed to Huchoun, and this attribution is nowadays dismissed. More likely is the suggestion that the Awntyr of Gawane represents The Awntyrs off Arthure
, an Arthurian poem in a rhymed alliterative stanza similar to Swete Susan, which has several variants in multiple manuscripts.
William Dunbar
, in his Lament for the Makaris
, mentions a poet called "gude Sir Hew of Eglyntoun", whose works are now lost. Hugh of Eglington was a knight who was brother-in-law to Robert II of Scotland
. Following suggestions made by earlier antiquarians, Neilson argued that Huchoun, "little Hugh", could be the same figure: given Hugh of Eglington's close connection with the king, and the fact that he was given safe conduct to visit London
, the epithet "of the Awle Ryale" could be explained, if it was interpreted as "Aula Regalis" or "Royal Palace".
The biggest problem with this identification is that the poems ascribed by Neilson to Huchoun / Hugh of Eglington are of varying dialects, none of them Scottish. Even the poem most likely to be authentically Huchoun's own work, the Pistel of Swete Susan, seems to be in a north Yorkshire dialect overlaying a Midland source. Gawain and the Green Knight and the other three poems in the Cotton Nero A.x manuscript have a clearly north-western provenance, while the Alliterative Morte Arthure is considered to originate in the East Midlands. Two possibilities suggested by Neilson are that a Scottish poet wrote in a southern dialect, perhaps after being educated in England, or that the Scotticisms were "translated" by later scribes. It seems a more likely suggestion either that Andrew of Wyntoun's poet, Huchoun, was not Scottish (and therefore not Sir Hugh), or that the poems he mentions were in fact other works now lost, rather than the great alliterative poems Neilson claimed they referred to.
Other candidates for Huchoun from different parts of England have much less detailed evidence to prove their case. Current academic opinion takes the line that Huchoun, if he existed, may have written swete Susan but that evidence to link the same poet to other major alliterative works is tenuous at best.
Floruit
Floruit , abbreviated fl. , is a Latin verb meaning "flourished", denoting the period of time during which something was active...
14th century) is a poet conjectured to have been writing sometime in the 14th century. Some academics, following the Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
antiquarian George Neilson
George Neilson
George Neilson was a Scottish rugby football player.He was capped fourteen times for between 1891-96. He also played for West of Scotland FC.-Family:...
(1858–1923), have identified him with a Scottish knight
Knight
A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....
, Hugh of Eglington, and advanced his authorship of several significant pieces of alliterative verse
Alliterative verse
In prosody, alliterative verse is a form of verse that uses alliteration as the principal structuring device to unify lines of poetry, as opposed to other devices such as rhyme. The most commonly studied traditions of alliterative verse are those found in the oldest literature of many Germanic...
. Current opinion is that there is little evidence to support this.
Evidence
The little that is known about Huchoun comes from the Chronicle of Andrew of WyntounAndrew of Wyntoun
Andrew Wyntoun, known as Andrew of Wyntoun was a Scottish poet, a canon and prior of Loch Leven on St Serf's Inch and later, a canon of St...
, which mentions:
Hucheon,
þat cunnande was in littratur.
He made a gret Gest of Arthure
And þe Awntyr of Gawane,
Þe Pistil als of Suet Susane.
He was curyousse in his stille,
Fayr of facunde and subtile,
And ay to pleyssance hade delyte,
Mad in metyr meit his dyte
Litil or noucht neuir þe lesse
Wauerande fra þe suythfastnes.
-
- (Cotton Manuscript book V. II, 4308-4318).
Interest in the otherwise unknown figure of "Huchoun" - a diminutive form of "Hugh", i.e. "little Hugh" - was spurred largely by the work of George Neilson, a lawyer and antiquarian, who gave a series of lectures at Glasgow University in 1902 centred on the subject, and published a book the same year.
Of the works Andrew of Wyntoun mentions, the easiest to identify was Þe Pistil als of Suet Susane. This has been fairly firmly associated with The Pistel of Swete Susan, an alliterative poem surviving in 5 manuscripts.
The Gest of Arthure, also called Gest Historyalle and described by Wyntoun, has been more tentatively identified as the well-known Alliterative Morte Arthure
Alliterative Morte Arthure
The Alliterative Morte Arthure is a 4346-line Middle English alliterative poem, retelling the latter part of the legend of King Arthur. It is preserved in a single copy, in the early fifteenth-century Lincoln Thornton Manuscript.-History:...
(found in the Thornton manuscript of Lincoln Cathedral
Lincoln Cathedral
Lincoln Cathedral is a historic Anglican cathedral in Lincoln in England and seat of the Bishop of Lincoln in the Church of England. It was reputedly the tallest building in the world for 249 years . The central spire collapsed in 1549 and was not rebuilt...
).
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a late 14th-century Middle English alliterative romance outlining an adventure of Sir Gawain, a knight of King Arthur's Round Table. In the poem, Sir Gawain accepts a challenge from a mysterious warrior who is completely green, from his clothes and hair to his...
and Huchoun was therefore also credited with Patience
Patience (poem)
Patience is a Middle English alliterative poem written in the late 14th century. Its unknown author, designated the Pearl-Poet or Gawain-Poet, also appears, on the basis of dialect and stylistic evidence, to be the author of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Pearl, and Cleanness and may have...
, Pearl
Pearl (poem)
Pearl is a Middle English alliterative poem written in the late 14th century. Its unknown author, designated the "Pearl poet" or "Gawain poet", is generally assumed, on the basis of dialect and stylistic evidence, to be the author of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Patience, and Cleanness or...
, and Cleanness
Cleanness
Cleanness is a Middle English alliterative poem written in the late 14th century. Its unknown author, designated the Pearl poet or Gawain poet, also appears, on the basis of dialect and stylistic evidence, to be the author of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Pearl, and Patience, and may have...
. The fact that a later hand had written "Hugo de" at the head of the manuscript of these works was also taken as supporting evidence. The output of the Pearl Poet
Pearl Poet
The "Pearl Poet", or the "Gawain Poet", is the name given to the author of Pearl, an alliterative poem written in 14th-century Middle English. Its author appears also to have written the poems Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Patience, and Cleanness; some scholars suggest the author may also have...
, however, is linguistically very distinct from what seems to be the oldest versions of the works more solidly attributed to Huchoun, and this attribution is nowadays dismissed. More likely is the suggestion that the Awntyr of Gawane represents The Awntyrs off Arthure
The Awntyrs off Arthure
The Awntyrs off Arthure at the Terne Wathelyne is an Arthurian romance of 702 lines written in Middle English alliterative verse. Despite its title, it centres on the deeds of Sir Gawain...
, an Arthurian poem in a rhymed alliterative stanza similar to Swete Susan, which has several variants in multiple manuscripts.
Identity
Beyond the matter of what he may have written, who Huchoun was is uncertain.William 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....
, in his Lament for the Makaris
Lament for the Makaris
I that in Heill wes and Gladnes, also known as The Lament for the Makaris, is a poem in the form of a danse macabre by the Scottish poet William Dunbar...
, mentions a poet called "gude Sir Hew of Eglyntoun", whose works are now lost. Hugh of Eglington was a knight who was brother-in-law to Robert II of Scotland
Robert II of Scotland
Robert II became King of Scots in 1371 as the first monarch of the House of Stewart. He was the son of Walter Stewart, hereditary High Steward of Scotland and of Marjorie Bruce, daughter of Robert I and of his first wife Isabella of Mar...
. Following suggestions made by earlier antiquarians, Neilson argued that Huchoun, "little Hugh", could be the same figure: given Hugh of Eglington's close connection with the king, and the fact that he was given safe conduct to visit London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, the epithet "of the Awle Ryale" could be explained, if it was interpreted as "Aula Regalis" or "Royal Palace".
The biggest problem with this identification is that the poems ascribed by Neilson to Huchoun / Hugh of Eglington are of varying dialects, none of them Scottish. Even the poem most likely to be authentically Huchoun's own work, the Pistel of Swete Susan, seems to be in a north Yorkshire dialect overlaying a Midland source. Gawain and the Green Knight and the other three poems in the Cotton Nero A.x manuscript have a clearly north-western provenance, while the Alliterative Morte Arthure is considered to originate in the East Midlands. Two possibilities suggested by Neilson are that a Scottish poet wrote in a southern dialect, perhaps after being educated in England, or that the Scotticisms were "translated" by later scribes. It seems a more likely suggestion either that Andrew of Wyntoun's poet, Huchoun, was not Scottish (and therefore not Sir Hugh), or that the poems he mentions were in fact other works now lost, rather than the great alliterative poems Neilson claimed they referred to.
Other candidates for Huchoun from different parts of England have much less detailed evidence to prove their case. Current academic opinion takes the line that Huchoun, if he existed, may have written swete Susan but that evidence to link the same poet to other major alliterative works is tenuous at best.