Alexander Scott (?1525-1585?), The Poems of Alexander Scott (edited by Alexander Karley Donald). London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner, for the Early English Text Society, 1902. Courtesy Internet Archive.
Alexander Scott (?1525-1585?) was a Scottish poet. He "is regarded as one of the last of the makaris (or poets) of the 16th century, because of his skill in handling the old Scottish metrical forms."[1]
Life[]
Overview[]
Almost nothing is known of Scott's life, but he is believed to have spent most of his time in or near Edinburgh. 36 short poems are attributed to him, including "Ane New Yeir Gift to Quene Mary," "The Rondel of Love," and a satire, "Justing at the Drum." He has great variety of meter, and is graceful and musical, but his satirical pieces are often extremely coarse.[2]
Biographical details[]
Scott, born about 1525, is supposed to have been the son of Alexander Scott, prebendary of the Chapel Royal, of Stirling, whose 2 sons, John and Alexander, were legitimated 21 November 1549 (Privy Council Register, xxiii. 50).[3]
There is no evidence of his having followed any profession, but allusions in his poems establish the fact that much of his time was spent in or near Edinburgh. In a sonnet by Alexander Montgomerie (?1556-1610?), written apparently about 1584, he is spoken of as "Old Scot," and as then living; he probably died in that year or soon after. He was married, but his wife eloped with a "wantoun man."[3]
Writing[]
Scott's extant work consists of 36 short pieces, the longest numbering a little over 200 lines. They are preserved only in the Bannatyne manuscript compiled in 1568 (in the Advocates' Library, Edinburgh). The earliest poem by Scott to which a date can be assigned is "The Lament of the Maister of Erskyn," written in 1547.[3]
The 2 most important poems are "A New Yeir Gift to Quene Mary," which throws much light on the social life and lamentable condition of the people in 1562; and "The Justing at the Drum," a clever imitation of "Chrystis Kirk on the Grene," in which the practice of the tournament is ridiculed. The rest of the poems, written in a great variety of measures, are for the most part amatory. A few, in a satirical vein, are very coarse. All are marked by felicity of diction and directness of expression.[3]
Allan Ramsay 1st printed 7 of Scott's poems in The Evergreen (1724). An equal number was printed by Lord Hailes in Ancient Scottish Poems published from the Manuscript of George Bannatyne’ (1770). 15 of the poems were included by Sibbald in A Chronicle of Scottish Poetry, 1802, 4 vols. 8vo. The 1st complete edition of the poems was issued by David Laing, Edinburgh, 1821. All the pieces are printed in the transcript of the Bannatyne manuscript made for the Hunterian Club, Glasgow, 1874-1881. A small edition was printed at Glasgow in 1882 for private circulation. A modernized and expurgated edition was issued by William Mackean, Paisley, 1887. An 1895 edition was printed by the Scottish Text Society, with notes and memoir by James Cranstoun (Edinburgh, 1895).[3].
Critical reputation[]
Writing in the Dictionary of National Biography (DNB) at the end of the 19th century, James Cranstoun noted that "Scott was called by Pinkerton 'the Anacreon of old Scottish poetry.' But," added Cranstoun, "among the ancient minor poets of Scotland his place should be below Montgomerie."[3]
The 2004 DNB, though, offered a more complimentary assessment: "Because of its range, explicitness, and open-endedness, Scott's work has been described as ethically incoherent, but recent revisions of such essentialist readings have restored his multilayered texts as attractively complex poems, an appealing alternative to contemporary English poetry as anthologized in Tottel's Miscellany (1557)."[4]
Recognition[]
2 of his poems, "A Bequest of His Heart" and "A Rondel of Love", were included in the Oxford Book of English Verse 1250-1900.[5] [6]
Publications[]
- Poems (edited by James Cranstoun). Edinburgh: Blackwood, 1896.
- Poems (edited by Alexander Karley Donald). London: K. Paul, Trench Trübner, for the Early English Text Society, 1902.
See also[]
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References[]
Cranstoun, James (1897) "Scott, Alexander (1525?-1584)" in Lee, Sidney Dictionary of National Biography 51 London: Smith, Elder, p. 10 . Wikisource, Web, Feb. 24, 2018.
Notes[]
- ↑ Alexander Scott", Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., Britannica.com, Web, May 12, 2012.
- ↑ John William Cousin, "Scott, Alexander," A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature. London: Dent / New York: Dutton, 1910, 327. Wikisource, Web, Feb. 24, 2018.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Cranstoun, 10.
- ↑ Theo van Heijnsbergen, "Scott, Alexander (c.1520–1582/3)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004. Web, May 15, 2007.
- ↑ "A Bequest of His Heart," Oxford Book of English Verse 1250-1900 (edited by Arthur Quiller-Couch). Oxford, UK: Clarendon, 1919. Bartleby.com, Web, May 12, 2012.
- ↑ "A Rondel of Love," Oxford Book of English Verse 1250-1900 (edited by Arthur Quiller-Couch). Oxford, UK: Clarendon, 1919. Bartleby.com, Web, May 12, 2012.
External links[]
- Poems
- "A Bequest of His Heart"
- "A Rondel of Love"
- Alexander Scott at Poetry Nook (5 poems)
- About
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, the Dictionary of National Biography (edited by Leslie Stephen & Sidney Lee). London: Smith, Elder, 1885-1900. Original article is at: Scott, Alexander (1525?-1584)
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