Blind Harry

Blind Harry. Art by Stephen C. Dickson. Courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

Blind Harry
Born	c. 1440
Died	1492 (aged c. 50)
Occupation	minstrel
Years active	c.. 1470-1492
Notable works	The Actes and Deidis of the Illustre and Vallyeant Campioun Schir William Wallace

Blind Harry (?1440–1492), also known as Harry, Hary or Henry the Minstrel, is a Scottish poet, renowned as the author of The Actes and Deidis of the Illustre and Vallyeant Campioun Schir William Wallace, also known as The Wallace. This was a lengthy poem recounting the life of William Wallace, the Scottish freedom fighter, written around 1477, 172 years after Wallace's death.

Life

Overview

Blind Harry or Henry the Minstrel is spoken of by John Major in his History of Scotland as a wandering minstrel, skilled in the composition of rhymes in the Scottish tongue, who "fabricated" a book about William Wallace, and gained his living by reciting it to his own accompaniment on the harp at the houses of the nobles. Harry claims that it was founded on a Latin Life of Wallace written by Wallace's chaplain, John Blair, but the chief sources seem to have been traditionary. Harry is often considered inferior to John Barbour as a poet, and has little of his moral elevation, but he surpasses him in graphic power, vividness of description, and variety of incident. He occasionally shows the influence of Chaucer, and is said to have known Latin and French.

Biographical details

The details of Hary's personal history are of the scantiest. He appears to have been a blind Lothian man, in humble circumstances, who had some reputation as a story-teller.

He is alluded to by Dunbar in the fragmentary Interlude of the Droichis Part of the Play, where a “droich,” or dwarf, personates


“the nakit blynd Harry
That lang has bene in the fary
Farleis to find;”

and again in Dunbar’s Lament for the Makaris.

John Major in his Latin History speaks of “one Henry, blind from his birth, who, in the time of my childhood, fashioned a whole book about William Wallace, and therein wrote down in our popular verse — and this was a kind of composition in which he had much skill — all that passed current among the people in his day. I, however, can give but partial credence to these writings. This Henry used to recite his tales before nobles, and thus received food and clothing as his reward” (Bk. iv. ch. xv.).

These sources differed on whether or not he was blind from birth, but Harry almost certainly seems to have had a military background.

Writing

Acts and Deeds

The poem (preserved in a unique MS., dated 1488, in the Advocates’ library, Edinburgh) is divided into 11 books and runs to 11,853 lines. Its poetic merits are few, and its historical accuracy is easily impugned. It has the formal interest of being one of the earliest, certainly one of the most extensive verse-documents in Scots written in 5-accent, or heroic, couplets.

It is also the earliest outstanding work which discloses that habit of Scotticism which took such strong hold of the popular Northern literature during the coming years of conflict with England. In this respect it is in marked contrast with all the patriotic verse of preceding and contemporary literature. This attitude of the Wallace may perhaps be accepted as corroborative evidence of the humble milieu and popular sentiment of its author. The poem owed its subsequent widespread reputation to its appeal to this sentiment rather than to its literary quality.

On the other hand, there are elements in the poem which show that it is not entirely the work of a poor crowder; and these (notably references to historical and literary authorities, and occasional reminiscences of the literary tricks of the Scots Chaucerian school) have inclined some to the view that the text, as we have it, is an edited version of the minstrel’s rough song-story. It has been argued, though by no means conclusively, that the “editor” was John Ramsay, the scribe of the Edinburgh MS. and of the companion Edinburgh MS. of the Brus by John Barbour.

The poem appears, on the authority of Laing, to have been printed at the press of Chepman & Myllar about 1508, but the fragments which Laing saw are not extant. The first complete edition, now available, was printed by Lekprevik for Henry Charteris in 1570 (Brit. Museum). It was reprinted by Charteris in 1594 and 1601, and by Andro Hart in 1611 and 1620. At least six other editions appeared in the 17th century. There are many later reprints, including some of William Hamilton of Gilbertfield’s modern Scots version of 1722. The first critical edition was prepared by Dr. Jamieson and published in 1820. In 1889 the Scottish Text Society completed their edition of the text, with prolegomena and notes by James Moir.

Sources

Blind Harry claimed his work was based on a book by Father John Blair, Wallace's boyhood friend and personal chaplain. This book has not been seen in modern times and may never have existed; the poet's attribution of his story to a written text may have been a literary device; many contemporary critics believe that Acts and Deeds is based on oral history and the national traditions of Blind Harry's homeland.

Most historians nowadays regard Acts and Deeds as a versified historical novel, written at a time of strong anti-English sentiment in Scotland. At 12 volumes, the work is also doubted to be solely his work. Elspeth King maintained that despite any inaccuracies, Harry's patriotic and nationalistic portrayal was to ensure Wallace's continuing reputation as a hero.

Criticism

Harry's depiction of Wallace has been criticised by Major and others as being fictionalized. Some parts of it are at variance with contemporary sources e.g. the work describes Wallace leading an army to the outskirts of London, and it includes some episodes of doubtful accuracy before Wallace enters history with the Action at Lanark. It also describes him adopting the disguises of a monk, an old woman, and a potter while a fugitive; and travelling to France to enlist support for the Scottish cause, there defeating 2 French champions as well as a lion. "Are there any more dogs you would have slain?" Wallace asks the French king.

Blind Harry's words were made more accessible by a translation written by William Hamilton of Gilbertfield (c. 1665-1751) published in 1722. In this form they met the notice of poets such as Robert Burns, Lord Byron, Robert Southey, John Keats, Joanna Baillie, and William Wordsworth. It was also an important source for Randall Wallace in his writing of the screenplay of Braveheart, the Award Winning Hollywood film. Most recently, in 1998, Elspeth King published Hamilton's text amended for modern readers, as Blind Harry's Wallace.

Wallace folklore

Blind Harry mentions a number of battles or skirmishes fought by Wallace which are now regarded by historians as unhistorical. These battles are sometimes referenced as historical events by accounts which do not cross-check the stories in Acts and Deeds against another source. Dubious battles include the "Battle of Loudoun Hill" in 1296, the "Battle of Biggar" in 1297, and possibly also the "Battle of Elcho Park". In the case of the folkloric Battle of Loudoun Hill, later enthusiasts have erected a monument to Wallace at the site. (The folkloric battle should not be confused with the genuine Battle of Loudoun Hill fought by Robert the Bruce.)

Recognition

Blind Harry received, on 5 occasions in 1490 and 1491, gifts from James IV. The entries of these, in the Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer, occur among others to harpers and singers.

In popular culture

Robert Burns acknowledged his debt to Harry, incorporating the following lines from Harry's Wallace in his own poem "Robert Bruce's Address to his Army at Bannockburn" (Scots, wha hae wi' Wallace bled):

A false usurper sinks in every foe
And liberty returns with every blow

which Burns described as a "a couplet worthy of Homer".

Publications

• A new edition of the life and heroick actions of the renown'd Sir William Wallace ... (edited by William Hamilton). Dundee, UK: H. Galbraith, 1770.
• The life surprising adventures and heroic actions of Sir William Wallace ... A new edition. Wherein the old obsolete words are rendered more intelligible (edited by William Hamilton). Crieff, Scotland, UK: J. Taylor, 1774.
• The History of the Life and Adventures, and Heroic Actions of the renowned Sir William Wallace ... (Written in Latin by Mr. John Blair and turned into Scots metre by one called Blind Harry.) Wherein the old obscure words are rendered more intelligible ... By William Hamilton .... Air, Scotland, UK: John & Peter Wilson, 1799.
• The Actis and Deidis of the Illustere and Vailzeand Campioun Schir William Wallace, Knight of Ellerslie. By Henry the Minstrel, commonly known as Blind Harry (edited by James Moir). Edinburgh & London: W. Blackwood, 1889.

Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.

See also

• The Wallace
• List of British poets

References

• Folklore, Myths and Legends of Britain (London: The Reader’s Digest Association, 1973), 520.
• Blind Harry's Wallace translated by William Hamilton, introduction by Elspeth King (Edinburgh: Luath Press, 1998). ISBN 0-946487-33-2.
• The Wallace Anne McKim (editor) (Canongate Classics, 2003)
• George Lillie Craik (1861). "Henry the Minstrel". A compendious history of English literature and of the English language. London: Griffin, Bohn, and company. pp. 385–390. 
• Elycia Arendt (2002). "From Blind Harry to Braveheart: The Evolution of the William Wallace Legend". Braveheart and Broomsticks: Essays on Movies, Myths, and Magic. Buy Books on the web. ISBN 0741412330. 

External links

Poems

• Life of Sir William Wallace (opening)

Books

• The history of the life, adventures, and heroic actions of the celebrated Sir William Wallace ... Tr. into metre, from the original Latin of Mr. John Blair, chaplain to Wallace, by one called Blind Harry (1820) at Internet Archive

About

• Blind Harry at NNDB
• Introduction and notes to The Wallace (edited by Anne McKim). TEAMS, Middle English Texts Series.
• "Blind Harry's Wallace" at the Cambridge History of English and American Literature