The Sempill Ballates. Edinburgh: T.G. Stevenson, 1872. Courtesy Internet Archive.
Robert Sempill (the elder) (?1530-1595) was a Scottish poet and ballad-writer.
Life[]
Overview[]
Sempill was mainly a satirist, was in Paris at the massacre of St. Bartholomew, and belonged to the extremist division of the Reforming party, The Regente's Tragedy laments the death of Murray, Ane Complaint upon Fortoun, the fall of Morton.[1]
Youth and education[]
Sempill was doubtless a cadet of the house of Sempill, of illegitimate birth. Sibbald, Motherwell, and others vainly sought to identify him with Robert, 4th lord Sempill, (died 1611).[2]
The ballad-writer received a liberal education. A part of his early life was spent in Paris. In a poem he speaks of Clement Marot, who died in 1544, as alive.[2]
Career[]
On his return to Scotland Sempill probably adopted the military profession. 3 humorous poems of his of a licentious character that have been preserved in George Bannatyne's manuscript in the Advocates' Library, Edinburgh, may be referred to a date prior to 1567, in which year Sempill is known to have written political pasquils.[2]
That he held some position at court, or had rendered some political service at this time, is proved by an entry in the lord-treasurer's books of £66.13s.4d. paid "to Robert Semple." According to his poem entitled "Ane Complaint upon Fortoun," he was present at the siege of Leith in 1559-1560.[2]
In 1570 he issued from the press of Lekprevik in a broadside "The Regentis Tragedie," which enjoyed much popularity. During the next 2 years he wrote a number of pieces of great bitterness, chiefly directed against the Hamiltons, Sir William Kirkcaldy, Sir William Maitland, and others who adhered to the cause of Mary or favoured the catholic faith. In 1572 he was once more in Paris, from which he fled at the massacre of St. Bartholomew.[2]
In 1573 he was in Edinburgh, and was probably with the army of Morton during the memorable siege of the castle. In that year he published, in a small quarto volume in black letter — the only known extant copy is in the British Museum — a graphic account of the bombardment of the fortress and the surrender of Grange and Lethington. This poem contains the names of many of the officers of the attacking force, of whom no record has elsewhere been preserved.[2]
Besides "Ane Complaint upon Fortoun," written in 1581, in which he feelingly laments the downfall of Morton, Sempill wrote in 1584 a merciless but clever pasquinade, entitled "The Legend of the Bischop of St. Androis Lyfe," in which he held up to ridicule Patrick Adamson. Dempster places Sempill's death in 1595.[2]
Writing[]
In his ballads, which enjoyed a very great popularity, Sempill appears as a staunch supporter of Moray and the party of the Reformation. His satires are crude and often coarse, but vigorous. As records they are eminently trustworthy, and have a lasting value.[2]
Most of the ballads have come down to us in black-letter broadsides, which are preserved in the state paper office, the British Museum, and the library of the Society of Antiquaries, London. 2 manuscripts of "The Legend of the Bischop of St. Androis Lyfe are extant, one in the library of the University of Edinburgh, the other in that of the Faculty of Advocates.[2]
The 3 poems in the Bannatyne manuscript were 1st printed by Allan Ramsay in the Evergreen, Edinburgh, 1724. The "Sege of the Castel of Edinburgh" and "The Legend of the Bischop of St. Androis Lyfe" were included by Sir John Graham Dalyell in Scotish Poems of the Sixteenth Century, Edinburgh, 1801, 2 volumes.[2] The whole of Sempill's pieces are contained in The Sempill Ballates, edited by T.G. Stevenson, Edinburgh, 1872, and in Satirical Poems of the Time of the Reformation, edited for the Scottish Text Society by James Cranstoun, LL.D., Edinburgh, 1889–93, 2 volumes. 8vo.[3]
Publications[]
Sempill's chief works are:
- The Ballat maid vpoun Margret Fleming callit the Flemyng bark
- The defence of Crissell Sande-landis
- The Claith Merchant or Ballat of Jonet Reid, ane Violet and Ane Quhyt, all three in the Bannatyne manuscript
They are characterized by extreme coarseness, and are probably among his earlier works. His chief political poems are:
- The Regentis Tragedie, a broadside of 1570
- The Sege of the Castel of Edinburgh (1573), interesting from an historical point of view
- Ane Complaint vpon fortoun ... (1581)
- The Legend of the Bischop of St Androis Lyfe callit Mr Patrik Adamsone (1583)
Modern editions[]
- Sege of the Castel of Edinburgh (facsimile reprint with introduction by David Constable). 1813.
- The Sempill Ballates (edited by T.G. Stevenson). Edinburgh: T.G. Stevenson, 1872.
- Satirical poems of the Reformation (edited by James Cranstoun). (2 volumes), Scottish Text Society, 1889-1893.
See also[]
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References[]
Cranstoun, James (1897) "Sempill, Robert (1530?-1595)" in Lee, Sidney Dictionary of National Biography 51 London: Smith, Elder, pp. 238-239 . Wikisource, Web, Feb. 26, 2018.
Notes[]
External links[]
- 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: Sempill, Robert (1530?-1595)
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