Two metrical romances of note belong to the fourteenth century, the "Original Cronykil" of Andrew Wyntoun (d. 1420), a long history of Scotland, and of the world at large; and "The Bruce" of John Barbour (d. 1396), a narrative of the adventures of King Robert in more than thirteen thousand rhymed lines. Dramatic vigor and occasional breadth of sentiment entitle this poem to a high rank. Sir Walter Scott, in his "Lord of the Isles," owes much to "The Bruce."
The earliest Scottish poem of the fifteenth century, "The King's Quair," or Book, in which James I. (d. 1437) celebrates the lady whom he afterwards married, presents no traces of a distinct Scottish dialect. But James was educated in England, and probably wrote there, and his pleasing poem exhibits the influence of those English writers whom he acknowledges as his masters. From this time, however, the development of the language of Scotland into a dialect went rapidly on. The "Wallace" of Henry the Minstrel, or Blind Harry, rivaled the "Bruce" in popularity, on account of the more picturesque character of the incidents, its passionate fervor, and the wildness of fancy by which it is distinguished.
Towards the close of this century, and in the beginning of the next,
Scottish poetry, now couched in a dialect decidedly peculiar, was
cultivated by men of high genius. Robert Henryson (d. 1400) wrote "The
Testament of the Faire Cresside," a continuation of Chaucer's poem, and
"Robin and Makyne," a beautiful pastoral, preserved in Percy's "Reliques."
More vigorous in thought and fancy, though inferior in skill and expression, was Gavin Douglas, Bishop of Dunkeld (d. 1522). His "King Hart" and "Palace of Honor" are complex allegories; and his translation of the Aeneid is the earliest attempt to render classical poetry into the living language of the country.
William Dunbar (d. 1520), the best British poet of his age, exhibits a versatility of talent which has rarely been equaled; but in his comic and familiar pieces, the grossness of language and sentiment destroys the effect of their force and humor. Allegory is his favorite field. In his "Golden Terge," the target is Reason, a protection against the assaults of love. "The Dance of the Seven Deadly Sins" is wonderfully striking; but the design even of this remarkable poem could not be decorously described.
While Scotland thus redeemed the poetical character of the fifteenth century, her living tongue was used only in versified compositions. Scottish prose does not appear in any literary shape until the first decade of the sixteenth century.
PERIOD THIRD.
FROM THE ACCESSION or HENRY VIII. TO THE PRESENT TIME (1509-1884).
1. AGE OF THE REFORMATION.—In the early part of the sixteenth century human intellect began to be stirred by impulses altogether new, while others, which had as yet been held in check, were allowed, one after another, to work freely. But there was no sudden or universal metamorphosis in literature, or in those phenomena by which its form and spirit were determined. It was not until 1568, when the reign of Elizabeth was within thirty years of its close, that English literature assumed a character separating it decisively from that of the ages which had gone before, and took its station as the worthy organ of a new epoch in the history of civilization. But the literary poverty of the age of the Reformation was the poverty which the settler in a new country experiences, while he fells the woods and sows his half-tilled fields; a poverty, in the bosom of which lay rich abundance.
The students of classical learning profited at first more than others by the diffusion of the art of printing, from the greater number of classical works which, were given to the press. Foreign men of letters visited England; Erasmus, especially, gave a strong impulse to study, and Greek and Latin were learned with an accuracy never before attained. Among the scholars of the time were Cardinals Pole and Wolsey, Ridley, Ascham, and Sir Thomas More, the author of the "Utopia," a romance in the scholastic garb. It describes an imaginary commonwealth, the chief feature of which is a community of property, on an imaginary island, from which the book takes its name. The epithet "Utopian" is still used as descriptive of chimerical schemes.