A Companion to Medieval Scottish Poetry

by Priscilla Bawcutt (Editor), Janet Hadley Williams (Editor), Julia Boffey (Contributor)

The poetry written in Scotland between the late fourteenth and the early years of the sixteenth century is exceptionally rich and varied. The contributions collected here, by leading specialists in the field, provide a comprehensive and up-to-date guide to the material. There are introductions to the literary culture of late medieval Scotland and its historical context; separate studies of the writings of James I, Robert Henryson, William Dunbar, Gavin Douglas, and Sir David Lyndsay; and essays devoted to general themes or genres, including the historiographical tradition, religious verse, romances, and the legendary history of Alexander the Great.

A final chapter provides bibliographical guidance on the major advances in the criticism and scholarly study of this poetry during the last thirty years.

Contributors: PRISCILLA BAWCUTT, JULIA BOFFEY, JOHN BURROW, ELIZABETH EWAN, R. JAMES GOLDSTEIN, DOUGLAS GRAY, JANET HADLEY WILLIAMS, R. J. LYALL, ANNE MCKIMM, JOANNA MARTIN, RHIANNON PURDIE, NICOLA ROYAN.

242 pages, Hardcover

First published October 19, 2006

About the author

Priscilla J. Bawcutt, née Preston was a scholar of Medieval and Renaissance literature in English and Scots. She studied English literature at the University of London and subsequently had along association with the English Department at the University of Liverpool where she was made an Honorary Professor.

Bawcutt's range of interest encompassed the English poets Chaucer, Sidney, Shakespeare, Donne and T.S. Eliot and she was recognised for her work on the late-medieval Scottish makars, William Dunbar and Gawin Douglas, establishing trustworthy texts for both of these authors.