Scottish herald and poet
Sir David Lyndsay of the Mount
(c. 1486 ? c. 1555; surname sometimes transcribed as
Lindsay
)
[1]
was a Scottish knight, poet, and
herald
who gained the highest heraldic office of
Lyon King of Arms
. He remains a well regarded poet whose works reflect the spirit of the
Renaissance
, specifically as a
makar
.
Biography
[
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]
He was the son of David Lyndsay ? second of
the Mount
(
Fife
), and of
Garmylton
(
Haddingtonshire
) ? who died
circa
1503. Lyndsay the younger's place of birth and early education are unknown, but he may have attended the
University of St Andrews
, on the books of which appears an entry "Da Lindesay" for the session 1508?1509.
[2]
He was engaged as a
courtier
in the
Royal Household
; first as an
equerry
, then as an
usher
(assistant to a head-tutor) to the future King
James V of Scotland
. His poems mention that he was involved in the education of James V and some contain advice for the young king.
[3]
[4]
The Treasurer's Accounts are missing from September 1518 to June 1522. When they recommence, they record a
“Jenet Dowglas, spous to David Lindsay maister Ischare to the King”
who was a seamstress at court. Thus, it may be inferred that Lyndsay married, in or around 1522,
Janet Douglas, a court seamstress.
[5]
His first heraldic appointment was as
Snowdon Herald
and in 1529 he was appointed
Lord Lyon King of Arms
, and knighted. (Some sources cite 1542 as the year of his knighthood.) He was engaged in diplomatic business (twice abroad in the
Netherlands
and France), and was, in virtue of his heraldic office, a general master of ceremonies. He was involved in organising the ceremonies and celebrations welcoming the French brides of James V,
Madeleine of Valois
in 1537, and
Mary of Guise
in 1539.
[6]
Lyndsay signed the only surviving letter from this time, "Dauid Lyndsay". His handwriting shows no trace of the
italic forms
used by those Scots who had finished their education abroad.
[7]
After the death of James V, in 1542, Lyndsay continued to sit in
Parliament of Scotland
as commissioner for
Cupar
,
Fife
. In 1548, he was member of a mission to
Denmark
which obtained certain privileges for Scottish merchants. There is reason to believe that he died in or about 1555.
[8]
Heraldic works
[
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]
In 1542, he produced a Scottish
roll of arms
known today as the
Lindsay of the Mount Roll
. It contains 400 Scottish coats of arms, some of which were added later in the 16th century, and forms the basis of the official Scots heraldic registry in use today. A facsimile comprising accurate redrawing of his own drawings was published in Edinburgh in 1878.
[9]
Literary works
[
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]
Most of Lyndsay's literary work, by which he secured great reputation in his own day and by which he still lives, was written during the period of prosperity at court. In this respect he is different from
Gavin Douglas
, who abandoned literature to become a politician. The difference is due partly to the fact that Lyndsay's muse was more occasional and satirical, and that the time was suitable to the exercise of his special gifts. It is more difficult to explain how he enjoyed such unparalleled freedom of speech. He chastised all classes, from his royal master to the most simple. There is no evidence that he abjured Catholicism; yet his leading purpose was the exposure of its errors and abuses. His aid was readily accepted by the reforming party, and by their use of his work he shared with their leaders throughout many generations.
[10]
Lyndsay,
the Makar
, is not behind his fellow-poets in acknowledgment to
Geoffrey Chaucer
. As piously as they, he reproduces the master's forms; but in him the sentiment and outlook have suffered change. His nearest approach to Chaucer is in
The Historie and Testament of Squyer Meldrum
, which recalls the sketch of the
"young squire"
; but the reminiscence is verbal rather than spiritual. Elsewhere his memory serves him less happily, as when he describes the array of the lamented
Queen Magdalene
in the words which Chaucer had applied to the eyes of his wanton Friar. So too, in the
Dreme
, the allegorical tradition survives only in the form.
"Remembrance"
conducts the poet over the old-world itinerary, but only to lead him to speculation on Scotland's woes and to an "Exhortatioun to the Kingis Grace" to bring relief. The tenor is well expressed in the motto from the
Vulgate
? "
Prophetias nolite spernere. Omnia autem probate: quod bonum est tenete
."
[11]
This didactic habit is freely exercised in the long poem
Ane Dialog betwixt Experience and ane Courteor
(sometimes called the
Monarchie
), a
universal history
of the
medieval
type, in which the falls of princes by corruption supply an object lesson to the unreformed church of his day.
Ane Pleasant Satyre of the Thrie Estaitis
is more direct in its attack on
ecclesiastical
abuse; and its dramatic form permits more lively treatment. This piece is of great historical interest, being the only extant example of a complete Scottish morality. It is in respect of literary quality Lyndsay's best work, and in dramatic construction and delineation of character it holds a high place in this genre. The
farcical
interludes (in places too coarse for modern taste) supply many touches of genuine comedy; and throughout the play there are passages, as in the speeches of
Veritie in the First Part
and of
Dame Chastitie
in the "Interlude of the Sowtar and the Taylor," in which word and line are happily conceived.
[12]
The Testament of the Papyngo
(parrot), drawn in the familiar medieval manner, is another tract for the time, full of admonition to court and clergy. Of his shorter pieces,
The Complaynt and Publict Confessions of the Kingis Auld Hound, callit Bagsche, directit to Bawtie, the Kingis best belovit Dog, and his companyconis
, and the
Answer to the Kingis Flyting
have a like pulpit resonance. The former is interesting as a forerunner of
Burns
's device in the "Twa Dogs".
[13]
The Deploratioun of the Death of Queen Magdalene
is in the extravagant style of commemoration illustrated in
Dunbar
's
Elegy on the Lord Aubigny
.
The Justing betwix James Watsoun and Jhone Barbour
is a contribution to the popular taste for boisterous fun, in spirit, if not in form, akin to the
Christis Kirk on the Grene
series; and indirectly, with Dunbar's
Turnament
and
Of ane Blak-Moir
, a burlesque of the courtly tourney. Lyndsay approaches Dunbar in his satire
The Supplicatioun in contemptioun of syde taillis
("wide" trains of the ladies), which recalls the older poet's realistic lines on the filthy condition of the city streets. In Lyndsay's
Descriptioun of Pedder Coffeis
(pedlars) we have an early example of the studies in vulgar life which are so plentiful in later
Scottish literature
. In
Kitteis Confessioun
he returns, but in more sprightly mood, to his attack on the church.
[14]
Critical literature
[
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]
A complete edition of Lyndsay's poetical works was published by
David Laing
in 3 vols. in 1879. The E.E.T.S. issued the first part of a complete edition in 1865 (ed. F. Hall). Five parts have appeared, four edited by F. Hall, the fifth by J.A.H. Murray. For the bibliography see Laing's 3 vol. edition, u.s. iii. pp. 222 et seq., and the E.E.T.S. edition passim. The Association for Scottish Literary Studies issued Janet Hadley Williams,
David Lyndsay, Selected Poems
, (2000) freshly establishing texts with detailed notes. See also the editions by Pinkerton (1792), Sibbald (1803), and
George Chalmers
(1806); and the critical accounts in
Henderson
's
Scottish Vernacular Literature
(1898), Gregory Smith's
Transition Period
(1900), and J.H. Millar's
Literary History of Scotland
(1903).
A professional work prepared by Lyndsay in the
Lyon Office
, entitled the
Register of Scottish Arms
(now preserved in manuscript in the
Advocates' Library
), was printed in 1821 and reprinted in 1878. It remains the most authoritative document on Scottish
heraldry
. The
Rothesay Herald
offered to show the Armorial to the English diplomat
Thomas Randolph
in October 1561, "wherein are all the arms of all the noblemen and barons both new and old that are in Scotland."
[15]
Diplomatic duties
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]
Mission of June 1531
[
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]
As Snowdon Herald, Lyndsay was sent to the
Emperor Charles V
at the end of June 1531. He was to conclude their Treaty of Perpetual Peace for a duration of 100 years. This would succeed a treaty made 100 years previously. Other business included the long-standing issue of
Robert Barton of Over Barnton
's ship the
Black Bark
, seized by Spanish pirates off England in 1519.
In his Latin letters to Charles V, James V refers to Lyndsay as "chief herald" or "first of our order."
[16]
Lyndsay stayed 7 weeks at court with the Emperor and
Queen of Hungary
at Brussels.
[17]
Mission of March 1532
[
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]
Lyndsay was set to go to France as a herald accompanying
Thomas Erskine of Haltoun
and the
Bishop of Ross
in January 1532. This Scottish embassy was delayed till March 1532.
[18]
The ambassadors were to contract with
Francis I of France
the marriage of James V to
Madeleine of Valois
.
[19]
England 1535
[
edit
]
Lyndsay as Lion King of Arms accompanied
Lord Erskine
with Robert Hart,
Rothesay Herald
, to
Windsor Castle
, where they acted as proxy for the installation of James V as a Knight of the
Order of the Garter
. After travelling to meet Henry VIII at
Thornbury Castle
, they returned to London, where a servant of
Thomas Cromwell
gave Lindsay £20.
[20]
Edinburgh 1540
[
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]
Lyndsay conducted the visit of the English ambassador
Ralph Sadler
at
Holyroodhouse
in February 1540 with his assistant Rothesay Herald. They met Sadler, and brought him to James V at the Chapel Royal in the Palace then returned him to his lodgings and dined with him. Later, Lindsay arranged Sadler's meeting with
Margaret Tudor
, and brought him to meet her again in Chapel on the following Sunday.
[21]
England 1543
[
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]
After the death of James V, Lyndsay was sent by
Regent Arran
to England to return the late King's collar, garter, and statutes of the
Order of the Garter
to
Stephen Gardiner
,
Bishop of Winchester
, the prelate of the Order. Henry VIII wrote to Arran that Lindsay had fulfilled his office "right discreetly."
[22]
Longer poems
[
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]
Other literature
[
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]
Lyndsay of the Mount appears as the sympathetic major character in
Nigel Tranter
's well-researched
James V trilogy
:
The Riven Realm
(1984),
James by the Grace of God
(1985), and
Rough Wooing
(1987).
Lyndsay's description of the
Tower of Babel
in his
Dialog
("The shadow of that hyddeous strength [the Tower of Babel], sax myle and more it is of length") is used as the motto of the novel
That Hideous Strength
by
C. S. Lewis
, and the book's name is also derived from it.
Lyndsay appears as a character in Sir Walter Scott's epic poem
Marmion
. He is depicted amongst the sixteen Scottish writers and poets on the lower section of the
Scott Monument
on
Princes Street
in
Edinburgh
. He is shown on the left side of the southern face.
Lyndsay of the Mount is a major character in
John Arden
's play
Armstrong's Last Goodnight
set in 16th-century Scotland.
Arms
[
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]
Coat of arms of Sir David Lyndsay of the Mount
|
- Escutcheon
- Gules a fess chequy argent and azure between in chief three stars and in base a man's heart argent.
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See also
[
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]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Profile
, heraldry-scotland.co.uk. Accessed 6 January 2023.
- ^
Williams, Janet Hadley,
Sir David Lyndsay
(Glasgow, 2000), p. vii.
- ^
Antony Hasler,
Court Poetry in Late Medieval England and Scotland
(Cambridge, 2011), p. 171.
- ^
Kemp, David (12 January 1992).
The Pleasures and Treasures of Britain: A Discerning Traveller's Companion
. Dundurn 1992.
ISBN
9781554883479
. Retrieved
23 August
2015
.
- ^
Williams, Janet Hadley,
Sir David Lyndsay
(Glasgow, 2000), p. viii.
- ^
Williams, Janet Hadley,
Sir David Lyndsay
(Glasgow, 2000), pp. ix-x.
- ^
Williams, Janet Hadley,
Sir David Lyndsay
(Glasgow, 2000), p. vii, citing
British Library
MS Cotton Caligula B.I fol.313
- ^
Biography
, Encyclopedia.com. Accessed 19 January 2023.
- ^
"Period Rolls of Arms and Armorials (And how to find them)"
. Retrieved
19 January
2023
.
- ^
Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Lyndsay, Sir David". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 17 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 170?171.
- ^
Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Lyndsay, Sir David". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 17 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 170?171.
- ^
Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Lyndsay, Sir David". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 17 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 170?171.
- ^
Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Lyndsay, Sir David". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 17 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 170?171.
- ^
Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Lyndsay, Sir David". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 17 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 170?171.
- ^
Stevenson, Joseph, ed.,
Selections from unpublished manuscripts in the College of Arms and the British Museum illustrating the reign of Mary Queen of Scotland
, (1837)
, 92
- ^
Hay, Denys, ed.,
Letters of James V
, HMSO (1954), 193?194.
- ^
Letters & Papers Henry VIII
, vol. 5 (1880), no. 324, 23 August 1531, Lyndsay to the Secretary (
Thomas Erskine of Haltoun
).
- ^
Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer of Scotland
, vol. 6, Edinburgh (1905), 44, 46?47, (the second set of payments for two months allowance was paid)
- ^
Hay, Denys, ed.,
The Letters of James V
, HMSO (1954), 212.
- ^
Letters & Papers Henry VIII
, vol. 9, (1886), no. 165.
- ^
Letters & Papers Henry VIII
, vol. 15 (1896), no. 248, Sadler to Henry VIII:
Sadler State Papers
, vol. 1 (1809), no. 17.
- ^
Letters & Papers of Henry VIII
, vol. 18 part 1 (1901), no. 307, 21 March 1543, no.591, 24 May 1543: James V's copy of the Garter Statutes is now in the
National Library of Scotland
, MS 7143.
External links and editions
[
edit
]
- Works of David Lindsay
, Edinburgh (1776)
- Pinkerton, John,
Scottish Poems: Lindsay's Eight interludes from the Bannatyne Manuscript
, vol.2, London (1792)
- Chalmers, George, ed.,
The poetical works of Sir David Lyndsay of the Mount: Lion king at arms, under James V
, vol.1, London (1806)
- Chalmers, George, ed.,
The poetical works of Sir David Lyndsay of the Mount: Lion king at arms, under James V
, vol.2, London (1806)
- Chalmers, George, ed.,
The poetical works of Sir David Lyndsay of the Mount: Lion king at arms, under James V
, vol.3, London (1806)
- Laing, David, ed.,
Poetical Works of David Lyndsay
, vol.1, Edinburgh (1879)
- Laing, David, ed.,
Poetical Works of David Lyndsay
, vol.2, Edinburgh (1879)
- Laing, David, ed.,
Poetical Works of David Lyndsay
, vol.3, Edinburgh (1879)
- Full text of
The Dreme
in
Scottish Poetry of the Sixteenth Century
at archive.org
Early English Text Society edition
[
edit
]
- Hall, Fitzedward, ed.,
Ane Satyre of the Thrie Estaits, (1602)
, Trubner / EETS
- Murray, J.A.H., ed.,
The Minor Poems of Lyndesay
, Trubner / EETS (1871)
- Hall, Fitzedward, ed.,
Historie and Testament of Meldrum
, Trubner / EETS (1868)
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