Lament for the Makaris

Breughel, The Triumph of Death (detail)

I that in Heill wes and Gladnes, also known as The Lament for the Makaris, is a poem in the form of a danse macabre by the Scottish poet William Dunbar. Every fourth line remorselessly repeats the Latin refrain timor mortis conturbat me (fear of death disturbs me), a litanic phrase from the Office of the Dead.

Apart from its literary quality, the poem is of notable for the list of makars it contains, some of whom are historically attestable as poets only from Dunbar's testimony in this work. After listing Lydgate, Gower and Chaucer, the makars invoked are Scottish. All but two are cited as having died by the time of the composition; the two exceptions are (possibly) Patrick Johnston and (certainly) Walter Kennedy, the latter of whom died circa 1508. From such internal evidence, the lament is generally thought to have been composed c.1505. Most of the names of the the poets can be traced to either the fourteenth or fifteenth centuries.

Leet of names in the Lament

The leet of names in the Lament for the Makaris from what Dunbar styles in the poem the poetic "facultie", suggests a picture of the literary culture of the period in Scotland wider than that otherwise handed down to us from the surviving record. In order and form of citation, the makars (poets) that Dunbar mourns in The Lament are:

• Chaucer (d. 1400)
• The Monk of Bery — John Lydgate (d. 1451)
• Gower (d. 1408)
• Syr Hew of Eglintoun — historical figure (d. 1377), brother-in-law to Robert II; association with the poet Huchoun posited but not certain
• Heryot — not identified, no works known
• Wyntoun — Andrew of Wyntoun (d. 1425), author of the Orygynale Cronykil of Scotland
• Maister Johne Clerk — not identified; name occurs in the Bannatyne MS; title maister signifies university education
• Jame(s) Afflek — (James or Jamie Auchinleck)?, no works known; Dunbar's text might imply Afflek and Clerk, each cited in the same line, were noted for serious themes ("ballad" and "tragedy")
• Holland — Richard Holland (d. c.1483), author of the Buke of the Howlat
• Barbour — John Barbour (d. 1395), author of The Brus
• Schir Mungo Lokert of the Le — no works known; posited identification with historical knight (d. 1489)
• Clerk of Tranent — not identified; described by Dunbar as author of an unknown Anteris of Gawane, a title also attributed to Huchoun by Andrew of Wyntoun
• Schir Gilbert Hay (d. after 1456) — author of the Buik of King Alexander the Conquerour, a copy of which is dated 1499
• Blind Hary (d. 1492) — author of The Wallace
• Sandy Traill — not identified (see also Trail family)
• Patrik Johnestoun — Scottish courtier, no works known; the citation implies Johnston, who probably staged entertainments for the royal court in Dunbar's day, was still living at the time
• Merseir — not identified; Dunbar praises him for 'quickness', 'terseness' and 'elevation'; some love poems extant in the Bannatyne MS are attributed to a Mersar
• Roull of Aberdene
• Roull of Corstorphin — one surviving poem accredited to a Roull, (Roull = Scots form of the French name, Rolf)
• Maister Robert Henrisoun (d. c.1500) — works include the Testament of Cresseid and Morall Fabillis
• Schir Johne the Ros — no works known; Dunbar's commissar in the Flyting of Dunbar and Kennedy
• Stobo — no works known; identified with John Reid, priest in Kirkcudbright, who served as clerk and notary in royal courts of James II, III and IV
• Quintyne Schaw — Kennedy's commissar in the Flyting; one satire extant (see also Clan Shaw of Tordarroch)
• Gud maister Walter Kennedy (d. c.1508) — surviving works by Kennedy include The Passioun of Crist and his part in the Flyting

In one or two instances Dunbar offers some tantalising detail beyond customary compliments for the lost poets cited. The title of only one poem is given: Clerk of Tranent's "Anteris of Gawane", an otherwise unknown work. In the case of Mercer alone, Dunbar extends his critical opinion that Mercer "did in luf so lifly write,/ So schort, so quyk, of sentence hie". (The reference to "Merceir" as a poet of love also accords with the fact that there are some love poems are attributed to a "Mersar" in the Bannatyne MS.) Finally, if the lines "That scorpion fell hes done infek,/ Maister Johne Clerk, and James Afflek,/ Fra balat making and tragidie" can be taken to impart literal information, then it might infer that some particular reputation for work with more serious themes attached to these names. At that time in Scotland "tragedy" denoted any "story, play or poem with a disastrous or sorrowful outcome".

Extract

On to the ded gois all estatis,
Princis, prelotis, and potestatis,
Baith riche and pur of al degre;
   Timor mortis conturbat me.

He takis the knychtis in to feild,
Anarmit under helme and scheild;
Victour he is at all mellie;
   Timor mortis conturbat me.

(Lament for the Makaris, Lines 17-24)

See also

• Text of the Lament for the Makaris