James Wedderburn (c. 1495 – 1553) was a Scottish poet, the eldest son of James Wedderburn, merchant of Dundee (described in documents as "at the West Kirk Style" to distinguish him from others of the name), and of Janet Barry, sister of John Barry, vicar of Dundee. He was born in Dundee about 1495, and matriculated at

St Andrews University (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

in 1514. He was enrolled as a burgess of Dundee in 1517, and was intended to take up his father's occupation as a merchant. While at St. Leonard's College, St. Andrews, he had come under the influence of Gavin Logie, one of the leading reformers, and he afterwards took an active part against Romanism. After leaving the university he was sent to

Dieppe Dieppe (; Norman: ''Dgieppe'') is a coastal commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. Dieppe is a seaport on the English Channel at the mouth of the river Arques. A regular ferry service runs to N ...

and Rouen, where it is probable that a branch of the Wedderburn family was settled in commerce. Returning to Dundee, he wrote two plays—a tragedy on the beheading of

John the Baptist John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...

, and a comedy called '' Dionysius the Tyrant''—in which he satirised the abuses in the Roman church. These plays were performed in the open air at the

Playfield A pitch or a sports ground is an outdoor playing area for various sports. The term ''pitch'' is most commonly used in British English, while the comparable term in American and Canadian English is playing field or sports field. For most sports ...

, near the west port of Dundee, in 1539–40; but they have not been preserved, though from references made to them by Calderwood and others they seem to have given much offence to ruling ecclesiastics. About this time, in conjunction with his brothers John Wedderburn and Robert Wedderburn, he wrote a number of sacred parodies on popular ballads, which were published apparently at first as broadsheet ballads, and were afterwards collected and issued in 1567, under the title . Only one copy of the edition of 1567 is known to exist, and there is no clue to the date of the first edition referred to on its title-page. As some of the songs plainly refer to incidents that took place in Scotland about 1540, the theory that these were circulated as broadsheets is not unreasonable. According to Calderwood, James Wedderburn "counter-footed the conjuring of a ghost" in a drama, which seemed to reflect upon James V, whose confessor, Father Laing, had scandalised the king by some mummery of this kind. Possibly this was the cause that action was taken against Wedderburn as a heretic, for in 1539 he was "delated to the king, and letters of caption directed against him", but he managed to escape to France, returning to Dieppe or Rouen and resuming his commercial occupation. An unsuccessful attempt was made by the Scottish factors there to have him prosecuted by the

bishop of Rouen The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Rouen (Latin: ''Archidioecesis Rothomagensis''; French: ''Archidiocèse de Rouen'') is an archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in France. As one of the fifteen Archbishops of France, the Ar ...

, and he remained in France until his death in 1553, not 1565, as sometimes stated. The date is proved by the return of his son John as heir to his father in October 1553. Wedderburn married before 1528 Janet, daughter of David Forrester in Nevay, by whom he had three sons; of these John (died November 1569) was grandfather of James Wedderburn,

bishop of Dunblane The Bishop of Dunblane or Bishop of Strathearn was the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of Dunblane or Strathearn, one of medieval Scotland's thirteen bishoprics. It was based at Dunblane Cathedral, now a parish church of the Church of Scotla ...

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wedderburn, James 1490s births 1553 deaths People educated at the High School of Dundee Alumni of the University of St Andrews Burgesses in Scotland Scottish merchants Scottish expatriates in France People from Dundee 16th-century Scottish poets 16th-century Scottish people Scottish dramatists and playwrights Scottish Protestants Poets from Dundee